Today (and Bits from Some Other Days)

I'm not sure what the weather forecast was for today, I'm never very well informed in that area. I tend to wake up and get dressed based on what the weather was like the day before. This system doesn't always work out like I would hope, but I compensate by almost always dressing in layers. Whatever the weathermen predicted for today, I am sure they were correct, at least in part. I believe I witnessed just about every type of non-catastrophic weather today. We had beautiful blue sunshine, dark and foreboding skies, rain, snow, gusty winds, and even hail. The strangest part was we had all of those things at the same time! The sky looked like a quilt- one patch white, puffy clouds against a vibrant bright blue, the next square intense and eerie gray. Then a little way over in the design there were dark clouds that looked like they were dropping huge amounts of rain. (I am not sure if there really was rain, or if the clouds were formed in strange vertical stripes in that particular patch.) Then there was the part of the sky that dropped snow on our windshield while The Oldest and I were waiting to pick up Little One from preschool. Not long after, we found ourselves underneath a patch that saw fit to shower us with little balls of hail. Then right after that we looked up to see the vibrant blue again. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a complicated pattern in the sky before. It sure made for a day full of interesting images, and lots of layering and un-layering of my outfit of choice. You can never go wrong with layers, no matter how crazy the weather!

Hail on the trampoline- Wednesday, April 11.

 Pretty tree, eerie sky- Wednesday, April 11.

 Same tree, sunlight- Wednesday, April 11.

 Tree, blue sky, and clouds- Wednesday, April 11.

 As I was taking this picture, I noticed a large, soaring bird flying across the viewfinder. Having just read a tip on another blog comparing taking pictures of flying birds to shooting birds with guns, I attempted to trail the flight of the bird with my lens before I shot. But I didn't think about the fact that the focus was already locked in on the flowers, so I ended up with a really blurry, little bird in the background and some very unattractively framed flowers. But look at that cloudless, blue sky- Wednesday, April 11.

 Bleeding hearts in bright sunlight- Wednesday, April 11.

 Eerie sky again, though it made a great contrast for the light green of the new leaves- Wednesday, April 11.

 Another corner of the sky- Wednesday, April 11.

The mysterious vertical clouds that looked like heavy rain in the distance- Wednesday, April 11.

Except for the image of the hail (that was taken at 12:08pm in our backyard) the rest of the photos from today were taken between 3:59 and 4:24pm in my front yard. Including this one-

Nothing to do with weather. Just Little One pausing long enough in her purple bike riding to pose for a picture. Cheeky little bugger- Wednesday, April 11.

I did snap a few pictures during my absence from the blog. Here they are.

Sunset through a tree (At least that is what I called it when I saved in on the computer. Not sure how I came up with such a creative name. I amaze myself sometimes)- Friday, March 23.

The Oldest helped to create this entry for the Westminster Peep Show. They received an award for 'Best Reason for the Season Display'- Friday, April 6.

Easter Sunday. Just to set the record straight, no arm twisting was required to get The Oldest to wear the pink shirt. If you don't believe me, look closely. See the wrinkles?- Proof it had already been worn, washed, and not ironed- Sunday, April 8.