I always find this interesting

Todd and I often carry our cameras at the same time. His is so much better than mine but mine is decent. What I find interesting is that Todd and I are looking at the same things on our adventures but our photos are always from different perspectives. Here is my photo from Saturday of a blue heron.

From henricus

and now look at his.

Black & White or Color

Todd and I have been to South River Falls Trail two times this month: May 3rd and again May 17th. Our goal was birdwatching, not actually going down to the falls. I do not have my hiking legs as of yet and that 3 1/2 miles is enough for me. I haven't captured too many fascinating items on film (disk that is) but, I did play with the black and white feature on my camera. Below is virtually the same photo in color and black & white. I do not think these are outstanding photos. Just a look at the same scenery, two different ways.

Farmer's Markets

It is that wonderful time again when the farmer's markets open up. Just around the Richmond area, there is the original downtown market open Thursdays and Saturdays. In Ashland, Forest Hill and Goochland, there are markets open on Saturday. Tuesday you can get to a very good market in Oregon Hill and just recently a market opened on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Lakeside.
Last year, I spent many a Saturday buying fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, local pork, chicken, eggs and beef. I only went to the grocery store for cereal, milk, and things like laundry detergent.
Last week was my first visits to the markets and this is my list of purchases: fresh asparagus (so yummy), strawberries, cabbage plants, and a cherry tomato plant at the Lakeside market. Saturday, I purchased pork bratwurst (raised in Farmville), hamburger meat (beef raised here in Powhatan), a Black Brandywine tomato plant, a basil plant, and freshly baked sourdough bread (that was very yummy too!)
I like that I know the individuals (or at least their faces) I am giving my money too. The Ault Family Farm is the man I buy pork and eggs from. He always has whole chickens but I have yet to be that brave. If he cut it up for me, I would buy it in a second. He also sells free range turkeys for Thanksgiving and is taking orders as early as now. The first year (yes this will be my third year) he brought beef but not since. However, I pass Brookview Farm on the way and they sell beef also from their farm. I have been stopping there to get beef or eggs. As I said earlier, there was a Powatan farm selling beef. I have yet to cook what I bought. I am very excited to have these wonderful resources open again!

Cedar Waxwing

Recently (Easter day to be exact), Todd and I went to Deep Bottom Park in the eastern end of Henrico. Being a Henrico County employee, I thought I knew all the parks (and had visited them) however, I was wrong. Unless you fish or canoe, there isn't much there. That day as I arrived at Todd's house, I had my camera with me. He always wonders should he take his camera. It was an unknown park, would there be anything to see, etc. Since I was taking mine, he decided to take his. He would have been so upset if he hadn't. We discovered a large flock of Cedar Waxwings eating left over berries. These are really beautiful birds and I can't say I had ever noticed them until I started dating Todd. This is the second time we discovered them feasting. These are not great photos but they show that bright yellow tip of their tail and the mask they wear. I had a very poor photo that showed the red on the tips of their wings but it wasn't worth putting on here.

If you look closely, there are three feeding in this shot. You can also see the yellow on their stomach (is that the right bird terminology?)

Note from Cornell: The Cedar Waxwing is vulnerable to alcohol intoxication and death after eating fermented fruit.

Fall Colors

More pictures from our trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway.


This seemed more graphic to me with all the tree trunks going through the picture.

This tree was very lopsided because of growing on the edge of the road. The side by the road was very short and the other side, down the hill, was twice as large. I was very uphappy with its shape and compensated by going in close.

I tried creating visual interest by putting that branch in the center of the picture. Not sure if I did so.

I tried capturing the red, yellow and green in this picture.

The actual road of the parkway.

It's about time

I haven't posted lately because I haven't had much to say. I have wanted to gripe but decided against that since that isn't what this is about. I can't say I still won't use the blog to gripe in the future though.

Saturday, Todd and I went to Blacksburg for the Va Tech vs. Florida State game. It was a 3:30 p.m. kick off so we stayed in Roanoke last night and took a leisurely drive back to Richmond along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Route 60 today. When you get off the main roads, Virginia is really a beautiful state. Our goal was to find picture worthy fall colors. I can never duplicate on film what I see with my eyes. However, this picture came out how I imagined. I will share some others later and you can decide if they are picture worthy yourself.