We all love our flowers, some of us more than others but still I think everyone enjoys flowers to some degree. And we all love summer and summer weather…most of the time. Sometimes summer weathers is just down right destructive. Case in point…todays weather…
This mornings storm
And with the wind and heavy rain we have damage…
These big blooms are heavy
With large heavy blooms, they easily fall victim to wind as it whirls down our street and up from the river valley. But we do have a little enjoyment left from these beauties…we bring them inside…
I still have some big beauties left to help my yard smile…
Even though the wind was not kind, I am still enjoying the kindness of the flowers inside. Remember to always be kind, even if you have to be creative.
I enjoy joining in with Hammad Rais and the gorgeous skies that can relax you at the end of the week, but we had a storm early this morning…that I spelt through. So I did not take these photos but thought they were awesome to share. The local TV station took them and posted them on FB. Spring and summer can create some pretty horrific storms here in the Midwest and with it being as hot as it has been, it is no wonder we had one this morning, only to be topped off with more triple digit heat. Enjoy the pics.
Hail stones size references
Even when we are faced with the rough side of nature, we can still find was to be kind. Being kind to others also brings peace to you.
While I do agree with Cee on the beauty of nature, but it can also has a fun whimsical side. My case in point, I give you the story of the potato family members where mother potato refused to let any of her children go out on their own. This family was pulled this morning from the community garden of my church.
The balancing act mom had to do did not bode very well so she used my juice glass from this morning to help stabilize herself. Even her other children stuck close to protect the baby in the center…
All in all, they are a very loving family. They must have been watching how elephants come in close to always protect the younger ones in the herd. And I am sure they will be tasty with my string beans tonight. 😊. Always remember the beauty of nature even when it looks funny.
Thank you for stopping by for a moment of silliness. I hope it made you smile. Remember that smiles are contagious so share them often.
Cee always amazes us with fabulous photos for Flower of the Day. It is still Monday, August 1, so I am combining FOTD and Macro Monday.
Fan Flowers
These are delicately beautiful flowers that only have petals on one side – therefore looking like a fan.
I have shared them before but some just need an encore.
They have been an exceptional tiny flower this summer with yellow centers that reach out to white, then bright pink that stretches out lightly to the edges of the petals that end in a point.
I also want to point out the magic of kindness and how it can brighten a person’s day just like these color brighten these flowers. So be kind and watch the brightness begin to glow.
I had to show you the t-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday last year that shows…my favorite color(s).
If you follow my blog at all, then you know I am a little over the top at Christmas. My oldest tree(1 of 5) is really tired this year, so I will half to buy a new one…oh darn…lol.
And I remind you as always try hard to be kind…..color kindness wherever you are and in all that you do.
Flower of the Day is fun, interesting and sometimes mysterious. Today I give you mysterious, mostly because I have no clue what any of these are. I ordered this cool idea that had a biodegradable roll embedded with wonderful summer seeds. Yeah, the idea was cool but the results in my opinion were mostly weeds. If the weeds bloomed, that would also be acceptable as some weeds have lovely blooms. And that being said…these may be weeds with lovely blooms.
This one kind of looks like a poppy but it never opened up any more that here. The actual bloom diameter is about 2.5 inches.
These I am naming Small white flower. It is a single layered, 5 petal flower about .5 inch in diameter. Below is a macro of a single bloom for you to see the delicate beauty.
Flower Bud and TINY friend.
The next flower is also white but I am calling it Tiny flower. It is on a cluster but the cluster itself is only about 1.5 inches wide and the singe bloom is probable as small as .125 inch. It will have a macro for it below as well.
The weed leaf give perspective of the flowers tininess.
We only see the tiniest glimpses of beauty nature gives us to enjoy, so pay close attention and you may be surprised at what you see.
And always remember to share kindness in all you do. That has a beauty all its own.
It took me a couple of years of trial and error to figure out what food works best for the majority of the birds in my area that also detracts from squirrels. I don’t mind squirrels that much except for two years they ate holes in my feeders. I tired Crisco on the feeder pole. I tried a baffle and I even put a slinky around the pole like in the picture below.
That seemed to work…somewhat, but mostly I changed their food. I now mostly have safflower seed which is a variety the birds enjoy and the squirrels don’t. YAY! The doves love the platform feeder and sometimes you will see the other birds wait on them to leave then they will eat.
So I added other types of feeders to help everybody get some. Here is a sparrow enjoying some basic wild bird food from a feeder that I got at Hobby Lobby and painted myself.
The most fun this afternoon came from the House Finches. The males are a beautiful red and I think who came by was a father and son. The larger of the two was showing the smaller bird the feeder. At one point he walked over and handed some seed to the smaller bird.
The fun part came after this feeding lesson. The younger bird went to the bath and had a good time. I don’t have a super good camera (or expert technique) and while the picture looks a bit fuzzy, that is actually water being slung everywhere. I thought this would bring a smile to someone, for that is the purpose of blogging, at least to me it is; to share the things that make me smile.
Well enough of my armature photos. I hope they made you smile. Remember the power of a smile. Even without words, a smile can show kindness and relieve someone’s hurt.
After a week of cloudy skies, which I am not complaining about because of the cooler temps, it was nice to see the clouds clear away showing their artistic whims as they left. Hammad Rais reminds us to look up at our constantly changing sky and catch its beauty as it changes.
If you get the chance to be still and study the sky, ponder on its beauty and the fact that it does constantly change – at least at least as we see it. An different attribute that is seen that we can make as a constant in our lives is…kindness.
For the Love of 