There’s a lot happening here this weekend so I knew I needed to get my link up to Kent’s Project 52 earlier than usual.

Although I expect to love my new lens, my 50mm/1.4 will always be my favorite lens. This project gets me out there using it, and finding new ways to use it. I was surprised at what great landscape shots it took in Oregon. My favorite shot with the 50mm is to open it up wide and shoot in close. It’s almost always sharp and pretty. (Although this week the two shots I took of a beautiful magnolia blossom were both too soft.)

I walked to Highland Park early in the week. I knew the lilacs were starting to bloom, and the annual Lilac Festival begins tomorrow. If you want some peace and quiet in the part, that’s not the time to visit. We love to go over at least one night to grab dinner from one of the food carts or tents, listen to some music, and admire the lilacs, but it’s not great for photography. All but one shot this week came from the park.

Every year there’s a pansy bed, always planted in some kind of pattern. This year’s is the most unusual; it’s planted to create a large white arrow!

A shot of the park. It’s even more beautiful now than it was earlier in the week. My friend and I drove by after dinner last night, and it was stunning. There are over 500 lilac bushes. You can smell them from the car.

This is my pick for the week. Not a lilace after all, and worse yet, I’m not sure what kind of tree it is.

Here’s one last photo. This one is of our street at the far end that goes into the Colgate Divinity School property.

It seemed like a long wait for spring this year, but it’s always worth waiting for.

This week’s photos are a little of this and a lot of spring. We’ve had an entire week of above average temperatures and all-day sunshine. It’s been glorious, and according to our favorite meteorologist it’s going to last most of the coming week as well.

Sunday Tracy and I walked to Park Ave. for breakfast. As we passed our neighbor, Marge’s, house we stopped by her garage sale. She’s about to enter the Peace Corp for two years serving in Moldova. I’ve been looking for a working vintage typewriter for awhile, and she had one. I was happy to take it off her hands.

Monday night we hosted our duplicate bridge group. When I asked for a dessert suggestion, Tracy was quick to reply, “Cathy’s cake.” Our friend brought this chocolate praline cake last month and it was divine. You can find the recipe here.

Although I took a lot of photos this week, most of them were with my iPhone on my daily walks. The rest of the 52/50 photos came from our yard.

This photo of our Korean Pear tree is my pick for the week. 

More photo inspiration can always be found at Kent Weakley’s P52 Project.

We’ve had several days of warmer weather, and it looks like spring has arrived. These photos were taken on Monday when I walked to the park to see what was in bloom. Tracy and I walked through the park again today, but I had my wide-angle lens on so none of today’s photos will work for this project. It’s amazing, though, how much more has blossomed in just a few days.

Our street dead-ends at the Colgate Divinity School property, and I often walk across their lawn on my way to the park. Not many signs of spring here, but I love the way the beautiful building stands out against the clear blue sky.

Not many of the magnolias were in bloom on Monday, but almost half of them were today.

The current challenge at Image City is to take a photo with the camera no more than four feet from the ground. I’m finding it a very difficult task. These daisies are very tiny IRL.

Here’s this week’s pick. Highland Park is known for it’s extensive collection of lilacs. They are just beginning to bud, and should be right at peak the second week in May when the Lilac Festival begins. I’m linking this up at P52.

It’s been a whirlwind of activity since we arrived home (on time!) Wednesday night. It’s amazing how much mail accumulates in nearly three weeks and then there’s the empty refrigerator to fill, suitcases to unpack, and multiple appointments and errands. So here we are again on Saturday with another week gone by. 

Sarah, Tracy, Caleb, and I hiked the Orson-Todd Trail on Tuesday. There’s an entrance to it just down the street from Sarah’s house. All the photos were taken on our hike. Caleb alternated between the backpack and walking on his own. I’m guessing he did close to half the walk on his own power (that’s about a mile.)

The view from the top of the trail was simply gorgeous, and it’s the pick for this week’s 52/20 project which I’m posting on Kent Weakley’s P52.

The light on the mountains/hills is almost always dramatic and beautiful. It’s a really wonderful place to live. I’m hoping to get time to visit all of you in the next day or two. I imagine there are a lot of posts to catch up with!

This week has flown by even though we haven’t done much besides just hang out with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb. I almost missed the fact that today is the last day to post this week’s 52/50 project. I actually have taken a few (very few) photos of some flowers and the park, but most of them have been of Caleb, of course. So here are a few from this week and the pick for the 52/50 Project on Kent Weakley’s P52.

We took Caleb to a new park, and he was thrilled to find a slide short enough for him to come down by himself. He did it over and over.

It’s about simple pleasures. Caleb has a little stool, and he loves to use it to climb up and sit on his toy chest. Sometimes he takes a toy or a book with him.

For a fifteen month old, Caleb has a wonderful attention span, and Legos seem to hold his attention the longest of all.

I have many more photos of Sarah with Caleb since she’s home with him all day (and she spent three weeks with us in the fall.) I was so happy to get this one of Caleb with his dad!

I’m not sure why, but this turned out to be my favorite of the week. I think it has to do with the photo/heart connection that Rinda posts each month for Kat’s monthly project. Those big brown eyes just melt my heart. I’ll be posting this one on the P52 post.

Hope you’ve had a great week! The weather here was simply beautiful today–sunny and warm. Tracy and I ran an errand after church and walked the length of main street in Ashland. We didn’t even need our coats. It’s still hovering around freezing in Rochester, and there’s still snow on the ground. I’m hoping Spring will show up there before we get home!

After another gray, dreary week in western New York, we were thrilled to have a sunny day for our trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was still cool, but not nearly as cold as it’s been. 

We’ve been going to Niagara-on-the-Lake to the Shaw Festival with our friends, Mike and Karen, for over 15 years now. A few years ago, we started going twice-once in March to buy the tickets and again in October for a weekend away at a bed and breakfast. This year we bought tickets for Guys and Dolls, and Tracy and I bought another set for a July performance of Enchanted April when we’ll be going up just for the day with another couple.

I took my DSLR and the 50mm lens in hopes of getting some fresh photos for the 52/20 project.

Love the flags at the Jackson Trigg Winery

The lines and color at Southbrook attracted me.

The pun on this jam was too cute; I love the tag, too!

I’d love to have these clocks to display on my mantle.

This was a first, and it made all of us laugh! Too bad Tracy and I qualify!

Shadows always interest me . . .

 . . . as do reflections. My favorite kind of self-portrait.

Here’s the photo for 52/50 this week. At Southbrook they had a huge jar filled with stones. I like this perspective, and like the black and white conversion as well.

You’ll find lots of  photo inspiration at Kent’s P52.