“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV
Welcome to the “official” first Sunday of summer and our first sunflowers of the season. They seemed to have a sense of the calendar and popped open in time for the solstice (Friday)! We do have a prediction of typical summer-like days this week with dryer air and mid to upper 90’s coming…so proclaim the meteorologists!
The rose mallow, being a cotton family plant, loves hot weather and now has dozens of buds. This one has blooms that are often 8 inches across. I’m finding evidence of insects enjoying the leaves but I never see anything on the plant??
Some fairly strong storms came through last week. 50 mph wind gusts were common in a fast moving thunderstorm that paid us a visit one evening. Thankfully, nothing serious resulted, only a few minor messes like this one. In the big scheme of things it was nothing more than an inconvenience!
I went into recovery mode, uprighting, replanting, and going about picking up limbs and debris. It’ll be alright!
I was caught completely off guard by this hummingbird but did have my cell phone handy. This was a real surprise, not to have a hummingbird come by, but the ruby red throat indicating a male was definitely news !
We have hummingbirds visiting all spring and into the early autumn, but never males this time of year. Very rare! I retrieved my camera and a longer lens and waited in a nearby hiding spot for about 20 minutes…but he did return!
The males usually drop by in April and October. The red crocosmia of the iris family is one of the hummer’s favorites.
EM, in particular, loves my ongoing tropical island story about the life of Pirate Joe and Princess Anna Mae. We had two more episodes this past week and EM decided to send Joe a nice note of encouragement.
He has the message, but will remain here for a time. The bird delivers everything in the shadows of the night!
I have come to appreciate the back-up cameras that are on many of today’s vehicles. I think however, some vehicles need to be equipped with cameras on the front bumper. Just my thoughts on the matter.
A Father’s Day treat last weekend that called for a double dipper. We both decided on the lemon-raspberry semifreddo. To avoid a conflict during a nice evening out, we ordered two. It’s not a reflection! Pam invited me to Bottega in Birmingham and I accepted!
Our blueberry bushes are really weighted down. And to be located behind all those colorful zinnias makes tending to them and picking berries much more enjoyable. Not to mention my thoughts of blueberry cobbler, coming soon I hope!
With sunshine finally gracing our days, the berries should start maturing and ripening. I’ll keep an eye on them, but I expect to begin picking later this week. Of three bushes, the middle one always ripens ahead of the other two!
The chaste trees exploded last week and the bees were ready. I am not exaggerating, this one bush probably, at times, has a hundred bees on it. I was trimming with the mower underneath while wearing a light blue t-shirt, and the bees began to land on me. They made no attempt to sting!
This Black-eyed-Susan is a special plant gifted to us by the gardener at The Swag in North Carolina in 2022. It was small and would fit in a cup. It is having a great season so far, and the asters I planted on each side are doing quite well too. Like a lot of things through the years, these looked so small when planted, but are now overcrowded! I’ll never learn that lesson!
Pam and I took a short trip on Friday to Cherokee County to the area where her mother grew up. We dropped by the cemetery where her grandparents are buried and stopped at an old church that they attended. This house is on the route and sits in an absolutely gorgeous setting. We didn’t see anyone around to speak with and we don’t know the history. But…Pam remembers this house as being very old when she was a little girl visiting her grandparents some 65 or more years ago. Someone has done a wonderful job of restoration and maintaining. It is on a hill surrounded by cotton fields with the Appalachian Mountains directly behind it. We’d love to go back and learn of the history! We both think the house likely dates to the 1800’s.
We were shocked to find the parking lot behind our local cultural arts building completely empty of parked cars. That gave us the opportunity to photograph this entire “musical” mural without any obstruction. And by doing so, Pam discovered something interesting about the crosswalk that in all the years of attending events here we had not noticed. Do you see anything related to music as you look at the crosswalk? We did not see it until we pulled up the pic at home!
This sunset on Friday marked the sun’s furtherest point on its northward trek and gave us our longest day of the year. Although it won’t be noticeable for a while, the length of daylight will now begin to decrease. Does it seem like it has been 6 months since the first day of winter? The thought of the days becoming shorter always depressed me until someone reminded me every day has 24 hours!
Have a nice long Sunday and a great first week of summer (or winter if you are well to our south)!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Life and Linda
Beautiful flowers, and how fun to see the crosswalk is a piano!
Thank you Carole. You spotted that crosswalk yet we have used it many times but just realized it last week. Have a great week!
Butch and Pam
Such beautiful blooms, your garden is exploding with flowers! I love your ongoing story about Pirate Joe and sweet EM writing him a note. It’s hard to imagine life in the 1800s, I can’t even imagine life without an iPhone! Yes, I too hate to see the days get shorter, but you’re right Butch, remembering that they still have 24 hours helps! Have a lovely Sunday 🙂
Thank you Jenna. EM is really into our story so I’ve got to crank up my imagination and creativity to keep things interesting. We understand about the iPhone, and we are the same…but sometimes I think we are actually missing out on some of the best things.
Have a blessed week!
Butch and Pam
Your Red Crocosmia reminded me of our Kangaroo Paw plant here in Australia Butch. Great shot of the Humming Bird!
And I noticed the piano crossing! 😊 It’s always so interesting to find out the history of childhood memories, they often look so much smaller than we remember as children, different perspectives between the seasons of life. A lovely post Pam & Butch.
Blessings to you both, Jennifer
Thanks Jennifer. I researched the Kangaroo Paw plant and it certainly does look a lot like crocosmia. I saw the plant was native to SW Australia but grown and sold in a lot of places. It must be a good cut flower. As a child I thought it was about 1/2 mile from my grandparents house to the barn but when I grew up, it was really only 100 yards!
Have a wonderful first week of winter!
Butch and Pam
Thank you, it’s definitely a wonderfully wintery day today, with the wind blowing a gale from the Antarctic, brrrr.
Yes, the Kangaroo Paw is used normally in our Native flower arrangements, along with Proteas, Bottlebrush & Flannel flowers & unique leaf plants like Gum Blossoms. They have a long vase life too.
I love your childhood story Butch. I was wondering if Pam had one too of space & distance perception. 😊
Blessings to you both, Jennifer