Love, Joy and Peas: March 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

First Flowers of Spring and Floral Friday Post of 2015

Happy floral Friday and spring! Spring is my favorite season and I'm so glad it's here. I hope you enjoy this first of my 2015 "this week in my Maryland garden" posts.

Thank you to those who have continued to ask for flower photos. It's great to finally have fresh flowers to share again and it sure is nice to see them blooming in our yard. The crocuses are our first blooming bulbs. I love the vibrant purple in the ones pictured above.

The hellebores are our first blooming perennials. The burgundy are my favorite but the white (two photos down) are really pretty too.

Most of the pansies did survive the winter, although they are not as robust looking as they could be. They will probably perk back up once the frosts are over, although that could be later than usual this year. It has certainly felt like a colder than average winter.

I like the red freckles on the inside of the white hellebore plants.

The first pansy in this post (above) was planted in the ground. This purple pansy was in our deck box. The deck box pansies don't look near as healthy as the ones in the ground but I hope they'll perk back up too.

I wish you a happy Friday and weekend and a wonderful spring! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Wheelbarrow pansies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-wheelbarrow-full-of-pansies-for.html
Daffodil, pansy and cyclamen: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/03/daffodil-pansy-and-cyclamen-flower.html
Pansy and spring poem: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-spring-poem-crocus-and-pansy.html

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Gorgeous Geese for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! I took photos of these gorgeous geese on my walk today. It's always a blessing to see wild animals in the great outdoors.

I got as close as I could without getting in the water because I was hoping to see some baby geese but I guess it's too early in the season for them. These two geese took turns checking me out.

But they obviously didn't think I posed a danger because they resumed eating. I love how flexible their necks are.

Just when I thought they were getting comfortable some other people approached and the geese swam away. But it was nice to see the geese and watch them feed for a while.

I have some interesting but not great quality photos of the eagle nest (and one of the eagles sharing it) at the National Arboretum. Usually I try to post just nice (or better) quality photos here but someone asked to see them anyway so if you'd also like to see them please let me know.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you this springtime and always!

Related posts:
Baby geese: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/goose-family-photographs.html
Wet & wild birds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/wet-wild-birds.html
Anna's hummingbirds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/hummingbird-photos-by-anna-horner-for.html

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Cute Chipmunk on Bird Ball

Happy Wild Wednesday! I wasn't sure I'd have anything to share this week as I've had migraines but I thought/prayed that if something fell in my lap I'd share it. To my surprised I then looked out the window and this cute chipmunk was just begging to be photographed. He's been too fast for me even on days that I was feeling better so the fact that he just sat on top of the bird feeder ball for these photos definitely feels like a hug from the Lord.

If you compare this photo with the previous one you can see that his eyes got bigger. This little cute animal was watching me intently as I took photos.

Here's an overview of the adorable chipmunk atop the bird feeder ball. I've seen him hanging upside down and grabbing the seeds but he usually runs off when I get the camera (yet another reason to feel blessed by his cooperation today).

Here's a macro / extreme zoom photo of his cute little face. I'm thankful for the opportunity to photograph his cuteness and the Lord's blessing despite my headaches.

Thank you for visiting! Which photo did you like best? May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Cute cat in sombrero: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/moose-cat-rocks-sombrero.html
Baby tigers in snow: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/02/baby-tigers-playing-in-snow-photos.html
Cute little otters: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/otter-cuteness-for-wild-wednesday.html

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Happy St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Cat

Happy St. Patrick's Day! May God bless you and yours today and always! I doodled the above inspirational art with the words lucky, blessed and fortunate in honor of the holiday and have it in a little black frame by our computer.

I did a bit of freehand quasi-calligraphy for the cards we mailed to our closest family members (leaving space at the top for a salutation and below for a handwritten note and our signatures) and decorated them with festive St. Patrick's day themed stickers.

Moose is getting on in age and is currently suffering quite a bit from arthritis so I didn't put a costume on her this year (I'll post links to previous years below though) but did manage to sneak in this green "crown" for a St. Patrick's Day photo. It's really a pedicure toe separator but I thought it was cute.

I'm wearing four-leaf clover earrings and thanking God for all the blessings He's allowed in my life. How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?

Thank you for visiting! I wish this Irish blessing for you:

May joy and peace surround you,
contentment latch your door,
and happiness be with you now
and bless you evermore!

Source for Irish blessing: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/02/Irish-Blessings-for-Luck.aspx?p=2

Related Posts:
My all time favorite funny cat photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/03/hilarious-happy-st-patricks-day-cat.html
Moose with St. Patty's braids: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/funny-st-patricks-day-photos-of-moose.html
Funny cat in leprechaun braids: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/03/funny-st-patricks-day-cat-photos.html

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Beautiful Birds in Snowy Maryland

As promised in my last snowstorm related post, here are the best of my bird photos from the day after that heavy snowfall. I've had requests to renew my "Wild Wednesday" posts so decided to start today. Thank you to everyone who visits my blog and encourages my writing and photography! I appreciate your comments and support!

The yellow finch in the image above was leery of my camera pointing at it from the window but settled in and resumed feeding after a few seconds.

I think this is a "junco" though I'm not sure which type. They visit frequently but tend to feed more on the ground droppings from the bird feeders than up on the feeders themselves so I don't get many pictures of them. Perhaps that's why I especially liked this one.

These mourning doves truly stick together. Sometimes I suspect they see this bird feeder as their nest because they spend so much time in it.

This suet cake feeder was really close to the window and it took quite a while for the woodpecker to let me raise the camera. The birds don't seem to mind me at the window (or even my cat!) but they don't like the camera.

The titmouse was the most suspicious and toughest to photograph of the birds featured in this Maryland snow blog post so even though it's a tad blurry I love that I caught him at all and especially with the fat seed in his mouth.

Which photo did you like best? What are your favorite birds? Do you feed the birds in your area? Are you excited that spring will be here soon? I sure am! May God bless you this springtime and always!

Related posts:
Hummingbirds by Anna: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/hummingbird-photos-by-anna-horner-for.html
Wet & wild birds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/wet-wild-birds.html
Fish grabbing birds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/04/fish-grabbing-bird-photos.html

Friday, March 6, 2015

Maryland Snowstorm Photos

Yesterday's heavy snowfall left almost a foot of snow on the ground in my part of Maryland. While it hadn't risen above freezing when I took the sunny photos in this post, the sun was strong enough to start melting things. I hope you enjoy these snapshots from during and after the storm and pray that wherever you are, God keeps you safe and warm.

The icicles on this majestic pine tree were even prettier in person.

This giant holly hedge was starting to sag under the weight of the snow during the storm.

These are the same hollies but the photo was taken later in the day as it started to get dark.

The squirrels seemed to hide during the worst of the storm but definitely took advantage of today's sunshine to raid the bird feeders. I'm planning a follow up post of post snowstorm bird photos so be sure to come back soon to see them.

May God bless you and those you love!

Related posts:
Baby tigers in snow: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/02/baby-tigers-playing-in-snow-photos.html
Snow loving sea lion: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/02/sea-lion-loves-snow.html
Snow bird videos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/01/yellow-finch-and-red-snow-birds-feeding.html
Snow bird photos & poem: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/01/snow-bird-photos-and-haiku-poem.html
Snowy morning: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/02/snowy-morning-in-maryland.html