More Longwood

A few more photos from our Monday trip to Longwood Gardens. 

It was in the 60's outside and we were able to walk around without our coats. 

I loved how the winterberry bushes looked with the little spring house. I must get some of those!

My husband gave me my Christmas gift early, a Canon macro lens. It captured this oak leafed hydrangea beautifully. I must get one of those shrubs too, the foliage is amazing this time of year when everything else is just brown.

We went around the lake and said hello to the geese. 

Next we headed out to the meadow, one of my favorite spots that is often overlooked.

I think this next photo looks like Andrew Wyeth would have painted it, it was practically in his backyard.

I think this is my favorite shot of the day...

Trees lit near the Peirce DuPont house. Not dark yet but still pretty. 

Inside the house the trees looked so beautiful. 

You can ALWAYS find Belin in the house. Not a bad life being a cat at Longwood Gardens!

After dinner we went into the main conservatory. Even though it was members only day, it was still crowded and I had a hard time getting the perfect shot.

See my last post, Gingerbread Fantasy, for more inside the main conservatory. 

The macro lens made the backround light bokeh look quite magical

By the time we were finished, it was dark outside so we could enjoy the amazing display.

Very hard to capture how beautiful it is in photos. You just have to see for yourself!

We could see the crescent moon everywhere we went.

This video was from last year but it gives you an idea of how beautiful the lights are. 

Butterflies

Some butterflies common in South Eastern Pennsylvania.

These I took recently in the backyard and also the meadow at the barn which has thousands of butterflies.

Above is a Pearl Crescent (I think).

Two Orange Sulfurs dance in the meadow below.

Common Buckeye above.

Meadow Fritillary below.

A beautiful Monarch on my zinnia.

This one below looks like a type of cabbage butterfly.

Silver Spotted Skipper

Another pretty Monarch...

"Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

My daughter, Zoe, hunting for butterflies.

The Meadow at Longwood

To me one of the most beautiful words in the English language is meadow. We don't usually go to Longwood in the summer so I had never experienced the meadow in all it's glory. I must say, I could have stayed there all day. Singing goldfinches, butterflies flitting here and there, tons of bees and beautiful flowers in a natural landscape. The sky was the perfect shade of blue with a few cottony clouds. I was in heaven.

"Deep in the sun-searched growths the dragonfly

Hangs like a blue thread loosened from the sky."

~Dante Gabriel Rossetti

"How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold?

Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold." 

~William Wordsworth

"Butterflies are self propelled flowers."

~R.H. Heinlein