Memories....

                                              Flowers are in my daughter's back yard.

This morning brought back many memories.

It's the first day of school for some of my precious grandchildren.

Two others have already made this transition and are settling in.

All the kids were a little nervous and would have preferred slipping out the door to the back yard to play today.

The mood of the day made me think of all the years when my own two kids were growing up.  

The first day of school was always very special.

Kindergarten was the most difficult because the mother (me), couldn't stop crying. But she survived.

The years pass quickly and soon it's the first day of high school, then university classes!

In a flash, it's grandchildren climbing up the school bus steps. 

Life goes by so fast.  Enjoy each moment.  

Best of luck to all the brave little souls stepping into freshly decorated classrooms today and bless all the teachers, too.

Fluffy Clouds in the Heavens

 

There is something absolutely magical about clouds.

Whenever seeing them, with face up to the sky, it's thrilling.

It's fun to try and see images in the fluffy mounds of white.

Sometimes angels turn up and on other occasions there are animals or human faces and facial profiles.

When seeing the clouds shown in this post, my heart and spirit literally lifted up.

Sun illuminated the edges of some clouds, making them look like they were about to burst open and spill gold all over everything.

In the photo at the top of the post, a shaft of light pours down from the heavens. 

I like to think that is God's light, illuminating from above.

Truly, cloud watching is a delightful summer treat. 

So if you have the opportunity to join in this pursuit, take it. 

One never knows what one is going to see in the clouds on a perfect summer's day.

Just Buzzin' By...

To get some sun last weekend, it was a delight to go to my daughter and son-in-law's backyard.

They have done a stellar job of planting hundreds of flowers, bushes, and so on in the years since purchasing their house.

After spending a half hour in the hot sunshine, I pulled out my trusty cell phone to get some photos of some of the flowers to show you.

A friendly bee must have wanted her photo taken because she landed right on the flower being photographed. Joy!

That was an extra perk on a lovely, still summer afternoon.

Signs of Autumn

Tiny signs of autumn are being spotted every day.

Morning and nighttime air is cooler.

Small patches of colored leaves are showing up on some bushes and trees.

Hummingbirds who were coming faithfully to the feeder in the teeny front yard are no longer sipping their sugar water.

One gift of Mother Nature that will be terribly missed in the coming cold season is the sound of birds chirping in the trees in front and in back of the apartment.

It's wonderful to hear their chirpy chatter which is just about silent when the snows begin to fall.

The framed image of birds that now sits on the dresser will be switched to something more reminiscent of the fall or winter season.

That image is shown in today's blog post.

It's good to thank the Heavenly Father for the birds, the flowers, and all the other pleasures of spring and summer that we have so richly seen, tasted, and enjoyed.

The image actually comes from a thank you card that was simply cut and framed.

Pretty soon we'll be appropriately singing, "Bye, Bly Birdie" and that will be a sad tune til next spring.

The Blooms Keep Coming

In late spring, one of my sisters gifted me with a hanging plant that had more than a couple of would-be different flowers in its pot.

None of them bloomed. 

It seemed like a kind of hopeless situation.

The plant got watered regularly and had plenty of sunshine, just no blooms.

Consquently, being a lover of color, some artificial pink flowers joined the plant in the hanging pot.

Near the hanging plant, a pink petunia bloomed like crazy from the get-go.

Well, it happened to be just a matter of time for real flowers to blossom on the hanging plant.

At first, there were just a few buds but then more and more.

That little plant now is a super duper bloomer.  

The silk flowers are no longer needed so they got plucked out.

Today, the plant, which perhaps is part begonia, enjoyed some water with plant food mixed in.

Hopefully, this late but proficient bloomer will last until fall arrives.