““Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.””
Revelation 4:11 ESV
Dusk (Pam loves the garden at last light) on Wednesday evening did not prevent these sunflowers from anticipating the next sunrise which would signal the first day of summer. All are facing east. Creation absolutely fascinates me!
I renamed this trumpet creeper vine “trestle creeper vine”. This is an active railroad on a trestle that is very old. I am surprised the vine hasn’t been removed. It will soon be up on the tracks!
Hercules the heron continues to hang out in the same general area where I often walk. It’s like he knows my routine. I know there are a lot of these birds around, but I honestly believe this is the same bird I’ve seen here since back in the winter or early spring. In order to live up to the name, he needs to put some meat and muscle on those legs!
Part of today’s journey will be an aquatic tour. A hike along the trails by the lake and swampy places every couple of weeks will turn up changes and reveal new things. The structure of button bush makes me think of a space station in a sci-fi movie.
This plant, like a few others in this post, is usually found near the water’s edge. Such an intricate and delicate appearance.
Every year I get pics of pickerel weed, but the bright purple blooms stand out among all the green and I feel compelled to show it. This plant grows in shallow water, not on the edge. A boardwalk goes over the shallows here for quite a ways, offering a variety of opportunities for different flora and fauna.
Another “water’s edge” plant that I’ve never photographed has a name that makes sense to me, bottlebrush buckeye. I have often thought that some names just don’t seem to fit, but this one does!
A delicacy for wildlife, these silky dogwood berries will turn a dark blue. Like the red berries of the flowering dogwood, which is found at woods edge, yards (like ours), and other landscapes, these berries will be a favorite of many bird species. Silky dogwood is found in wet places.
I thought I would give you a break from the aquatics and move to a much dryer scene in the Sunshine Cottage garden. In fact, it is extremely dry here. We desperately need rain, while our friends in Texas and other places are sadly dealing with floods!
The swamp rose mallow has buds that so resemble cotton bolls, and there is good reason. This family of plants contains varieties of hibiscus, cotton, and okra, to name a few. If you don’t live in the southern US, okra may be a strange one to you. It was midday and hot when I hiked along near the lake, and all the mallow blooms were closed!
We have a field (common) milkweed that grows in our pastures and roadsides, but this is a swamp variety. I had never found it growing here and wasn’t sure what it was at first. These pods will dry and release seeds. Monarch butterflies like this variety also!
It is haying time around these parts. When I “hauled hay” as a teenager to earn money, all the bales were square and of a size you could pick up by hand and stack. Almost all the bales I see now are large and round and handled by tractor. This field however, had an operation going on that I don’t normally see…large square bales. And the crop appears to possibly be a harvest of a winter planting, like wheat maybe? I really wanted to find the farmer and ask a few questions. This reminds me of stacks of alfalfa like I’ve seen out west, Montana for example. Alfalfa does grow in Alabama, but with special care, the right soil, and the right variety.
Golden rain trees now have their lanterns in place. They are showy and can be spotted a ways off. There is one large tree down by the grands driveway, but this one is near an office in town. I see a lot of them as ornamentals at businesses. The wood is good for making furniture and the “lanterns” or “bells” will continue to change colors and offer an interesting look later in the season!
I didn’t have a zoom lens with me and was about a mile from my truck when I spotted this up on a steep hillside. But I wanted to get a pic because this is a kudzu bloom. Kudzu typically blooms in August and this is June! It is considered very invasive here, but has a lot of uses in parts of the world. The blooms have a very nice fragrance, which I now hope to enjoy…in August!
A typical look of summer around NE Alabama. Summer clouds, summer sky, and a beautiful field of corn. This is “river bottom” land and the soil is rich. The river is only a few hundreds yards from this spot. I love farm country and enjoy seeing the hard work of farmers!
This view is about 5 minutes from the house, but it is hard to find a place along the highway without obstruction from trees and a few lake houses. I found a time when no traffic was near and stopped in the middle of the highway! It was a hazy day, but that is part of everyday living…the hazy, lazy, days of summer, though I do wonder when there will be time for the lazy part!
This is as close as we will get to “red sails in the sunset” around NE Alabama. The writer of the old song, written in 1935, was inspired by the “red sails” he kept seeing on a particular yacht as it often passed off the northern coast of Northern Ireland.
”Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”.
Hebrews 13:8
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Imparting Grace,Life and Linda
Our low temp last night/this morning was 76°. We’re sure hoping for some rain later today. It’s been so very hot in the upper 90s, and dry. No wonder that jkudzu’s already blooming in AL! Have a safe week.
Hope you can get some rain Rita. It hit 100 today on my truck as I was coming home this afternoon. Some folks to the north in TN got showers I think. Wishing you a pleasant and cooler week!
Butch and Pam
Good hot morning everyone. It is also hot and dry here in PA. Yesterday’s weather brought a high of 99 with a heat index of 106. We have a button bush that we planted about 15 years ago. I have been watering at 5:30 am before the blasting sun appears. Always enjoy your pictures! Is it fall yet?
Have a nice week!
My my Maryann it’s not supposed to be that hot in PA. I’m also getting up early to water. Our water from the co-op is expensive in my opinion. I expect my water bill to be $250-$300 for the month with all the watering I’ve been doing. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Summer arrived with a big ol’ dose of hot, hot, hot. We are so dry here also. That train trestle is scary, don’t know if I would want to ride over it. I have a trumpet honeysuckle growing over our farm bell. The hummingbirds go crazy the flowers, so I don’t have the heart to cut it back while it’s blooming. I bet you are seeing the same heron! We have a heron and a cattle egret that stay around our pond. (The fishing must be good!). Stay cool…Pam must be dreaming of tablescapes with sweet tea and icy cold lemonade!!
I’m hearing it’s hot everywhere Roxanne so I’m trying not to complain too much. I find myself fussing about the cold so I may only be getting what I wished for back in January. Pam’s outdoor tablescapes have been challenging because of the heat so iced tea is definitely in order. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Red sails in the sunset was a favorite of mine as a child. I don’t remember who sang it but I would sit on the back steps late in the afternoon and sing it. Usually an airplane would cross over and then I would sing Far Away Places. Memories. Gods creation is to me His gift that never stops giving. Thank you Butch for taking us on your walks. People here plan trumpet vine but down south they are not loved so much. Hope you and your family are kept safe and healthy through this week and that God will favor your area with a wonderful rain fall.
Songs do stir up memories Alice, I can relate. The story behind the lyrics to red sails was interesting. I think of things, especially songs when I’m writing captions and it makes me research and learn neat stuff I never knew. I love your thought on creation. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Good morning! It is hot, humid and dry here too. It’s already 79 degrees and not yet 7:30. The aquatic plants are interesting. I am always fascinated when plants open and close depending on the heat, etc. My grandma had four o clocks flowers in her flower beds when I was a child and they magically opened after 4! I would love to see the golden rain tree in its next color stage as this stage is beautiful. The pick of the lake and mountains is beautiful! Stay cool and don’t get too hot! Clara ❤️
Clara I’m glad you mentioned 4 o’clocks. My dad planted them every year and I complained as a teenager because I had other things to do besides work in the garden amongst flowers and vegetables. Now that’s a good memory and seems all I do is work in the garden. Parts of TN received rain today but maybe not Memphis? Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
No rain today but maybe by mid week.🤞
Hot and dry here too, spending a day outside yesterday almost did me in. But we were in charge of a picnic event and grateful for the open pavilion that at least gave us some shade. We detest kudzu, it covers everything and is horribly invasive, impossible to kill and is destroying large sections of forest here. Glad Hercules is still around.
It’s been breezy here Carole which helps make the outdoors bearable but I guess wind only adds to the drying out. Hope you had sweet iced tea at the picnic. Yes, the invasive kudzu is hard to deal with but I will try to at least enjoy the sweet smell of the blooms now that my sense of smell has returned. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Sunflowers fascinate me with the way they turn, that photo is amazing! I admire you for continuing to take your nature walks in this summer heat Butch, I hope you’re keeping hydrated. Hopefully we will get some rain soon, it’s too early to be this hot! I hope you both can keep cool and have a great week ahead!
Jenna, I don’t know why I sometimes take a walk at 2:00 PM in the summer, but I just go when I have opportunity. The temps are above average for June. My truck gauge is pretty accurate and it did hit 100 this afternoon. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Good Sunday morning. We have been hotter than Florida up here in Illinois this past week. We could use some rain. The Heron probably is the same guy. Like us they are probably creatures of habit and he loves his digs! That is so fascinating about the sunflowers looking to the East to see the sunrise and the beginning of summer. Have a great new week. Hugs. Kris
Kris, we’ve seen all the hot temps showing up where you are and other places like the northeast where it’s unseasonably hot. We are creatures of habit and animals are no exception. We have a small chance of showers I think on Tuesday. We’ll see. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Creation does amaze us. It is fascinating how the sunflowers turn toward the sunrise at dusk.What a great picture.
I’m glad you took a pic of the button bush. There is one near my home that is usually full of butterflies when they bloom. It grows on the edge of a pond. I need to take a walk in that direction and check it out.
Sounds like it is hot and dry everywhere. We all would love a good rain. Hard to believe it is officially summer.
Bonnie, I hope you’ll wait until the cool of the evening to check out the button bush. Of course, then you will battle mosquitoes. Pam was taking a walk at dusk and discovered the sunflowers all in a row as if waiting for the next sunrise. I guess they really were. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Butch I do believe it is hot everywhere this week…the good news here in Florida is we have been having rain in the late afternoons…however, some days it makes it feel like a sauna after, while other days it cools it off a bit. I ask Alexa every morning for the weather forecast and she sounds like a broken record…high of 92 with a chance of thunderstorms and a low of 76. LOL.
Thank you for the beautiful photos. We have a yellow trumpet vine down here that reminds me of the orange trumpet vines of my childhood in Kansas. As young giggly girls, we would put lightning bugs on our fingers as diamonds and trumpet blossoms on the ends of our fingers as extra long nails that we never seem to have naturally with all the work on a farm.
We had those big round brome hay bales too, but they literally weighed a ton so a tractor had to lift and tote. But we did have regular square bales of alfalfa that we learned to lift at a very young age, as that is what one did living on a farm.
Those plants considered weeds by my parents were beautiful wild flowers to my young romantic imagination. I loved how the milkweed in the pasture would be covered with butterflies and the purple (poisonous) thistle plants that we had to pull up and remove so the cows wouldn’t be tempted. and yes I loved all those wild flowers such as bachelor buttons growing in and among the wheat fields, and sunflowers and tiger lilies growing in the bar ditches.
So thank you and Pam for all the photos of plants growing in and around your home. They remind me of my home back in the flatlands and sunflower state of Kansas.
Stay cool.
I always loved to hear John Denver sing about his work as a boy on the family farm in Kansas. The main theme behind the story was a tornado but my favorite part is “gold is just a Kansas wheat field, and blue just a Kansas summer sky”. I’m glad you shared about growing up on a farm in Kansas. Fascinating. We would tell the girls about the trumpet blossom fingernails but some people are allergic to trumpet vine so maybe we will let it be. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Happy Sunday, Butch and Pam! I enjoyed seeing all of the aquatic plants and blooms. Your sunflower crop is beautiful! I wish I had a more sunny area to grow sunflowers, but we have lots of shade. Okra is definitely a favorite dish to enjoy in the summer. My family loves it fried in cornmeal and also pickled. I wish you both a blessed and happy week ahead!
So glad you brought up the okra Shannon. I’m not sure if I like the okra or if it’s just anything battered in cornmeal and fried. A lot of our readers have probably never had fried okra. We fry everything in the south. It can be hot in Oklahoma so maybe all your shade has advantages. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Thank you for this wonderful weekly glimpse in and around your world. I look forward to it. Thanks for using your gifts (you and Pam) to be a blessing to others! Rain just hit here in Nashville–temps dropped 8 degrees in minutes–so now it is a balmy 84! I’m grateful for every drop!!
Glad you got a shower Wendy. Send some our way. We are only 3 hours or so from Nashville and do enjoy getting up that way from time to time. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
As ever, your photos and comments are fascinating and I am deeply grateful for
the lessons they impart. The sunflower process is like turning in adoration to
the Creator… wonder if that phenomenon is missed by casual observers. Kudzu
known as the Orient’s revenge…garnered by Southerners as an “easy” grower
only to become horribly invasive. TN was blessed with thundershowers today
and what a difference in the air….. Keep cool, Pam and Butch…..
Mary, TN was blessed with thundershowers and we are always blessed by your comments. The Orient’s revenge…now that’s a new one on me. I read kudzu is estimated to cover over one quarter million acres in Alabama. Adoring the Creator must take priority, and the sunflowers are much aware. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Sunflowers so early? Magnificent! And I’ve never seen a button bush but I think it might be my new favorite. Hercules is so very handsome!
Jeanie, I saw Hercules again this afternoon. Had I read your comment before that I would’ve passed on your compliment. I planted more sunflowers last week in hopes of some later blooms but we need rain to help that along. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Pam, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a photo of the back of a sunflower. And wonder of wonders, there’s beauty there as well. So many life lessons in God’s creation, aren’t there, friend.
Stay cool in this heat.
Thank you, Linda. Yes, many life lessons in God’s creations, friend!
Hello Butch and Pam, I do believe this is my first time seeing Hercules. He is pretty handsome. I chuckled about needing more meat on his legs. We have button bushes here. They grow down by the lake. I think they are “cuter than a button.” 🙂
The heat was unbearable this past week. It was 93 with horrible humidity! Oppressive! The gardens survived.
Once again, I enjoyed your lovely walkabout. I am a bit late, but I had a baby shower to put on and guests to entertain. I used to be able to multi-task, but it’s getting more difficult. 🙂
Enjoy the rest of your week. .
Thank you Nancy and I’m right there with you on multitasking. I just can’t handle it anymore. We are with you on the heat. There’s a small chance of a shower tomorrow but I’m not optimistic. Stay cool and have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Your photo of the vine growing up the trestle reminds me of Doc Watson’s “Greenville Trestle High.” We were just sitting around picking and singing this afternoon and that is one of the very songs I was requested to sing. I love doing that one! And I love coming here learning about your everyday living! God bless you all!
Thanks Cheryl. A lot of what I see while out and about reminds me of songs. I don’t mention it much but it happens all the time. I need to pick up my guitar and play more. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam