bird break, time for spring flowers

post #482
          More visiting birds next week, but today spring is wanting a turn.  I have some photos from this week, and several friends and family have sent me photos as well. So here are some of these. In a truly difficult time of "never before" we can be warmed by the always happening, this year, next year and again.

in my yard

in Tom and Molly's yard

I remember the house that 40 years ago was at the top of these steps. Now, every year,  these beauties are what happens.  My name for this photo, with George Ella Lyon's help, is LEGACY.  It's located on the way to town; it's a tradition.

             Three photos from my daughter, Rebecca:

peonies rushing to push back out of the earth

Maybe every dogwood tree deserves an actual companion dog....

        Friends Leatha and Will took a drive today to go see the blooms in the Lexington Cemetery, and they were kind to share some of its loveliness.

      Now a spring photo from England, by Sarah Fletcher, who shared this photo on Instagram today. I love the front sheep, posing, and the back steeple, with all that munching going on in between!  Always good to see so much blue sky over there,....

Saintbury Church in Willersey

Though these also aren't flowers, this photo continues to intrigue me. It's a drive-by on my way home from the grocery store. I call this the neighborhood deli, with four smart ass diners....

     
          To end today's hiatus, I'd like to give a shout-out to our wet-behind-the-ears governor who has been so impressive as he manages to set a tone of compassion and caring and perseverance to all Kentuckians, regardless of their politics. He is truthful, reliable, sensible, and direct about why he has made decisions that might at first seem daunting to his constituents.  Every day at 5 pm he has been showing what real leadership can be. It has been awhile since we've experienced that, so many of us are particularly grateful for his presence.  Thank you Gov. Andy Beshear!!!

late summer 2019, heat and all

post #437
        Lots of words last week. Today mostly some photos from this past week. I'm slow to get back into my photo groove. And it has been really hot outside. But there is no question that I love looking closely, noticing things, being hopeful, thankful, and amazed. 
       Yet, even so, or maybe because, please bear with me, it also makes me uneasy.  This week I want to believe there is a way to stop the Amazon Forest from burning up. Why, again, hasn't it been obvious what our responsibilities are to the next generation? 

butterfly visitor, to the past-its-prime joe-pye.

          Now that my big field is getting mowed twice a year, with a tractor, there are so many more flowers for the bees and bugs. A lot of living goes on in there between the mowings.  Each year it gets more beautiful, to me.

May moments caught on my iPhone

post #386
       Two weeks in May, when we finally had spring and quickly moved on to summer!

The dogwoods finally bloomed, in the woods edges nearby.

many bluets this year -- sometimes known as Quaker Ladies

          I needed to pick up some framed photos, in Paris (Kentucky) at Frames on Main, and on the way home, on Route 460, I discovered the Montgomery Green House -- with a single sign and a dirt road to the top of the hill.  LOVED IT and the sound of cows in the barns. While checking out, I was surprised to be recognized -- by some retired teachers who had been checking me out... It turns out they had heard me years ago do a presentation about Counting on the Woods. Who knew.

        The first week of May is big on birthdays around here. My granddaughter and a friend decided to share a birthday, with each one, however, decorating her own cake.  Luckily all the families were able to switch days at the last minute, from Saturday to Sunday, because of all the rain on Saturday. This made the requisite walk in the creek even more fun....

beach theme!

         I recently had my first appointment at the brand new St. Claire Medical Clinic. It is full of windows and space with lots of seating -- and since I was there mid afternoon on Friday, I kind of had the place to myself at one point.  All in all, a VERY IMPRESSIVE change, and, I hear, much appreciated by those who work there.

        Later that same afternoon I took a friend for a drive, and we cruised the Fish Hatchery out near Cave Run Lake.  Something has happened to all the Canada Geese who used to live there, eating the fish that were "maturing" in multiple rectangular ponds, but today we saw only three "families". Each had several fledglings. Because my car doesn't have a trunk to protect my camera from the heat I had not brought my good camera.  So this is what I would call "an evidence" picture. We were there:

A recent evening walk along my road.... lots of pollen this year:

pipeline views....

         Well, truth to tell, I also had a birthday during this time, and after an unknown-to-me orchestrated effort by friends and family, I received as much personal mail in my mailbox over ten days as I have received in the previous 5 years of my existence!  Thank you all!!  I have two things to show here -- first a collage of many of the different stamps that arrived!!  Real stamps!! Forevers and forevers!

          The other came from my friend and neighbor, Jean, who delivered this card to my mailbox one evening.  I could NOT figure out what was inside the envelope. What a lack of imagination I sometimes have.  It is hard to describe this work of art, so here is a photo, again with my iPhone.  Wonderful, wonderful, and hilarious. In fact, I think the photo might have been sharper were I not laughing even when I made the photo.

   I do enjoy the ease of my iPhone, and so here, to express my thanks to it, is one last photo, made while my overworked sometime companion was getting a charge. Thank you 6s, and I hope you are having some fun along the way, when you aren't either lost or forgotten.

This is what my iPhone sees while charging in the kitchen.....

Always the right time for a few more flowers...

post #385
      There's also no better time to see if my laptop is feeling more energetic than it was a week ago for transferring photos I have to my blog post....
      Today is beautiful, after a lot of rain yesterday. However, I don't think we received as much rain as fell on Louisville, Kentucky, home of the annual Kentucky Derby. It seems they have never had a soggier time for this Big Moment, without fail on the first Saturday in May.  I haven't yet talked to photographer friends of mine who were there to make photos. I hope they and their cameras survived -- with a sense of humor -- intact.
       OK, today, what can I say, more flowers are coming your way:

Milkweed in late spring, with what is not a Monarch Butterfly.... Perhaps a Painted Lady?

These aromatic beauties have lots of names, many containing the word Lily, such as Resurrection Lily. However they are sometimes known as simply "naked ladies"

This is joe pye weed, in the wild, near where I live. 

And this is also joe pye weed, as part of an English country garden.  So what does "weed" mean??

spring beauties, early emergers, so to speak

A redbud tree celebrates spring by producing these lovely pink/purple flowers directly from its trunk or branches.

Eventually this flowering produces an intense marvel signally the start of spring's showy season.

This is one of many photos of Lady's Slippers -- I will need to do an entire post sometime about them.  I grew up in Stamford, Connecticut and lived on Lady Slipper Lane, which was off Mayapple Road.  I never knew that a mayapple was a flower until I moved to Kentucky!  The area was pretty rural way back then, but it is now a woodsy subdivision.  Luckily I grew up across from a large swamp which gave us endless thrills as kids. It seems to have been a protected wetland because it remains a swamp even now.

pond side weeds, catching some leaf time

daisies sharing the sun

plus a daisy solitaire

I believe this is a hibiscus bush, in my friend Jean's yard. I include it because I love the way this photo shows the gathering of family and friends for the annual horse ride to honor Garry Purnell, beginning and ending where he had lived. The tribute t-shirts are the same color as these flowers. I don't use a tripod during such occasions. I simply appreciate sharing the day with everyone -- except I don't ride a horse.

I guess this is plenty of flower photos for now. I hope there's time soon for everyone to go out and look around.  We still have dogwoods in bloom, for one thing. Happy spring seeing to all.