Art Tuesday: Purple Posies

Sorry, I am late, but I still have something: Purple Posies!  Have you seen a posy, or a purple posy? I have not, but I might.

Art Tuesday: Fire Flowers

Have you seen fire flowers?  There are three kinds: One type is actual fire, the second is any red flower.  Then there are fantasy flowers made out of fire that grows on the ground.  This picture is of the fantasy flowers.

 

Art Tuesday: A Flower in the Grass

This is a picture of a flower in the grass that I drew myself on the computer.  The flower stands out from everything else.

The fairy in the woods

If you look closely at the woods, you might find a few little surprises.

What are you??

Hide and seek!!!

Found you again!!!

This is the doorway to my house, though you can’t see my house.

My favorite doglilly.

 

Busy Busy Busy

Do you get like that?  Busy busy busy and no time for anything than being busy?  Well, maybe you can sit down for a minute, literally, 58 seconds, relax, and watch someone else being busy busy busy.  Here is a short video of the honey bees who moved into one of the maple trees on the property a few months ago.  They are loaded with yellow and orange pollen:

The orange pollen is an indication that fall is coming.  Got to wonder how much honey they have stashed away in that tree by now!

Other indicators that fall is approaching can be found in the apple tree:

We have not seen any European hornets this year, but then again, they usually wait until the apples are really nice and ripe, and then have their feast.  We posted a few pictures of them last year.

Also, we harvested a bit of this crop again, but found out later that this time, we were a bit late:  Stinging nettles are very tasty just sauteed in butter, but once they developed flowers, they are hard on the kidneys, or so they say.  So you better get to them before that.  But seriously, of all the so-called bitter greens – Swiss chard, kale, dandelion greens, nettles and the like – our absolute favorite are stinging nettles.  Once you harvested them, you blanch them in boiling water so they won’t sting anymore, and then cut them to the size you prefer and throw them in a sauce pan with some butter.  Let them get soft, and enjoy them.  We often eat soup – carrot soup, for example – and a few nettles thrown in when the soup is already in your bowl is quite delicious and adds texture.

And here are a few pictures to enjoy, just because beauty is such a wonderful thing.

First, leaves on the apple tree im Gegenlicht:

Two Zinnias:

Loki:

And a much smaller bug on a Black-eyed Susan.  I think he was just doing his daily stoutness-exercises when I came along with the camera.

There’s that for today.  Make sure you don’t get too busy!  We all have the same amount of time, you know, 24/7, to be exact, and it is up to us to make time for the right stuff.

 

 

Morning Sun

It is August, and it is hot.  Weather Lore, otherwise known as Bauernregeln, knows that,

 If the first week in August is unusually warm, the winter will be white and long.

Got to wonder about global warming vs. global cooling and how the tone in the media will change if indeed the coming winter will be long and white.  But I guess we can look forward to much snow and fewer bugs next year!

Here are a few pictures we took this morning when the sun was just over the treetops.

Spearmint blossoms.  Without bee…

… and with bee:

And here we have a predator and its prey, focusing first the former, and then the latter:

And here is another pretty little wildflower.  It’s about the size of a bean blossoms, but I am not sure what it is exactly:

As for the featured flower that is unfolding now, it is probably a member of the Aster family, but that’s about my best guess at this point.

Enjoy your summer days; in two months, we might have the first frost already!

End of July Garden Impressions

Here we are again at the eve of a new month, and I would like to share a few garden impressions.  The bees are buzzing, and other insects as well, the flowers are blossoming, and the vegetable yield is reasonable thus far.  Zucchini are an almost complete failure this year, but cucumbers are plentiful.  Tomatoes are pretty but mostly green still, and we are fairly swimming in Hungarian Wax peppers.  Green beans were another failure – the young plants served as bunny food -, but the second crop might turn out better.  Lettuces are about exhausted, but there will be a second crop as well.  And now, as usual:  Pictures!

Cucumber blossom.  Very much appreciated by the honey bees.

I wonder if the honey they make tastes like cucumber relish…

We should probably be worried about this little fellow and his comrades.

“And what do you want to be when you are a grown-up?”

Spearmint blossoms!

First fall colors:  reddish sunflower

Here is a window of opportunity:  A row prepared for succession planting.

I think we have enough yellow flowers everywhere to scare off even the hardiest of the Moorfolk.

Buzzzzzzzzz!

Tamed!

We made friends with our resident Triffid.  Her name is Triffy, and look what she did for us:

Here she is, looking into the window.

Morning beauty:

 

Oh Help! Oh No!

It’s a Triffid attacking the house!

Quick, get the hose!!

Don’t know what a Triffid is?  Here’s what the experts say:

“Triffids are tall, carnivorous, mobile plants capable of aggressive and seemingly intelligent behavior. They are able to move about by “walking” on their roots, appear to communicate with each other, and possess a deadly whip-like poisonous sting that enables them to kill their victims and feed on their rotting carcasses.”

Here it comes……

July, by Susan Hartley Swett

July

by Susan Hartley Swett

When the scarlet cardinal tells
Her dream to the dragonfly,
And the lazy breeze makes a nest in the trees,
And murmurs a lullaby,
It’s July.

When the tangled cobweb pulls
The cornflower’s cap awry,
And the lilies tall lean over the wall
To bow to the butterfly,
It’s July.

When the heat like a mist veil floats,
And poppies flame in the rye,
And the silver note in the streamlet’s throat
Has softened almost to a sigh,
It’s July.

When the hours are so still that time
Forgets them, and lets them lie
Underneath petals pink till the night stars wink
At the sunset in the sky,
It’s July.