Busy bees at Ticonderoga Farm

Last week we had such beautiful weather, it felt like summer - yet looking around the visuals were all about fall. We spent at day at Ticonderoga Farms and I spotted a number of bees working and decided to take a few shots.

I spy with my eye...lots of butterflies!

The last few posts I did on this blog about butterflies were taken at the Smithsonian's Butterfly Pavilion. It's a fabulous experience! But today I wanted to focus on butterflies spotted in the wild over the past year.

In photos: Fall foliage on Skyline Drive

Last weekend we decided to take a ride down the beautiful Skyline Drive. We started at Front Royal (mile marker 0) and drove down to Rockfish Gap (mile marker 105). I wrote a more detailed post on my other blog which included the landscape photos, so on this blog I wanted to focus more on individual items I photographed.

It started off as a bit overcast, but as we traveled through the park the sun came out on some of the mountains. The weather was fantastic and the colors were still very diversified. A couple of mountains were past peak, but the bulk of route contained a nice variety of color.

Pumpkins of all sizes at The Corn Maze in The Plains

Earlier this month we traveled out west on I-66 and visited The Corn Maze in The Plains for some fall family fun. We had a great time! 

In addition to the corn maze, play area, hay ride and other fun, there is also a market. Today's post shares some of the pumpkins we saw.

Pumpkins close up

These were some huge pumpkins! I think they looked larger in person than what they appear in my photo

A bin of smaller pumpkins

Another angle of the super large pumpkins

In photos: Mushroom villages found in my yard

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm still steadily snapping away. Today's post is about mushrooms - I've gotten some interesting looking mushroom communities pop up in my neighborhood over the past couple of months.

These were all taken in my yard - with the exception of the one that looks like a golf ball on a tee.

In photos: Blooming hibiscus in my garden

Last spring we planted a hibiscus plant. I'll be the first to admit I don't know the first thing about these - in fact, until we planted this one I hadn't realized there were different varieties. When it started blooming it looked very different from the other one we had planted a few years back.

Our other is a late bloomer and doesn't last too long, couple of weeks at best. This bush, however, has been steadily blooming all year long consistently. I suspect we'll see flowers through October if the weather stays warm as it does in some years. I hope so anyway!!

Here are some photos of this bush taken over the past few months at various times:

On a rainy morning

Hibiscus bud

Waiting to exhale

Heart of a hibiscus

Long Beach Island: Sunrise at Barnegat Lighthouse

In August we were on Long Beach Island in Barnegat Light. What a beautiful place. Twice I got up before dawn and walked up to Barnegat Lighthouse to watch the sunrise.

Mid-week I also became obsessed with the idea I wanted to get there via seeing the sunrise on the beach, take a walk across the jetty to the sidewalk to the lighthouse. On the second try I did accomplish this and it was a most wonderful experience!!

Here are some views of Barnegat Lighthouse as I approached it (after the sun rose).

Walking along the jetty

arriving at the walkway

Another slightly different angle from the walkway