Welcome to Villa Emilia (My Woodland Garden), a photography blog with a slant towards gardening and nature. An amateur gardener and photographer, I hope to share beautiful moments with you through pictures. Let me know if you like them! ❤

Thank you for your visit.

27.3.2016

Signs of spring


We still have lots of snow and the signs of spring are few. I participate in this week's photo challenges with these indoor photos:






















Sharing with:



A month in photos: March

Thank you to all the hosts!







I leave you with a little treat. From Milan with love.
Just look at the lovely gorgeous magnolia! Thank you so much, D.!







23.3.2016

Happy Easter, dear friends!




Happy Easter!
Iloista pääsiäistä!
Buona Pasqua!



May you see the sun dancing at dawn on Easter Sunday! :)







Sharing, unfortunately for the last time this year, with

Sunlit Sunday.

Thank you, Karen, for hosting!




20.3.2016

Sunlit tulips



Participating in Sunlit Sunday and Mosaic Monday. Thank you, Karen and Judith, for hosting!






















As I wrote earlier, these tulips don't look like the image on the package promised (see below), but they are pretty anyway... :)








Wishing you sunny and sprightly days!






Participating also in Jeannette's new meme




18.3.2016

Singing and eating


Here are some frequent visitors at our bird feeder. This winter they look more timid than usually. (?) I manage to take photos of them almost only through a window.


Parus caeruleus






Poecile montanus



Parus major

♥ 


Carduelis chloris


And something bigger...


A Corvus?


Help in identifying is very much appreciated. :)


Participating in




Thank you, Amy, Eileen and Anni, for hosting!






Have a lovely weekend, everyone!


13.3.2016

March



Hello all! Here are my photos for this week's Sunlit Sunday and Mosaic Monday.  Thank you, Karen and Judith, for hosting!

This photo was taken last year in March and it's one of my favourites. The sun was going down and it started to snow. It was a magical moment.







Another sunset a year ago: the beautiful colours of the clouds reflected by the ice covering our beloved lake:










Some recent photos taken through a kitchen window:




This is a rowing boat, turned upside down. :)







This is a massive disappointment. :) These potted tulips are (supposed to be) 'Sweet Desire'. They should look completely different.











Have a beautiful new week!






8.3.2016

Today














No. I'm cheating. :) It didn't look like this today. These sunny photos were taken in March last year. In reality, the weather continues to be cloudy. The temperature is around zero and the blanket of snow on the roof slides down. The photos below were taken yesterday in front of our home - and you see why we can't grow any shrubs for example in this spot.






Fortunately, all the snow slid down from the roof last night. It's rather heavy by now and definitely not something you'd want to be under when it falls.








Browsing my last year's photos, I found also these, taken in March.

Once more, the photographer's skills and perhaps her camera lens fail to do justice to the beauty of the winter weather, but you do get the point: Nature is amazing in its beauty and design.

Osallistun näillä kuvilla viikon 11 MakroTex-haasteeseen, vaikka uudemmassakin postauksessani on näkymiä maaliskuulta. Meillä on edelleen yhtä paljon lunta... ja pilvistä. Kaikki aurinkoiset kuvat ovat viime vuoden maaliskuulta!

Luonto on ihmeellisen kaunis... ja makrolinssi olisi tosiaan tarpeellinen.





























Today, on the International Women's Day, I post a video for the first time ever. Remember Saudi Arabia’s driving ban for women? This is what The Independent wrote about it... and about this excellent video.

The video was published in October 2013 (I didn't have a blog yet) and many of you may have already seen it (I hope so!).  However, I think it's definitely worth watching and listening, even several times. :)









Today will also begin

a series of five unforgettable matches,

AlphaGo vs Lee Sedol,




"How would an AI super computer spend $1 million?"
"It would probably waste a load on fast processors, then put the rest into the memory bank."
(From the Gizmodo UK forum)









6.3.2016

Memories 2015: White







Hello all! It's Sunday and, surprise surprise, it's snowing again! I participate in

Sunlit Sunday, hosted by Karen,

and

Mosaic Monday, hosted by Judith,

with this selection of last summer's flowers. The collage photos were taken in Finland and the other ones (those with sunshine) were taken in Central Europe. :)














Wishing you a happy new week!