Our Crabapple Tree

Nothing special going on here today, so I went outside and did some macro tests.  I love the way this one came out, so am sharing it with you.  Take a look at it at 100% to see how crisp this fabulous camera is!

A macro shot of our crabapple tree.

When we bought this tree from Hayes Nursery in Issaquah (now defunct), it had vivid purple petals, which is why we bought it.  I guess they add something to the soil down there which changed the petals’ colors.  Maybe it’s no wonder they went out of business.  We were severely disappointed when this one started blooming white.

More BBG

Here are the other photos.  I don’t know why Digital Image Pro won’t rotate them properly, but this is the sole reason I have Paint Shop Pro on this computer.

Alex by the suspension bridge over the ravine. This bridge is…very wobbly!

A beautiful tree, of what type I do not know. My guess is some kind of cherry tree, based on the blossoms and bark.

A madrona tree. These are native to this area, yet every time we try to get one from a nursery for the back yard, they tell us madronas do not grow well in yards. ?

Lastly, a purple azalea in the rock garden. This looks great at 100% but kind of blah when I shrink it for the blog post.

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

This is where we went for the Garden d’Lights this winter, with Nana.  Of course, the Garden d’Lights is a nighttime activity, and it was also raining (this was the event that prompted my search for a weatherproof camera).  Other than the course we took on sustainable gardening, this was the first time we’ve been there during the day.  Beautiful day, not too many people around, and a perfect prelude to a lunch at the Bellevue Brewing Company!

A little house that reminded us all of a hobbit house. The door is about 3′ high. No idea what it’s used for.

A strange tree stump that made me think of some prehistoric skeleton.

Macro shot of some white flowers in the rock garden.

Even more macro!

I have more pics, but the image program (again) failed to rotate them properly.  I’ll go work on that and come back to do a second post, or edit this one.

Woodland Park Zoo

Well, the Young Master has been wanting to go there ever since the Christmas season, but we weren’t able to do it.  So I promised him we’d go over spring break.  It seemed an opportune day today, since we had no other plans and it’s midweek.  This was a very good call – the only real problem was all the strollers around!

Also, the weather predictions were for thunderstorms and a 60% chance of rain today.  You will see from my pics just how accurate MSN Weather is.  Groan.

Alex will also be blogging about this, posting his own photos, so you will get two perspectives eventually.

These photos were taken with a Fujifilm X-T1 with the 18-135mm WR kit lens.  All settings were on auto because I haven’t yet had a lot of time to start exploring the nuances of this type of camera.

Bearly managing to get some sleep.

I had to zoom out to fit the whole giraffe in the shot!

Do you see the hidden blue-billed duck?

Lazy kangaroos.

Sculpture of a Komodo dragon. I wanted Alex to sit down on it but he wouldn’t.

Otters.

Anotter otter.

Sea Eagle.

I had to get Alex to stand sideways so I could fit him in the picture 😛

Lazy wolf. I guess when there’s nothing else to do all day, he might as well lie around.

Mountain goat. Good thing he’s not in the same enclosure as the wolf!

Just lion around.

A weird tree stump that seems to be suspended in the air.

Patas monkeys. They can apparently run 35 mph!

Wolves finally acting lively!

An owl…for Nana.

Zebras.