Category: My Place

This is Sister…do you like Color or B&W best?

Cats & Animals, Cee's Photography, My Place, photography, photos, Sometimes, This and That, Writing and Blogging

I like this Color photo of Sister, who is a true Calico Cat.   But I also like the black and white rendition, mainly because the B&W allows both the green and the blue patches to be removed.     I could remove the color patches from the color shot, or I can go with the grayscale version.  

What do you all think?  Does the removal of color affect the quality of the picture?   

One thing I really like about pet pictures is the sharpness and detail of whiskers and fur gradations.    I did not attempt any enhancement or special tricks, the photo is the original color shot with the removal of color.  Since I like to play around with filters and the like, I plan to take the Sister Shot through the paces and see what it does.   

I’d like to have some input into this…color or black & white?      

(©Patricia Dreger, Sometimes, 2021)

a walk through the tree garden, entry for Cee’s path challenge June 22

My Place, Nature, photography, Sometimes, This and That, tree garden
a maple tree seedling (all photos ©Sometimes, 2021)
  • blooming azalea
  • facing East in April
south west corner entrance to tree garden, along lane from dog yard
old bird cage on path (photos ©Sometimes, 2021)
The Maze in foreground, the Tree Garden includes all of that wooded area behind the grassy lawn.

ever wonder what it’s like inside a daylily bud? (me neither, until now…)

My Place, Nature, photos, Sometimes
  • A scape getting a head start on the world of Daylilies.
  • These guys are fast: I didn’t even see them yesterday.
  • Five scapes vying for position.
  • Here’s the package that presents the Lilies.

I believe we had six Daylilies several years ago when we bought the first plants. Each is a different color and has its own features. Up until recently I knew completely nothing about Daylilies, now I know a few things, but I am not yet comfortable in discussing the subject. Stay tuned and we will see where this new interest goes. (All photos on this page © Sometimes, 2021.)

rugged peonies defy the wind, my entry for Cee’s peony challenge June 23

My Place, Nature, photos, This and That
These peonies by the turn-around were really whipped by the wind two days ago, here shown are a few lying on the ground, just bent over flat.
The garage side bed is littered with huge peony flowers, all hanging down. The above shot displays the beautiful peonies, but my metal cane is holding them up…these are propped up. In the gallery, some of the photos are upside down, which makes them appear upright. The bottom left gallery shot shows some of the beaten-up flowers still holding on with their siblings which may not have budded out by the time of the shot. The bottom corner is a close-up of the center of this partially opened flower. (All photos ©Sometimes, 2021)

This storm that went through Friday night just rattled and rolled my Peonies, and my Red Poppies also were whipped. (I have some shots of the poppies, too. The wind also littered the back yards with leaves and twig-branches that were detached by the wind. It also completed the destruction of the Lil Kim Lilac, which had bloomed profusely that day and day before.

lost thing found, again

My Place, Photographs

A few days ago I lost my red metal cane. Only recently have been making an effort to walk with my cane, but it isn’t always to be found where I left it. It stands alone, although it falls down easily and has in fact pounded a quarter-dollar size spot into the crook…when it falls forward it smacks against the surface hard enough to make a resounding crack! and has started to wear the baked red paint away.

The past several days have been perfect for looking around the place, and trimming trees damaged by snow damage earlier this year, and to feed my lust for fresh subjects for my camera. Everything is overgrown here on “the farm” and I recognize the chores…but I don’t have what it takes to keep on top of the challenge. My flower beds are unruly and unpredictable, and are lucky if they get a lick and a promise of proper tending. There is an abundance of ground-covering, especially Myrtle, which is lush and tall enough to hide things that fall into its clutches.

After a long walk around the yard, down the lanes into the back 40 where tree and plant debris hangs out along the fences to deteriorate, ranging from grass clippings to good size tree branches that came down during windstorms or wet snow loads. I had a hunch that my Red Cane may have ended up in a pile of debris and hauled off to the outer limits to be buried.

No luck in the debris piles. By time I got back up to the house, checked the Lil Kim Lilacs and flowering trees that I had worked on the other day, tired and ready to sit down…I was about to go in the house, when on another hunch decided to check the maze area and under the beginning Clematis. Sure enough, a streak of red and a glimpse of the vinyl stand, there was my cane.

We did a little victory dance. 🙂

Here are some random shots I took of the general area. (All photos are ©Sometimes, 2021)

Myrtle blossom.
The Western side yard. The original Japanese Cherry Host-tree and offshoots. Shrubs in mid-photo are Red Holly, they bloomed and berried profusely this year.

Money Plants, these thing volunteered all over the place, and they are so pretty they may stay.

Dandelion.

mea culpa … now, here is a real Japanese Flowering Cherry tree. The big one is a Plum.)

My Place, photos, This and That

In the interest of truth and wisdom, I have to issue a correction — dealing with my misidentification of flowering trees.

I mistakenly identified my beautiful tree with the purple foliage and explosion of gorgeous pink blossoms as a Japanese Flowering Cherry. In fact, the tree in question is a PLUM tree. I am not sure what its real name is, but I will find out by asking the nursery where it came from.

However…before I drown in protests, I hasten to add that there IS indeed a Japanese Flowering Cherry tree out in my yard right next to the mis-identified Plum tree. I personally planted both of the flowering trees about 20 years ago.

Here’s the thing: Several years ago the Cherry tree developed a serious illness, and gradually died. The branches formed a pleasing shape any way, and when I noticed that several new little shoots were coming out of the ground I decided to leave them alone and see what happened. Gradually the old tree deteriorated, and lost upper branches to the elements. I let the tree trunk remain as a framework for the new shoots to climb on. Two or three years ago I discovered a few flowers on the tree.

(Photos and story ©Sometimes, 2021)

  • Here we can see the remaining structure of the original tree, and the several new shoots reaching from the root base.
  • Beautiful blossoms.
  • growths on the old branch; evidence of damage of previous years.
  • This year many more blossoms on the CHERRY tree. Shown here is the new growth coming up from the ground adjacent to the structure of the old.
  • PLUM tree, overloaded with blossoms, branches drooping.
    to the left, part of the Lil’ Kim Lilac which had been injured in the recent ic storm.

Rhododrendon’s last dance (Cee’s Flower of the Week Rhodie Buds challenge)

Cee's Flower of the Day, Lilies, Challenges, My Place, Nature, photos

https://ceenphotography.com/2021/04/09/fotd-april-9-rhodie-bud

This old rhododendron just out-did herself last year, so I’m not counting her out now. This plant has been in this spot for about 20 years, I planted it in my “tree garden” and it is one of few originals remaining… there is another plant that is about the same size as this one on the other side of the garden. Also there is a white smaller flowered Rhodie or similar plant that just shows normal winter wear and tear over by the second pink one.

I don’t know why this plant is such a wreck. It is possible that a deer (or crew of deer) ran through the shrub on their way through the tree garden. The deer and assorted other critters live back there.

(all photos ©Sometimes, 2021)