white
Last Friday Allyson and I were out playing in the driveway. We started talking about all the leaves changing color and we noticed how blue the sky was. We talked about it for a little bit. And then she asked me where the white sky was? White sky? I assume she was asking about the clouds...where were the clouds in the sky. So today we were doing the same thing and she looked up and said, 'look Wammy, white sky.' We had a lot of white sky today.
White Skies
I wanted so much to capture a picture of an indigo bunting but that didn't happen. Instead while I was pondering what to do, I looked up to look out the front window to see what the dog was barking at and found this on the wall behind the couch.
I think the sunshine was coming thru the front window and reflecting/refracting on the beveled glass of the coffee table and on to the wall. Pretty Cool...a double indoor rainbow. God gave me that one for sure.
Double Indoor Rainbow
Indigo sky
Thought I better get a really good shot of the beautiful blue sky we were blessed to have today. I know that winter is coming and I am going to wish I could see this beautiful blue again....a million times before winter is over. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and the crispness of the air but I miss those blue skies. Makes you appreciate the change in seasons even more.
Blue Skies
Ocean Beach Pier, San Diego
Sky and Sea,
Weeds
Upshot
Fall is special to me in so many ways. I love all the colors, smells and tastes of this time of year. Gardening has been in full force for months and now it is time to close up the yard and dream and plan for next spring. Wouldn't you just love to know how all of this was rolling around in God's head and how it all came to be? It is beyond my comprehension. I have a hard time coming up with a weeks worth of dinner menus.
Seasons
I have always hoped to see an owl in the wild. I have even toyed with the idea of going on a night hike at one of the nature preserves but just have never made time to do it. God did it for me this past weekend. We were driving down the hill from having wedding photos taken at Devou Park and a big bird almost swooped into our windshield. I looked in the woods to see if I could find out what kind of bird it was and this is what I saw.
I was about to climb out Mark's window to get a good look. And wouldn't you know...I didn't have the other lens with me. (I gotta start carrying everything with me). Can you find the owl?
I am going to ask Michael if he will do the research to find out what kind of owl this is.
Another thing to mark off my Bucket List. Seems my list is getting shorter. Wonder if I should be concerned? Still looking for that hummingbird nest.
Another thing to mark off my Bucket List. Seems my list is getting shorter. Wonder if I should be concerned? Still looking for that hummingbird nest.
We Got Swooped
for years and years...as long as i can remember actually, alabama was truly a land of cotton. over the last 10 years or so, little by little, many cotton fields are being replaced by subdivisons. the past couple of years, however, we are seeing oil fields replacing some of the old cotton fields....sunflowers are being grown and sold for vegetable oil and biodiesel. beautiful! i definitely see them as some of God's abundant gifts. :)
yellow
The Beginning and The End
Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to outpatients at the clinic. One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. "Why, he's hardly taller than my 8-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body. But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw.
My cousin sent me this in an email. I am thankful for two reasons...that she considers me worthy of such a story. And I am hoping that you were touched by the words. Makes you think of how we view others. God made us all just the way he thought we would be perfect. We just need to change our hearts towards others sometimes.
Our Hearts
another sunset
I am so fortunate that I can work from home. But it really isn't like work to me. Don't get me wrong some days are more challenging than others but at the end of the day I can smile and say that I had fun. I have always said that I would have a house full of kids. Kids around me until I am 90. Never really want to be an empty nester. But I know someday that will happen and another chapter in my life will begin.
I am blessed to have little ones with me during the week...other than my own who are quickly growing and will be spreading their wings. But my little buddies, they are the ones that keep me young. All those years I was blessed to be a preschool teacher come in handy. Then all the years of foster care have given me patience. All the years of raising our own kids...gave me tons of experience. Then there are all those others kids that have come and gone in my life. I can cay that they all have taught me lessons about life. They all hold a special place in my heart. God has surely given me abundance joy and an abundance of gifts. And I am truly thankful.
It's Just The Little Things
Proud
The Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota) or Queen Annes Lace is one of many umbelliferous plants to be found growing around the world. Although the species name for this ferny plant with the elegant, white lacy flowers is "Daucus carota", the same one used for cultivated carrots it is not the same plant. As a member of the carrot family it has a long taproot and lacy leaves. Dig up and crush a Wild Carrot root and you will find that it smells just like a carrot.
I like the legend better...
The American legend says that Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), queen consort of King James I, was an expert lace-maker. The central flower of the carrot's umbel is reddish-purple. This odd flower was placed upon the umbel for the time Anne pricked her finger and a drop of blood stained the lace. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the name Queen Anne's lace did not appear in print until 1895, two hundred seventy-six years after Anne's death.
Another says:
Queen Anne’s Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. English legend tells us that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the flower of this plant. No one could rival the queen's handiwork. She however, pricked her finger with a needle and a single drop of blood fell into the lace, that is said to be the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.
There are several anecdotes as to why the Carrot Flower is named the Queen Annes Lace.
1. Queen Anne's Lace: so called because one tiny purplish floret in the centre is the queen. The white florets make up her lace collar.
2. The reddish flower at the center of this herb is also referred to as a drop of blood from Queen Anne (1655-1714) who pricked her finger while making lace, drawing a drop of blood.
3. English botanist Geoffrey Grigson suggests that the name of the plant comes not from a Queen of England but from Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary and the patron saint of lacemakers.
4. The origin of the name is reputed to be based upon an English legend. Supposedly, when the future Queen Anne arrived from Denmark to became the queen of King James I of England, wild carrot was still a novelty in the royal gardens. The legend states that Queen Anne challenged the ladies in waiting to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as fine and lovely as the flower of the wild carrot. The ladies knew that no one could rival the queen's handiwork so it became a triumph for Anne.
5. One fable associated with the name of this plant describes the occasion of Queen Anne of England pricking her finger while working on lace, staining the lace with blood. If you look closely, you'll notice that each large "flower" has many small white florets with a red/purple dot in the middle.
6. Queen Anne's Lace is also known as Mother Die, because if you brought it into your house, according to superstition, your mother would die.
7. The white clusters apparently reminded the British of Queen Anne's lace headdress.
Here's a poem. By Mary Leslie Newton
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer's day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night;
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a summer's day),
But left her lace to whiten in
Each weed-entangled way!
The American legend says that Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), queen consort of King James I, was an expert lace-maker. The central flower of the carrot's umbel is reddish-purple. This odd flower was placed upon the umbel for the time Anne pricked her finger and a drop of blood stained the lace. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the name Queen Anne's lace did not appear in print until 1895, two hundred seventy-six years after Anne's death.
Another says:
Queen Anne’s Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. English legend tells us that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the flower of this plant. No one could rival the queen's handiwork. She however, pricked her finger with a needle and a single drop of blood fell into the lace, that is said to be the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.
There are several anecdotes as to why the Carrot Flower is named the Queen Annes Lace.
1. Queen Anne's Lace: so called because one tiny purplish floret in the centre is the queen. The white florets make up her lace collar.
2. The reddish flower at the center of this herb is also referred to as a drop of blood from Queen Anne (1655-1714) who pricked her finger while making lace, drawing a drop of blood.
3. English botanist Geoffrey Grigson suggests that the name of the plant comes not from a Queen of England but from Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary and the patron saint of lacemakers.
4. The origin of the name is reputed to be based upon an English legend. Supposedly, when the future Queen Anne arrived from Denmark to became the queen of King James I of England, wild carrot was still a novelty in the royal gardens. The legend states that Queen Anne challenged the ladies in waiting to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as fine and lovely as the flower of the wild carrot. The ladies knew that no one could rival the queen's handiwork so it became a triumph for Anne.
5. One fable associated with the name of this plant describes the occasion of Queen Anne of England pricking her finger while working on lace, staining the lace with blood. If you look closely, you'll notice that each large "flower" has many small white florets with a red/purple dot in the middle.
6. Queen Anne's Lace is also known as Mother Die, because if you brought it into your house, according to superstition, your mother would die.
7. The white clusters apparently reminded the British of Queen Anne's lace headdress.
Here's a poem. By Mary Leslie Newton
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has washed her lace
(She chose a summer's day)
And hung it in a grassy place
To whiten, if it may.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, has left it there,
And slept the dewy night;
Then waked, to find the sunshine fair,
And all the meadows white.
Queen Anne, Queen Anne, is dead and gone
(She died a summer's day),
But left her lace to whiten in
Each weed-entangled way!
Queen Annes Lace
Amazing Creativity
Last night Mark found this turtle coming into the yard from the ivy. He called me and I picked up the turtle and took it to the garage to find something to keep it in.
A Little Boys Smile
I don't know how she does it but every year a little grey bird builds a nest down in the post of Luke's basketball hoop. We see the parents working on the nest and then one day we hear baby birds. Then Mr John gets out the ladder and we watch as they grow from skinny naked babies to feathered birds. I'll have to get the bird book out to see if I can figure out what kind of bird it is.
Baby Birds
Beautiful Weed
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