A Little Snow

 A favourite East Gwillimbury hill

We've had a little snow but not enough to cover the grass or...

 A local farmer's field 

corn stubble. But the weather today was pretty close to 0°F and that's chilly! Many birds have been frequenting our feeders such as...

 Male hairy woodpecker

this hungry woodpecker and...

Female downy woodpecker

and this little cutie. Both love peanuts!

I am  linking to  NATURE NOTES.  
I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

September Wildflowers

 Fall aster

There are quite a few varieties of wild asters in Ontario and, truth be told I'm not sure which one this is.  Next time I take photos I MUST take good photos of the leaves and stems as well as the blossoms.

 Jewelweed or touch-me-not  (Impatiens capensis)

I love these blossoms because they attract hummingbirds, but others appreciate this plant because the juice in its stems is said to cure poison ivy.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

This plant likes moist soil and some shade. I've tried to grow this showy wildflower in my gardens but alas my soil is too dry.

I am linking to Wildflower Wednesday HERE 

and because S is for SEPTEMBER

I am linking to Jenny Matlock at Alphabe-Thursday HERE 

June 22/ Nature Notes

A community garden that I help take care of, East Gwillimbury

It's beginning to look a lot like summer!

Largest square: a very happy bumble bee on...er...is that a weed? Sure is! Purple vetch loved by bees and disliked by gardeners because it's stems are vines that climb everywhere and the plants are are almost impossible to eradicate.

The blossoms in the rest of the squares were planted in the garden on purpose, working clockwise: alpine astr, yellow daylily, low-growing campanula, edelweiss and the last-blooming purple Siberian iris.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

Cranesbill Geranium

Cranesbill geranium in my garden

I love this time of year when my gardens are full of pretty blossoms!

Footprints/ Ellipsis Monday

Who left left footprints all over this woodland path?

It's a mystery to me.

This week's Ellipsis...Monday Photo Shoot assignment (due Sunday night, April 5) is " footprints."

Please note: Sky Watch is the post below.

To find out how others handled last week's assignment, check out http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Floating Leaf/ Ellipsis Monday

A leaf that floated through the air to this spot

It is now alternately freezing into the icy puddle beneath it at night and floating in a melted pool of water during the day.

This week's Ellipsis...Monday Photo Shoot assignment (due Sunday night, March 29) is "things that float."

Please note: Sky Watch is the post below.

To find out how others handled last week's assignment, check out http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Four Swans A Swimming/ Ellipsis...Monday

Mom, pop and two young'uns from last year out on a family outing

This week's Ellipsis...Monday Photo Shoot assignment (due Sunday night, February 22) is "bird."

To find out how others handled last week's assignment, check out http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Feeling Crabby?/ Ellipsis...

Crab apples in February

Only a crab apple could feel crabby on Valentine's Day, right?

I can't believe the birds have left these on a neighbourhood tree. Maybe they're saving them for dessert?

This week's Ellipsis...Monday Photo Shoot assignment (due Sunday night, February 15) is "red."

FYI: Camera Critters is the post below.

To find out how others handled last week's assignment, check out http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com/

Weird, eh? / I've Been Tagged!

Don't these look like something from another planet? Aliens maybe?

These "visitors" (ice crystals) were found lurking in the shade on my car window

Please note: Sepia Scenes is the post below.

I've been tagged by Antigoni at Antigoni’s Diary
First, here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 (or more) random things about yourself.
4. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Okie dokie. Numbers 1 and 2 are checked off.

Here's number 3: 6 things you may or may not have guessed about me:
1. When I was a kid I had several pen pals including two from Europe: England and Germany. I LOVE blogging because it’s like having myriad pen pals

2. I’m curious about other people, how they think and how they live. Good news: I can keep secrets. LOL

3. Writing and research are a BIG part of my day job (the part you didn’t know). But I am NOT a proofreader (the part I’m sure everyone knows).

4. I’m a fairly private person. If you follow my blogs, you may know more about me than my neighbours do...but not as much as my good friends and family know.

5. Until a couple of years ago I rarely took photos because I hated to waste film. Hooray for digital!

6. Since I’m a private person, I realize some people don’t feel comfortable about revealing things about themselves, so I’ve decided NOT to do #4 and #5. But if you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged.

Now I'm off to Antigoni's to tell her this is posted!

Winter's Old Black Magic

Remember theses Old Black Magic lyrics by Harold Arlen: Those icy fingers up and down my spine/ That same old witchcraft....? I'm thinking these icicles look a bit like witch's fingers. Anyone else thing so too?

Milkweed pods/ Today's Flowers

Not many flowers blooming in my neck of the woods now, but these seed heads are floating in the skies where milkweed blossoms were in bloom last summer.

To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Calendula/ Today's Flowers

Calendulas (also know as Scotch marigolds) are very hardy annuals and one of my favourites. These will bloom until we have a very hard frost and sometimes last well into December here in central Ontario.

Even better, I never have to plant them because they seed themselves throughout my garden. Although, I may purchase some seeds this spring as I once had a lovely shade of light-yellow calendula and now have only this sunny yellow and...

orange. How could you NOT love this lovely orange beauty?

To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Carpet Rose/ Today's Flowers

Carpet roses grow close to the ground much like...you guessed it...a carpet. Not many roses are hardy enough to grow in East Gwillimbury, but these are! And they bloom without ceasing all (YES ALL) summer. In summer's heat they don't bloom as profusely, it's true, but look at them NOW! Pretty nice for this late in October, eh?

To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Virginia Creeper

I can't believe people around here buy Virginia creeper at nurseries when it's so abundant in the wild. Of course, most of the year the vine is inconspicuous so perhaps they don't recognize the plant's five-leaf motif. This photo was taken when it was just beginning to show it's true colours.

And this is what it looks like NOW! I think it's beautiful. And bonus: it has lovely dark blue berries. But trust me, if you live in Ontario all you need to do is plant a few blue berries and before you know it, the vine will cover your fence, your garage, your car.... I have a Virginia creeper in my back yard that I hope will soon disguise my four compost bins. ;-)

Full Moon/ Sumac Leaves in Fall/Fave Things

Two favorites today. First the moon, which is not often seen over my part of Ontario due to cloudy skies. The moon was beautiful Tuesday night. ;-)

The countryside is awash with colour at the moment and nothing is more colourful than the staghorn sumacs. This cluster is beside a small pond and I hardly notice them most of the year. Right now, though, they're screaming Look at me. Look at me!

To join in the Favourite Things fun, visit Blue at Behind Kyanite's Door - http://behindkyanitesdoor.blogspot.com

Clematis/ Today's Flowers

This clematis grows on an east-facing wall at the back of my house in a place that few people get to see it. But now all that's changed since you're all taking a good look at it. This is how it looked just after a rain shower a couple of weeks ago.

And here's what the blossom looked like with others on the vine.

To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Gaillardia/ Today's Flowers

'Orange and Lemon' Gaillardia or, as some people call this flower, blanket flower.

So far, no frost in my gardens! YAY! Gaillardia is a perennial so won't be killed, but the plant will die down to the ground.

Ha! So far so good! The first fall frost date for here usually occurs between September 16 (for Barrie, an hour north of here) and October 6 (for Toronto, an hour south of here). From today on, I'll count each frost-free day as a lucky one...one extra day of blooms. ;-)


To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Getting a Jump On the Season

To join in the Wordless Wednesday fun, visit http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/

Japanese Anemone/ Today's Flowers

Not many perennials are fresh this time of year, so Japanese anemones are a welcome sight in my and several of my friends' gardens. I haven't figured out why more people don't grow them! Can you help me out here?

And as you can see they are floriferous once they become well established.

To view more blogs celebrating Today's Flowers, visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

The Last of Summer

To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which shall never be seen again.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson