Smoky

Smoky is a street cat; there are quite a few around.  We think we adopted a relative of his.  We don't have room for all of them though...  Smoky is very friendly.  He lets you pick him up, scatch behind his ears and he'll even sit in your lap until a bug or a leaf catches his eye.  Yesterday, he decided to sleep under our hydrangea, which is quite crowded with wild violets, alehoof, flatleaf primroses and a milkweed plant.  It's very shady under there and it was a warm day - over 90F (32C) again - so he was enjoying the shade as well as a position where he could watch the street.  Clever boy!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/100
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Garden spider

I have a grape vine that I optimistically planted as an arbour.  For the first time in 5 years, it has some grapes - I guess I pruned it correctly last year.  Anyway, it has nice foliage and makes shade for some hanging plants hung out there.  It also has wild, searching offshoots that reach in all directions including this one which reaches out into the air above the driveway.  A couple of days ago I went out to find this garden spider had cast her web across the span.  Spiders aren't the most attractive creatures, but anything that eats mosquitoes and the like is a friend in my book!  I don't know where she went, because there was no web the next morning.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/1000
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Blueberries!

My wife decided to try planting blueberries this year, and to my great surprise, they had fruit!  Even though the plants are very small, they had a few berries on each plant - I can't really call them a bush quite yet.  You can see that the blueberry plant isn't much larger than the strawberry, and it isn't yet as big as the wild violets in the foreground.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Garden riot

This is a photo of the tiny bit of garden in our side yard.  It's a small strip that runs along the driveway next to the neighbour's fence.  It's no more than 6 feet wide, but it gets most of the afternoon sun, and so we plant things here.  In this photo, there's mint (wild, but I make tea from it), chives (purple flowers), strawberries and violets (also wild).  There;s also a bit of trash, which the wind carries to our yard without fail.  One of the downsides of city life.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/80
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Strawberries

I always look forward to this day - the day the first strawberries are ripe.  The little one does, too!  This plant is in the side yard.  During the winter, it's usually covered in big piles of snow but that doesn't seem to deter it.  Nature is amazing.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/500
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Royal

I'm not sure if the hyacinths and violets officially qualify as royal purple, but they are royal to these eyes!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

First real snow

We've had a strange winter so far.  No snow to speak of.  Oh, a dusting here and there, but it quickly melted and was gone in a day or two.  On the 12th we got 4 inches of real snow.  Wet, heavy and perfect for snowman and snowball-making!  Of course, the temperature is hovering around freezing, and we got some rain too, so who knows how long this will remain on the ground?

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/60
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Late season broccoli

We have some broccoli that we've been growing in a pot in the back yard.  We've had a little snow, which doesn't seem to bother it at all.  Soon, it'll be really done for the season, but for now I'm enjoying this green!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Day lily

We have day lilies out front.  It always gets too overgrown and I always intend to do something about it, but I never seem to get round to it.  I don't know how these grow so well!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/60
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Fireflies

I debated whether to post this or not, but my youngest was so thrilled that I decided to share it.  It really needs to be enlarged, and even then, the light from the fireflies is very subtle.

We were in the nearby hills cleaning up from our recent ham radio expedition, and the fireflies came out.  Well, being 8 years old, fireflies are one of the most incredible sights.  He had to try to catch one.  And of course, having caught one, he had to catch more.  We had a large plastic container and the count kept going up.  Eventually, I stopped the process when he reached over a dozen.  I have to admit that they are one of nature's wonders.  We took them home and showed everyone.  Of course, he had to sleep with them in his bed.

In the morning, they were almost all still active, and we convinced him to let them loose in the front garden.  This photo is of that garden the next night.  To everyone's amazement, those fireflies were still there, still blinking and still flying!

It took several tries with a tripod to get this photo, and it was the best of the lot.  It's been 3 days since, and the last firefly flew off tonight.  Pretty magical, given that we never see fireflies here in the city.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	8
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Strawberries

The strawberries are coming ripe! I like how the violet leaf mirrors the berry.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/25
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Walking onion

I'm told these are called walking onions because the seed head (the pale bit at the top) gets so heavy that it falls over, dropping the seeds into the ground, starting new onions there.  Makes sense to me; this particular onion is about 5 feet from the spot I put the first one, and I find new ones every year!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Reclaiming space

This is part of my wife's flower garden.  It's become a bit disorganised ever since she got excited about the community garden plot.  I decided to clear a bit of space and put in some tomato plants.  These are cherry tomatoes. Also making an appearance: violets, a walking onion, strawberries and mint.  A word to the wise: mint spreads!  Thankfully, we like mint tea!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	18.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 36.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

First day of spring

More even than the beautiful flowers that bloom, these remind me of the cycles of the seasons. These are humble chives, reaching through last year's exhausted growth into the chilly spring air, renewing themselves for another season.

The rest of the garden is covered in last autumn's leaves, dry and mouldy, but chives view that seemingly ugly cover as a blanket to keep them warm at night.

Confused hydrangea

The weather has been so mild this year that the hydrangea has started budding. Again. I'm seriously thinking of cutting it back because I fear this growth will draw strength from the plant - strength it needs to survive the coming winter.

Mustard

We let some of the mustard green go to seed (bolt) thinking we'd make home made mustard. Imagine my surprise when we tried to harvest the seeds from the seed pods. There are only 4 or 5 mustard seeds in each pod and there are hundreds and hundreds of pods on a single plant. It is a lot more work than I imagined and these seeds are really, really tiny. That's my thumb and forefinger holding one seed pod.

The last pepper

The very last hot pepper before it went into the pan. I fry them up with a little butter and olive oil and some onion. Goes great with just about everything - especially scambled eggs in the morning!

Almost ready

These tomatoes will be gone today or tomorrow - probably eaten straight off the vine! These particular vines are growing in a pot - container gardening. We were quite worried that the plants would rot with all the rain we've had recently, but they're working away anyway.

We've been harvesting fresh kale, lettuce and arugula for a month now. Yellow squash and green peppers within the week.

Snow on sedum

This is the front garden, with Sedum 'Herbstfreude' - Autumn Joy. There isn't much colour left out there now but this is a neat picture, reminiscent of the gentle hills surrounding the valley.

Science at home

Little ones are forever bringing running science experiments at home. Growing marigolds for Mother's Day, volcanoes made of baking soda and vinegar and the experiment photographed here: the ever popular 'grow a bean plant and see the roots.'

This particular bean is growing in a lump of potting soil placed in a bit of plastic wrap, the bean placed in the soil at the plastic wrap, then put into a cup. The scientist can lift the plastic wrapped soil out of the cup and see the root development at any time, and the plant can grow somewhat naturally.

I was asked to help document the progress of our intrepid bean, and this particular photo looked interesting with the combination of textures captured on that windowsill.