04/22/26

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog.  It's a special one today as it is also Earth Day today!  My flower for today is a great one as it is fairly easy to grow.  This is Rigid Goldenrod which blooms August through October.  It is very drought hardy because it has deep roots.  Goldenrod gets a bad rap in general as people associate it with allergies but it is Ragweed that is causing it.  As you can see Goldenrod is a magnate for Monarchs, it's one of the last flowers blooming at this time of the year and provides them some sustenance on their way south.  I will also make my usual pitch for Zinnias, they are very easy to grow in the ground and pots, are quite cheap and butterflies LOVE them as well.  Think about flowers to plant to help nature as you are planning your garden this year.

04/21/26

 Today's image is more birds that I was able to observe this Spring.  These are Northern Shovelers that were in a small pond that I spotted while on a bike ride once again.  I believe they were just passing through because I don't see them regularly but could be wrong.  

04/20/26

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  I have been enjoying my Tulips that survived the very cold temps we had where it was only about 20F as Spring Flowers were already out.  Most of the Daffodils got damaged but fortunately the Tulips weren't up very far yet.  I like the one on the right with it's frills and the color reminds me of a peppermint candy.

04/19/26

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is of locomotive 683 at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  It is a Consolidation type 2-8-0 wheel arrangement and was built in 1890.  It is a special locomotive as it is the only remaining standard gauge locomotive from the Denver and Rio Grande Western.  They were converting their mainline over to standard gauge so this locomotive was one of the first to be purchased.  It operated there until 1955 and then was acquired by the museum in 1963.  All the other standard gauge locomotives from the D&RGW were scrapped.

04/18/26

 As I have mentioned, I have had a lot of opportunities for bird images this year, especially recently.  While out on a bike ride the other day I had a chance to see a large group of Pelicans flying.  It was neat to watch them almost disappear in the sky and then re-appear as they changed angle as the sun caught them.  I took this image as they flew almost overhead before heading off towards the lake.  This image is just a small part of the flock.

04/17/26

 It's Friday, TGIF!  My Weigelia is starting to bloom again.  This image is from last year with some fantastic bokeh behind.  Sharing for today because Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog! 

04/16/26

 I have been able to see several Ladybugs this Spring which I have enjoyed.  They are a bit difficult to photograph as they move around pretty quickly.  I got lucky with this one as it paused for a moment in my young Sedum plant.