Photo-A-Day: April 20, 2014 - Feather

It's so nice being with someone when you're looking for things to photograph.  While I was looking West toward Admiralty Bay, Jody was driving and looking at Crockett Lake on the other side of the road.  She pulled over saying "bird."  And there he was, this magnificent Great Blue Heron standing in the water.

I slipped slowly and quietly out of the car and was able to capture this photo of him....

before he started walking away...

...and looked as though he might fly off

Photo-A-Day: April 18, 2014 - Purple

I love rhododendrons.  We had bushes across our second house in New Jersey; my favorite house of all those in which we lived.  Rhododendrons have always had a slightly special place in my heart. 

While I was on Whidbey Island, WA, I had hoped to visit the Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens.  Unfortunately, I was just ahead of the flowering season.  Imagine my delight, however, when we stopped at a Starbucks and outside the window was the fabulous rhododendron in full purple bloom.  Thank you, Oak Harbor.

Photo-A-Day: April 11, 2014 - Three of a Kind

No matter your craft, everyone knows you need more than one of each tool.  The yarn is a given; it takes  more than one skein to make most things. These, plus two others, are for the Matisse blanket I'm making.    The hooks?  Sofa's eat them.  You always need more than one of each size.  These are Clover Amour ergonomic hooks.  I'm not certain I could go back to regular hooks.

Photo-A-Day: April 10, 2014 - Looking Down

I love to fly.  I love to watch the world pass beneath me and watch the topography change.  Flying back from Seattle to Oakland, I asked the pilot on which side I should sit for optimal photographs.  He smiled and said "Always sit behind the pilot."  So I did and captured this wonderful shot of where Suisan Bay opens into San Pablo Bay at the very top of the San Francisco Bay.

Photo-A-Day: April 9, 2014 - Children

It was such fun to watch the deer in my friend's yard.  She had put out a deer block for them.  Just as with children, one of the bucks was less than willing to share with the other.  "Mine!" it seemed to say.

Photo-A-Day: April 8, 2014 - Hobby

It's not quite right to call them hobbies.  Now that I'm retired, they have really become unpaid vocations. 

Reading--something about which I've always been passionate--and reviewing.  Mystery is my genre and I seriously started writing reviews in 2008.

Crochet I learned when I was 11.  I moved to needlepoint in 1980 but back to crochet in 2010.  I quickly determined there was really nothing I needed to crochet for myself, yet could put my love of handwork to use by crocheting for charity.  I started the Facebook group SASsy Stitchers in 2011 and, as of April 7th, we now have 400 members! 

Least I forget, I now have a third hobby which has changed the way in which I look at the world around me.  Photography.

Photo-A-Day: April 7, 2014 - Distorted

Sometimes you think you're focused on something, yet your camera has a different idea.  The shot on the left would have been perfect, had I wanted details of the trees.  Instead, it completely distorted the chickadee.  However, with the second shot, on the right, I accomplished my goal

Photo-A-Day: April 6, 2014 - Foreign

Although it was a business trip, my trip to England was one of life's highlights.  I spent the weekdays in a small town outside London and moved into London on Friday after work.  In both placed, I took what free time I had to tour. 

Saturday--my only full day to sightsee--I spent the morning at the Tower of London.  I love history and architecture, not to mention jewelry, and figured the Tower had it all.  Was I ever right.

This is Tower Green. In the foreground, is a Yeoman of the Guard and it's not easy to become one.  There are only 60 Yeoman, plus 6 officers.  They are retired members of the British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force,but not the Royal Navy as the Navy reports to the Admiralty and the other branches report to the Crown.  To become a Yeoman--there are only four appointed each year--they must be over 42 years of age on appointment, and under 55 years. They must be sergeants or above, but not commissioned. They must also have had at least 22 years' service and have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (LS&GCM).

Behind him are two of the famous rooks, and in the background is a guard in front of The Queen's House where Mary, Queen of Scots, is said to have lived.  It is now home for the Resident Governor of the Tower.

Photo-A-Day: April 5, 2014 - Musical

When I first moved to San Francisco, a man I'd been seeing for several years in NYC decided to come as well.  He was from a New York society/literary family, and his father loved Broadway.  Our relationship didn't last long.  When he decided to move back to New York, he left behind almost all of his library.  That's another story in itself.  However, part of it were 5 notebooks of Playbills his father had collected from every Broadway show he'd seen from 1946 through 1961.  Looking through them--seeing the casts and the advertisements--is always such fun.

Photo-A-Day: April 4, 2014 - Waves

Quiet waves, but waves against the shore in Admiralty Bay, Washington.  What was really fascinating was all the driftwood brought in from various storms.

Photo-A-Day: April 3, 2014 - Men

As I was walking from my kitchen to the livingroom, something caught outside caught my eye.  When I stopped and looked, I realized that, in the absolutely pouring rain, men were topping trees in the property two over from me.  The man in the yellow slicker on the ground was one thing, but the man in the red, way up in the tree with both hand and chain saw, was something else entirely. 

Kudos to those who work outside in all weather.  Where would we be without them.

Photo-A-Day: April 2, 2014 - Flashy

The only problem having a camera that is new to you is that you don't always know where all the settings are.  How I wish I could have made a video showing just how fast this water was moving.  It was quite remarkable.  Even so, the flash of the sun on the water was truly beautiful.

Photo-A-Day: April 1, 2014 - Begins with M...

As we were driving from Oakland up to Washington, I took pictures like mad, often not knowing what exactly I was photographing.  It wasn't until I downloaded all my photos that I started identifying them and, especially those taken while driving, finding their location.

I loved how the snow collected in the bowl of this mountain.  Only when I went to post it did I look it up and realize what is was.

M is for the beginning of Mount St. Helens in Northern Oregon...or what is left of it.