The early days. The elegance of a single strand:
Wisteria looks so sweet and innocent
With a bonus bumblebee:
Caughtcha on camera, Mr. Bumble!
*Gasp* at the wisteria! After an off year when it was near nonexistent. I’ve heard it isn’t too good for the trees but they seem fine. The days turned a little coolish, so the fragrance intoxication wasn’t as intense as you’d expect.
Climbing tall
Lavender and green mixing it up
Cloudy skies but it’s still fun to get outside
Ladderback woodpecker, through the haze of a window:
Ladderback Woodpecker doesn’t know how close I am
Judas tree/crabapple:
Flowering crabapple AFAIK
Flowers in the sky
Rained on violets:
Violets are my favorites!
but they were OK:
Fast purple
Madame Curious, opinionated feral, sounds off:
Madame Curious: “I told y’all this before!”
Madame Curious on the threshold. She’s now a contented house cat. I’ve seen feral cats slowly sweeten, so many times!
Madame Curious: “That fishy food is where?”
Spring checklist: Judas tree: check. Violets: check. Feral (?) cat: check. Bumble bees: careening fast, get out of their way! Honeybees: here thirty years ago, but gone for many years. Lizards and skinks: not seen this year. Wisteria: what’s got into those vines? Note: maybe ask someone who actually knows plants. I just live on their turf.
Lavender tangle:
Wisteria, 2015
Wisteria, 2015, #2 of, way too many to bother counting
Aloft in trees:
Reaching for the sky
Packed in close!
Two of these plumes are a differing shade of lavender from all the rest:
Intensity between lavender and violet
Grand and glorious, the petals began to fall:
On its way
With intact sweetgum seedpod from last autumn:
All seasons can be read on the ground
I was having a health issue since the early part of the year and it smacked me down while petals foamed up, swelled, dropped. I felt so bad, when a tree frog landed on a window, I didn’t even get up to take photos. That’s normally a huge photo opp.
Feeling wistful and sad while snapping the treeline through the vehicle window. One moment when I could view with senses unclouded. Can’t say the same for the sky.
2015 partly cloudy, very early spring
Every spring while driving, there’s an instant we both recognize. When the glow on the trees reaches a certain intensity, it’s time to quote Robert Frost in 3, 2, 1 … “Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold … nothing gold can stay”. Shortly afterwards this year, I lost out on full spring.
Iris were sorta flat ‘n’ saggin’ by the time I got there. (I know it’s out of focus but I love the color.)
Weary
Folding
Iris … everywhere I look. LOL, a little joke.
Still beautiful
The spiderwort were just leaving, rats!
“The blue flowers” are spiderwort
A few were still budding
But, I got through, I’m better, and now there’s luscious crepe myrtle:
Summer brightens moods
My always purrtector, Bud. Lightbulb plus sunlight in room makes a tawny glow on … a cardboard box. Being a cat, he likes boxes.
My big grand fella, Bud
Coming soon: Bugs
I live near a creek in a forest, in close observation and awe of the wildlife outside, as well as the domestic animals of the household. I'm writer Leah T. Alford. I was "catwoods" on this site Catwoods Porch Party, Itchmo Forums for Cats and Dogs, and a few other sites that may or may not exist now. I have now published a book, and the publisher wanted it called Catwoods. I never expected the book title to be the same as my username, so for now I've changed the username to Leah. For more info, click the "About" button above.
Such beautiful pictures. I never knew those little blues were called spiderwort, but they’re so beautiful. And that woodpecker! Thank you for sharing all of this.
My pleasure, Mary. Thank you for viewing and commenting. I was lucky that day in spring when the woodpecker was here, that it stayed long enough for me to get photos. Today I’ve had a cardinal and a brown thrasher land on the same place but they flew off almost immediately.
Oh those cardinals are so gorgeous. But yes, they’re hard to photograph. Very quick, they are!
A beautiful read….and lovely photos to accompany.
(I love wisteria. It stays for such a short time here in Texas)
Thank you, treerabold, and thank you for visiting. Wisteria doesn’t stay in bloom very long here, either; usually about 2 weeks, 3 at the most. I’d like to have it longer!
I too wish it stuck around longer
What a wealth of beauty in these photos!
Bud, Madame Curious, and I thank you so much!
Gorgeous photos. I favorite irises, and your photo is so beautiful. Wisteria, also. All, actually. Mr. Bud is a real good-looker!! Thanks for liking my blog. Will follow yours. Really nice! 🙂
🙂
Pussycats3, thank you so much, for liking and commenting and following! I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures. I too am very fond of iris. Looking forward to exploring your blog more when time opens up for me.
My cat Pharoah: I describe him as a feral cat trying very hard to be domesticated. I’ve had him for a decade and he is still trying. If he had a choice I know he would be an affectionate lap cat but it’s never going to happen. I appreciate him for who he is.
RMW, thank you so much for telling me about your kitty! I’m so familiar with looking into the eyes of a cat who sees that you mean no harm, but just can’t quite make the transition to house living or being a snuggler. It’s wonderful that you continue to nurture Pharoah and let him be who he is!
Finally, a moment to comment. I read this while visiting my grandmother who was recently admitted into a rehab nursing home. The photography and writing lifted my spirits. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Sharony. All the best wishes going out to you and your grandmother.
Thanks so much. She’s fighting, trying to hold on. Love your work.
Many thoughts and prayers for her. I want to check out your book when I get a chance!
What a feast of lilac – wonderful photos. Madame Curious is adorable. Our oriental won’t stop talking and I don’t know where the volume control is…
I’m happy you liked the photos, Kerry! I’ve always heard that some cat breeds are really vocal. I have no idea about her background, but Madame Curious talks a lot too!
Let me know if you find the volume control on Madame Curious. 🙂
LOL
What a lovely teatime visit with you (and the cats who own you)! I’m so glad to hear you’re finally feeling better. All of this beauty must have been highly curative. 🙂
Kathryn
Very happy to hear you enjoyed the visit and photos here, kathryningrid! Got to agree that the natural world is helps improve all ailments!
How beautiful and what a wonderful place to be surrounded by so much beauty and beautiful smells.
Many thanks sunsetdragon, I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures!
Good to see you posting again! Thanks for the lovely violet memories of spring/summer!!! Take care & wishing you many good days!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the pictures, Lori! Thank you so much for the well wishes!
Glad you’re feeling better and are out and about, with camera in hand.
Thank you Candace, I appreciate it!
Good to hear from your neck of the woods. I hope all is well now. The violets and the woodpecker are my favorites.
Doing much better now, thank you, though with a rare chronic illness I’ll never be in actual good health. Violets are some of my absolute favorite flowers. The woodpeckers and other birds only come down that low from the treetops at times when the berries are out. So, have not seen many birds recently.
I love our nature, which I photograph too and most certainly our cats. Equal to human family members, as you saw in the post you kindly visited today. Missing a far too young boy for a year this July 31. Very sorry you have been missing your long-lived kitty since September. Expected, sudden, young, old; I’ve figured out that it’s the long wait to being reunited in the same form that is painful. My heart is with you, Leah.
Thank you so much for your understanding and sympathy. I’m so sorry for your loss. You are very insightful and eloquent in your observations. I don’t cope with loss very well, and I never know what to say. Thank you also, for visiting my site.
Warmest regards,
Leah
I cope with loss painfully but do know what to say as do many of your followers. I wish I received 5 comments at my blog to every post. You’re welcome, Leah!
One thing I learned this year is tha ta person doesn’t need to share our mammal = mammal love of cats. I ask them to think of any person they’d least iike to lose. That then, is our loss on July 31, 2014. I wish Love had your kitty’s 19 but still, that is 1/5 of our lifetime. I am only 42 and could live 58 more years before I see him and earlier loved-ones on equal ground. But! They would all want me to “have my turn”. That lifts my spirits too. You & I both have other cats with us right now, who have plenty left on their turns. *Hug!*
Hugs to you also.
If you get a chance Leah, I’d love a note to keep with my post. You have been very sweetly supportive but it would be wonderful to connect them with my own blog where I’ll see them always. 🙂
I will try for this afternoon, but due to chronic illness I have limited stamina and I’m a terrible slacker about commenting on others’ blogs. Not very good manners, I know, but I want to be able to compose something meaningful when I do comment elsewhere, and don’t always have the right energy.
Well that was just lovely! All that wisteria is so glorious!
Thank you so much, Joey!
Pawsome pictures!! 😺
Thank you Shrimp!
Why certainly!😺 🌹
Love all the photos!
Many thanks, Timothy!
Welcome back to the land of the-mostly-healthy-for-now! Thanks for sharing the joys of your return.
Cate, thanks you so much, much appreciated!
Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful photos with us, Leah. The colors are spectacular and put me in a mood of contemplation. Glad to see the kitties doing well — and also glad to read that you’re feeling so much better! Yay! Hope the summer is being good to you. D
Many thanks, I’m so glad you enjoyed the photos! Thought I better post the spring photos before fall is here, hahaha. Plus, I imagine when you saw this it had a snow scene for a header because WordPress lost the customized features last night. What a hoot! But time is flyin’!
I made the mistake of planting wisteria too close to the house. One we tracked in fallen blooms so I had to check every time so my cats couldn’t eat them and two we can’t seem to get it killed and it’s coming up thru the deck. That one pic of the flower in the stream is so peaceful. Nice seeing the cats too.
Oh yeah, wisteria can be a problem when it gets too close. Ours isn’t yet but may be coming to get us! It can be trained into a bush but that would be much more pruning than I am capable of. I’d forgotten that wisteria is on the lists of plants toxic to cats. I’m glad you reminded me! Hope you can find a way to get it away from your house. Glad you enjoyed the photos!
Great series!
Thank you, much appreciated!
Nice to hear from you. Very pretty “feral”!
Thank you Bernadette! Madame Curious likes to hear she’s attractive!