A Beautiful Day Continued

As I continued my way around the south side of the lake, I found more opportunities to stop and enjoy the sunshine.

Spanish moss dripping from trees like a lacy shawl gives a fairy tale effect to parts of the drive.

More reflections in the water.

There is little more than gray or brown foliage to see, but here some greenery adds a bit of color against the blue reflection of the sky.

A few dried seed pods growing along side the lake.

As I drove along, this boat house caught my attention. Can you see why? I would hate to be responsible for power washing this mess! What attracted the birds to this structure, I don't know, but they obviously feel at  home here!

It looks like they were enjoying the beautiful weather as well!

As I returned home, I decided to drive to the end of our street. Our street dead ends at the lake about three miles down the road. I rarely go down there since no one lives that last mile. I found more beautiful mossy trees at the end of the street. I am so blessed to have so much beauty around me.

 Here is a closer view of the moss. Lovely color of grey-green at this stage.

As I write this post, the sun  is hidden behind clouds and the weather forcaster is predicting a record- breaking winter storm heading across the midsection of our country. We are expecting severe thunderstorms with hail and damaging wind tomorrow followed by more freezing temps. I am thankful God provided a break in winter this past weekend with this beautiful weather.

I pray you all stay safe and warm for the next few days. Spring is on the way!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

This afternoon was a lovely, warm, 75 degrees and the lake and sky was a blue so gorgeous I long to be a poet so I could pen words to do it justice.

 

Last weekend, we attended a wedding reception on the south side of Cross Lake. I had forgotten how pretty that side of the lake is and decided then to take a drive at the first opportunity. Today was the perfect day! I know this beautiful weather won't last, so I made the most of the afternoon.

I hope you enjoy our beautiful corner of Louisiana.

These were taken at Ford Park. Cypress trees are plentiful on the lake and I love taking their picture! They have such unusual shapes and roots. The clear day allowed wonderful reflections in the water.

Notice all the "knees" which are really roots around this grandaddy of a tree.

Doesn't this boardwalk just invite you to walk down and around the corner to see what you can see?

More lovely shadows.

Here are a few things I saw from the boardwalk and pier.

 

 



Lots of water fowl could be seen everywhere. Here is a Mallard and hens who were a little skittish with me around. I was hoping for Pelicans, but maybe another time.

After I left the park, I continued my drive around the lake. I will share more pictures of my outing next time.

I hope your day was as beautiful as mine!

Needing a Break

For the past couple of weeks, I have had little time to prepare a post to share. I have managed to peek at some of my favorite sites, but lest you think I have fallen off the face of the earth,

I have not.

 The weather has been dreary, finally getting a few sunshine days and they are Wonderful! I have a hankerin' to get out and about and hopefully, this weekend, I can do just that. I miss wandering around the countryside, visiting the occasional friendly bovines like the couple I came across above last fall.

Stay tuned for some mossy pics of the beautiful cypress trees on Cross Lake to come in the near future.

S.A.D.

Our area of the country has been under drought. or near drought, conditions for most of 2010.

We finally have begun to see significant rainfall.......as a matter of fact, this is the 3rd day of significant rain. The weather man says we are 14 inches under normal.  I am glad for the rain, really glad, however, I would prefer not to get the whole 14 inches at once! After 3 days without sunshine, I fear I am developing a case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Some symptoms are crankyness, sleepiness and craving for sweets. Hmmmm, I can definitely see a couple of these in my behavior. I understand we have one more day of this before the sun will shine again. I thought looking at a couple of pictures of flowers taken in warm SUNSHINE would help.

Hoping for blue skies soon!

WINTER MIX

The snow I had hoped for didn't happen here. We had some flurries off and on but as you can see, mostly sleet and freezing rain.

The temperature stayed in the low 30's and upper 20's most of the day and night. That is pretty cold for this part of the south.





We are supposed to be in the deep freeze most of this week. The upside is, maybe some of these pesky mosquitos won't make it through the cold weather to harrass us next summer!

Stay warm and dry!

WINTER

This picture is unusual for our part of the south. It was taken last winter when we were surprised with a real snowfall. According to the weather report this  morning, I could awake to a similar sight tomorrow. Could we be lucky enough to have snow two years in a row???

The downside has sleet and icy rain in the forcast as a possibility as well. I don't like ice......for with ice comes downed power lines and for an all electric home, that spells bad news. Especially since we live in the country and are at the bottom of the list for restoral and the temperature is projected to be in the low 20's. Brrrrrr. 

I am hoping for the snow. Will let you know tomorrow.