Flowers at the Zoo

At the San Diego Zoo, not only is there an amazing array of animals and trees, but flowers too! They filled every available corner of the zoo. I am unsure of the names of most of these, but I still wanted to share these anyway. Are you ready to check them out? Let’s go!

In the area where I photographed the Mandarin Duck, there was this tree that was just glorious with its shades of pink, yellow and orange.

In the pink!

Birds of Paradise were everywhere!

Bird of Paradise

This water lily was most striking!

Water lily

There were some pretty unusual flowers too! This next shot reminds me of a brush.

Brush like

We came across a tree that had orchid-like flowers.

Clusters of lavender and red

Here are flowers that remind me of fried eggs! I do know that this is a California native.

Fried eggs

Then we came upon an odd looking, hairy and sticky flower!

Odd and sticky too!

Spiky flowers were everywhere, and here are two different varieties.

Splash of orange

Spidery

This last photo is of a shrub that I have seen in Arizona. It has no leaves and is topped by an amazing red flower.

Vibrant red

I hope that you have enjoyed these photos! Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thank you for stopping by today!

Triple Crown!

Inspiring is defined as having an animating or exalting effect. I have once again been honored with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by three amazing bloggers!

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

My humble thanks go out to Susan at Gasm Travels; Julie at Cookie Crumbs to Live By; and to Shlehora at Shlehora!

The rules of this award:

1 – Display the award logo on your blog (top). Done!
2 – Link back to the person who nominated you. Done!
3 – State 7 things about yourself. This and the remaining are below!
4 – Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5 – Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

7 things about myself:

* I love it when it snows!
* My first pet was a toad whom I name Ferdinand Magellen
* I love the patterns found on the Zebra
* I love a good avacado
* On our recent cruise I ate 3 lobster dinners!
* I love to write
* I love yellow roses and white carnations

Now I am to nominate 15 bloggers. This is where I cheat…with less than the 15! Here are my nominations:

Lily Mugford
Sustainabilitea
Julia Bailey
Ruth Nina Welsh
Cindy’s Art Blog

Congratulations to you all! You are very inspiring indeed!

Enjoy your Tuesday and have a great day!

Barking at the Zoo!

As you might have figured out by now, I love the textures and patterns that can be found in tree bark. The San Diego Zoo has an unusual array of shrubs, trees and flowers. So for today, I thought that I would share with you some of the amazing bark that I captured while visiting the zoo! Shall we take a look?

Let’s start with the amazing bark on the Sycamore tree. I love the contrasts that can be found on this tree’s bark.

Sycamore

The Eucalyptus is best known for its peeling bark, each shred showing off the inner beauty found at its core!

Eucalyptus Bark

Another shot!

After visiting the elephants we came across this tree. I am not sure what the name of it is, but I can say that this tree was definitely looking at me! It kind of looks like an owl doesn’t it?

Eye see you!

I also came across a tree with a lovely rust colored bark. There was an interesting knob on this tree that caught my eye!

Knobby

Then I found this one that actually had spines!

Spiky bark

Tree barks are mostly shades of brown, gray and rusts. But I did find this one with a green colored bark!

Green

Stay tuned for some of the amazing flowers I discovered at the zoo! Now go out and have a great Monday and may the week be a good one for you! And, of course, thank you for stopping by!

A Kiss for Mother’s Day!

Who does not love a big, huge kiss from their sweetheart? Of course, it does depend on who the kiss comes from, don’t you think? Well, I got to witness one big kiss that totally tickled my heart. Maybe it will tickle yours too!

Where did I witness this kiss? At the San Diego Zoo! The kissers? The Rhinoceros! So before we get to the kiss, how about we check out the two that reside at the zoo? While this is not my favorite animal…it does come close to the elephant!

Now the two Rhino’s were in different enclosures. One was enjoying the water, and the other was getting face scratches from a docent. When the one in the water stood up, this was my first view of it!

My first view of the Rhino

Here is the other one getting face scratches. Notice there is a fellow right behind the head as you can see his leg just behind the Rhino’s leg and the top of his hat behind the right ear! If Rhino’s could purr, this one was!

Face scratches

The one in the water decided to play with a ball that was just at the edge of its pool.

Playing!

The other Rhino, having been satisfied with its face scratching decided to lie down.

Do I look enticing?

We notice that the other Rhino, the one in the pool, decides it has had enough with the water and starts to move out.

Coming out of the pool and heading towards…

Sauntering gracefully, it heads towards the other Rhino. Reaching the gates on the enclosure it leans its head down. The other Rhino raises its head. And through the gate they share a kiss!

The Kiss!

I feel very fortunate to have captured this special moment!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mom’s! May your day be truly special! And, thank you for spending a bit of time with me today!

The Beauty of a Gull

While on our cruise recently, each time we came into a port, the ship was visited by a variety of seagulls. They were pretty much looking for something to eat, and while most folks ignored them I had some pretty amazing conversations with them! They were hams when asked if they would mind being photographed. So, today I will be sharing with you some of those moments spent with these lovely birds. See if you can see what they are saying!

So, what do you make of the conversations?

I hope that you have enjoyed today’s post! Thank you for stopping by today! Have a great Saturday!

Patterns – A WordPress Photo Challenge!

This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge subject are patterns. On our recent cruise, I was able to get a number of amazing photos, including patterns! Maybe I was psychic that WP would pick this subject? Or, could it be that this is something I always look for when taking photos? I love patterns, and have taken photos of patterns for years. So this is a mixture of two different types of patterns. One: Man-made; the other found in nature!

Without further ado, if it’s patterns you want, it’s patterns you get!

Lines of color

Rectangles

Stacked lounge chairs

Reflections

Tile

A spider web

Spiral staircase

Barrel cactus

I hope that you not only enjoyed the patterns but the contrasts between man-made and nature!

Please do check out some of the other posts for this challenge…you can get there by clicking here!

Thank you for stopping by today, and have a great Friday!

Memories of Scents – A Wild Weekly Photo Challenge!

Our sense of smell is major in our lives. An odor, fragrance, or a scent can in an instant bring back a memory of a place, an event, or even a person! There is a certain scent that I sometimes find in a place that reminds me of the building my Grandma lived in. Or of her cooking. The sweet fragrance of a honeysuckle reminds me of where I lived as a child in the spring when that flower was in full bloom. Looking at photos too, can remind you of a scent or a fragrance or an odor! So, while I’m participating in this week’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge #31 on Scent, I challenge you to experience the scents that my photos depict!

There is nothing more magnificent that the lovely gentle, or strong scents that can come from a beautiful rose! See if you can smell this one!

The smell of a rose!

Can you smell the fresh cut grass?

Fresh cut grass

Or how about the pungent aroma that surrounds these horses?

A bit horsey!

There is definitely nothing quite like the smell of a Bay when the tide goes out.

Coyote Point

I love the smell of a campfire! How about you? Can you smell it?

A crackling fire

The smell of sulfur rising off of a caldera still lingers in my memory and I am reminded of it when I look at my photos of the Kilauea volcano.

The sulfur smell of a volcano

I love the crisp clean smell of the air after it rains.

The smell after it rains

And I do love the salty smell of the ocean as it ebbs and flows along a beach!

The smell of the ocean

I do have to head inside though to share this one with you! There is something that is just plain comforting about the smell of a freshly baked apple pie. Can you smell the apples and the cinnamon?

Apple Pie

Of all of the above photos, which one could you “smell” the best? Please let me know by leaving me a comment on the LetsBeWild Challenge. You can get there by clicking here! Just look for my black and white kitty gravatar and my name, Barb!

Now go and have a wonderful Thursday, and thanks for stopping by today!