Yet More!

Hershey Botanical Garden, Class 10 "A Rose Society or Garden", 1st place in Class and 3rd Best-In-Show!

Ok, now. I've finally heard from the National photography show I enter. The surprise was an ultimate for me. A huge win, I should say and I am really proud of myself now (slap on own back). Of all my photos, this Hershey Botanical Gardens was the one I had hoped would at least place in it's class. I never expected a Best-In-Show with it. It is a really great shot!

Another surprise was again the 2nd place win for Summer Fashion. It took Best-In-Show in the Districts, and 2nd in the Nationals. Again, something to be proud of. And to think that I almost didn't enter this photo in either contest. It was a last minute entry in both. First the Nationals since I had to have them in the mail first. Then I second guessed myself and entered it in the Districts. It did surprise me that it did so well, especially since I took it without props and I honestly thought that there were others that were better.

Chatting with some of the folks at the District Mid-Winter convention, I soon discovered that to get a picture of Summer Fashion like this one is almost unheard of in this area. Apparently the rose isn't considered a good one around here. We have to much humidity and it wilts with our temperatures. Some of the people were telling me that they've tried several and were totally disappointed in it's tenderness. That made me want to think twice about getting it for my garden.

On the other hand, Secret, the rose around the water bearer, has been at Hershey Gardens since I've been going there. This rose has also the reputation of being a fairly good one in this area. In my garden, I don't have Secret, but instead opted for Gemini, another of similar color, but I thought it had more substance in the flower petals than Secret. It is also slightly more salmon where Secret is pink.

So far, I don't think I'll be getting either Summer Fashion or Secret for my garden, though I do love that water bearer and might have to save some pennies to get one of those for my garden. Whenever we go to Hershey, the first place we head for is that water bearer to take pictures. I also have a water bearer fountain in the back garden already.

BEST IN SHOW!

Today was the annual Mid-Winters, sponsored by the Penn/Jersey District Rose Society. I will usually try to attend this. It is also one of the more major photo contests that I enter.

The entire day was wonderful with guest speakers, slide shows and general socialization with other rose growers from around the East Coast. Frank Benardella and Clarence Rhodes (two headliners in the rose world) were there as well as other renown rosarians from around the East Coast. While there I got the book Otherwise Normal People by Aurelia C. Scott. It is so far signed by Aurelia Scott and Clarence Rhodes. A very nice day.

Dinner was quite excellent with a choice of chicken or beef with roasted potatoes and green beans w/carrots. Annoucements were made at dinner as well as the raffle and door prizes. It was also the time when the winners of the photo contest were announced.

At the very end, my name was called for winning Best In Show for my photo of Summer Fashion. This was quite an honor for me to win this event. The trophy was several wonderful gifts.

It was a very good day indeed.

The Westminister Dog Show

The beagle won the best in show at this prestigious dog show. OK, I'm accepting that. This little guy was just a show stopper. Even with the 2 diamentional viewing of the TV, he was full of spirit and personality.

For the working class, I was hoping the Tibetan Mastiff, a new breed accepted into the AKC this year, would win. Now there is a dog! I seem to have a deep fondness for the working class dogs. They are bigger, stronger, powerhouse dogs. Just more impressive. http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2008/show/news/newbreeds_111607.html I was impressed with this dog. I can see the Saint Bernard, Newfoundland, Mastiff, Great Pernese and any number of other large working breeds in this dog. He is quite a beauty. The only thing I don't like about these impressive giants is their life span. 8 to 10 years is usually all you get out of them. They seem to have such big, wonderful hearts that burn out just a little to quickly. I know. I had a Newfoundland that died way to young. The Tibetan Mastiff seemed to be a favorite of the spectators of the show as well.

The Herding group was an Australian Shephard. A dog in the collie family. I like the collies too. I should. I have a Shetland Sheepdog. My personal feelings on this dog was his color. I guess I'm not much for the merils. I like the sables and tri-colors personally.

It was an interesting show. I enjoyed watching it this year, especially since I have no real preference for the dog what wins. The beagle was the cutest little guy and so full of himself, he was hard to resist.

The Hearlds of Spring

Always, the hearlds of spring, in this area anyway, have been the robins. It isn't unusual to see them singularily or in pairs over the winter, but it's usually around mid-March when they start coming in flocks of a dozen or so.

Such was the case today. I was doing my housecleaning, outside shaking rugs when I noticed two robins in the oak tree. It's not the most common sight, but I've seen these birds when they've opted to stay rather than make the migration to the south. I mentioned them to Husband when I went inside to collect another rug. Almost immediately he called me in to look out the front windows. There were at least a dozen robins on the barbarry bushes, eating the berries. Now this was amazing. Husband tried to sneak outside around the house to get a picture of them, but they were rathe skittish and saw him first.

To have this many birds in the garden at once is a sign that they are migrating. Could it be that they are migrating now, the first week of February? Could this be due to global warming? I'll have to wait and see. March is usually our very worst of the winter months because it is starting to warm up and then will suddenly go into a deep freeze. February averages around 38º with snow. There hasn't been much snow so far (knock on wood), but there has been a good deal of rain. There has also been two ice storms so far this winter. I could live without those.

Today is a beautiful day, around 40º. The wind has a bit of a chill in the air.

Some Wedding Pics

My niece Rachel got married the other week. Today I received a few pictures to share. After all she's been through, this is a very good thing.