purple

purple, originally uploaded by digijinx.

These are some of the new flowers in my yard. I also have some lilacs blooming. Bought some daisies...its a wonderful time of the year!!

Garden in the woods.

yellow lady slipper/shoe, originally uploaded by digijinx.

Set in middle of Framingham, this serene garden in the woods is a beautiful place to visit. It is part of the New England wild flower society and it has its fair share of wild flowers. Once you enter they give you a map of the trail and its just fun to walk around to explore the place. I walked the Curtis Trail and the Lost pond trail. There were pitcher plants, prickly pears and some really pretty wild flowers. There was this one yellow flower called the yellow lady slipper and it was just as cute as a button. Spent almost half of my day there. If you are around the area and are interested in flowers, this place is definitely worth a visit.

Here is the link to the whole set.

Stanley Park

orton effect on the pink flowers, originally uploaded by digijinx.

Stanley Park came as a pleasant, am being subtle it came down as a huge... surprise to me as I headed down there for a little while (which turned out to be the whole day). The drive into the park greeted me with pink,red and purple tulips..and I guessed wow..this is a start ..more tulips and I really didn't expect what came next.

Of course for those of you who do not wish do read this post here is the link to the whole set!! enjoy! There are some pix here and there in this post.

I moved into the rose garden and there was a wedding party there getting pix clicked by the tower. And I also got lucky with a shot a bee on a pretty purple flower.

This is an interesting spot in the park where there is a big tower and some flags hoisted and there is a map of North America on the pavement and kids were playing guessing the states on that.and then there is the rose garden in front of it with two gazebos and a kewl fountain in the middle(where the water sprays crazy with the wind). Of course there were people throwing pennies in the pond. :) There are some benches here and there.

Though the roses weren't in bloom, the lilacs filled the entire garden with their intoxicating fragrance. I have always wondered how maple flowers look like and this time I guess I got lucky to spot them or not!! These were tiny pink ones on the tree.




Check them out in the set. I simply love flowers and you can tell that already. I could hear the sound of water gushing as I stopped clicking these lilacs and clicked some red and white azaleas that were together, makes one contrasting picture and was really kewl to click them.



There was also this statue of a boy and a gal holding an umbrella and it was raining on their parade there, just there. I walked down the path only to find this big pond/lake..let me call it a lake and i cud still hear the sound of water gushing and I just couldn't make out where it was coming from.

There were ducks and swans swimming near the water shed kind of thing with a waterwheel and there was a small waterfall filling up this end of the lake. There was also a covered bridge right in front of me and when I looked to the side there was this huge bridge taking you to the other end where there is a bench..(believe me its sooo serene just to sit there). I wasnt going there yet, need to click all these dont i?

I stopped to smell the lilacs, took a little walk on the bridge and then the tower was playing a song for the newly weds. I heard from the park security that there were actually a total of 4 weddings that day! I walked along the trail to click some squirrels, but nope..they ran away. I wandered along and clicked some purple Plymouth flowers and well..then I noticed this huge bed of light and dark pink flowers by a small wooden bridge. Perfect setting for an Orton effect on a picture. :) I went crazy clicking them.

I then walked along the bridge to the other end to sit on that serene bench and well..I found a tiny little waterfall on the way there and I had to stop to click that. It was really fascinating to click that. With a mild breeze, it was just a picture perfect day. :)

The other end also had its share of surprise, there was a frog pond with a little stone bridge and some croaking frogs and water lilies. I walked along the entire length, took a break on bench..and then reluctantly walked back the trail to get to the main entrance and then went around to the football fields. There were some interesting violets and pretty pink thingys there. I also visited the Japanese rock garden.

All in all it was one eventful evening at Stanley Park and to think I missed visiting this place the last couple of years!! Thats something altogether. That was my first day of adventure this loong weekend. More posts and pix to come, keep watching this space.

golden palace

golden palace, originally uploaded by digijinx.

This place in West Virginia is definitely worth a visit. Its very easy to get lost trying to find this place, not to worry everyone knows where you are going just ask for directions. You make some sharp and steep curves as you go uphill and there are no railings on ur side and you look down only to find this vast abyss...the valley below..its quite scary and adventurous at the same time.The exterior is exquisite as the palace comes into view when you dont know where you are going.
This golden palace started out as a home for the ISKCON head and later on became his shrine.

The inside of the palace has stained glass windows, matching crystal chandeliers (the Austrian crystals on the chandeliers match the color of the stained glass windows),teak doors, sand work on the glass on the door, gold leavings all over...its just breathtaking.

They had a festival going on at the temple when we went down there. There were people singing and dancing everywhere.

Here is the link to the whole set.

Pittsburgh downtown

Pittsburgh downtown, originally uploaded by digijinx.

We made a small pitstop at Pittsburgh downtown to take a look at the three rivers meeting point...it is actually called Point State Park (we learnt that later). I was clicking a lot of shots from the car as we traveled through downtown. It was quite an interesting walk to the Park as we found out that it was closed and we took a small detour to get there and it is quite something! There is this huge fountain near the point where the rivers meet. Pittsburgh supposedly has the largest number of bridges in the country..(i didnt know this before) and to think of all the traffic whew! I pity the people who drive there.

Here is the link to the whole set.

Pittsburgh Venkateshwara temple

Pittsburgh Venkateshwara temple, originally uploaded by digijinx.

Had recently been to visit the Pittsburgh Venkateshwara Temple. It was one helluva drive (took us almost 10 hrs) with all the construction going on in PA! and to think that this temple was at the west end of PA..but it was worth it. This temple is one of the oldest in the US and it is built in different levels. We took our time at the temple. We also visited the Sai Baba temple nearby..man everything up there is on a hill.
Here is the link to the whole set, not many pictures there.

tulips

tulips, originally uploaded by digijinx.

These are some pix of the tulips at the Rose garden. Every year they plant these tulips and they are so pretty and catchy to the eye. Some more orton effect tried here too.

Waiting for June to click the roses...

Here is the link to the whole set.

orton effect

orton effect, originally uploaded by digijinx.

Was trying to dabble with the Orton effect , this picture was taken at the Rose garden,Hartford,CT. It is a very big garden with a lot of things to see. I really enjoy the walk in this perennial garden.

Here is the link to the whole set of misc. flowers @ the rose garden.

Albany Tulip Festival

tulips, originally uploaded by digijinx.

Dutch tulips from their beds
Flaunted their stately heads.
- James Montgomery, The Adventure of a Star

I thought, I almost missed this one, but I didnt. This (Albany Tulip Festival) is a beautiful flower festival that happens in Washington park in the heart of Albany every year around Mothers day weekend. I decided to go there after the festival so that there would be less people and I could shoot the flowers in peace. This year I was surprised to find some tulips with fringes..like lace trimmings at the end, like the one in the picture here. It was yet another beautiful thing to do in Spring.

Here is the link to the whole set, do give yourself enough time as there are 100 odd pictures there.

the church

the church, originally uploaded by digijinx.

There is this beautiful church near the town square in the next city. To add to the beauty it has pink and white dogwood trees just near the entrance! now could I ask for more?? Tried to sneak in some time yesterday to click these pix. Of course there are more dandelions...in the set...still trying to perfect that shot!

Here is the link to the whole set. Enjoy!