DREAMING of SUMMER - July 2024

This time of year we are weary of cold, grey days.  Here's a taste of summertime:

Rise and Shine

Bluebird

Daturas - morning photo

(blooms at dusk/self seeds)

Prickly Pear Cactus

(zone 4-5)

Hibiscus

A song in its heart!

Cosmos

Pink Raspberries

(thank you Ruby)

Sunflowers w/ Morning Glories

(self seeds)

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

(host plant - dill)

Monarch Butterfly

Bumble Bee in Butterfly Bush

Sweetness of Summer

(Brandywine)

Butterfly Bush

Hibiscus

Rose of Sharon

Cosmos

Sunflowers selfseed from what birds drop.

Butternut Squash

Black Caps

(from grandparent's canes)

Gloriosa Daisies 

(annual/toss seed heads in soil)

Gooseneck

(beware:  invasive)

Shasta Daisy

Feverfew (a herb)

Bee Balm

(hummingbird magnet)

Wild Daisies

Yucca

Spider Lilies foreground/Gloriosa Daisies background

(complimentary colors)

St. John's Wort (a herb)

Butterfly Weed

(thank you Andre)

Hydangea

Lilies

(thank you Brenda)

Smoke Bush

Smoke Bush

Fritterary

Lilies foreground/Ligularia background

(pay attention to what blooms at the same time)

Retired Wheelbarrow (about 40 years old) with well worn leakage

as does the bucket and watering can. Spading fork has bent tines.

Planted wave petunias last year.  This year planning to plant nasturiums.

Swallowtail

(sipping nectar from coneflower)

Various vinettes throughout yard.

(Now working on downsizing.)

Black Swallowtail on Cone Flower

Hummingbird Moth in Bee Balm

Bumble Bee nectaring on Cone Flower

Passion Flower

(wintered over inside here in zone 4-5)

Cone Flowers

Zinnia

Garlic Harvest

Cuc

Summer Squash

Zucchini Cakes and Summer Squash Casserole

Wild Flower bouquet

Pots of Gold here at Rainbow's End

Rooster Tail

in Hens and Chicks Bed

Balloon Flower 

(thank you Connie)

Morning Glories

(beware:  invasive)

Honey Bees Nectaring

Scarlet Runner Beans - plant where you can watch hummingbirds feed.

(thank you Andre)

Cauliflower

And God said, 

"Let the land produce vegetation:

seed-bearing plants and trees

on the land that bear fruit with seed in it,

according to their various kinds.

And it was so.

Genesis 1:11

 

The Sparkle Ball

Listen: there’s a hushed sound

all around the town

when a pure white carpet is laid down

covering the ground all around.

Someone’s coming to your town

dressed in their prettiest ball gowns.

Take time to look around

at this festive sight found.

Tonight dressed in a sparkly white gown,

she makes her entrance, though without a sound.

Others are seen in black and white gowns,

some wear diamond-encrusted crowns.

Some gowns glitter in sequins round,

this special night out on the town.

Some wear fluffy ruffles all around,

while they silently dance in their gowns.

You might see noses that look like a clown

and faces that now wear a big frown

for not everyone likes this ball, it’s found.

In fact, it might leave some attendees housebound.

So where is this sparkle ball found?

You cannot hear it, for there’s no sound.

Who comes to town

wearing ball gowns?

Can you guess? It makes no sound

arriving quietly in towns,

leaving a white carpet all around,

and attendees wear sparkly gowns?

It’s the trees wearing white gowns

as snowflakes spiral round and round.

Soon the sparkle ball will be gone

when the sun shines all around.

* * * * *

View each day as a school

and you’ll learn something new

as you learn to look with eyes anew

at what’s bothersome to you.

Perhaps what makes you feel blue

and keeps you stuck like glue

is meant to teach you

something new and true.

Life takes many different turns, it’s true.

Not what’s expected surprises you.

Emergencies come with bills due.

What you thought you could rely on flew.

Perhaps if you looked with eyes anew

you’ll find God’s promises kept you

quite safe and out of harms way too.

Something only you and God knew.

Be sure to thank God for these daily lessons anew.

They’ll teach you God’s compassion and faithfulness is true.

Your faith will mature each day anew

as you trust God’s unfailing love for you.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,

may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you...

Ephesians 1:17-18

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and his ears are attentive to their prayer.

I Peter 3:12

Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us

an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

II Corinthians 4:17-18

Life Is a Garden Party

is available via Amazon.