Tag: FOTD

THE LAST OF THE LAST OF THE CACTUS FLOWERS – Marilyn Armstrong

The Last of the Last of the Cactus Flowers
FOTD – 1/10/2019

And these are the last of the pictures of the second of the Christmas Cactus. With a little luck, it will bloom again in the spring.

Meanwhile, the Christmas Cactus needs to sleep for a while. It must rest until it’s ready to bloom again. That’s the way of all plants, including cactus.

Macro Cactus Flower
Rose framed flower
The last of the last

MORE OF THE LAST CACTUS FLOWER – Marilyn Armstrong

More of the Last Cactus Flower – FOTD – 1/9/2019

Usually, I show all my pictures at once. This time, I realized I could save some and show them over a few days. Unique concept, I know. I also can’t wait until a birthday or Christmas and always give presents ahead of time.

No patience.

This flower really is pink!
It’s a really pretty blossom

AND SO BLOOMS ANOTHER CHRISTMAS CACTUS – Marilyn Armstrong

A New Year’s  Christmas Cactus – FOTD – 1-4-19

The buds have been big since before Christmas, but this cactus waited until the New Year to bloom. I suppose that would make it a New Year’s cactus?

The buds were pink and the bud which has not yet opened is also dark pink, but after opening, it seems more red than pink. In any case, that’s what the camera picked up.

The leaves are translucent, so how red or pink the blossom appears depends on the light.

Blooming

It was a sunny day. I had to wait until the sun wasn’t directly on the flower. I need the brightness of the sun, but in full sun, parts of the flower burn out and processing the pictures becomes problematic.

Very close

It’s easier to wait an hour until the sun has moved to the west a few degrees. This time of year, it doesn’t take long for the sun to move along.

These are all macros because that’s the lens I had on the camera. Besides,  what’s the point of having a macro lens if you don’t use it to photograph flowers?

BETWEEN ONE DAY AND THE NEXT – Marilyn Armstrong

New Blooms – Christmas Cactus  12/3/18

Yesterday, there was one flower — beginning to look a bit weary around the edges and a lot of fat buds. Today the first flower is moving on, but three new ones are popping open.

I am sad that I can’t manage to keep a Poinsettia alive, but the Christmas Cactus makes up for it and the smaller one is just beginning to look as if it is thinking about setting buds. Funny that two essentially identical cactuses — they were both cuttings from the same friend — have such different blooming patterns.

Yesterday

TODAY

Bursting buds
Almost in bloom. Some of the petals are open
New blooms today!
The youngest flowers

 

AUTUMN WHILE IT RAINS – Garry and Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – October 28, 2018 – October’s End

The giant storm didn’t really hit us. Apparently, it took a bigger whack at Boston and north, but here, it was just rain and a little wind. Nothing fell over. Power stayed on.

The dogs hated it, but otherwise, it went well. The grocery store made a fair bit of money. Locals cleaned the place out, just in case. Around here, they hear words like “nor’easter” and everyone’s mind says, “buried to my lips in snow and ice.”

Even though no snow was predicted, you just can’t be too careful.

A river full of water lilies – Photo: Marilyn Armstrong
Two Maple leaves – Photo: Marilyn Armstrong
Berries at Manchaug – Photo: Marilyn Armstrong
Reflection – Photo: Garry Armstrong
Shiny river – Photo: Garry Armstrong
Westward into the woods – Photo: Garry Armstrong

THE VERY LAST ROSES – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – The Very Last Roses

It’s actually cold (again) tonight but it didn’t rain today. It looked like rain, but although it got grey, we actually didn’t have any rain for one entire day. I got so excited, I went out and took some pictures. Because today, the trees were pretty bright.

The little tornado from yesterday basically lasted about 5 minutes and although it took down a lot of trees, didn’t do much other damage. We lost a lot of limbs, especially out back, but seem otherwise untouched.

The weather really is pretty strange. I am a bit dismayed that it got so cold so quickly, but it’s possible it’ll warm up next week and we’ll still get a couple of weeks of Indian Summer.

They are promising heavy rain and a lot of wind over the weekend which is why I figured I should shoot a few more foliage pictures. I have a feeling the wind and rain will strip the trees. However, these pictures are all about my roses which despite the weather and the cold, are blooming. Go figure.

Meanwhile, we are on game two of the World Series. It’s 47 degrees (8.3 Celsius) in Fenway Park, but no one is complaining. Game on!

Summer never wanted to end, but winter seems pretty eager to begin.

COLD WITH RAIN ROLLING THROUGH – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – A Chilly Night

It’s actually cold tonight. It was raining earlier. We had a little tornado and the power went out for about an hour. And it’s the first night of the World Series, so we were really hoping the band of storms would move out to see.

In Douglas, yesterday this maple was very bright!

It did. Game on!

The path along the river – Photo: Garry Armstrong
Maple

Summer never wanted to end, but winter seems pretty eager to begin.

Photo: Garry Armstrong

We got one and a half sunny days. Knowing how erratic our weather is, we went shooting on both days. Another day we went out, we managed to shoot during a sunny hour between the rains.