My rainbow photography venture

After Saturday evening's thunderstorm, a beautiful brilliant full rainbow appeared in the eastern sky. Viewing it from the west side of our house, it was like an arch framing our home. It was absolutely beautiful! Of course my first thought was to get out my camera and try my photography skills. I wanted so bad to capture the full rainbow with our house in the center in one photo. Try as I might with different settings, it was not to be.
It began...

Up...up in the sky...

Across the sky it went...

and down...

to the ground...

As it is with rainbows, it was there for only a brief time. It was only afterwards  that I discovered how to capture a full rainbow photo. According to my research, I should have used a wide angle...18mm...lens/setting. The most fustrating part is that I have the camera lens needed, but didn't think to try changing lens!  Now I know, but will I get a second chance? ...Or was it a once in a lifetime moment?

The view depends on the angle it is viewed from

What one sees all depends on where you are standing, ...the angle you are viewing it from.

That is especially true of the landscape on the east side of the house.

 

From the house or patio looking out... this is part of the view.

From the grassy area, looking toward the house...

 

Then there is the view from the driveway...

 

Also on the east side is a slope. After slip sliding around and feeling out of control while mowing it only three times, I quickly decided to mulch and plant. But what a challenge.

The slope would be viewed from three different angles...from two locations inside the house, from the patio area, and from the driveway. Also, it would occasionally be viewed from the bottom of the slope. The big question was what to plant, and how to plant. I was not going to be happy with only ground cover. I wanted a colorful four season landscape.

From the top of the slope, as viewed from the driveway...

 

From the patio area...

 

From the bottom of the slope....

Inside the house from the bathroom window... a colorful landscape does help to start the day right!

And from the breakfast sitting area...

 

The views will continue to change as the seasons change, and the shrubbery and ground cover matures. Hopefully the small shrubs on the far side will reach their mature height of eight to twelve feet, and block out the view of the unsightly field. Hopefully, I've designed and planted to allow for the best view at all angles. Only time will tell what it will become.

Colorful spring

Last year this time, I had only a few blooms here and there to enjoy. After another year of growth, and planting new starts,  I am now enjoying a much more colorful landscape. Thanks to a warm rainy days, the blooms are plentiful this spring.

 

 

 

Also, the hummingbirds have returned ...at least a few. I'm hoping for more as spring turns into summer.

Then, there was the day that I captured this colorful visitor...I think traveling through, as I have not seen it since.

Too much rain

It started raining in the early hours of the morning and rained almost continuously throughout the morning and afternoon with the wind blowing strong. Then the wind blew furious and the rain poured, creating this scene... viewed from the back of our house.

This is normally not a stream, but a ditch. The only time it contains water is with run off. Last summer it was a very dry ditch.

The road is...

Underwater!

If only there was a way to regulate rain! Come July, we will no doubt need some of this moisture.