NUBBLE LIGHT, YORK, MAINE

Tonight was the annual lighting of the Christmas lights at Nubble Lighthouse in York. Very picturesque!

A BIT EARLY

I never had much luck growing things, and when I bought these paperwhites, I followed the instructions that said to plant 5 - 6 weeks before you want blooms. Mindful of my past history, I planted them 6 weeks before Christmas, and they're blooming now.  2 1/2 weeks too early. By the time Christmas arrives, they will be all dead and wilted :-(

Oh well, I can enjoy them now, and I'll haul out that artificial wreath yet again...................

THANKSGIVING SNOW

Wow - two posts in one day!  I was just taking a break from my Thanksgiving cooking, and thought I'd download some pictures I took earlier today.  Although it's not unheard of, we don't usually have snow the day before Thanksgiving:

RED LADDER

I love the red against the gray! Here's one from a field trip I took last week:

MORE WATER

Somewhere, just over the horizon, the sun is shining.....

....and the car wash people still think I'm nuts..........

FINALLY BACK !

I've been MIA for a while, due to some major life events, which coincidentally involved lots of flowers. Of course, I couldn't resist photographing them:

 

And naturally, I had to get in even closer:

 

SILKY WATER

Along with the colors starting to turn, I had a chance to photograph this mill waterfall at Willowbrook at Newfield today. The color of the leaves is reflected in the flowing water:

FALL EQUINOX

Happy fall! My favorite time of year. The leaves down here haven't started turning yet; maybe just a bit. The sumac in the back yard has a few:

 
 And it's always interesting to see how the green lingers close to the veins:

PLAYING WITH GLASS

Love textured glass bottles, and how the light makes them look like tall buildings next to each other:

GIRL IN THE WINDOW

When the Portland Public Library was remodeled, they saved the statue of the little girl with the water bowl.    Instead of outside in the entryway, it's now in the front window.   I liked the view, and happened to have my infrared camera with me, so voilà!  I didn't bother to do a custom white balance, but I liked the colors I got just the same:

NEW RESIDENT

A brand-new visitor has taken up residence at my house. This is a red-tailed hawk; not sure if it's a parent or juvenile, but suspect it's a juvenile who fledged not long ago. S/He is still having a problem with a smooth landing, but it shouldn't be long before everything falls into place.

LITTLE DOGS ON MAINE LAKES

This little guy does not like to be left by himself! That includes when the rest of the family goes swimming. Just in case he decides to jump in, he's outfitted with his own doggie life jacket:

He usually just watches from shore for only a little while before he jumps in:

FOGGY PORTLAND, MAINE

It seems the fog follows me around! Just when I thought I had enough shots, another opportunity presented itself yesterday morning:

Gotta love it!

MAINE - SUNRISE AND SUNSET

I'm not often awake at sunrise. And when I am, I'm not often coordinated enough to take a photograph. But I couldn't resist the sunrise in the fog:

And I also happened to be in Portland just when the sun was beginning to set. This is the Portland skyline from Baxter Boulevard:

COMING HOME TO MAINE

A friend and I went to a photo conference for the weekend, and we were reflecting on how nice it was to live in Maine.   If we go somewhere for a holiday, or a weekend, the tourists are usually going the other way.   It was no different this weekend - this is the scene as we were driving home:

While we were gone, we got a chance to photograph some hot-air balloons:

MORE MAINE COUNTRY FAIR

Other sights at the fair included booths selling everything you could ever want (boy, would I hate to set up/take down this booth!):

A patriotic tractor:

Bored sheep:

And of course, the 4-H show. Showing their cattle is serious business for these kids:

But coming out on top is worth all the effort!

MAINE COUNTRY FAIR

Today I went to the Ossippee Valley Fair, the first of the Maine county fairs. We used to show cattle at this fair, and it was great to see the dairy show.

However, I naturally gravitated to my first love - horses - and I found plenty to photograph. There was a large entry for the pulling contests, and I got to photograph this handsome guy:

 

Along with a couple of his competitors:

There were pig races:

As well as fake pigs:

And of course, the "fair food":

T-BALL ~MAINE PHOTOGRAPHER~

All-star in the making:

 

They have to start somewhere........

.

AHHH......SUNSHINE AND LADYSLIPPERS ~MAINE PHOTOGRAPHER~

Good weather at last! Maybe a bit muggy and humid, but it's far too early in the year to start complaining. My friend said she had some ladyslippers in her yard, so I had to photograph them this morning:

And while I was at it, I couldn't pass up a chance to photograph her cat:

 Unfortunately, he did not want to be immortalized digitally, so this is the only shot I got of him, but that's the way it goes with cats........

ONE MORE FROM LAST WEEKEND

This is a familiar sight for anyone who lives near Portland - Bug Light:

 This weekend the weather looks to be a little better, but somehow, clear skies aren't nearly as appealing - photographically -  as dark, brooding clouds.

IT'S AMAZING.....

...how complex the most mundane things are:

STILL FOGGY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS......

Well, it seems like years! This morning I found Portland once again socked in:

Although it wasn't raining, plants all had raindrops on them:

But wait - could it be.....?  Is it over? This wasn't forecast, but just look out the window!

 

Maybe it will be a good weekend after all....

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN' ON MY HEAD.....

When will it ever stop? The forecast doesn't look very promising....Meanwhile, here's what the ground looks like:

April Showers was LAST month!

SUNSET RIDE

Just playing.....combining two shots.   Note to self: take more sunsets this summer!

WILD TURKEYS

A couple of them have taken up residence at the farm. One decided to get brave and explore the back yard early last evening:

After insepecting the empty bird feeder, he (she?) decided to try again another day....

MORE FLOWERS - SPRINGTIME IN MAINE

Well, cut flowers don't last forever:
 

However, at this time of year, there's always something to take their place:

ROSES IN MAINE

Whew - it's been quite a while since my last post. Busy, busy, busy........getting ready for the Spring/Summer/Fall family portrait season! In the meantime, I just couldn't wait for Spring to get here, so I went out and bought some miniature roses. This will have to hold me until I see some real progress by Mother Nature!

In a day or so, these should be fully open, providing me with some more photo ops...