New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting. Work for Zazzle as a designer since 2008.
It’s mid April, the sun is shining and it’s warm outside. I make all kinds of plans to do yard work, or take a walk or just sit on my new little deck and enjoy watching the birds. Then I remind myself that I will get eaten alive by the black flies.
It’s one of those days for me, when nothing seems to be right. I can’t concentrate on work and the news on television all seems bad. I need something, but don’t know what. Something to look forward to maybe?
I went outside where I always go when I want to feel better, and I took my camera – the heck with the flies. This is my first Spring in this new house so it’s the first chance I’ve had to see what is growing in the yard that I didn’t know about. And honestly there isn’t much!
I did some planting in summer and fall after I moved in. The tulips I planted are coming up and the daffodils were here already.
This little green planting with small blue flowers, and the tree with the white flowers are new to me and I don’t know what they are (see below). I can’t find the book I used to have to help me identify trees and flowers in New England, so if you know, please leave me a comment.
Little blue flowers on a plant in the garden.Tree with white flowers
We had three deer that visited the backyard a few weeks ago. Back before our week long summer weather preview, with temps in the 80’s, we had some snow on the ground and one morning I noticed my cat sitting on the deck and peering intently into the woods. I knew that she saw something interesting and then a little head popped up over the edge of the drop-off and it was a deer! Our backyard is pretty small, with a drop into the woods beyond. The house was built on the side of a hill and fill dirt makes up the yard. The deer was on the banking and peeking up to look at the house.
I ran to get the camera and then headed upstairs where I’d have the best view of the backyard.
All the pictures were taken out my upstairs bathroom window, so they are not as clear as I’d like.
Three deer just passing through.
I know that seeing deer is not all that unusual, but I always love to see them. They had their thick winter coats and kept looking toward the house as if they wanted to come up and sniff out the birdfeeders. One came very close while the other two stayed down in the woods.
I imagine there are many clueless bloggers and such out there who think it is perfectly fine to help themselves to anything they find on the internet. They see a great photo and it suits their purpose, or they think their readers will be impressed with the pictures on their site, so they add it.
It’s not theirs in any way, shape or form, but they put it up there for readers to view without even a link back to the one who did all the work – took the shot in the first place! They never think to ask for permission, or even admit it’s not theirs.
That is simply rude.
Have you ever visited a blog with fantastic pictures but clicking on them takes you nowhere? And the blogger gives no credit for them. You may read and think, wow, he / she has a great photo.
All the photos on my New England’s Narrow Road blog (except for the ones used through Zemanta – a great resource), are my own! It’s one of the reasons I blog – to share my photos of the New England area.
I have a blog, Sandpiper Wedding, to write about beach wedding info and I’ve linked to Etsy designers many times using their photos – with permission from the Etsy shop owner! It’s not hard to ask permission, and I think you’ll find that many people will be happy to have the promotion and link.
I recently began to enjoy the Pinterest website. It’s a great place to share pictures that (many times) lead to ideas for decorating, cooking, and purchasing great products. But I’ve also noticed that many times great pictures lead to nothing when they are clicked on. If a photo leads nowhere, how will the person who took it get credit? Even if the picture is fantastic I do not add it to my board, as without a link, it is not right to promote it.
I recently had (and still have) an issue with someone who is using one of my seashell photos as her own on her blog. When searching for this particular shell type, my picture comes up and is linked to her website! Yes, I am ticked! She has no way to leave a message or contact her on the site, so I left a message on her Facebook page, which she apparently ignored.
So please be considerate when you need pictures and use the ones that are listed as “free” to use and don’t just go grab any old photo you see on the web. We photographers work hard to promote ourselves and our blogs, and truthfully, when I’ve been asked, I usually grant permission for use of a picture- with a link back to me! It’s only right.
Please visit my Cowry Shell page @ Seashells by Millhill and like, tweet or whatever – so I can get IT to be the one that shows for the shells that are mine! Thanks.
Here are some great resources for adding free photos to your blog if you don’t have Zemanta – which is the easiest – here at WordPress.
Pixabay and MorgueFile are two sites that I use to get free to use, public domain images for my work.
Our Local "Sea" Plane in AntrimEach year when the weather begins to warm and the ice on the lake melts (don’t have that problem this year!) the sound of the local “sea” plane fills our skies over Antrim, New Hampshire. I no longer live there, but I’m close enough that I will go back to take my son to swim in Gregg Lake and visit with our old friends, and most likely I will get to see the plane either take off or land on the lake. If not, I may hear it buzzing overhead.
I don’t know the man who owns the plane, but I’ve heard that he owns this little piece of land on the inlet that goes into the lake and that is where he keeps the plane in summer. For a short time one summer, I rented the house just beyond the one in the photo and the kids and I would see the plane passing by the cottage on it’s way to the lake for takeoff.
Shortly after I had moved to Antrim (the first time) I took my son and his friend up to the lake to swim and the plane come in for a landing! That was fun. The boys totally enjoyed it.
Gregg Lake is pretty small, so I imagine the plane owner can only take off and land when it’s not too busy with watercraft and fishermen.
This photo of the plane was taken in October 2008. For more pictures of fall from this area, check out my Fall Foliage Season post.
New England's Narrow Road 