Juniper at dusk

by Posted in Landscapes, Nature Leave a comment
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I made this picture around 7:00pm on July 26, 2016. The roads around the lake were mostly covered in shadow, but the odd beam of light shone through from time to time – in this case picking out this juniper.

I’m not fond of junipers. When we got our house in Briarcliff Manor we inherited a number of overgrown junipers. I believe that once they get beyond a certain point there’s no way back for an overgrown juniper. All you can do is cut them down. So that’s what I did and not only did I cut them down I also dug out the roots. And very hard work it was too.

Fast forward 18 years and we acquired out lake house and lo and behold we inherited another bunch of overgrown junipers. This time I cut them down, but I’m now older and I didn’t have the will (or I suspect the strength) to dig out the roots.

This one is in a neighbors garden and no matter what the merits of junipers are I loved the light and lovely colors in this shot.

Squirrel-proof birdfeeder – Ha!!

by Posted in Black & White, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
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Not a stunning picture. It was taken quickly and at a fairly long (250mm) focal length through one of our windows. At first I didn’t know what to do about this. There were two options depending on how the squirrel got there. If it jumped from the Japanese Maple behind then the solution would be to move the feeder far enough away from any tree that it wasn’t possible for the squirrel to jump so far. If, on the other hand, it was climbing up the pole then moving it wouldn’t help. In this case I’d have to buy a baffle to put on the pole or above the feeder (or maybe both?). I’ve been observing the situation closely and I’ve determined that the squirrel climbs straight up the pole so it looks like I’ll have the look into getting a baffle(s).

Sweet grape tomatoes???

by Posted in Still Life Leave a comment
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I have a weakness for quirky signs and when I saw this one I couldn’t resist it so out came the iPhone (the only camera I had with me at that time). These are certainly the strangest looking “Sweet Grape Tomatoes” I’ve ever seen. Maybe some kind of heirloom tomato?