Buzzzzzz

We found these bee boxes in the color garden at the JC Raulston arboretum.  They were quiet on a chilly winter day, but come summer I'll bet they're humming.  These boxes are for solitary bees.  They do not live in a colony, but they are important polinators.  Who knew!?

Red house

🎜  There's a Red House over yonder
That's where my baby stays
There's a Red House over yonder, baby
That's where my baby stays

Well, I ain't been home to see my baby,
in ninety nine and one half days.  🎝

🎜🎜🎝🎝🎝🎜🎜🎝🎝

The farm house at Horse Shoe Farm Nature Preserve. 

 Is this the house Jimi Hendrix sang about???
The park sits in a horse shoe bend in the Neuse River.  There is river on three sides of the park.  The farm house is being renovated and looks out over the large field.  You can walk all around the fields, and then down to the Neuse River Greenway which connects with the other greenways in Raleigh.  

Please wall

This wall is in the amphitheater at the NC Museum of Art.  I especially like how adding "please" to the beginning of a sentence changes the tone: "Please don't litter," "Please use only as directed," "Please don't let history repeat itself," "Please don't fight fire with fire."  I think we should all say please more often!

Lizard wall Durant Nature Center

Lizards bask on the sunny wall at Durant Nature Park.  Nearly every day you can find them sitting on the wall in the sun.  I took this picture of the one lizard and didn't see the other until I enlarged the picture.

Corner of White Street and Elm, Wake Forest, NC

This scupture  sits on a street corner in Wake Forest.  

Knitting as a subversive activity...?

I marched in the Raleigh Women's March last Saturday and was amazed at all the "Pussyhats".  All hand knit all from a similar pattern.  I'm a knitter, how could I have missed this???!

I found the pattern on Ravelry (with thousands of projects dedicated to the march) and decided to make a few for future activities.   There was plenty of pink yarn here in Raleigh although I've read that it was sold out in many cities.  I also read that one knitting shop in Tennesee posted that knitters who were going to use the yarn for pussyhats were not welcome to buy from their shop....Who knew knitting could be subversive?

The Cotton Company, Wake Forest, NC

This is the window in the door of The Cotton Company, White Street, Wake Forest, NC.  Inside it's a marketplace for small independent craftspeople.  It's like going to a craft fair without the crowd.

Sun Goddess?

This lady was one of the leaders of the Women's March in Raleigh.  She looked so calm...

Best sign Raleigh's Women's march

Seen at the Raleigh Women's March

I didn't know what a yellow dog Democrat was until I was registering voters this fall.  I asked an elderly woman if she was registered and she told me: "Honey, I've been a yellow dog Democrat all my life."  I ran home and checked on Wikipedia...A yellow dog Democrat is someone who votes a straight Democratic ticket.  They would rather vote for a yellow dog than a Republican. 
 And, here she is, the proverbial yellow dog. 

Women's march Raleigh

Women's march Raleigh.  

 My daughter and I marched with an estimated 24,998 other people.  Reading all the signs was definitely worth the trip downtown.

Whale rocks, Durant Nature Park

These rocks really do look like the backs of whales coming out of the stream.  

Reflection Durant Nature Park

The boathouse at Durant Nature Park on a clear, calm winter day. The reflection looks clearer than the original, and no, it's not upside down.

It's a Wonderful LIfe

Raleigh seems to have run out of ordinary street names.  These two streets meet in the Bedford at Falls River development.  They have kept with the Bedford Falls motif from the Jimmy Stewart classic, "It's a Wonderful Life".  Streets like Zuzu drive and parks like Bailey Park, Clarence's Park and Pottersville Park continue the theme.

White Street, Wake Forest

White Street in Wake Forest is a little bit of small town on the way to being gentrified.  It has antique stores, hot dog/hamburger joints, a hardware store, general store, and my favorite independent bookstore: Page 158 Books.

Ideas of Stone-Elm

Ideas of Stone - Elm by Giuseppe Penone

At first glance walking through the Sculpture Park at the North Carolina Museum of Art, it appears to be a tree.  Second glance and it's one of the artworks!  

Winter holly

Holly seems to grow well in this climate.  This large tree was loaded down with bright red berries.  

Turkey Vulture

In flight, vultures are magnificent.  They soar above looking elegant.

When we first moved to Raleigh, there was a dead deer carcass in the backyard.  In the mornings a vulture would come and have breakfast.  He didn't look so elegant while chomping on the carcass.  We soon found out how to get rid of dead animals in Raleigh.  

Gyre

Gyre by Thomas Sayre

This sculpture sits on a hill in the North Carolina Museum of Art Sculpture park.  It changes as you move around it with different points of view.  It commands the hill and the area around it.

Forest for the Chairs

Forest for the Trees by Tom Shields

This sculpture is in the Sculpture park at the North Carolina Museum of Art.  This is only one part of the broad sweep.  At first glance you can't see them, but there are chairs in the trees.  In this section there are 4 chairs.  Altogether we counted 8 chairs but there could be more.  Do you see them?  Here they are close up.

Foggy day

After the snow and ice, we get a foggy day!

Yes, this picture was taken in color...

Upside down icicles?

Cones of ice around the fountain.  An upside down icicle?

Why schools are still closed!

Three days after the snow storm, the roads are still glare ice.  Thankfully people are not driving yet, and most schools are still closed.

Frozen Drop

It does get cold in North Carolina!

Icicles

Ice and snow!  We thought we left that back in Colorado!

Snow day, North Carolina style

Snow in North Carolina.  Where else do you get blooming Azeleas and snow in January!

Flicker

This flicker was almost too big to eat out of the feeder.  It didn't seem to stop him though.

Alpenglow

In high mountains after sunset and before sunrise, as the sun hits the high peaks before the valley, you can see the mountains glow.  "Alpenglow"  doesn't hit the peaks in Raleigh, but it does show in the highest objects around, the tall trees.

Hawk on the roof

This guy screeched at me as I came out to walk the dog.  Red Tailed Hawk? 

Rainy day

No snow so far, but plenty of rain.

North Carolina Museum of Art Sculpture Park

North Carolina Art Museum across the retention pond.  The Museum has a huge park filled with sculptures.  As you walk through the 3 miles of trails you come upon some amazing works. People walk, jog, stroll with their dogs.  We even saw one lady posing her poodles in a sculpture.  Look for more pictures in the future.

Cardinal

The Cardinals are getting their red feathers on!  I admire good bird photos.  It's hard to capture a good one when they're constantly moving and hiding in the trees.