Day 405

Today, we took our nieces, daughter, and John's mother to the zoo in Norfolk, VA.

Day 397

Despite the snow the other day, we've had a mild Winter, which means the flowers bloomed early. We've also had more birds around, which is always nice.

Some type of rose, or the larger form of Camilla

Vinca vine

Robin

Daffodil

Day 317

We had planned on going to Busch Gardens or the Norfolk Zoo (Virginia Zoological Park), but the rain dashed those plans. Still, we wanted crab legs, to get out of the house and ice cream. So, we drove to  Hampton, Va...well mostly because of the crab legs from Joe's Crab Shack. There isn't one of those in Richmond.

The restaurant is beside a Bass Pro Shop, which has water lilies and roses outside it.

Back at home, there were more mushrooms. The wet weather has breed them quickly and in many varieties. Unfortunately the mini cluster ones that sprang up smell disgusting when they rot. I need to get rid of those. The rest are fine.

Day 265

We went to lunch at Mi Hacenda. They have beautiful roses there, so I brought my camera along.

At home, I noticed this ant on a camellia leaf.

New camellia leaves are sprouting.

Ferns on the hill

Day 261

Today Kit and I were in Northern Va visiting our best friend Katie for the weekend.

There are rose bushes in front of her apartment.

Later in the day, we went to her in-iaw's house because it was her sister-in-law's birthday. The Trans grow lots of fruits and herbs.

Grapes

Grape leaves

This was growing beside the mint leaves.

Mint

Day 253

Today, Kit and I traveled to Topping, VA to see a friend from Japan, her husband and his parents. They got married in Japan last year and wanted to celebrate with her family here. Her mom has an amazing garden and spacious farm.

Day 223

Today, we went to the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk, Va. We love this zoo! A few months ago, they finished building the Trail of the Tiger enclosures structure. We have been trying to go for months, so this was a special treat. I will include a few zoo resident photos, but plants first, since some of the zoo animals aren't natural to this area.

Sunflower

Sunflower

Lily

Rose

Hibiscus

Bengal Tiger cooling off in a creek made for them.

Swinging Primate. I didn't photograph the description, so I don't know what kind it is.

This ostrich was mad that a giraffe came near his woman. The giraffe just stuck it's tongue out at the ostrich. Eventually the ostrich just walked away...no longer protecting his woman. The giraffe went back to eating the roof.

I have no  clue why both giraffes were licking the posts and eating the grass roof. This is the baby giraffe.

Turtle

Meerkat

There were 2 adults and 6 baby geese. Two of the babies were too far to the left to easily get in the frame. The babies kept on walking for a bit then laying down.

The baby Prairie Dogs were wrestling. They were squeaking and having fun. One of the adults came over to regulate, but the babies continued to wrestle beside the adult.

Adult Prairie Dog sitting on a dome. This area has three domes that you can look through. Sometimes, you get wacky views like the butt of a Prairie Dog.

Day 221 - Photo Effects

I wanted to play with more photo effects, but with a brighter colored photo of a rose. I used Picnic for these.

First I played with manipulating the shape, high lighting and shading while still keeping it pink and green.

Then, I decided to change the colors.