Perfection on a Cloudy Winter Day

I went out for a while yesterday morning and captured some pictures of the Japanese Magnolia trees blooming in Vicksburg. They're blooming early this year, and I was afraid that the blossoms had been battered by the heavy rains and unusually high, gusty winds that moved through the area the night before ... but I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to find a few trees that were still loaded with blooms.

I drove around for a while until I spotted a tree close to the street with blooms low enough for me to get some closeup pictures ... and this one was perfect!

Although the sky was colorless and overcast and the flowers were wet from the rain, they were still breathtakingly beautiful up close ...

I love the contrast between the delicate blossoms and their gnarly, twisted branches ...

I treasure every minute I spent capturing and preserving these exquisite flowers with my camera, keeping them forever bright ... and beautiful ... and perfect ... in my pictures.

Garden Animals / Part 3

This is the final post in a series of three featuring a recent visit my husband and I made to Four Seasons Garden Art, which is located in Crystal Springs, Mississippi. If you missed the first two posts and would like to read them, you can click on the links below: Garden Art: Part 1 / Statues Garden Art / Part 2 Today we are going to visit Four Seasons' awesome stone menagerie, which includes mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds. There were unicorns, gargoyles, sea serpents, and dragons, too ... which would fall into the whimsical category, I guess. I've never been fond of gargoyles and dragons ... and especially didn't care for this next fellow ... but I guess if you own a zoo, you might could use him at the entrance to the Reptile Exhibit ... I prefer kinder and gentler animals like this sweet little giraffe ... Or this little sheep ... They had quite a selection of cute little pigs, too ... There were horses ... And cats and dogs ... And beautiful deer ... These happy-looking dolphins would be pretty in a fountain or pool ... Next came the birds ... I would love one of the herons for our pond ... I liked this colorful parrot, too ... I'm not so sure about the lions and alligator, though. They look rather intimidating ... This little frog seemed to be enjoying the sunshine ... And the turtles were out for a stroll ... Easter is just around the corner, and I would love to have a couple of these pretty rabbits for our porch ... I especially like the brown one ... Doesn't he have a pretty face! I hope you enjoyed my photo tour of Four Seasons Garden Art, as much as I enjoyed my visit there. If you are ever near Crystal Springs, Mississippi, I hope you will take the time to stop by and see their collection of beautiful and unique garden art for yourself. You can also visit their website at Four Seasons Garden Art.