Simple + Southern Sunday No. 546

“know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭4‬:‭39‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Rise and shine, May has arrived and over one third of 2025 has passed. Jim Croce wrote “Time In A Bottle” in 1972, the year before he died in a plane crash. Jim had some interesting and creative thoughts throughout the song and it starts this way…
“If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
‘Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you”

When returning on the golf cart from a “grand” visit last week, we were greeted by a soaring Bald Eagle over the house about 100 feet above the trees. I apologize that I don’t have a zoomed in view but sometimes there are nice surprises and a cell phone is all that is readily available. Bald Eagles may be common where you live, but seeing an occasional eagle from our yard is a thrill for us and remains like a dream of some kind. Such a remarkable creature and our national symbol since 1782!
   

We have a few hundred acres of wheat growing nearby and I’ve made it my business to check on it weekly. I hope to log the changes and also observe the harvest. According to John Denver, “Gold is just a windy Kansas wheat field”, but I’m hoping for a close second here in NE Alabama!

I enjoy watching things grow and admire the know-how of our farmers!

We don’t have to venture out of the yard to see a lot of yellow this time of year. Butterweed stands tall and blooms for quite a while. Hop clover, which we will look at again later, provides a yellow blanket underneath the butterweed.

I found a better way to display butterweed. Our newest vases worked perfect. After grabbing a few items at the store (Pam had a short list) I reached into the cooler near the check-out line and pulled out a Coke Zero.  I was surprised to see “Emma” in large letters on the bottle. I thought that was a nice coincidence, her name in the very front amongst, I suppose, hundreds of names Coke is displaying. But even stranger, right behind it in the cooler was “Ella”. What are the odds of that happening? Of course I purchased both!

We celebrated a precious time with WL last week as Mr. Blue Eyes turned 4. It was a Paw Patrol event, but 2 days later he showed up at our house as Spider Man!!

The ole neighborhood Chinaberry trees provided a lot of fun in the late summer and fall when we boys could battle it out with sling shots using the round berries as ammo. Not native, but these trees have been around so long I guess it could be said they’re “naturalized”. I’ve shown these trees in posts, loaded with their ammo, which is first green then a light brown. But that fun fruit is only possible because of the abundance of these purple and white flowers!

Do you remember the time when you decided on buying that special vehicle? It was uniquely your style, your color, something that said to those you met on the highway, this is me. There was such excitement as you drove off the lot. Then, within the first couple of miles, it seemed 50% of the cars you met were just like yours. You hadn’t noticed this before, and a happy moment suddenly turned into a disturbing reality. This car might be a solution to that problem, as it is very unlikely you would see yourself coming, and all attention would be on you. What a relief! BTW…the lady at the lot told me this car is for sale…in case any of you are interested. (Call Pam at BR-549)

I am calling this one “Thistlemania”. It only takes a few steps once headed behind the Sunshine Cottage to encounter these creatures. This is not what we like to see and it is clear several of our pastures have an abundance of thistle. I think our fields need lime. The soils here tend to be acidic and thistle loves acid soil!

This green monster is thankfully not growing in the pasture. It is as tall as I am. While it does look wicked, I don’t think it appears as mean as the Bathurst Burr we saw in a post last week from Australia (Tea With Jennifer)!

It must be collage week. I am declaring this to be the “Collage of Clover”. April and May is clover time and we have several types in the yard and adjacent fields. The top left is a favorite. I’m not sure if crimson clover was an inspiration for the song “Crimson and Clover”, but maybe so. The yellow hop clover is our most abundant, followed by white clover. The lavender version in the bottom right (with hop clover in the background) is commonly called red clover. Sometimes it is called purple clover which makes more sense to me!
 

The moment we step outside an unbelievable fragrance meets us and greets us. These two plants are responsible for most of what brings our olfactory senses to life right now. Honeysuckle (left) probably needs no introduction. The invasive privet is everywhere but clearly has a very sweet aroma. These two bloom at the same time and grow in the same place, honeysuckle vines often growing entwined on the privet. Both are plentiful at the woods edge along one side of our yard. We wish there was a way to include the fragrance!!

I would not want to leave out another flower that is right outside our door, blooming now, and sharing with honeysuckle and privet in providing a wonderful “smelling event” each time we step onto the porch. Our one southern magnolia is over 40 years old and still delivering those sweet smelling white, live ornaments. I have mentioned at times that most of us can relate a song or songs to certain events or special moments in our past, often from many years ago. Have you ever experienced the same thing with certain smells? The smells in the air each May remind me of high school graduation! 

If you happen to be about a half mile from home, preoccupied with some plants, animals, or other outdoor delights, and you look up and notice this…you must simply accept the fact that you will be getting wet very soon. At least there was no lightning!

Checking on the herd usually has something different or unusual to offer, but I wasn’t expecting this brief rainbow to show up. The cows didn’t acknowledge me or the rainbow. They didn’t realize what they were missing!

God continues to paint the sky! This was a bright one!

Wishing you a pleasant and peaceful first full week of May!

“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