Colorful Crocus

Every winter as the cold and dark days linger, I start to yearn for green growing things......

  In late winter, when we tire of the snow, cold, and blah colors of winter.....I start to look forward to seeing green growing things again.  

 I know that soon the crocus greenery will start to pop up and then a few days/weeks later, the flowers will also pop up.

We start to watch for these wonderful signs of spring......my kids and I start looking and looking for just a glimpse of the green coming up out of the ground......and we wait.

Even the neighbor kids get in on the action......looking daily to see if they are coming up yet....especially when we have a warmer day in between the freezes.  I am kept informed......then one day....the excitement builds and finally, they start to come up....in a few places. 

 
The fun of watching the greenery fades after nothing happens when the cold weather comes back and stays. No, spring isn't here yet.....

Eventually, the warm days start again....and finally we have swollen flower buds and the excitement rises again. Then they bloom....not all at once and a daily check and a daily count  happens. The fun thing is that many of the neighbor kids don't garden or know anything about flowers, so this is really fun for them.

I hope that as these neighbor kids get older, they will have fond memories of gardens and growing things from spending time with my children and me in our gardens.

It is so easy to talk of God at such times also....like "Look at these beautiful flowers God made!" It is natural, easy flowing ..... and we are planting seeds that can grow. 

 

In some places there are dozens of crocus all in a clump....the sun shines on these beautiful jewel-like flowers and they glow with a brilliance and a bright spot of color in early spring....or even in late winter. 

This is a lone white crocus in the midst of little daffodils.....

 This year, a late snow covered the crocus....but soon the snow started melting and the color was still there...so pretty against the white snow....but I don't have any pictures of that....maybe next year.

The crocus is a pretty flower, but it only flowers in early spring...then it is gone for the whole year. What an encouragement, though, to see that bit of life waking up after winter.

I have tried to pick a few crocus and take them in the house to put into a vase....it doesn't work....they wilt quite quickly....so we enjoy them outside only.

I used to have a couple of yellow crocus.....a rich golden yellow....but they didn't come up for the last 2 years.....we have had a couple of drought years though, and I wonder if they may be hiding out down there in the ground, waiting to appear again some year.  I hope so.

I am so glad that I can enjoy such simple flowers with my family and neighbor kids. It's not that big of a deal, but it can sure brighten our yard....and our days.


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What Is It???

What Is It?
Things are not always what they seem........sometimes that is good, sometimes it isn't.  Below are some pictures.....the first one is part of a larger picture............then I show the larger picture also, so if you want to slowly scroll down, you can see if you can guess what the partial picture is from.........

 The above pictures are of looking down inside this vase..........

The pretty medallion above............is down
in the bottom of this drinking glass.........

These are just artificial berries - this one was probably pretty obvious....

The scary looking spider like thing above....is
actually the center of this pretty flower....

The butterfly is beautiful.....the close up, not really.

 The detail of the inside of this flower looks odd, to say the least. The whole flower, though, is spectacular.

Many things throughout our day can look one way and yet be another. That can be true of "things" ....and also of people. Have you ever seen an angry looking woman and judged her harshly, only to find out that she is really scared that her child is dying?  What about a nice personable man.....who is actually a deceitful con man?  What about a hard looking man.....who is trying so hard to make enough money to keep a roof over the heads of his family, but he just lost his job? What about a boy who seems to be a troublemaker.....who is worried that his mom may leave and never return, his dad left years ago and he wonders what will happen to him.

We can be so quick to judge another person....just by their looks, expressions, words or actions.....one little blip in their life and yet we judge the whole person by that glimpse we have of them. We need to be wise and sometimes that little glimpse is all we get of a person. Do we need to be so quick to be impatient with others? Should we ever be rude?.....even if they seem to "deserve" it?

Years ago, my sister in law died after an accident. We left the hospital after she died and drove to my in laws, but our 3 young children were hungry so we pulled in to a drive through. They asked if they could help us, but my husband and I were both so stunned, so shocked, that we couldn't think. The person in the drive through became impatient and angry. We did order and get food for the kids, but that taught me a lesson. We weren't trying to make that guy's life hard.....there wasn't even a line behind us.....but we sincerely struggled to get our minds on ordering and yet our children needed to eat, so we stopped. We were hurting dreadfully...and that man never knew how a soft or kind word would have ministered to us.

I remind myself of that when someone is slow to pull out onto the highway and they slow me down and I give them grace. When someone snaps at me, I try to answer kindly and not snap back. Actually, it is a lesson to do what the Bible says......"A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger."...... It is also treating others as we like to be treated.

Just some food for thought as we go through our day.......things are not always as they seem.


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Sunrise/Sunset

This post is of a few sunrise and sunset pictures I have taken.....along with some scriptures.....

Thank you for visiting my blog today................

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Thinking About Butterflies...

Lately I have been thinking about butterflies......those colorful and delicate creatures that flit here and there.............when it is warm.  Warm........... Ok, admittedly, we are ready for winter to be over and to have things growing again. I like winter, I really do.........I am just ready to move on to the next season. :)

I really like gardens, herbs and flowers...... and butterflies are a part of all of that. 

The variety of butterflies is amazing- even in just one local area....I know we have little purple ones, different sized yellow ones, monarchs and more.

This one looked so interesting when it flew....it sort of reminded me of the stealth bomber, in this picture, for some reason. 

The butterflies look so fragile....and yet some of them will migrate for hundreds or thousands of miles. Simply amazing.

The patterned wings are thin, but well suited to the butterflies' needs....

On the picture above, the butterfly is in flight......yet the tongue appears to be out....why? I don't know.  :) 

This butterfly looked different from the upper view or lower view - what a variety...on one butterfly.

See how the picture above, shows the wings on one side and the picture beside here shows the underside.....both are beautiful and yet very different. 

 The flowers are beautiful.........and the butterflies add much beauty to them. Some people call butterflies.........."Flying Flowers". 

I look forward to seeing butterflies outside again....and also to seeing flowers, plants and more. These pictures are from a year or two ago, and they are enjoyable to look at.....soon, we should have the real thing again. :)

We really enjoyed the colors and the shine of this butterfly..........

What a blessing that God gave us a world filled with colors, textures and all sorts of living things.  Thank you for visiting my blog today..........



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Hope

This post has some pictures that I like, but didn't know where to put them, so I am putting them together. I am calling this post "Hope"........... Hope can have so many different looks.......


I love this picture of my parents and two of my children playing Dominoes. I love the hands representing 2 generations........and showing the youthful hands and the older ones. I love that my children can learn from the wisdom gained by those older than them. So precious.

 I enjoy our harps - my daughters and I play harp, although I must confess that life has been so busy and it has been a while since I played. My younger daughter has been asking when I will play again.....and says that she misses my playing. Precious.

I have not played long - only about 3 years now.....and I started to play piano at the same time and to learn to read music. WHAT a challenge for my mind! But I enjoyed playing and making beautiful music...........and my older daughter is my teacher. :) What a blessing.

China, blues, calico, teapot, candle......all are special to me and I thank God even for simple things like these - and being able to decorate my own home......the calico background and the paint on the china cabinet were my additions to a plain, tired corner china cabinet.

Now, this also represents hope...........as my son searches for a snack and HOPES he can find what he wants in the pantry.  :)   It seems they are ALWAYS looking for a snack - that happens with so many growing boys!!!

The robin in late winter is a sign of spring.......and I like the hope of knowing that winter won't last forever - even though sometimes it seems that it will!

This is a picture of hope that I will give in and let the poor cold puppy in the house. By the way, he was just visiting and doesn't have to stay outside long at all. 

Look at that sad pleading face. :) 

Pine needles in their growing season....and the fresh green growth- another sign of hope of spring and summer........it isn't here yet, but is coming.

My older son who owns the puppy above, came on Valentine's Day, just to bring this beautiful rose to me.....I have so many hopes for my children....and hope they will choose to always walk with the Lord. This flower meant so much to me....even to be remembered in a special way. 

Ultimately, our hope needs to be in the Lord............and while little things here on earth can remind us of hope and give encouragement.............it is still God's Word that really gives us hope.

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