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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Top Ten Challenge

This week my blog is celebrating its third birthday--third as in three months!  As a newbie I often follow the lead of other bloggers when it comes to posts like Wordless Wednesday, Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, and Foliage Follow up.

The past few days I've been reading excellent posts that look back on 2011.  Writing a retrospective on new blog wouldn't work, but I did find my inspiration in the form of a challenge from Les at A Tidewater Garden by way of Digging.  When Greggo's garden also posted his beautiful favorites, I naturally wondered if I could also find ten favorites in the 34 posts so far in my brief blogging career.

Finding ten I liked was pretty easy and much of the credit goes to the beautiful, photo-op packed city of San Antonio where I live.

Before we get to the photos, there are a few things to say about blogging so far.  I enjoy blogging and the connection it provides to other bloggers around the world.  The best part has been making new friends with common interests.  In sharing this beautiful city of San Antonio with you, I have learned to see it in a different way.

It's been such a fun three months I plan to keep on going and you'll also see some improvements to the look of the blog along the way.  For the first big change I've made my photos larger and what better post to start with than the ten favorites.

Without further ado, here are my selections with a bit of extra commentary:

This swallowtail at The Antique Rose Emporium almost looks photoshopped.  Lots of patience and many more swallowtail photos that didn't make the cut were behind it.



 
Spot and the Jack-o-Lantern at The Antique Rose Emporium.  Spot needs an agent, he loves cameras and consistently poses on cue.  Perfect, good job Spot.  That's a wrap!




Fish curving around waterlily pads at The Japanese Tea Garden.  I was trying to get fish in the photo and the curve was a bonus.



Another look at those amazing waterlilies in the ponds at the Japanese Tea Garden

 


Rainbow Gardens #3 on Bandera Road.  I love ornamental grasses and this huge display with perennials was fun to experience


The prehistoric looking Wheel Bug caught my eye



December brought rain and a rare opportunity for rainy day photos.  The leaves above held and released large drops creating the ripples.



A Cardinal makes a fresh start for New Year's Eve.  Bright color against the rocks.



Ft. Sam Houston cemetery is a place I usually drive past, but on this day I stopped to remember and take photos.




The San Antonio River Walk during holiday weeks is festive and full of visitors from around the world.


Those are my ten favorites and I look forward to posting many more photos and stories in 2012!

12 comments:

  1. Your pictures are beuatiful. You've done a wonderful job capturing the beauty and sites around you. It has been such a pleasure following your blog and connecting with a fellow gardener in SA. I agree...blogging is fun:)

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  2. Happy Birthday! I think my fav is the Wheel Bug, its a very interesting photo with the slice of Opuntia from that angle.

    So you've just done something I've been planning to tackle for awhile, the photo enlarging thing. Can you lead me to a tutorial or give some hints on how you did it? If it's easier to email my address is spikyplants at gmail dot com. I appreciate any hints you're willing to share!

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  3. Happy Blog Birthday!
    Blogging is fun, isn't it? You get to meet so many nice people.

    I love all your photos. Glad you decided to make them larger. I like that look, too.

    Looking forward to even more great posts from you.

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  4. Thank you so much RW, I enjoy reading your blog too.

    DG - Thank you, that opuntia is native to the backyard and I didn't see them as special until I started reading your blog. I'll email you details on the photo question later today, the basic idea is to enlarge the margins, expand the middle body section and reset the size of your sidebars.

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  5. Shirley, I've enjoyed all three months of your posts and have learned a lot about San Antonio in the process. I'm glad you'll keep on blogging! Your picture picks are lovely -- my favorite is the papyrus leaning over the rippling water. Thanks for the link love too!

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  6. Yes photos are fun! They really get my creative juices going. Thanks for the link love too!
    I don't know what I'm going to do now that I don't have any relatives in Central Texas anymore. I guess I'll have to rely on bloggers to keep posted. ha. Nice photos. I think I like the cardinal photo the best as I love the water bowl.

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  7. Thank you Greggo. The bird bath gets lots of attention so I'll plan a post about my hypertufa projects soon.

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  8. And many of my favorites all all right here, commenting! Great picks...I'll enjoy them all, so I don't have to do any!!

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  9. These are great shots! I like the Swallowtail and especially the San Antonio Christmas walk....oh how I'd love to go back again and visit during that time. As for the cardinal, well you already.....that's also a great shot. I'd frame that one and hang it up. The birdbath is beautiful.

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  10. Thank you so much Rohrerbot! Hadn't really thought of framing them, nice idea though.

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