Day 375

Tonight, we went to see two houses (side by side) that were at the top of the list of Tacky Lights houses. My favorite lighted things are of course, the plants.

There were large lights on this bush. This light was tucked between the branches, giving them a beautiful glow.

One of the trees wrapped with lights

Another tree wrapped with lights and a look at why these houses were voted at the most lit.

A tropical plant with lights

A tree with lights

Day 374

This morning, I went out on our back balcony to take photos of the beautiful sunrise through the barren trees.

Day 373

After spending more time with my family, we went to see my cousin play basketball. The sunset was beautiful by the school. If you look closely at the bottom, you can see mountains.

Day 372

My grandmother took my great aunt (her sister) to the doctor this morning. John, Alex and I went in search of breakfast and internet access. While at the grocery store to buy breakfast, I noticed how lovely the sky was. The rest of the day we all met up at my great aunt's house to help clean out the house (which was more like just poking at things with my mom, grandmother, and Alex) and played games back at the retirement home.

Day 371

During our first full day, we did a lot of visiting. We went to breakfast with my grandmother. In the afternoon, we went to my aunt and uncle's cattle farm to visit them and let Alex see the cows. In the evening, we meet up with my other aunt, my other uncle, their daughter (my cousin), and my parents (who had just arrived in TN) for dinner. After dinner, we went to my aunt, uncle and cousin's house for dessert.

The car windows were frosted over. My husband was defrosting them. As the frost was melting, I took photos, to the amusement of my grandmother, who after all these years is used to me having a camera in my hands and taking "weird" photos.

My uncle took Alex and I out on his Kubota (like a golf cart, but more sturdy and for farms), to see the herd and the farm. I never realized how large the farm was. The dark horizon line under the tree line is a river. To the left is a bit of flooding in the lower field. The cattle were all on the upper field...which you will see in a moment.

There were several calves in the herd. This one was having a snack.

This is part of the upper field, where the cattle were.

As we were headed back inside the house, I noticed how lovely the sun was through the trees and the long tree shadow it was casting.

This is the full moon at my other aunt, other uncle and cousin's house.

Day 370

Today we headed to Tennessee to visit with some of my family. Most of my relatives live in Tennessee, so this was a special trip. The trip from Richmond to where my relatives live is about 7-8 hours. We left Richmond, VA at about 10am. Since it is Winter in America, the sun sets at about 5pm. This is the sun setting over the mountains in Tennessee as we get closer to our destination. This is about 6pm at night. The time zone doesn't change where we were headed, but since we were headed west, the sun sat later. If you look closely, you should be able to see 4 layers of mountains.

Day 369

Early one morning, the windows were fogged again. The sun hadn't crested over the horizon yet, but it's light gave a pale glow through the trees. The fog diffuses the light, making it softer. I like to focus my camera on the water droplets that cling to the window, so the back ground is obscured.

Day 368

Tonight we went to Alex's school for a dance. Before we went inside the school, the moon was shining bright through a thin layer of clouds. The clouds caused the light to form a halo around the moon. After the dance, the clouds were gone and so was the halo.

Day 367

A few days before, my husband and daughter had drawn on our fogged living room windows. The oils in their fingers caused long term streaks, which reapeared streaked when the windows fogged one morning. These are taken through fogged streaked windows with the bright early morning sunrise coming through the trees and windows.

My Daily Nature Photos Calendar

I finished designing a calendar as presents for family. Here is a preview of the one I created. Sorry if the images are grainy, they are screen captures of the design. If you would like one, feel free to email me azurafae@yahoo.com and we can arrange a sale through Paypal. The ones I order will have better quality images. They will be limited edition calendars...mostly because January is only a few weeks away. The calendars are $20 each + $6 shipping. I can only accept Paypal. I will order your calendar to be printed after you pay me and pay them via Paypal.

The photos used for each month were taken in the coordinating month of this year. In the case of November and December, in 2010. Since we traveled some this year, each page indicates where the photos were taken. If it just says Virginia, then the photos on that page are from different parts of Virginia. The whole point of the project was to show that weather and nature have a huge variance throughout the year than what most people think it does...hence why there are flowers in the cold months too.

Cover

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Day 366

While walking back to the house one chilly morning, I noticed a reflection of trees combined with the frost on this car window.

Day 365

While I was pumping gas, I noticed these vibrantly colored crape myrtle trees in the near by parking lot. Since today is the last day of this project, there will be more photos than normal. Oddly, this set turned out a lot better than past sets. Maybe 365 days of practice helps...just maybe...or yes.

I've been tracking the moon cycle all month. It's sort of perfect that tonight it's a full moon.