Spring is Here!

Posted in Adventures at Home, Challenges by Annie T

I’m pretty sure that the universe really wants me to post some photos of flowers today. Why, you ask? Three reasons, primarily. First, Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge is FLOWERS. Second, the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is SPRING. And third (and most importantly of all), my yard is in full bloom!!! Look at the beautiful spectacle I was greeted with upon arriving home from work today. Spring is really here!!!

In addition to the blossoming pink cherry trees that line the street in front of our house we also have weeping cherry, pear, and crabapple trees that are all blooming. Combine those with my daffodils, viburnum, vinca, and potted dahlias and that makes for a pretty amazing Spring scene!

Pink Dahlia

Vinca

Cherry Blossoms

Pear Blossoms

Crazy Daffodil

Red Dahlias (potted annuals)

Weeping Cherry Blossoms

Crabapple Blossoms

Unfortunately the deer have also realized that Spring has arrived and they are doing their best to gobble up the tasty tulips and azaleas as quickly as they can grow. This was never a problem in the past because Bailey patrolled the yard like it was her job, but it has now become clear that the deer have learned that their german shorthaired nemesis is no longer around to harass them.

Here’s an example of deer destruction in my tulip bed. Photo 1 is from last summer, 2 is what the baby tulips looked like in late March before we went to California, and 3 is what they look like now. Ack!! I have since pushed several pointy sticks into the flower bed (photo 4) to try to prevent the deer from wedging their heads in to snack… it’s not pretty but so far it has worked!

1: Tulips Last Year

2: Tulips in March

4: Deer-Proof Tulip Bed?

3: Deer-Ravaged Tulips

All deer issues aside, after the long, cold winter we had it is really wonderful to finally experience Spring. I’m going to try to spend as much time as possible outside enjoying the weather this weekend, starting off with a 5K trail race tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

22Mar2014

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflection

Posted in Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is reflection:

I captured this photo of a Canadian Goose and his reflection on February 5th during the damaging ice storm that caused hundreds of thousands of power outages in our area. I was wandering around my mom’s icy backyard on snowshoes with my Nikon D90 when I spotted this goose standing at the edge of the pond. Hershey the chocolate lab saw the goose too and took off across the yard towards it. Luckily I had my camera up and ready and was able to snap a few shots as the goose flapped its wings and flew across the ice!

16Sep2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is inside. Here’s what Bailey does when she’s inside!

We joke that Bailey is either “on” (full blast running, hunting and playing outside) or “off” (sleeping peacefully inside). In this photo Bailey is demonstrating her favorite sleeping position: snuggled into her covered “dog den” bed with a comforter tucked over her face for good measure… she’s such a prima donna!

Also, I have to point out that she puts herself into bed this way with no help from us! It’s really a cute sight to wake up to in the morning… 🙂

9Sep2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV

Posted in Challenges, Hikes by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “An Unusual Point of View.” I think that this photo of the beautiful lake at Promised Land State Park in Greentown, Pennsylvania fits the theme fairly well:

I snapped this shot just as Matt and I canoed under a low bridge on a gorgeous October day. It’s hard to believe that Summer’s lush green trees are going to look like this in another month… I can’t wait!! 🙂

13Aug2013

Weekly Photo Challenge AND Bailey is a Finalist in a Photo Contest!

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

First of all, I just learned that this photo of Bailey has been chosen as a Grand Prize Finalist in a photo contest! The winner is determined by popular vote which means that YOU can help Bailey win simply by clicking here and then hitting the “VOTE” button.

I would REALLY appreciate it if you could take a few seconds to vote! Voting is open until August 16th and you can vote once per day. The contest is sponsored by Yakima Racks and the winner receives gifts from Ruffwear (Bailey’s favorite dog gear outfitter), Zukes (Bailey’s favorite treats!) and a $500 Yakima gift card!

In other news, this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is One Shot, Two Ways. The idea behind this challenge is to show the same subject from two angles and I have a fun example to share. The following two photos show Bailey flying through the air about to catch her duck. They were taken from two different cameras at the exact same moment during the same jump. Cool, right?

The first photo was taken head-on by a professional photographer (Key4Prints). I happened to catch the second photo from the bleachers at the exact same time… just as Bailey was contorting her body and snapping her mouth open mid-air in an attempt to catch her duck. While the professional shot is clearly a better photo, I kind of like the second shot because it helps you appreciate what a huge jump this was. Bailey ended up winning her division at this event with a 24+ foot jump!

Thanks for stopping by and, again, thank you to everyone that voted for Bailey in the photo contest!!!! (You can vote here: http://bit.ly/146NFcQ )

22Apr2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “Up.” As you may have noticed, I love to use photos of Bailey whenever possible in these challenges and it just so happens that jumping UP is one of her favorite things to do!

The first photo shows Bailey competing in Big Air at the Dock Daze event in May 2012 and the second photo was taken during the Extreme Vertical competition at the 2010 Delmarva Doggone Fun event. Bailey ended up winning with a height of 7 feet!

11Apr2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Posted in Adventures at Home, Challenges by Annie T

I haven’t been very good about doing the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenges every week, but I like this week’s topic so I thought I would jump back in and participate! Here’s my red-hued take on Color:

Red-Headed Woodpecker (February 2013)

Red-tailed Dragonfly (2011)

Red Dahlia with a grasshopper (Summer 2012)

Bailey with her Red Wubba (June 2011)

Red Jalapeno Pepper (Summer 2012)

Ladybug! (2012)

Red Zinnia (2012)

Red Tomatoes (2012)

Looking at all of those beautiful red veggies and flowers is really making me want to plant my vegetable garden! 🙂 Just a few weeks to go…

13Jan2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination

Posted in Challenges by Annie T

OK, I know that I skipped last week’s “Resolved” photo challenge, but, photo or no photo, I am proud to share that I am going strong on Day 53 of my “Streaking” resolution. “Streaking” was my December challenge to run/elliptical at least a mile a day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s but when January 1st came around I decided to keep the streak going until June 8, 2013 (which happens to be our wedding day). We actually kicked off 2013 with a 2.4 mile RUN — the farthest I’ve run since college — but that’s a story for a different post. 🙂

This week’s Weekly Photo Challenge is Illumination:

Illumination is a topic near and dear to me because Matt and I actually manufacture and sell these lights for a living!

Also related to the week’s challenge topic is the city that we’re traveling to this week:

Nope, not Paris… we’re going to Vegas! We go once a year for a big trade show so we’ll be working hard but I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to find time to eat plenty of yummy food and take lots of photos. 🙂 Have a good week everyone!

1Jan2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Bailey’s 2012 in Pictures

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “My 2012 in Pictures” but I renamed it “Bailey’s 2012 in Pictures” because that’s what it is! Here are photos of Bailey the Little GSP from every month this year: