Wordless Wednesday

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A lull on the blog

I’m anticipating a lull on the blog in the next while.

In the meantime here are some photos of Flowering Cherry Blossom as spring continues apace.

Thank you for reading and following my blog. I hope to be back very soon. Feel free to have a dig into the archives or visit the other bloggers I follow.

Sunday quote

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.”

From a speech in Washington in 1953, by President Dwight. D. Eisenhower 1890 -1969

Sourced today from the blog of Valerie Davies.

The familiar Wellington Botanical Gardens

One of the first Tulips of spring 2012. It was named “Pinocchio”

Earlier this week we left home in warm, calm and sunny conditions and headed into the Wellington Botanical Gardens to view the very early spring flowering.

As can often be the case in our region the weather in the city was cold, heavily overcast and the wind was unpleasant. This meant our visit was shorter than planned.

However, weather aside, I really enjoyed returning to these very familiar Gardens and to a part of the Gardens that has changed very, very little in the 55 plus years that I have been visiting them.

Once my parents bought a car we would often head to the Gardens on a Sunday afternoon to hear the Highland Pipe Bands play and march at the Soundshell or on the grass in front of the Soundshell. My parents loved Pipe Band music and as small children we would march and move to the music or play around the grassy area.

Near this spot was a small fountain which has small concrete frogs around the edging. With any luck you could spray the water coming from their mouths in wide arcs across the fountain. Harmless, childish fun which can still be enjoyed today.

Further along a path is a duck pond where we fed the ducks and in that time honoured way children still do that today.

The tulip beds were full but only a few flowers were blooming. Spring festival with Tulip Sunday will happen later in September. But again this is a long time familiar event.

The aged trees – Magnolia and deciduous are all still there as are the fuchsias along the brick fence line. The difference I noted on this visit was the thickness of the epiphytes clothing the thick branches like sleeves of wearable art of some form.

The familiar can be very comforting in a world that changes so rapidly. It would appear that no one is in a hurry to redevelop this section of the Gardens and I like that.

Flowers on a Magnolia tree, appearing to float against the sky

Rhododendron

Flowering azalea

Are these yellow flowers crocus??

Epiphytes completely cover the huge boughs of this tree.

Wordless Wednesday

The ordinary and familiar

I recently read a piece on a daily email I subscribe to about how familiar things are often very ordinary things which bring us enjoyment and comfort. Sometimes it is only when something familiar disappears from our life do we realise how much we took it for granted and what benefit we gained from it.

It might be as simple and ordinary as a view out a window, a tree in the garden, the smell of sunshine in dry washing, the laugh of a loved one.

There is much beauty and pleasure in the ordinary and focusing away from the bombardment of drama and hype, information overload, busyness and stress can be so good for our wellbeing.

Right now we are in the midst of spring, that familiar part of the seasonal cycle which turns each year. It is easy to feel the extraordinary power of this season but keep an eye out for the ordinary detail that we can sometimes miss and enjoy.

Here are some familiar, ordinary sights from my garden today.

Flowering Jasmine

Self sown white primula

Self sown white and blue forget-me-nots in a pot full of shells and rocks.

Look at the changes within the magnolia flower

Magnolia petals have fallen and left this beautiful detail

Pelagonium flowers from a cutting taken from the roadside in 1998 and still flowering in pots in my garden today.

The very ordinary, very familiar but pretty, bright flower of the dandelion