nature up close | by small means

Archive for the ‘nature up close’ Category

Nature Up Close :: 9

Posted in nature up close on February 23, 2009|

More Yellow – Daffodils – I love the crinkly trumpets, they remind me of cupcake liners.

Nature Up Close :: 8

Posted in nature up close on February 7, 2009|

When I was out yesterday with a photo shoot on the last quilt I found this lovely weed growing in my back yard. I love the cute cluster of seeds in the center. It looks like they are going to open into little flowers before it releases them.

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Nature Up Close :: 7

Posted in nature up close on January 24, 2009|

An Orange

I’ve decided to change the Nature Up Close thing. I don’t like to have that nagging feeling that I need to take a picture in order to reveal the last Nature Up Close. So for now I will just tell you what it is with a link to a bigger picture. I still want to have a guessing game with prizes but that will have to wait a bit.

So, I don’t know if I have mentioned it here or not but we have two orange trees growing in our back yard. I was excited at first about them but our neighbor told us that the fruit was very sour. They were sure right about one of them. The smaller of the two is a different variety and is very sweet and yummy. Seedless too. I was very excited to make this discovery the other day. I don’t know much about growing oranges, but this one, I had to yank off the tree. I actually took down part of the branch with it. This leads me to believe that they will be good on the tree for a while yet, and this excites me. Fresh oranges, all winter!

Nature Up Close :: 6 Broken Snail Shell

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Nature Up Close :: 6

Posted in nature up close on January 18, 2009| 1 Comment »

::5 not a hibiscus but a rose. Both have beautiful petals.

I was out admiring this lovely and fell in love with all the many little veins that each petal has.

I was thinking it was pretty cool that I still had flowers blooming in January but I went outside the other day in order to get a photo of my whole row of roses that are growing in the front yard and I discovered my gardeners handy work. A large pile of roses at the end of my driveway waiting for the garbage man and a bunch of short sticks sticking out of the ground. I didn’t have the heart to photograph them. He reassured me that they’ll grow back bigger and more beautiful if he cuts them this short once a year. So, I’m trying be patient and not too disappointed.

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Nature Up Close :: 5

Posted in nature up close on January 14, 2009| 3 Comments »

This will be your only clue. I think it might look familiar.

:: 4 Green Tomato

I planted these in September just for fun. I had no idea what the growing season was around here so I just gave it a try. Well all was going well until the last storm we had. I went out and found the plant broke right at the base. So, it didn’t quite work but could have if I had it properly staked. Oh well.

I promise this blog wont be all photography. I have my first quilt from my new stack in the works. More on that later.

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Nature Up Close :: 4 – Second Clue

Posted in nature up close on January 13, 2009| 3 Comments »

I couldn’t decide which I liked better so for this one I will give you two clues.

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Nature Up Close :: 4 and a bit about why

Posted in nature up close on January 12, 2009| 2 Comments »

I think this is either really easy or really hard.

:: 3 Puddle Water. Not rain drops but small rocks being tossed in.

I am really loving the weather patterns here in Turkey. It seems we get about 3 weeks or so of clear skies and sun and then a day or so of cloudiness that sometimes brings rain. This last week it also brought a storm. I was awaken one night with very loud thunder and lightning. Very fun. Also, this storm stuck around for about a week. I was starting to think this was what winter is like here. But than one morning the sun was out and it has been out ever since.

This is a small puddle that I found that morning.

So, what is this Nature Up Close thing happening on my blog? I know you are wondering. Well, first and foremost I am in love with nature. I am happiest if I am away from man made structures and out in the middle of it. I am especially fond of forests, but I also love untouched fields, mountains, and oh, I love water in its many forms. I love to examine all the many varieties of life I find in these places. Luckily, since life doesn’t allow me to spend all my time out away from it all, I find just as much happiness discovering all the treasures that are in my own neighborhood, yard, and sometimes even in my own house. I love to examine objects I find and discover all their details. In :: 3 I loved to watch the rings of water in that small puddle. I was amazed to discover that each of those tiny rings would cast a shadow. In :: 1 I was in love with the awesome patterns that were going on on that turtles back. It even gave me inspiration for a new quilt for Magnus.

So, for now, in between crafty endeavours, I am loving my camera and am capturing some of the details of nature that I love so much. Feel free to play along with me but please don’t feel obligated. I’ll post a picture and leave you to guess what it is until the next Nature Up Close posting.

If I still love doing this, in February or so, I may change things around a bit and maybe have a guessing contest or something. With prizes and all. How does that sound?

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Nature Up Close :: 3

Posted in nature up close on January 9, 2009| 1 Comment »

Be specific with this one.

:: 2 Wheat Grass.

This is Thisbe’s latest experiment. How large can wheat grow without any soil.

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Nature Up Close :: 2

Posted in nature up close on January 7, 2009| 1 Comment »

This one is a bit more difficult.

Nature Up Close :: 1 You were right. This is Shy Low. She was one of our new pets, red eared sliders. Sadly she passed on the day after her photo shoot.