Da Goddess

Oh, I love that lion! Joannie, you are a woman of talent.
What kind of camera did you buy?

I think Daffodils are my favorite flower.

Pretty - thank you!

I love the pictures. I still think male lions have it way too good. The females are the hunters and rear the cubs while the dominant male eats, drinks and shags his harem between naps. Hmmmmm, I wonder if my karma is good enough to come back as a lion? >:-)

The camera is an Olympus C-740 with a 10x optical zoom. In most cases, the camera is steady enough to pull off those long distance shots with the zoom all the way out. However, they do recommend the use of a tripod. (Blah blah blah) Very few of my 10x zoomed shots have NOT turned out.

The camera also has a SUPER Macro feature...which is very nice.

Congratulations on the new camera.
The 10X zoom makes a big difference.

Hope to see many new pics, because your old one were excellent.

I wish I had a monitor to do these justice.The flower below looks tropical-Hawaian?

The Olympus Camedia series is great. My C-2100uz has image stabilization and I can zoom in all the way with no tripod most of the time...BUT it is only 2.11 megapixel. I have megapixel envy!

These shots are great - love that big lion tongue. Imagine how rough that big thing would be compared to our domestic lions' tongues!

By the way...Is that flower Leonotis (Lion's Ear)? If so, pretty ironic how it's posted right beneath a lion!

Beautiful pictures. The lion is majestic.

Lovely pics! Similar camera to mine Joanie....Olympus C 700 with 10X zoom. You don't need the tripod. I don't have one and the pics are irie!

I think lions have it made because they can eat their young without fear of going to jail!

Madame B

WOW - That new camera rocks!! I want one!! ;) Very nice pictures!!!!

Is this the orange plant you posted about chez moi? (as in, this url: lizditz[dot]typepad[dot]com/i_speak_of_dreams/2004/02/early_spring_is[dot]html)?

If this is not the orange plant you were speaking of, please e-mail me a pointer.

Over the years of being an amatuer plant enthusiast, I have become more of a stickler about plant names--that is, being sure that what I think I am paying for is indeed what is going in the ground.

And about the nasal miseries--have you tried swimming, as in a daily swim in a clorinated pool? That worked for two friends of mine who were constantly sinus-ated--both serendipitously, being runners who were too head/sinus-sore to run, so started swimming, and viola!! (or as I saw it spelled in a book, wa-la!) no more sinus illness. Worth a try.

P.S., your comment code didn't like my address, so I had to put yours in.

I have a couple of candidates for the flower:

crocosima masoniorum

photo here:

http://www.stratsplace.com/gardendiary/crocosmia.html

another photo here:

http://www.bloomriver.com/reFrame.asp?page=/root/plantDetail.asp?ID=8&plantID=665

this is a cultivar, so isn't doesn't look quite the same (I believe both crocosmias are easy to hybridize)

Another possibility is tritonia, specifically tritonia hyalina.

image here

http://www.nal.usda.gov/curtis/openfltr.shtml

Tritonia hyalina is listed as a weed or invasive species in some climates as it spreads rapidly.

Both used to be known as "montbreia". I believe the blooming period is relatively short, but the sword-shaped leaves are lovely when back-lit.

P.S. the URL field still doesn't like my url:

http://lizditz.[dot] typepad [dot] com

nope, it is not just the URL field, it is the whole url, even in the body of the post.

Is it the lack of www? Maybe? Not a problem to spend much energy on, anyway, poor infected-sinus girl.

BTW, personally I get more pain relief from Advil gel caps.