A Belated "J"

"J" is for Japanese Maple

I was away from home all week last week and did not post my ABC Wednesday "J" image (nor anything else.) I left home for an unplanned absence on Sunday afternoon after the Stamp Camp was over. At that time, the Japanese Maple tree in my front yard had only leaf buds, and no flowers. I got back home on Friday night, but had so many things to take care of that I didn't look at the tree until Saturday; it was very much as you see it above, fully leafed out and flowering.


I love the Spring and Fall colors of this tree. Spring foliage is rust, tinged with green and maroon. The light in this photo, taken this morning, makes the leaves appear more rust than they actually are. In a few weeks, the leaves will be a uniform green which will last through the Summer months. Cooler weather turns the leaves a deep maroon.


The sun is shining today, after a night of light thunderstorms and rain. During my absence, the rain gauge in my back yard registered 3.5". I emptied it yesterday afternoon and there is another 1/2 inch right now. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow. I won't have to water the flower beds for quite a while.


I'm not only behind with posting, but reading and commenting on my favorite blogs. I shudder to think how many good posts I missed last week. If I've been a regular commentor on your blogs (and if you even noticed that I'd "gone missing,"), I've not abandoned you, it will just be a while before I can catch up.

I hope you're all having a great week!

Can It Really Be Fall? - Post 92

Dogwood branch

While I was outside this morning looking for a Sky Watch photo op, I spied my neighbor's dogwood tree and was captivated by the beautiful leaves. Dogwoods and Bradford Pears are almost the only trees in our neighborhood that have begun to develop much color. The same neighbor's Sycamore tree has only a few bright gold leaves on it, and even the maples are just now beginning to display the beginnings of their fall glory. Arkansas trees can be very beautiful in the fall, but it sometimes takes a while for the color to develop. Then, with the first hard freeze, it's all gone... overnight, in most cases.

The branch pictured above hangs almost over the fence which divides our lots. The tree trunk on the right is inside my yard.

Sky Watch - Post 81

Not a cloud to be seen anywhere today! Hooray!

We've had quite enough rain lately, thank you, so it's nice to look out my front door this morning and see clear, blue skies. To keep you from having to look at a totally blue photo, I included a couple of trees in my shot. Thanks to cooler weather, the maple tree across the street is beginning to get a few tinges of fall color. For some interesting information on what causes changes in foliage color, visit Jeannelle's post today on her blog Midlife by Farmlight .

Sky Watch was created by Dot and is now brought to you by our friends Imac, Klaus, Sandy and Tom. Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursday