a few spring pics

This is the only picture of Tom I managed to get on his skydive... it was only a matter of seconds between when I could recognize him, and when they landed.

Geranium blooms on our patio- taken February 15th. I think I got this geranium from Mom a couple years ago; I keep doing my best to kill it through neglect, but it still manages to grow and bloom- it's been blooming on and off since around Christmas... we'll see how it takes to the AZ summer; I may have to bring it inside in the kitchen (! yay! a real kitchen!) through the hottest weather, or make sure it's close to the house on the patio in the shade.

This is from the Botanical Gardens a couple weeks ago. These are Zebra butterflies on a Fairy Duster shrub. This was a special exhibit just for spring- butterflies loose inside a screen-house; they just fly around, sometimes landing on the people as they walk through! The only thing that disappointed me a little was that most of the species exhibited aren't native to AZ... I heard one of the volunteers saying that they got weekly deliveries of butterflies from Florida. Still, it was neat to see them so close up.

I think this is a great picture- I didn't crop it or adjust the colors at all. Tom managed to get some really good ones, although he did have to wait a while for the butterflies to stay still enough to photograph. The one on the left is a Queen (looks similar to a Monarch- fitting name, then, right?) and the one on the right is an Orange Julia.