For One Word Sunday this week Debbie has chosen Framed. She is not referring to placing a photo in a frame, but rather using nature to frame a scene or subject.
One-sided framing Sequoia National Park A Bit of Blur Using Nature’s FrameworkDouble Framed
Brian from Bushboy.blog asks us to post our last photo on our SD card or phone on the last day of the month. No editing. Explanations not necessary. Create a Pingback or leave a link in comments to Brian’s blog. Use the tags The Last Photo and #LastOnTheCard. Your last photo doesn’t have to be on the very last day of the month if you didn’t take any photos on that day. Maybe it was earlier in the month when the last photo was taken.
From My iPhone:
Coleman in his new Grave Digger shirt
From my Canon EOS Rebel T3i:
Patterson Pond Anne Springs Close Greenway Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
From My Dad’s Slides taken with his Minolta XG-7 35 mm Via My Wolverine Digital Converter:
San Diego Wild Animal Park San Diego, California, USA
Location: Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Thankful for a slight break from all the rain. Wish we could have a break from this extreme heat. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
God Bless. Thank you for visiting. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the flowers. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
These three Alpacas can be visited at the Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm at the Horse Road Entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway. The Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm offers a unique blend of education and exploration for visitors of all ages.
Integrating the former petting zoo and adding a pastoral habitat, observation areas for various animals, a half-mile loop trail, gathering lawn, educational garden, and open-air learning center, the Children’s Farm aims to provide daily interpretation and demonstrations on a variety of topics in an immersive learning environment.
Tours of the Children’s Farm are self-guided. On Saturdays and Sundays Animal Care Volunteers may possibly be on site during specified times. If interested, please check the Greenway’s website prior to visiting for further details.
Yellow Flowers in April 1979 Marriott’s Great America Santa Clara, California Rudbeckia hirta AKA Black-eyed Susan In July 2024 Anne Springs Close Greenway Fort Mill, South Carolina
Location: Dairy Barn Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Hope it’s not too hot for all y’all. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
Girasol Anne Springs Close Greenway Fort Mill, South Carolina
The ‘Titan’ sunflower, as the name suggests, is a giant annual sunflower variety with an extra thick stem, supporting huge, alternating leaves, and a massive flower head that can reach 16-22 inches across! Plus Titan sunflowers can grow to heights of 12-14 feet! Blooms from July to September. Sunflowers attract a myriad of pollinators including bees, birds, butterflies and many others as well.
Clare at Clare’s Cosmos hosts the Share Your Desktop Challenge. She invites us all to share our desktops; whether that be from our desktops, laptops, tablets, or smartphones it does not matter. Join in the challenge and let us all see what you look at every day.
Here are my desktops, wallpapers, wall savers, from my Laptop and my iPhone:
From my HP Laptop:
Laptop Wallpaper:
My Grandson, Coleman Anne Springs Close Greenway
Laptop Desktop:
Patterson Pond Anne Springs Close Greenway
From my iPhone 14 Pro Max:
Reading Focus:
Alpaca Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm Anne Springs Close Greenway
Television Focus:
Horse Drinking Water Greenway Stables Entrance Anne Springs Close Greenway
Personal Focus:
Coleman with the Horses Greenway Stables Anne Springs Close Greenway
Hiking Focus:
Coleman Hiking Dogwood Trail Anne Springs Close Greenway
The Zebu (Bos indicus or Bos taurus indicus), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle, Camel cow or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in South Asia.
Zebu cattle are well known for being resistant to really high temperatures with high humidity concentrations (like we have here in the Carolinas.) They also have a greater resistance to parasites such as ticks, and have maternal behavior that allows them to take care of their offspring from possible predators, however, they are also docile if they are frequently handled.
Brahman are a breed of Zebu. This breed of Zebu is developed in the United States from cattle imported from India and Brazil. There are two distinct types of Brahman cattle; the Red Brahman and the Grey Brahman.
The Great Cormorant are most likely to nest in colonies near wetlands, rivers, and sheltered inshore waters. It builds its nest, which is made from sticks, in trees, on the ledges of cliffs, and on the ground on rocky islands that are free of predators.
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
The Great Cormorant feeds on fish it dives to capture. It primarily feeds on are wrasses, but will also feast on sand smelt, flathead and common soles. Cormorants consume all fish of appropriate size that they are able to catch in summer and noticeably select for larger, mostly torpedo-shaped fish in winter.
Great Cormorant Lake Haigler Anne Springs Close Greenway Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
The Great Cormorants were once near extinction due to fishermen hunting them. The fishermen saw them as competition. With terrific conservation efforts, their numbers increased once again.
Even though it is still illegal, in many areas, to kill a bird within a license some are in danger anyway. Fisheries claim that the Cormorants are eating the fish they have in their fish farms. Some licenses are used to reduce and/or control the cormorant population for the purpose of reducing its predation. Cormorant fishing is practiced in China, Japan, and in other areas around the globe. In Norway, the Cormorant is cones traditional game bird. However, in Northern Norway Cormorants are seen as semi-sacred. They are often regarded as good luck for them to gather around or near a village or settlement.
The Great Cormorants are spotted periodically at Lake Haigler in the Greenway. They are amazing to watch and sometimes you can see them diving for their feed. Other times you see them perched on a log or branch in the water or flying off around the lake.
Location: Lake Haigler; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. May all your hopes, dreams, and prayers be fulfilled. Take care of yourselves and have a fantastic rest of your week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S18-55mm, Canon EF-S55-250mm, and Canon EF 75-300mm lenses.
Locations: 1)Warlick Family YMCA; 2-5) The Schiele Museum of Natural History; Gastonia, North Carolina; 6-11) Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Thank you for Day Trippin’ with us. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
Just You Wait … I’m Coming Closer … I Want Some Too
Goats can be interesting creatures to watch, the antics they display anticipating and desiring attention from their caretakers as well as visitors to the Greenway. These goats are domesticated and will often calmly approach people. So don’t be afraid when they come close, lean toward you, or even nibble or lick your hand. Goats are very intelligent and curious animals. You, standing outside their area, entices their curiosity so they just want to explore and investigate your unfamiliarity. It is okay to show them affection, they thrive on the attention.
Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm Sign at Entrance Patterson Pond on the pathway to the Farm Animals Canada Goose Swimming in Patterson PondCanada Geese Flying away from the PondA Horse by the Greenway Stables Spotting a Couple of Horses in the Pasture
It just happened by chance that all my “143” photos were taken at Anne Springs Close Greenway. My grandson and I love moving forward along the trails and pathways enjoying a relaxing time surrounded by nature and the reconstructedChildren’s Farm.
Location: Patterson Pond; Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. May your day be filled abundantly with love, peace, and happiness. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Do you think the eyes being the windows to the soul are only for humans? Have you ever really looked into a horse’s eyes? What do you see? One can tell a lot about a horse by looking into the eyes. You can see his/her strength, calmness, his playfulness, gentleness, and/or her steadfast heartbeat.
Do you see yourself in the horse’s eyes? Does the horse see you as playful, gentle, generous, knowledgeable. and a kind calm steadfast friend?
Horses can sense the type of person you are. They can tell whether you are frustrated, stressed, or irritable. They can also tell whether you are relaxed, calm, trusting, playful, and/or friendly. Horses can sense your mood and respond accordingly.
“The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.”
The horses my grandson, Cole, and I visit at the Greenway can sense our love for them. They respond to his friendliness and calm loving manners. Sometimes they approach much closer than we expect, knowing they will receive gentle loving attention and affection.
I see their strength, their gentleness, their trusting spirit, and their responsiveness to our hearts and our touch. I also see the reflections of the beauty surrounding them within the Greenway. I can also see the reflection of myself in their eyes.
You wanna See Me? Here I Am. Do you Like What you See?Monochrome Close-Up
This is one of several Alpacas 🦙 in the Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm. As you might can tell, he is not afraid of getting close to visitors. He would welcome your visit if you were ever in his neighborhood.
Location: Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Sending y’all my birthday wishes of happiness, good health, peace, and an abundance of love throughout 2024 and beyond. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
I’m not sure if these are actually Cobalt Blue or not, but they’re the closest I have for this month’s color challenge for Terri’s Sunday Stills.
Here’s looking at the Blue Sky as we begin hiking on Dogwood Trail. Another day, another beautiful blue sky When we hike around Patterson Pond we spot a Canada Goose swimming in the Blue Waters.This is one of the views we saw when we were searching the skies for the Northern Lights.
Luckily we had a beautiful sunny day on Sunday which enabled me to capture plenty of signs, and shots with words in them as Cee’s CMMC – Pick a Topic from my Photorequests us all to post.
Our visit to Anne Springs Close Greenway is extremely accommodating in the aspect of Signs and various Objects with Words.
Signs can be found all around the Reconstructed Children’s Farm ..,
Ducks Signage by Patterson Pond
Along all the various Trails …
Trail Signs
In front of buildings such as The Hangar …
The Hangar
Or on and in front of an Historic Tack Shed …
Historic Tack Shed
And even in a flower bed informing everyone about the Sylvia Epps Baker Metal Sculpture.
Can you believe it? We are half through the month of May and one-fourth (1/4) of the way through twenty twenty-four (2024). It is already time for another ofClare’s Share Your Desktopwhere Clare asks us to share our desktops/wallpaper either from our desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphones.
Now it’s my turn to share my desktops/wallpapers with you. First up is from my iPhone followed by my laptop.
From my iPhone 14 Pro Max:
Personal Focus
Coleman
Hiking Focus
Coleman at a crossroads between Dogwood, Timberline and Peach LoopTrails
Reading Focus
Lake Haigler Anne Springs Close Greenway
From my HP Laptop:
Screensaver Wallpaper
Coleman
Desktop
Horses at Dairy Barn Entrance Anne Springs Close Greenway
Getting out in nature always helps to renew my mind, refresh my spirit, and rejuvenate my soul. This view is from the side porch of the Gibson House.
On Sunday, Coleman and I drove into Fort Mill to visit the newly renewed and reconstructed Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm at the Anne Springs Close Greenway. The newly reconstructed children’s farm is accessible through the Greenway Stables Entrance. We are moving forward ( I know you can’t see our movements, but you can imagine them) to visit the Farm animals (chickens, rabbits, alpacas, and cattle.)
After visiting the farm animals, Coleman and I went back to the car to grab our snacks and put my backpack in it as my camera battery had died. So then I continued taking photos with my iPhone as we proceeded to Move Forward through the horse stables on towards the trails for a bit of hiking. We hiked along on the Dogwood Trail, made a loop onto Peach Loop to watch out over Lake Haigler before heading back to the car and home.
While gazing out over Lake Haigler, I reminisced for a short while remembering a time of apple picking, fresh apple cider, and fresh bread with a dollop of fresh homemade apple butter in Julian, California.
Now that I have your mouth watering for the delicious delightful aroma of fresh homemade apple delicacies, I trust you’ll have a wonderful rest of your weekend and a blissful weekend.
Location: Horse Stables; Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a fabulous rest of your week. Enjoy the Outdoors. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) can be spotted around ponds and lakes. I normally see them around the smaller lakes and ponds in and around Anne Springs Close Greenway.
Great Blue Herons can hunt during the nighttime as well as during the day. Interestingly they have a high percentage of rodents-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision. They congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers.
Ardea herodias Great Blue Heron Anne Springs Close Greenway
The Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight to behold. Its subtle blue-grey plumage frequently stands motionless as it scan for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher. In flight, look for this widespread heron’s tucked-in neck and long legs trailing out behind.
Informational Sign includes The Great Blue Heron The Schiele Museum of Natural History
Did you know that the Great Blue Heron is often seen as a symbol of patience? This I had not previously heard or known. Several Native American Tribes look at the heron as a symbol of patience and good luck. On the Northwest coast, people believe that if Native American fishermen spot a heron, it means good luck is with them, and they will have a successful fishing trip.
I have always considered the Great Blue Heron to be an amazing bird to observe. I did not ever realize that they were considered symbols or omens if you saw them. Evidently they are though.
In China, the Great Blue Heron represents strength, purity and long life. According to Native American tradition the heron symbolizes wisdom and good judgment. In ancient Egypt the heron was a symbol of creation while in Africa and Greece the heron was a messenger of the gods. Watching a heron fish also instructs us in patience.
Another interesting note regarding the Blue Heron is that it is believed to symbolize being calm, presence, being at peace, uniqueness, and balance. When seeing a Blue Heron one should take a moment to look inside yourself and consider nurture all aspects of yourself. Embrace who you are; your flaws (your weaknesses), your uniqueness, and ever your feelings of shame with self-love.
God Bless. May you have strength, purity, patience and long life. Take care of yourselves and have a fantastic rest of your week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
Lake Haigler is one of the most favourite areas for hiking and fishing at the Greenway. Love to see the many beautiful views and reflections around the Lake.
Patterson Pond
This previously unnamed Pond has recently been given the name of Patterson Pond. It is located at the Children’s Farm accessible from the Greenway Stables Entrance. Beautiful day for observing amazing reflections.
Steele Creek
Steele Creek can be seen from several of the Greenway trails while one is hiking. Here you can see the shimmering ripples and the beautiful reflections of the trees.
Lake Haigler
Lake Haigler is a 28-acre lake in the Anne Springs Close Greenway. It was built in 1952 by Colonel Elliott W. Springs. It was named for a great Catawba Indian King.
The Lake is periodically restocked with Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Shellcracker, and Channel Catfish.
The Lake Haigler Loop is a 3.3 mile pedestrian-only loop which wraps around the 28-acre Lake Haigler. It is generally considered an easy hiking/walking route. It takes approximately an average of 1 hour 10 minutes to complete the entire loop. This extremely popular area is excellent for birding, fishing, and hiking. You’ll have plenty of opportunities for exploring and photography at this location if you’re ever in the area to visit.
Red-headed Woodpeckers have an entirely red head, and their belly is white and unstreaked. It is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open across southern Canada and the east-central United States. One should not confuse the red-headed woodpecker with the red-bellied woodpecker. Even though they are similar in size, the red-bellied woodpecker is named for the pale reddish blush of its lower belly and has a distinct patterned black and white back whereas the red-headed woodpecker has the solid black back and a vibrant orange-red crown and nape. These Red-headed woodpeckers were spotted at the Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Clare @ Clare’s Cosmos invites us each month to share our desktops on the 15th of each month. Can you believe it the month of April is half over already? Here it is time once again to join Share Your Desktop. I like to share my wallpaper for my iPhone as well as for my Laptop. For my iPhone I use different wallpaper’s for the different focuses I use; personal, hiking, and reading.
Good Day everyone! Welcome to my blog. The following are my entries for this week’s Weekly Prompts Colour Challenge. The challenge is asking for photos depicting the colour BLACK.
Black CowsChildren’s Blackboard Black and White Photography
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF 75-300mm lens with Altura CPL filter attachment.
Location: Lake Haigler; Lake Haigler Loop; Lake Haigler Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA.
God Bless. Enjoy your week and have a fabulous weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Opening Day for the Schroering Forest Playground was on March 30th. The Playground is a new addition for Anne Springs Close Greenway. Being its opening day list of families came to visit the Greenway the check out the new Playground. Children young and old alike investigated and explored the many different features and structures within the playground.
The number of people on the climbing structure varied throughout the day with the greatest impact of visitors being early in the morning and dwindling later on in the afternoon.
When Coleman and I first walked around the playground and the Climbing Structure it was intimidating with so many people in and on the various structures. Overwhelming especially for Coleman, so we chose to hike around the lake and come back later hoping for fewer children to be in the playground.
Coleman slowly getting the courage to try climbing on the Climbing Structure.
After climbing a short distance, Coleman sits down and looks around unsure of what to do next.
He eventually decides he was to get down, but was uncertain about how to go about climbing down. After watching for a little bit I realized he wanted help getting down. So we went hiking back up towards the car visiting the historic cabins, cows, and horses along the way.
As Coleman and I were hiking along Steele Creek Trail back towards the car we spotted this little Fairy Garden tucked away in the base of a tree. I have seen pictures which other hikers have taken before, however this was the first time we had ever spotted the Fairy Garden. If you weren’t looking at the surrounding landscape you could possibly miss seeing it.
Spotted along Steele Creek TrailFairy Garden Time to Swing and Relax
On this hiking adventure I parked at the Dairy Barn Entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway. After exiting the car we proceeded to hike along the fencing before hitting the trails. Following the fence line we were able to view the horses, some of which trotted over to our location. [More on horses later].
Our first stop along the Blue Star Trail was to take a look at the Faires/Coltharp Cabin. To our surprise and delight it was open to the public (first time we’d seen it open). So naturally, Coleman with me following went inside to see what was inside.
A Look inside the Faires/Coltharp Cabin
After leaving the cabin, we hiked further along the Blue Star Trail towards the Swinging Bridge and the Schroering Forest Playground located on the other side of the Spillway.
Blue Star Trail
When the Spillway is up and streaming with a steady flow of water, the only way to cross it is to walk across the Greenway’s Swinging Bridge. Since our destination was on the far side of the Swinging Bridge we/I slowly walked across. Coleman used to walk across it when he was younger, but now if no one else is on it he’ll run across.
Coleman crossing the Swinging Bridge
We made it safely across the Swinging Bridge, walked around the Artisan Market, ordered lunch from the Greenway’s Canteen and rested a bit before heading to the Schroering Forest Playground. We had a clear view of the Playground from where we chose to sit. This was the first official day the Playground was open. They had been working on it all fall and winter. Being its opening day, the playground was crowded with children from all age groups.
Coleman hiking the Blue Star Trail
Upon completion of our lunch we noticed there were still a lot of children on the playground. I decided to have Coleman wait to play in it until it wasn’t nearly so crowded. Therefore, we continued on with our hiking and headed down to Lake Haigler.
Blue Star Trail Almost down to Lake Haigler
We hiked along the narrow side pathway towards the lake. The straight pathway is wider and more widely traveled by the majority of visitors to the Greenway.
We hiked a short loop with great views of Lake Haigler and then hiked back up to the Playground. Coleman climbed up on the Climbing structure and wasn’t sure about what to do after climbing up a short ways and just sat down for a few minutes. [The all natural wood climbing structure seemed to puzzle Coleman. He’ll probably climb more next time we visit.]
Steele Creek Trail
After a full afternoon of hiking and Coleman playing I decided it was time to head home. Hence, we proceeded to hike back up to the car. Instead of hiking the exact same trail we hiked down, we started out hiking on the Steele Creek Trail. The Steele Creek Trail is a narrow trail that leads up towards the Graham Historical Cabin.
From the cabin we traverse back onto the Blue Star Trail. After short distance from the cabin, Coleman starts searching for the cows. Sometimes they are up close to the fence line, but on this day we really had to look for them. Searching the pasture as we hiked up the trail, two of the cows came walking towards our direction from the far end of the pasture. That made a Coleman’s day. He was then ready to go home.
Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography 