Desert Blooms

Desert plants have a special beauty.  

All these gorgeous blooms were photographed on my last trip to Arizona in January.

Bird on a Wire Fence

Linking to Friday Fences

Laid Back

Grass

On Her Last Leg

GRAND CANE, LOUISIANA

LINKING TO TRICIA'S BARN CHARM

Geese

Frizzles

Frizzles are chickens whose feathers curl outward rather than laying flat.  

The Death of Grandeur

The fence along the front of the property is all that remains of a once beautiful Victorian home in a small town about seven miles from us.  A small pile of rubble is all that is visible in the upper left.  I don't know if the home was actually finally demolished (when I first photographed it in 2010 it was unsafe to enter because the floor and ceiling between the first and second floors had collapsed and the front porch was in danger of collapsing) or if the property eventually sold and the new owners tore it down.  Whatever happened, the wrought iron fence remains but the old cannon, the monogrammed iron gate which gated the driveway, and the iron horsehead hitching  posts are no longer present.  For the photograph I took of it two years ago when it was still standing, click here, and the hitching posts are depicted here.

LINKING TO FRIDAY FENCES

Dancing at the Butterfly Ball

Australian Black Swan

Sanctuary

Photographed at Chimp Haven

A sanctuary for chimpanzees who spent the majority of their lives in research laboratories

Part of the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary System

Near Keithville, Louisiana

On the Roadside

I spotted these beautiful wildflowers a few weeks ago growing along the roadside in a rural area.  I  had never seen them before.  A few days later my mom and I were out together and I saw another patch of them in a different area.  She claims she's never seen them before.  There were about three feet tall and the blossoms were almost six inches in diameter.  If anyone knows what this beautiful flower is, let me know.

Giraffe Grace

Fox Theater

Timpson, Texas

I'm not very good with textures because I've been unable to concentrate long enough to figure out the layers application on PhotoShop.  Or maybe better said, I want it now and get frustrated if the learning process is too complicated.  But I have figured out how to import some textures into the little friendly PicMonkey program and I find it an invaluable helper to overcome the washed-out nature of a harsh Texas sun.