A Full-time Life

Category: Flowers and Gardens

  • EASTER WEEK near home

     

    IMG_4442-002Frangipani

    Happy Easter  from Southwest Florida ….

     

    2019-04-20Thursday morning and Thursday night — from the Screen Porch

     

    …. where it feels more like a warm and sunny Fourth of July.

     

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    Friday from the Screen Porch 

    ... unless it's pouring down rain.

     

    Actually even when it is raining, it feels more like a (very) wet Fourth of July than mid-April.    The hard wind and heavy rain came the day after Thursday's perfect day.     We're used to rain in Oregon, but this was a downpour with lightning and thunder!   Our language needs more words for rain.    

    It could have been  much worse, but our portion of Florida was spared this time from the worst of that storm.  North of here — from Central Florida and up  — many people were not so fortunate.      

     

    IMG_4516-001Eastern Bluebird

    The sun is out again now — on Saturday morning — and it is another beautiful warm Summer  Spring Day in SW Florida.    I saw the bluebird of happiness on a morning walk earlier in the week, and I hope she is an omen for the rest of our season here.   

     And from an errand-running day (last Wednesday) a "detour" (the complete opposite of a short-cut),  this dose of super- cute :
     

    2019-04-201Burrowing Owls

    Using the car as a blind, we took these pictures at two of Cape Coral's famous and protected owl burrows.  This is my favorite owl by far, because these guys keep the same kind of hours we do.  (Unlike most owls, they are not nocturnal).    No baby pictures this time — these adults were guarding the family homesteads while the little ones stayed below.  … Maybe another errand day will take us on another "short-cut" at a time when the kids come out to play.  

     

    LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:   Thank you to all of the hosts.

     

     NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • SUMMER PHOTO RAMBLE

       

     This week's post is a bit of a ramble, with pictures from various walks over the last few weeks.   We are leaving Saturday morning on a camping trip, so I'm putting the post together earlier than usual.  I'll take my I-Pad, but not the laptop.   I can do almost everything from the tablet, EXCEPT for writing a blog.  Somehow, I have to be sitting at the desk for that.  

     

    Flowers family july 2018

     

    This bouquet is courtesy of our family.  They have the talent and did the work; I just took the pictures.  The rose-of-Sharon bush is  from our daughter and son-in-law's yard (and the plant came from his grandmother).  The other flowers are from their son and daughter-in-law's first-ever garden at the home they bought last year (that's our oldest grandson and his wife).  

     

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    Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers to "steal" (only with photos).   I loved the  pure white one, a color you don't see often.

     

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    Welcoming sign seen in many yards as we walk around the city.   The signs are being sold as a benefit for the Centro Latino community organization.

     

     

    Downtown 2018
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    Another  of the many murals being created in a big push by the City to beautify the downtown area.  I don't exactly love this one,  but it is colorful — and it was fun to watch the artists at work on the lift truck.    (It was a hot day too — probably not the most pleasant working conditions up there.)  

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    Here's an artist the City hired for a smaller gig.  She was painting a street piano — it will remain on the sidewalk until the rainy season starts.  Since I watched her work, I've heard a few "concerts" by passers-by as this piano is placed on a block I walk often, near the Library, city bus terminal, and grocery store.

     

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    Nothing but blue sky over the back of Skinner Butte — and some colorful buildings underneath it.   

     

    LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the wonderful hosts.

    NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MACRO MONDAY;  MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD, RANDOM, FUN; FLORAL BLISS; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    

     

      

     

     

     

  • SPRING — IN FLORIDA and in OREGON

       

    This is  a morning sky shot taken from our back porch.   It's beautiful and very quiet on the Canal now.  Most  snowbirds have left Florida for their summer homes.

     

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    We are snowbirds too, but we usually come a little later and stay a little longer than most of our friends.  In the sunshine areas that snowbirds frequent, the six-month  season is usually defined as October through April, with the busiest months being January, February and March.  We usually don't arrive until December.

    So during the month of May we like to pretend we're full-time Floridians.  Just like the people who really are, we talk about how thankful we are to get around Fort Myers now that there are fewer cars and fewer people.    (And it really is wonderful.)  The weather is beautiful here now, but I do start to  miss Oregon Springtime a little bit by the end of April.  

    So I was delighted when our daughter texted a bunch of photos of their yard.   All of the flowers in the mosaic below are blooming in their Oregon backyard right now: 

       

    Cyndi's yard spring 2018

     

    The up-side of staying in Florida during May is that we miss the worst month of the Oregon hay-fever season.  The down-side is that we miss  typical Spring flowers almost completely (it's too hot here for most of them).   So I loved the reminder of Oregon springs.    (I've showed the beautiful big Black Walnut Tree in the center picture often,  because we hang out under it a lot during the summer and fall.  But isn't it beautiful in the Spring?  (I had almost forgotten myself.)     

     

    Now back to Florida for some Spring birds: 

    Misc birds end april post

     

    Woodpeckers are our morning alarm clock these days.  They are fun to see and (usually) to hear.   And they are part of the reason why we know it's Spring.    The temperatures don't seem much different now, but the birds know what season it is and we start to see Spring migrants here, just the same as everywhere else in the Spring.      

     

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    Ospreys are everywhere … we ate at the waterfront restaurant on the top left last week — a farewell dinner with friends on one of their last days here.  When we came out this guy was sitting on a telephone pole directly above where our car was parked.  Every living creature has to eat!  

     

     

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    This is a view of Fort Myers from the dock of a different waterfront restaurant.  We've been eating out with friends quite a lot lately as people finish up their season.  Making more Florida memories to take home until next season rolls around.     

      

    LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:   :  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; FLORAL BLISS; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; Wednesday AROUND the WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B'BIRDING.

     THANK YOU to all of the wonderful hosts and to everyone who visits!  

     

     

  • SPRINGTIME IN FLORIDA

         

    Spring flowers are different here in the subtropics.  Sometimes I miss daffodils and violets which don't bloom here, but oh the bright and beautiful flowers that do thrive in this climate!  We visited R F Orchids in Homestead last week and what a wonderful flower fix it was.

     

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     The sign works for me!   

     

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    The photos in the  first and last mosaics were all taken in the  outdoor gardens. 

     The close-up shots are of orchids that were blooming in the shade house.

     

     

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    It is not necessary in this climate to have a glassed-in greenhouse for these plants.  The shade-house roof was open when we were there, but there were slats for plastic or shade cloth as needed.

     

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    They had very color and type of orchid imaginable. 

     

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    The center of this one almost looks as if a butterfly landed there.

     

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    R F Orchids was  more like a park than a  store. 

    Especially for people like us who no longer garden. 

    We are lucky  that they didn't charge us for taking pictures. 

     

     

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       There was even a wedding gazebo and outdoor events center.  

     

    It really was a happy place!  

     

     

     Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities.  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  FLORAL BLISS; MACRO MONDAY; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD; IMAGE-IN-ING; THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS, THANKFUL THURSDAY; FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS, and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

     

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  • SYMPHONY OF COLOR

     

     

    It's a symphony of Autumn color everywhere these days —

    IF you can get outside to enjoy it between rain showers.

     

     This week's pictures are from two different days last week — one in the country (around  our daughter and son-in-law's 'backyard') and the other on a two-mile loop around our downtown home.    

      

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    Country Gold 

     

    Though you might not guess it from the blue sky above their barn, it had poured down rain the night before and it rained again later in the afternoon the same day I took this picture out at Cyndi and Jeff's.    

     

     

     

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     (I'm not sure what this sweet flower is, but it is so perfect even this late in the season that it almost doesn't seem real.)  

     

    Earlier in the week, on a day when we stayed home, it rained hard all morning but cleared off just in time for a late afternoon walk. 

     

     

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     City Gold

     

    The sun had come out for its last hurrah –   brushing everything it touched with gold.  

     

    I am grateful to have the flexibility to choose my walking time — especially this time of year — you never know  when the sun will shine. 

     

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     Country red

    Out in the country again for the picture above –  jumping around for the sake of arranging everything by color tone.   Those are a couple of the blueberry bushes that were so prolific during the summer months.  And are still  beautiful without requiring daily picking.

     

     

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    City pink — and purple 

     

    Some of the home gardens  that I walk past seem to specialize.    One has fall crocuses (croci?) everywhere, one still has roses blooming, and another has a riot of pink and lavender.   The golden flowers in the first collage are both in another yard.  

     

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     Even the weeds  are beautiful in Autumn color.   This is a wild blackberry bush.   

     

     Linking this week to:   ALL SEASONS; THE BARN COLLECTIVE; NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; THROUGH MY LENS;  FLORAL BLISS;  MACRO MONDAY; Wednesday AROUND the WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.

     

    THANK YOU to all of the hosts.

     

     

     

  • SATURDAY MARKET

      

    We're still transitioning between Summer and Fall here in the Eugene area.  And  that transition is most colorfully showcased at the Eugene Saturday Market.

     

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       The flower stalls are at least as lush as they were in July.   

     

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    Market produce is a multi-seasonal riot of color and taste.  Tomatoes next to squash, pumpkins next to corn; melons next to peppers, apples next to summer berries.   It's all here this month… and will be until the first freeze (or the middle of November, whichever comes first).   

    The fellow in the middle picture is roasting hot or mild peppers which he and his wife sell in freezer bags…. it smells amazing when you walk by …. and they taste wonderful.

     

       

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    The Farmer's Market occupies one square block; the craft market across the street is even larger.  I don't often take pictures of the craft booths because it kind of seems like stealing the artisan's ideas.  But I thought the purposefully simple sign on this tie-dyed wares booth was so appropriate I just had to snap.   Real hippies started the market in 1970 and there are still a lot of booths honoring those beginnings.  (And  still a lot of real hippies around here for that matter.)

     

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    There is planned entertainment every hour or so on the Market Stage and street corner entertainment everywhere as you approach the Market blocks.   Quality varies, but it's all fun.

     

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    If you get hungry as you wander around, there are at least two dozen food carts and booths.  Ritta's has been there since the 1970 beginning.

     

      

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    Let's end with a few more flowers, because I have a feeling these may not last too much longer.   This weekend was partly sunny (chilly in the mornings), but the weather report says that cold rains are coming back later this week.  I feel like the flowers may be the first to go –  I'll certainly miss bringing home weekly bouquets. 

     

     

     LINKING to:  ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  FLORAL BLISS; WEDNESDAY AROUND THE WORLD; and SIGNS SIGNS. 

     

     Thank you to all of the hosts.

  • SIGNS OF SUMMER

       

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    Either the priest or the gardener at this  beautifully landscaped church in Salem has a good sense of humor.   We were there to attend the funeral for Bill's Aunt Rosemary.  This lovely lady, who lived to her late 90s,  was the last remaining member of our parents' generation (on both sides).  Not that there was much doubt before, but we're certainly officially members of the senior generation now.

    All of the rest of the pictures in this post are  from walks around the neighborhood here in Eugene.

     

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      I love hydrangeas in all their colors and all their stages.  It's hard not to stop for pictures when I'm out walking. These are some I've "collected" from different yards all through my walking area

     

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    But even these lush blue bushes can't rescue this poor old house.   I first noticed it when I walked past when we were still here last October.  And at first I thought it was decorated for the Halloween season (the bushes of course were brown and withered then, adding to the haunted appearance). There have been no apparent changes to the structure since last Fall.   Abandoned homes always make me wonder about the story behind them.

     

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    The old house is about six blocks away one direction from our  apartment — we are right on the edge of an older Eugene neighborhood (mostly with well-kept homes — the one above is an exception).  

    But when we walk the other way, we are in the middle of downtown.    We strolled around on the  First Friday Art Walk, listening to music and looking at some of the street art.  

     

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    It was hot though, so we spent most of the evening in an air-conditioned theater watching an Instant Ballet (the dancers, members of the Eugene Ballet Company,  take suggestions from the audience to put together a ballet based on a pre-determined theme and music.  

     

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     The City installed this colorful piano in the middle of one downtown block.   It gets a lot of use.   Sometimes you get a concert.  And then there are the other times  ….    

     

     

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     Eugene might be the only place in the world that would have this sign on the front of a City Bus.    We like it!

     

     

     Linking this week  to:  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; ALL SEASONS;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MACRO MONDAY; FLORAL BLISS; TUESDAY TREASURES; and SIGNS SIGNS 

     THANK YOU to all of the hosts.

  • PEACE IN THE GARDEN

      

     

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    When we visited Naples Botanical Gardens last Tuesday, a group was learning to make mandalas from fallen flower petals.   Although we didn't take part in the activity, I found that  gazing at the arrangements and making photographs were meditative experiences in themselves.

    We went to the Gardens to see the Origami Sculptures that are on display this month.  

    And of course to enjoy the flowers.

     

     

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    The tower of cranes in the  center was created by sculptors Kevin and Jennifer Box.   Called "MasterPeace", it was inspired by the Japanese “Senbazuru," the act of creating one thousand origami cranes within a single year as a wish for peace, long life and good health.  Five hundred of the thousand cranes they created are scattered around the world as individual sculptures.  The other 500 are gathered together here in this 25-foot tall monument.  (All one thousand cranes are represented as together through the reflection in the pond.)

     

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    The single white crane is a symbol of peace and also a symbol of the spirit or soul.

     

     

     

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    Botanical Gardens always make me feel good …

    and on this visit, the hopeful symbolism of the origami cranes and of the mandalas was a beautiful bonus.

    Someday in this world I hope our wish for peace comes true.

     

     

    Linking to:  ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  FLORAL BLISS; and OUR WORLD on Tuesday.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

     

     

     


     

  • MOODS OF THE DAY

       

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     Sunrise  on the Canal.

    That sky is showing off  my favorite color.  We even painted part of our Canal Cottage as close to that shade as we could get.    It's good to start the day with a shot of happy — especially these days when I'm sure I'm not the only one who can use all the mood-lifters I can get. 

     

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    Same day, same place, different times.  All cheerful colors.

     

     

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    My favorite hibiscis plant — I take pictures of it every year and I'm sure it's obvious why.

     

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    The usual suspects.  Ospreys are everywhere and seem to build their nests on whatever is handy at the moment.   Turkey vultures aren't quite as common as their black vulture cousins, but there are a lot of both kinds.  And Ibis – this one was by itself, but often we see flocks of them.  Nothing unique, but watching any bird at all makes me happy and grateful to be where it's warm enough to do that almost any day.

       

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    I thought of this picture since our weekend 'agenda' was changed today by high winds and expected rains.    Definitely not a good day for a photo/walking outing.  Sometimes it's better not to make even simple plans.  (This boat was docked near us on our New Year's Eve boat trip.  I'm really glad we're not out on the water today and hope all boaters are safe–there are whitecaps on the river today!)

     

     

    Thank you to the hosts of each of these sharing opportunities:    ALL SEASONS; MONDAY MACRO; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY WATERS; SIGNS SIGNS; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  

  • BETWEEN RAIN SHOWERS

    Linking to: SKYWATCH FRIDAY; TODAY'S FLOWERS; SCENIC WEEKENDS; MONDAY MACRO; and (Laura is back with) I HEART MACRO  Thank you to all of the hosts.

     

     We're still in rainy western Oregon and, although we'd almost given up, last week we did get some more blue sky after all.

     

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    It rained hard all day long last Friday.  Then finally – about 5:30 – the rain seemed like it was letting up a  little so I grabbed raincoat, camera, and umbrella and headed out for a quick neighborhood walk before dinner (and dark).  Not even half an hour into the walk the skies completely cleared. And it was as if the sun was packing all the brightness it could into the last few minutes of the day. 

     

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    It burnished the trees and made even prosaic buildings glow.

     

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    This beautiful yard is  on the corner of a street across from a City Park a few blocks from where we live.  It's been more picture-worthy than the Park all summer long and it still shines in mid-October.  Here are just a few of the flowers — on a different day's walk between showers.  

     

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    Roses are no longer at their peak, but this one was still beautiful in all its faded glory.

     

    You have to look a little harder for natural beauty on rainy days in the city — but it is definitely still out here!