My Tulip tree was Blooming in January

2012 Tulip tree blooming on I couldn't believe the Tulip / Japanese Magnolia trees were  blooming in January like they were.  This picture was taken on 1-20-2017 and showed a neighbors tree starting to bloom

 I was miserable over this since it was way too early and we normally have a freeze about this time.
I was afraid it was going to be like last year were it started to bloom and then a frost came and turn them brownish in color.

This is what my tree looked like on January 24th. I love how gorgeous the tree gets it the weather hold off.

But the freeze didn't come, and I watched.  This was on 1-27-2017

 And this was on 1-30-2017

I thought I had gotten some more pictures of it blooming in early February but they didn't turn out.  Then we had lots and lots of rain and the petals all came down with the rain. And finally you can see how green it was on February 22, 2017.  I had never seen it this green so early in the year.

Here are some previous years posts on the same tree.
2016 Tulip tree blooming on Jan 8 to 2-25
2015 Tulip tree blooming on 2-18 to 3-19
2014 Tulip tree blooming on 2-24-14 to 3-9-14
2013 I was not available when it bloomed.
2012 Tulip tree blooming on 2-17-2012
2011 Tulip tree blooming on 2-26-2011
I started to blog in Oct of 2010 so I really don't have much before that unless I go through my photo albums and get it that way. 

2016 Good Friday visit to Norton Art Gallery - Azaleas

Every year I loved to visit Norton Art Gallery and the park that they have there during the Easter season to see the azaleas in bloom.  This year I went on Good Friday- March 25th, since my family had the day off and I had the free time.  It seemed like it was the perfect day.  The skies were blue and the temperature was in the low 70's. We got there in the late afternoon and the way the sunlight was hitting the trees seemed just perfect to really bring out the colors and contrasts. When I went there it felt like I was getting a taste of heaven - it was so incredibly beautiful.  It seemed like we had gotten there on the perfect day.  Most of the azaleas were in full bloom and there hadn't been a major storm to knock them to the grown so the bushes were magnificent.
   I knew I shouldn't have taken the pictures but I couldn't help it along with many others- they were just to pretty and words just couldn't describe them.  We were using our cellphones and that seemed acceptable.  It is posted not photography but by that I think they were referring to professional photographers.  The thing with these pictures is I took a whole lot more than I thought I did.  I was only going to post a few of them but when I tried to select I had trouble deciding which ones to use.  They all seemed so nice.  I settled for 15 but they kept on changing.  Finally I settled on these 18.  Enough writing here are the images I walked away with-

azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

pink azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

 I just had to get this image of this rock.  Its a sandstone but I really liked the weathering on it.  It was obvious someone else liked it too and had it brought into the area. I could tell it had been position to where it was and wasn't a natural outcrop.  Along with those flowing water features - I can remember a time when they didn't exist.  And I know the person who has put them in.

 Just look at how they look like a river of flowers.

Azaleas at Norton Art Gallery 3-25-2016

 I really liked this water feature they have put in.  Its so peaceful and relaxing to be by.

 All good things must come to an end and the area was closing at 5:30 and had to exit the fenced in area.  At least they had some across the street that we could still look at and get some parting images.

 aren't they magnificent?? could you be there and not want to have taken an image?

Peach blossoms & spring flowers 2-26-2015

I  love looking at this one peach tree and the blossoms on it.  To me its always fascinating to see when they will come out.  This year I got these picture on February 26, 2016.  enjoy.

Peach tree blooming 2-26-2016

 I continued with my walk and saw these lovely flowers too.  I was not expecting to see the azaleas already starting to bloom.  They usually bloom really close to Easter and Easter was a month away.

 Finally when I got home I had to get these images of my Tulip tree.  I was pleased to see it was still blooming like it was.

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2016 Tulip tree blooming

This year I couldn't believe it when I saw some blooms on my tulip tree in January.I got this picture on January 8th.  It really disheartened me to see it blooming so early.  I knew the bad weather was coming and these blooms would be destroyed.  I especially hated that there was so many buds already on the tree.  These too would be affected by the cold weather and this year the tree just wouldn't be as spectacular as it has been in the past.
 
This year I still did take some pictures to keep track of its blooming.

 I liked the colors of the blossoms and the sky

 But as I feared the blossoms got that brownish tinge to them from the cold weather.

 I had to go out of town for a week and when I came back my tree wasn't doing as well as my neighbors tree.  It was pretty  spectacular.  It amazed me that two of the same type of trees would have a slightly different blooming schedule.  Her tree avoided the freezing weather and that was why it got to be so spectacular.  Mine just has been blooming but over more time.

 That still allowed me to get some good pictures like this one.

 Then we had a couple of really windy days and all the old brownish color blossoms fell off leaving the younger healthy ones.  Here's how the tree looked after the blustery days.

Here are the pictures I took today 2-25-2016

 It's still very pretty and I do love having the tree and seeing it in bloom.  I was right about my concerns because usually the tree is more spectacular than this when all of it is in full bloom at the same time.

I do love watching this tree in Spring.  You never know how its going to look from day to day.

The Muscovy ducks came back this spring (2015)

Last January I was out walking my dogs and was surprised to see that the   Muscovy     ducks had come back to the area. I had written about them before when they tried to get my cats food last March, 2014  ( cat-trying-to-eat-while-Muscovy ducks-lurk.  ).  Shortly after that post the ducks seemed to have left the area.  I couldn't tell if they had been gotten by some dogs or other wild life in the area or if they had flown off to another area.  Now it seemed like they had flown back to this area to breed again.
   Last year my dogs were just puppies and they weren't used to the long walks at that point so they never really saw the ducks, except when they came to the yard last year. This time as they were walking they got all excited to see them.  Needless to say they wanted to chase after them.  I got my cellphone out and got these few images.

 They couldn't get to that duck fast enough and you should have seen them stop dead when that duck decided to fly off. It was the funniest thing.  I could tell they weren't expecting a duck to just up and fly away. 

A couple of days later we saw the ducks again only this time there were more of them.

 This time the dogs seemed to know better than to try and go after them.

 Over the last couple of months we've been seeing these ducks in the neighborhood.  They walk the sidewalks like they're one of the neighbors and just make themselves at home where ever they feel like.

They are a little more skiddish because of the dogs and I wasn't able to get as good images as I have in the past.

They've been fun to have in the area.  It seems like they've left the area again.  I do hope they will comeback next year.

Here's the link to Wikipedia's information on the Muscovy_duck s.