Last month of College, and boy is it busy!

Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to touch base with you guys!
I have had a rough past weeks starting with my Spring Break, then I had surgery on my wrist like three Monday's ago and had to take some leave time from school. The Wednesday in the same week I had gotten a call from my father that my grandmother had past (we was with her at the time). I spent the end of the week trying to figure out what I missed in school and the ceremonies for her funeral. I was upset and I made a separate post for that awhile ago.
This is the final two weeks of classes followed by exams as I graduate in literally 1 month and 1 day and I leave for Japan a few days later. I am been super stressed and have seamed to be trying to play catch up sine that horrible week.
I have to put together a research proposal and such and that is time consuming with lots of research!!
It's about the native oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay. I hope it comes out great since I need to do well if I want to graduate from College. It is stressful times and exciting times!!!
With all of this going on, I haven't really had time to go out and take photographs in the past week or two and haven't put together any new posts to the blog. The past 6 were pre made awhile ago when I had a feeling that I was going to get busy! I did spend some time yesterday working on some new photos and getting them ready but I have to find time to make a post! It might be soon it might not since my school work load is crazy!!! Not only that, but I have to find a career job as well! So much! Also touch up planning for my trip to Japan!
Oh if anyone wants to help me out with a photo contest at Maymont, click this link (here) and vote on one of the photographs that has votes on it since I guess the one with the most wins people's choice. The link has all the photos that  submitted. A ton of them are older photographs to.

Well I hope I can post more and I really will try to update some plans on Japan. I can't wait and I will love to post a ton when I get back from the trip. I wont have school work in the way!

Seya!

Graffiti of Belle Isle

Hey Everyone!
Well I took some photographs of the graffiti on Belle Isle and figured I dump them in their own post for everyone to see. Richmond sure has its share of graffiti all over the city. The other post is here.

Graffiti in the secret tunnel...

Camera on a skateboard?

I liked the intricate design in the left side...

The Azalea - Rhododendron

Hey everyone!
Figure I share about my lovely Azalea plants. I love the azaleas that we have and they are great to have in the yard. Green all year around but really produce spectacular flowers in the spring, all kinds of colors.
They are a flowering shrub from the Rhododendron genus. Their flowers will last for a few weeks, depending on the weather conditions. They prefer to have shade majority of the day as they look more healthy and produce great looking blooms then. Also love to grow beneath or by other taller trees. They grow one blossom per stem rather then the multiple like the plant Rhododendron. Also, like the Rhododendron's, the azaleas are also mildly poisons and you should not consume any parts or the plant at all as it can cause abdominal pains and cardiovascular problems as well.




Taken with EOS T3i with 18-55mm Is II Lens

Belle Isle Isle - March 2012

Hey Everyone!
So went to Belle Isle about a week ago with my father. It was nice to get back over there. It has been a while since the last time I was there.

The water level was still high at this time but earlier that week the water was a lot higher.

The river City, Richmond, Virginia

The Robert E. Lee Bridge goes over the isle

Gives a cool perspective...

 

This is the part of the James River that is the fall line.

Cherry Blossoms at VCU

Hey Everyone!
Figure I share these with you guys a small little posts with some flowers that are long gone now. VCU is quite a beautiful campus that is still ever growing in the city of Richmond. Sorry I didn't take more as I was on my way to class, botany go figure haha.

My Grandmother

Hey Everyone.
So this post is for my grandmother.
On March 28th, 2012 (this past Wednesday) she past away after what seamed like years of cheating death. It was my fathers mother and she was 80 years old. She is from Brunswick County, Virginia, the country of Virginia. She was married to my grandfather for 62 years and he is still with us. She was only a few months older than him. I am happy to say  that she was sleeping when she stopped breathing and passed away in a peaceful state.
She was the kindness person you would have ever met. I don't think I can ever picture her without a smile on since she always had one. She cared about everyone she met, that see knew and all of her family. I wish I could learn more about her and what it was like out there. She had some amazing cooking and everyone in the family says that if you are from Brunswick County you can cook and I can believe that.
She would always ask how my friends were doing even though I haven't seen them in a long time, she cared and she loved.
She has fought off lots of medical problems for years and had heart surgery years back. She was diagnosis with a baseball sized aneurysm on her heart last spring and they said that she could die in an instant at anytime if it burst. They said maybe till the Summer is what she had left but we had her for another year.
I wont lie, that was the first funeral that I have attended and it was draining and upsetting. Most upsetting was seeing my grandfather cry. I have seen him do it before from frustration when he got paralyzed but this was totally different. I could not image losing someone that you have loved and been with for the past 62 years to leave your side. It was a joyous occasion as friends and family came together to eat and laugh and enjoy our company as we remembered someone that had a significant impact in their lives. That brought joy to them through her kindness and smile.
I will miss you and will remember you grandma.

Our family and a lot of other friends and family donated a lot of gorgeous flowers to the service and I appreciated them all. They were beautiful and smelled wonderful and she enjoyed her garden. She will be happy to have them. I am adding flowers below that I knew she would have loved to see. These are flowers that have been on her before and have not.

 

Cherry Blossoms of Maymont

Hey Everyone!
Wanted to share the Cherry Blossoms of Maymont. I posted some in the Maymont post earlier this week but I really took a lot and wanted to have a post for just them. I wasn't able to get up to D.C. this past weekend for the peak blooming since it rained and all but I hope I made up for it with this! There was plenty of Cherry tree's and plum tree's in the Richmond area to see! Also check the post earlier this week from Maymont here.

Like I said in the post earlier on this week I ended up going to Maymont like three times in three days because the memory card wasn't saving them!

The Cherry Blossoms is a flowering part of many different trees from the genus Prunus. It can also be called Sakura in Japanese! 

Most of the varieties of this tree is now ornamental and hardly produces fruit.

Cherry Blossoms are edible and can even be pickled and served in hot water like serving tea. this is called Sakurayu.

 

Hanami is the name of when viewing parties go out and sit together to admire the beauty of the sakura blossoms in Japan.

I am happy that I didn't have to travel all the way to D.C. to find some Cherry trees. These were really breath taking.

 

Some were more pink then the other.

 

The cherry blossom had the meaning of life in Japan. The falling of a blossom from the tree was seen as a Samurai losing his life.

The great thing about Cherry trees is that before most trees bud out their leaves, these trees bud out their precious blossoms and instead of a green tree you can have and entire white tree.

Admiring the sites and beauty of these trees is something many can enjoy. The meaning of something so precious and beautiful is also so fragile and that it also shows the essence of life. 

I wish I spent more time with them. I wont lie, people over here do not admire the blossoms as those do in Japan.

I was happy to see them as I am happy with most things in nature. I hope you enjoyed seeing the blossoms!

Found some of the technical information over at Wikipedia

Taken with EOS T3i with 18-55mm IS II lens

Maymont March Madness

Hey Everyone!
So Maymont is lovely this year with new blooms from their cherry blossoms and other flowers all across the park! I hope you enjoy the photographs!

The Sakura (Cherry) tree on the other side of the pond in the Japanese Garden

I will have another post on the blossoms of the Sakura trees at Maymont, they are gorgeous



I am glad to see that the water in the pond and the water fall are full again. The koi are happy swimming all around.