playing with the camera.

Boy, I’ve got a lot to show you. If you’re just tuning in, I’m playing with the new camera today, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5.

Exhibit A: The Power of Zoom or, it’s too bad there’s nobody around here to spy on.

And now, for the zoom…

Yowza!

Let’s do that again, shall we?

Exhibit B: I’m ready for my close-up now, Mr. DeMille…

I don’t know what this is. It’s in the driveway. I’ll have to figure it out. Stay tuned.

 

White baneberry. The berries have ripened up – they’ve been green up until recently.

 

Remember I told you about how false Solomon’s seal – how the berries, in the process of turning red – look speckled? Well, here’s my own picture. No stealing others’ pictures off the interwebs.

Today’s new species: Hog peanut (Amphicarpa bracteata). It’s this sweet little vine. Well, I say “sweet” – I suppose the plants it’s busy climbing all over might take issue with that. 

I’m pretty sure this is a Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium dubium?). I took this from like, 15 feet away. Drool.

And now for a mini photo essay on Queen Anne’s Lace

If you really want to trip out on Queen Anne’s Lace, check this out.

Tired of flowers? Want a hummingbird?

Exhibit C: My excuse for not having tracked down the progress of many early spring flowers

OK, so one of the first things to pop up this spring along the shared driveway is blue cohosh. This is what the plant looked like when I first wrote about it:

So…hard to miss, right? Just a couple feet in from the driveway, and right up next to a big red maple, and uh, a BIG SHRUBBY THING, I mean, big! bushy! lots of it!

Here’s the spot, as of today. Cohosh? What cohosh? All these ENORMOUS FERNS are hiding it.

Ah, but with the power of zoom…here are ripening cohosh berries, hidden in the profusion of ferns…

Speaking of berries which are blue, please admire all the stains I got on my pants today…

…obtaining another six pounds of blueberries from the orchard down the road. Bringing the freezer total to 31 pounds.

 

Thank you, my love, for my early birthday present!