“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;”
Psalm 19:7 ESV
We experienced a warm, humid week with rain and scattered thunderstorms occurring on several days. The moisture was needed and the unsettled days also brought picturesque skies and unusual light, especially early and late in the day. It is race weekend a few miles to our south at Talladega Super Speedway, but the race here at our place has already been decided…the weeds have won!
A nearby plant nursery always finds an interesting way to combine the new and the old. We visited several places looking for annuals to complete this season’s garden planting, but still need a few more things to finish the job! The clouds you see were typical for most of last week.
Our city has done a good job bringing new ideas and activities to the community. There are a number of strawberry growers in the area and we now have a strawberry festival. This is only the second year so it is in infant stages. I liked this cute display by a vendor and took a photo. I knew this was a take on a song and it brought back memories of…
…this gate in Liverpool, England. Pam and I had a very knowledgeable local guide who gave us a wonderful tour in 2015. This was the entrance to Strawberry Field (no “s”), where a Salvation Army orphanage once stood. John Lennon grew up just around the corner and often played on the grounds in a wooded garden. It is sad that there are those who wallow in the gutter of graffiti. If you’d like to take a throwback look at the post on Liverpool, click here!
Meanwhile, back at the strawberry festival, this farmer had many tables filled with pretty berries. I think people were educated as to the quality of this growers crop. I wanted to buy some but you all know I am always in a hurry, and could not bring myself to…
…stand in this line! Pam informed me when I returned home empty handed that being in a hurry cost me a strawberry pie. I must learn to slow down and wait in line if necessary!
Again, the skies last week offered so much and I found myself outside taking photos often. I made this with the idea of a beautiful background, but the clematis stole the show. I had not realized the clematis was even blooming until I stepped behind the Sunshine Cottage to get a better view of the clouds!
This scraggly vine produced beautiful star-shaped blooms almost overnight. It honestly looks dead most of the year, but somehow keeps coming back to life. Our summer heat will take toll on this survivor, but hopefully we can enjoy it for a while!
EK and her siblings know we prioritize the real reason Easter exists, that being the resurrection of Christ, but we do let the grands have fun with a search for eggs. All the eggs have prizes in them and I guess I get carried away by hiding quite a large number. I’d say this is a sweet happy hunter!
We made extra effort to not hide eggs in spots that would be too difficult. The purpose was to be certain that I not find eggs later in the summer or even next autumn when I begin to clean things up at season’s end. While mowing mid-week, I spotted this hold out. Do you think this hiding place was unreasonable or extremely difficult? I sent the grands this photo, and with this as a hint, they came up Friday and found it within 30 seconds. The quarter was fine but the chocolate goodie was…as you might guess, a sticky blob!
I took advantage of sun and light breezes yesterday and flew the drone. The garden is taking shape but there are still quite a few empty pots sitting around. Hopefully we can finish this week. This is the “outback” and cottage garden. I’ve always wanted to visit Australia, so I go back here, return to the house, and pretend I’ve been! It takes an enormous amount of imagination.
I’m always anticipating the blooming of the bristly locust. I ran across a black locust week before last and the blooms were amazing. If you saw SSS No. 544 you may remember that one. This bristly locust near our house blooms about a week later than those only 10 or 12 miles away near the wildlife park and bird sanctuary where I often walk.
“Bristly” is quite an appropriate name for this guy. It is one name for which I have no argument!
You may recall the gall wasp that lays eggs on hardwoods from a previous post. I have found these “galls” on leaves and limbs in the past but never one quite as interesting and colorful as this one. I spotted this on a white oak, so it makes sense that the “gall” is the result of a visit by an oak gall wasp. The gall wasp is a plant parasite that tricks plants into forming these tumor-like growths that provide a home, food, and protection for their larvae.
Late one afternoon along the roadside I noticed the pink evening primroses were open and making a scene. It is interesting to note that the seeds of this plant are protein-rich. The root system makes it very useful in preventing soil erosion. There is also a white variety along the roadside, but these “pinkladies”, as they are often called, seem to be the dominant color!
Blackberries will be on the vines soon, evidenced by these blooms. With the briers, ticks, chiggers, and snakes that can be part of a blackberry patch, it’s not looking favorable that I will be picking enough for a cobbler. I definitely should’ve bought those strawberries!
To get an unobstructed view of this rainbow required a fast walk for about a 1/4 mile. I believe it was worth it, however you can get very wet when caught away from the house on a rainy afternoon. Two positive things though, the view, and it wasn’t cold!
We had a week filled with rainbows, reminders of God’s promises. There was no danger of getting wet with this one, but I discovered that such a sight can draw attention completely away from everything around. This includes unknowingly standing on the edge of a fire ant mound. Ants quickly covered my shoes, but I happened to notice just in time…no bites! The two rainbow pics were taken from the same spot!
Have a great week!!
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Life and Linda
Test
Beautiful scenery as always. Those strawberries look delicious, but I probably would not have stood in that long line either.
Thank you Rachel. I don’t do well in long lines but a pie probably would’ve made it worthwhile. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Thank you for the Beatles memory revisit…..”those who wallow in the gutter of graffiti”
sadly exposes those who have no other ability to leave their mark in the world, The
strawberries look well worth the wait in line…sorry you missed Pam’s culinary delight.
How delighted the children must have been with the Easter hunt and hidden treasures..
EK looks victorious. The floral photos really greet us with the breaking of Spring and
what beauty lies ahead to be discovered. We also had our share of showers…and blooming.
A blessed Sabbath.
Thank you Mary. An occasional trip down memory lane is a good thing and we find ourselves doing it more and more these days. Most of life is now memories I suppose. Your assessment of the graffiti crowd is right on target, that’s a keeper. I must combine that and a portion of my line and save it in my quotes notes. Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Lovely flowers! I think that should have been an easy Easter Egg find. Maybe next year, count how many you put out for hunting, and then how many are found, so you know if there are stragglers still left out. Those strawberries look they would have been well worth the time standing in line!
Thank you Carole. I agree, I should’ve waited in line. I must learn patience. We found another egg straggler yesterday so I guess I’ll be finding them for a while yet. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Love the flowers. You have the most beautiful flowers around your property. I hid Easter eggs with prizes inside my house because the weather here was too wet and cold on Easter. I just vacuumed the sectional the other day and found two eggs still hiding behind the pillows!
Have a great new week. Hugs. Kris
Thank you Kris. We did have great weather on Easter. We have had those days where the eggs had to stay indoors. You may find eggs for a while, we found another one in a bush yesterday. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Checking our comment section as we’ve been experiencing problems for a couple of weeks with some having trouble making comments.
Butch
What beautiful photos and scripture verses. I always learn something new as a bonus! I hope you gave a blessed week.
P. S. I made your Swag Bars finally and hope that it’s okay that I share the recipe? I gave credit to the Swag via you.
Absolutely share, Kitty! Thank you so much, sweet friend!
Pam
Thank you, Pam!
Such beautiful pictures, amd none prettier than EK! Butch, your knowledge of plants throughout your country roads fascinates me, and I learn little tidbits almost every week. You guys are at least 2-3 weeks ahead of us in the growing season, but i love how reading friends’ posts from other regions lengthens spring for me. Love the aerial view, and was trying to figure out where the picnic table is that Pam often sets alfresco tablescapea on. Is it to the bottom left of that photo, out of view, but in a sight line to the cottage?
I hope you all have a great week.
Thank you Rita. We are glad you could comment. We think there are issues with people being able to comment, electronics can be frustrating. The picnic table is not in view but in the sight line and to the right (west) as you look at the photo. The zinnia and peony area is also in a side yard not seen in the aerial. I suppose we are a bit ahead of you being a bit further south. Seeing what’s going on in other regions is very interesting. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
We both posted about weeds this week Butch! Pam will be able to show you my post, if you like, as memories of working the farm with my late husband came to mind with these particular weeds.
Yes, quite a bit of imagination needed from your “outback” to ours, lol! Yours is lush & green ours is red dirt…
But ours has been under very unusual flooding these past few weeks, wiping out whole towns! While the farmers welcomed the first lot of rain, they were concerned when it continued & then very alarmed as roaring flood waters gushed through their properties, homes, stock yards & machinery sheds. They & many townspeople of the different areas of outback Queensland & South Australia had to be rescued by choppers from their roofs.
Sadly, a great deal of stock & wildlife were lost, especially on the flat plains, while others thankfully in the hillier areas got to higher ground.
In time they will recover but it will be a very long journey ahead.
The outback will come alive with wildflowers once the floodwaters have receded which is absolutely spectacular when it occurs.
I’ve never had a strawberry pie! Sounds delicious.
Blessings to you both, Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer. I did read your post and that weed looks very mean, quite a challenge. We have a few similar undesirables in our pastures but nothing that looks so bad as those Bathurst burrs, but we have plenty of other weeds right now. The catastrophic floods you describe sound similar to those that occurred here to the east of us in our late summer, early autumn last year. Sounds like a terrible situation that will require years of recovery with some things forever changed. We’d love to see those wildflowers in the outback but guess we will be blessed to see our wildflowers when we go out back. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
Oh no. It doesn’t look like the weeds have won. I never would have guessed that both pictures of the rainbow was taken from the same spot. Those strawberries look delicious and I wouldn’t have stood in line either especially if I knew where a farm was selling them if you picked them. EK is so precious in her pretty dress. Those girls wear the most beautiful clothes. Does your daughter-in-love see them? Oh I’m late again but have had my nephew and niece here to help me clean out the garage. They have been very helpful and I can see the floor now. I will miss them when they leave.
Thank you Alice. We are glad you were able to comment and also glad you had some great help with the clean out. Our daughter-in-love has made some of the girls dresses but probably not so much these days with 4 little ones, one only 2 1/2 months old. We agree,dropping by a strawberry farm would be a good idea, although we have seen those become very crowded too. Hope you have a great week!
Butch and Pam
I think they were so excited, they blew right by the egg! (Same thing happened with our guys. They found the hard ones but not the easier ones at first. But I think we got them all!)
It looks lovely in your world. I am having strawberry envy — we won’t see the “good ones” (not at the store!) till June!
Thank you Jeanie. I found 2 more eggs today. One should’ve been easy to see but I had walked by a dozen times and missed it. April is strawberry month here. You have June to look forward to so maybe you can hang on until then. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
Hello Friends! I was away and off the grid, so I am late reading your beautiful post. I learn so much from you each week. Thank you always for sharing your wisdom.
I would not have waited in that line for Strawberries. But how nice that your town has a Strawberry festival!
EK is growing to be a beautiful young lady. What a sweetheart!
Your rainbows are spectacular! I am so glad you did not get bitten by the ants! Yikes!
Love your drone views and all your flowers.
Happy Tuesday dear friends!
Thank you Nancy. We had rain showers last week which softened the ground and the ants create mounds everywhere overnight. Really have to be alert for them doing any outdoor activity. We think dropping by a nearby farm that has strawberries is the way to go but we are glad to see good community and family activity like the festival. Have a wonderful week!
Butch and Pam
It always brings me a special joy reading your posts. Beautiful, as always. Love those rainbow pics! If there wasn’t so much Spring beauty going on in my Wisconsin garden right now (daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, and the like), I would certainly be in tears over the seemingly lost war with weeds in my own garden.
Thank you Cindie. War on weeds is a hard fought one but it sounds as if your garden beauty is overshadowing pesky weeds. Our daffodils and tulips are gone now but other plants are beginning to take shape, just not as fast as weeds. Have a pleasant week!
Butch and Pam
What fun to see an aerial view of your gardens–at least part of it. And I’m so glad you avoided getting bit by those fire ants, Butch! It’s hard to fathom how such little creatures can cause so much misery!
Thank you Nancy. Those little ants can create a lot of pain to be so small and with a few rain showers last week it seems the mounds appeared all around the yard overnight. We try to control them but they just relocate nearby I believe. Have a great week !
Butch and Pam
Wow! Those rainbow and sky photos are amazing! We had a beautiful rainbow here the other morning, also. I stood there, waving goodbye to my dear husband and son as they drove away to go to work, and I gazed at the rainbow for quite some time and talked to the dear Lord. At one point, a cloud covered part of it, obscuring my view, and as I feared it would completely disappear, I prayed, “Oh, don’t take it away!” I instantly heard His still, small voice say, “Just because you can’t see the rainbow doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Even when you can’t see it, My promise remains.” He then went on to remind me that the many promises He has made will always stand, even when we see no evidence or proof. It was such a comfort to me. If we start to wonder if He has left us or if He won’t keep His Word to us, all we have to do is think of the rainbow and how many years ago He promised that He would never destroy the earth by a flood again. He has kept that promise, and He will keep all His other ones, too!