1 pic a day 2012, May 7th - 128/366

Wow, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

No idea what hybrid this is. Got it as a gift two years ago and it has never failed to bloom. Known as Amaryllis, but technically an Hippeastrum; it looks like "Desire", but it could be anything, seriously. From what I have seen online, the differences between some of them are so subtle that sometimes I don't know why they have different names. But it's pretty, so I don't complain!

1 pic a day 2012, May 6th: (Canadian) Swiss Chard - 127/366

127/366, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

First harvest of the spring... some seeds we brought from Canada, that promised nice, bright colors... and they delivered! This one was as tasty as nice to look at!

1 pic a day 2012, May 5th - 126/366

Nice Day!, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

The sculptures, the reflection of the water, the (ugh) pigeons, the trail in the sky (what's the proper name for that?): it made for a nice composition. This was taken right before a great lunch with friends. Nice way to spend a Saturday!

1 pic a day, May 4th: Star Wars Day - 125/366

Star Wars Day - "I have a bad feeling about this", a photo by torresk on Flickr.

May the Fourth be with you and all that. Posting this a few days later, but I was celebrating, so that's my excuse. The caption for this one was "I have a bad feeling about this". And if you make fun of the action figure/puzzle, be afraid, be very afraid: there's more where these came from.

1 pic a day 2012, May 3rd - 124/366, Watercolors

Watercolors, a photo by torresk on Flickr.

I pass by this square almost every morning on my way to work. On Thursdays, it's even earlier, as I have a 8:00 class. Around that time, they usually have the sprinklers on with -I guess- the intention of watering the grass. What actually happens, the way the sprinklers are set, is that a small stream is created and it runs down the street. This particular morning it was very bright, and that red patch really got my attention. It was the roof of a nearby building, but the reflection on the water is so colorful that it looks as if it was burning. decided to crop it so the buildings and tress don't show. I like it better this way.

By the way, I'm trying the direct connection from Flickr to Blogger. It works OK, although I don't think I get a lot to say on the post layout; maybe I need to explore a bit more. And then I have to log in to Blogger anyway if I want to add labels and such. Will try it for a few days and see whether I like it.

I also started to try the Pinterest function, which is pretty good. Managed to Pin all my 1picxday images to boards organised by month.

1 pic a day 2012: May 2nd - 123/366

Today's picture almost didn't happen. Had a hectic day, as usual, and there was not much that caught my eye during the day. But when I was walking home, there was something in the way the light hit this building that made me stop.

I was in a hurry, so I just took a picture and run to my next (and final) meeting of the day. It was afterwards that I realised the contrast was all wrong and had to play with filters to get some of the details back. Thus the weird glow on the top left corner. It had some nice comments on Facebook anyway, so I can't complain! I guessed this must had been listed somewhere, so after a bit of Googling found out it is called Cases Salvador Andreu; apparently, the style is more Eclectic than Modernist. More information on it may be found here.

Clicking on it will open the original on a separate window, in case you want to see more detail.

This led me to this other site, where 115 works (or 116, the site doesn't seem to make up its mind about it) are listed and together create the Modernisme Route. After reading it, I realised there are several buildings and places around Barcelona named after Salvador Andreu, and two clicks later I learned he is the guy behind the cough drops I took the last time I had the flu. Which proves that everything is connected and that it is very easy to get lost on the Internet and forget what you were doing in the first place. So that's it for today.

1 pic a day 2012: May 1st

Well, May starts and with it a new approach: to try to write a daily post for each picture that's part of the #1picxday2012 group. I'm not really sure I will be able to keep up with it but it doesn't hurt to try. I never thought I would get this far with the 1 pic a day challenge, and here we are entering month 5!

Today's picture is a snapdragon (Antirrhinum) that bloomed last week in our balcony. It's growing in the same pot as the Araucaria (which is featured in the April 1picxday pictures, post coming soon), and that I have always known by the name "Perritos" (little dogs). I don't really remember how they got there, but they are thriving and producing blooms left and right, so I guess they like it here.

Clicking on it will open the original on a separate window, in case you want to see more detail. It has gorgeous colors, so it's worth it!

As the work that was being done in the balconies has finally been finished, we could move the plants outside again. We have 138 plants! Actually, 137, as one of them was accidentally crushed to pieces a few minutes ago. A curved support and a square rail don't match. The poor thing was featured as 52/366 on February 21st, so its legacy will live on. Plus we still have hope that it will survive.