watching the clouds go by

Would you like to come cloud watching with me?
We can while away the afternoon
Just to step out of time is all we need
Looking out for the other rule

Cos there’s no place
I’d rather be
There’s no one
I’d rather see

Would you like to come cloud watching with me?
We can watch the world roll on by
Dreaming up all the endless possibilities
Staring into the open sky

Song by Abigail Dobson



Happy bee , be Happy

Summer holiday and at the summer house, so I am a bit slow in replies as the days are filled with three active grandchildren screaming and playing around. I had forgotten how much food boys consume…. 🙂 But this is a post about bees 🐝 and butterflies 🦋

Midnight

Midnight at my house in the countryside, love the summer light and yesterday we had some rain so the mist created a lovely atmosphere


The trees framed the scene beautifully



summer 2023 – 8

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure. Midsummer is here and we are enjoying the light.

Bees, the so important part of nature. I found these as I went through my archive for this challenge Bees

Bees

I found these as I went through my archive for Denzil’s NPC #17 Bees

Sequoia – 1

Huge mountains, rugged foothills. Gorgeous views in my opinion. Worth taking a photo in my mind.

I looked at my old photos and noticed many that I have not given too much thought to, these are two of them. In these photos from Sequoia- ( more to come)I am returning to my past style. Let the photos speak for themselves. As it what I am better at than writing 🙂

Stunning views

summer 2023 – 5

This morning when I saw the title of Leanne Cole’s blog post  Losing a blogging friend and remembering Bren. Leanne wrote: When you look at Bren’s blog you can see a lot of flowers, she loved them too. I have put together some of my flowers in memory of her and hope you can do the same.

I got to know Bren for a short time, but she came across as caring, and encouraging person. Flowers for her memory.

I am also posting this For Cee´s Flower of the Day.

summer 2023 -4

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

One of my favorite flowers. White lilac

The scent is so lovely

Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day

summer 2023 – 3

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

One of my favorite flowers. Peony.

For Cee´s Flower of the Day.

summer 2023 – 2

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

Snails, those slimy little things that eat my plants.., . I found these as I went through my archive for this challenge Snail’s

I found these as I went through my archive NPC #16 Snails

summer 2023 – 1

June, summer is here even though the temperatures are not that high. Nature is giving us its best that’s for sure.

Birds, not my expertise at all, sometimes I get a nice shot, but sometimes is the thing as I do not have the equipment to get the spot on shots. I found these as I went through my archive for this challenge Birds feeding and drinking

I found these as I went through my archive NPC #15: Birds feeding and drinking

Floral joy~ 9

Flowers from my archive’s and camera roll.

Something different, shaken and stirred .

Lilac time

Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day

Spring 2023 – 8

Wild strawberry flower

I have had the flu now for two weeks and no end in sight. I’m so tired of coughing and sneezing 🤧. I have been doing nothing, but today I am going to post few photos. Well of flowers.

Looks promising, we will get some strawberries this summer

For Cee´s Flower of the Day.

Spring 2023 – 7

I’m at my happy place, I can hear the birdsong, sound of the wind, bee’s buzzing in this so called place of silence. and smell scent of the Lily of the valley.

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is well known for its delicate bells and beautiful sweet scent. You’ll find lily of the valley throughout the northern hemisphere. Signifying the return of happiness, the plant is synonymous with the month of May, and it is indeed the birth flower for May.

Lily of the valley meaning

A symbol of purity, joy, love, sincerity, happiness and luck, lily of the valley . It’s actually the national flower of Finland, and in France, on 1st May for La Fête du Muguet, lily of the valleys are gifted to loved ones. This French custom dates back to the 16th century ) – symbolizing luck and happiness.

For Cee´s Flower of the Day.

Throwback Thursday

We all have these photos … throwback photos! Don’t we just… so many. It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”.

This week (#TB Thursday). We visited Karhulinna ( bear castle) in Korkeasaari Zoo in 2015. I got some nice shots of the bears enjoying a smim and playing together.


Korkeasaari got its first bears already in 1888, i.e. a year before the zoo was officially founded.

Today’s Karhulinna is home to two bears, Sofia born in 2001 in Ähtäri Zoo and her female cub Yulia born in 2006 in Korkeasaari. They look very similar, but there are some differences in behavior – for example, the younger one of the bears likes to swim, but its mother is content to wade. Bears hibernate indoors in their own dens, usually from November to the beginning of March.

The bear is Finland’s largest predator, but it mostly eats plant food. It tastes soft shoots, leaves, roots, berries and grain, but also all kinds of animal food such as small mammals and fish. Despite its large size, the bear moves nimbly, climbs and swims well.

In Northern Europe, bears hibernate, when their body temperature drops a few degrees and their vital functions slow down. Hibernation is the bears’ way of surviving the long winter, when there is little food available. Before going to sleep, the bear gets fat, eating a lot of sugary berries in particular. Bear cubs are born during the mother’s hibernation in January-March. Their birth weight is only 350-500 grams. The cubs emerge from the nest in May-June, and stay with their mother for a couple of years. When the female has her young cubs with her, she avoids the males when moving, as they can kill the foreign cubs. The female does not have offspring every year.

Garlic

Practicing my food photography.

Garlic was my choice this time. I add garlic to so many foods, and lots of it. Even now my hands smell of garlic as I just put a pan on stove to simmer, making pasta sauce.

Onions I’ve done several times so, this is a slight change.

“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”

Those are famous words from the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine.

He prescribed garlic to treat a variety of medical conditions — and modern science has confirmed many of these beneficial health effects.

Fast facts on garlic

In many countries, garlic has been used medicinally for centuries.

Garlic may have a range of health benefits, both raw and cooked.

It may have significant antibiotic properties.

Floral joy~ 8

Flowers from my archive’s and camera roll.

Something different, shaken and stirred .

Photographs were taken at the Botanical Garden in Helsinki, and I do not remember the name of the flower. It is pretty, it is orange and that’s all good.

Posted for Brens Floral Friday – For Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Throwback Thursday

We all have these photos … throwback photos! Don’t we just… so many. It’s described as ‘nostalgia-inducing pictures … from a different era of your life”.

This week (#TB Thursday). Thursday is filled with memories the past, in honor of my mother who passed away too soon, 35 year ago. Obviously these are from a different era and I did not take them.

My mom and her twin and in couple her older sister. I also added one with her and my dad, both passed away too soon. It was more of a custom to have your photo taken in a studio, now we take selfies.

Well on photo from me a throwback rose from my visit to see my sister in Vancouver in 2013. My sister a mom of four unfortunately has also moved to the greener pastures as the saying goes. Memories often hold lots of lost in them.

The last photo is of my mom’s parents and older siblings in 1930’s

Floral joy~ 7

Flowers from my archive’s and camera roll.

Something different, shaken and stirred .

Art? Mess?

Photographs were taken at the Botanical Garden in Helsinki with shaking hands.

What do you make of this?

Posted for Brens Floral Friday – and Posted Cee´s Flower of the Day.

Spring 2023

Well it has been cold lately, but hopefully it will in coming day warm up a little bit. Hoping. I got inspired when I found my old photos from the Botanical garden and took on myself to visit the place again.

You can see the spring is not all that advanced here, because the trees are just about to bloom, is that the appropriate here, maybe not, but the are nearly ready to glow in vibrant new green leaves. And some red leaves also could be seen.

Early sign of spring

Different types of Anemones were also in bloom, some fading away.

Floral joy~ 6

Flowers from my archive’s and camera roll.

Daffodils flowers symbolize new beginnings, rebirth and the arrival of spring. The ancient Greeks associated the flower with self-love, while in Victorian England, daffodils were given as gifts to express admiration and respect. In literature, the daffodil is often used as a symbol of unrequited love and hope.


“Picasso said that no one has to explain a daffodil. Good design is understandable to virtually everybody. You never have to ask why.”—Hugh Newell Jacobsen

Photographs were taken at the Botanical Garden in Helsinki

Posted for Brens Floral Friday – and Posted for Cee’s Flower of the Day

Floral joy~ 5

Flowers from my archive’s and camera roll.

“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower.” – Marianne Williamson

🌷 Tulip

“The tulip is a courtly queen, whom everyone bows to on first acquaintance.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Tulips are the perfect embodiment of grace and elegance.”

Posted for Brens Floral Friday – and Cee’s Flower of the Day Photography Challenge