Tag: birmingham

Backyard botanical gardens

On By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants2 Comments

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My Mom loved dogwood flowers. We had several in our yard when I was growing up.

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Bright yellow everywhere.

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Getting a bite.  My sister had just fed her fish in the koi pond in her backyard.

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Beautiful pine trees along the edge of the yard.

My sister and her husband have spent a lot of time working in their back yard.  We were there in late March and the spring blooms were just starting to come out. Their yard looks like a botanical gardens, with flowers, bushes, benches, bird feeders, bird houses and two fish ponds. The thing I noticed the most was the dogwood trees. We don’t have them here in central Florida and I hadn’t seen any during my quick trip to Birmingham. She had several in her yard and it made me think of my Mom.

A little bit of history

On By dinajohnstonIn Vacation4 Comments

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Views of downtown Birmingham Alabama from the Vulcan Park.

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A shot of the Sloss furnace in the middle. Taken from the website “Sloss Furnaces produced iron for nearly 90 years, which gave rise to the city of Birmingham, AL. Now recognized as a National Historic Landmark, Sloss Furnaces, with its web of pipes and tall smokestacks, offers a glimpse into the great industrial past of the South and our nation.”

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Pictures from the front of Vulcan looking up. We took the elevator up and walked around the walkway up top.  Taken from the website “Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and forge, watches over all of Birmingham as a symbol of the city’s iron origins–and the ever-present spark of its indomitable spirit.”

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A selfie taken at the top of the statue on the walkway.  It was not a place for people who are afraid of heights. The walkway was grated and you could see straight down.

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The view from the parking lot.

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A very small version of Vulcan at the Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham.

More pictures from my long weekend in Birmingham.

SkyWatch Friday

In memory of my Dad.

On By dinajohnstonIn bird photography7 Comments

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The entrance to the Japanese Gardens at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

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Lots of things blooming in late March.

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Growing up I spent a lot of time at the Japanese Gardens in Birmingham. It was one of my parents favorite places to go and walk around. My Dad would take a lot of pictures. I was busy playing in the grass and feeding the fish. I was probably wondering when we were going home so I could play with my friends. Now, 30 years later I am there taking pictures without my Dad. This post is in his memory. He died in April 2001, 15 years ago.

Shine the Divine

Timing is everything

On By dinajohnstonIn flowers and plants, Vacation3 Comments

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We finally planned a trip to go to Birmingham to visit my sister and her husband in late March. The weather had been so crazy so we weren’t sure whether to bring sweaters or shorts. The weather turned out perfect over Easter weekend while we were there. On Saturday, we spent the day doing tourist stuff all around town. I grew up in Birmingham but had not been back in many years. On Saturday we went to the Botanical Gardens. The last time I was there was over 30 years ago so I really only remembered it through pictures that my dad had taken long ago. It looked like it hadn’t changed. The tulips were in full bloom. I miss seeing the tulips when we lived in Atlanta. They were all over town so it was great to spend the morning taking pictures of them.

Shine the Divine