Category: Flowers

As 2018 draws to a close we look back in gratitude for all the magic we found in nature.

a pen and her cob in the river

swan parents with cygnets

blue tit

a friendly cob

male mallard

young cygnets

oystercatcher

curlew

seagull

redshank

herring gull

wigeon

pigeon

black capped gull

seals

red squirrel

We followed a pair of swans as they raised their first brood together, watched herring gulls dive for fish, were greeted by friendly mallards on our walks by the river. We saw squirrels and seals. We met oystercatchers, curlew, redshank, goosander, turnstones, wigeon and pigeons, sometimes as curious about us as we were about them.

chive blossom

yellow poppy

lilac rose

bellflower

raindrop on young fern

buttercup

sweet pea

orange poppy

snapdragon

white currant blossom

ripe blackcurrant

raindrops on grass

green apple

ice crystals on leaf

We enjoyed the magic of macro, looking closely at blossoms, flowers, at ripening fruit. Raindrops captured the light and a reflection of our world. Ice crystals shimmered on the edge of an evergreen.

clouds in the water

spring leaves

a mountain in a stone

reflections in a waterfall

snow fields in the mountains

water lilies

moss on a tree stump

Loch an Eilein

autumn colours

sunset

autumn glory

mist over the kyle

We saw clouds wandering across a pond, the first leaves of Spring, a mountain inside a stone by the river. The snow fields were slow to leave the higher ground, even when the water lilies were blooming. Our Autumn was glorious and the mist over the Kyle on Solstice day guided us into Winter.

A very big thank you to all our followers and fellow bloggers for their kind comments and support since we started this blog.

We really appreciate those fellow bloggers who host challenges too. A special thank you to Cee Neuner for hosting her Flower of the Day, Frank Jansen for his wonderful prompts at Dutch Goes the Photo, Patti, Amy, Tina and Ann-Christine for hosting the Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge, the team at the Rag Tag Daily Prompt for their Daily Writing and Photo Prompts, the team at dVerse for their poetry prompts, Frank J Tassone for his Weekly Haikai Challenge and last and certainly not least, Kristjaan Panneman at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai for hosting the haiku prompts and retreats that we have supported throughout the year.

Thank you again for all the love. We wish you and your loved ones a blessed and very happy New Year.

With love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

The annual review on our sister blog Whippet Wisdom can be found here.

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #26: Photographic Review of 2018