When the snow is too deep to shovel, the wind howling around the house and the thermometer reaches rock bottom, one begins to yearn for sunshine, warmth and flowers to cheer you up. I found a few pictures in my archive, which gave me a big lift. Enjoy.
While my wife has been picking pine mushrooms in our nearby forests, I have been searching for objects that typically represent the autumn scene in our area. Old tree stumps and tree trunks have always fascinated me, as they so wondrously symbolize the end and the beginning of a new life cycle. Mushrooms are pushing through the forest floor to release their spores for the next growing season. Ferns are bending low under the weight of old age while retaining their graceful shapes of geometric patterns for us to admire. Of course, the brightly shining sunflower wheel must always be part of the visual presentation of the wonderful autumn season. Enjoy.
Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis – Ovid
The days are getting shorter, the air is crisp in the early morning hours, bees and bumblebees slumber longer on our sunflowers, the redfish are spawning, the signs of autumn are written on Nature’s colourful pages. As we journey from one season into another, it is seems fitting to devote a blog post to the eternal cycle of our four seasons country. I selected a few images from my archive presenting Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter in that order. Enjoy.
A very late Spring with a lot of cool and rainy weeks had caused nature to get a slow start. Consequently, our fruit trees blossomed four weeks late. There are still Grafenstein and Red Delicious apples that need to be picked, almost an entire month behind schedule. It is also very unusual in our region not to have experienced any frost during the night so late in the season. Thus, being such a special fall, I decided to focus on the many flowers still blooming in our yard. I know that Luda, a blogging friend living in Florida, will be smiling about my enthusiasm coming from the northern climes. Down there seem to be flowers all year round. But all those who have already struggled with snow on the mountain passes will be amazed at mother nature’s beauty down in the Arrow Lakes valley. Please excuse me for breaking my five-photo-rule. Enjoy.
Sunflower
S
Nasturtium
Petunia
Marigold
Impatiens
Hydrangea
Rose
Ornamental Sunflower
Dahlia
Calendula
For the past 24 hours I have been fine-tuning the appearance of my website. Yes, I know, last week I announced some FINAL changes on my introductory remarks of the fall and winter session. I also announced a report on how Gertrud and I had spent the summer, which is coming rapidly to an end. But then I stumbled over yet another theme, which I thought was superior to the Lite Book. It impressed me with having the same single column format AND a hidden sidebar menu and widget section. Then I began to tinker with the header image. Creating a transparent image of our family reunion in 2014 was not an easy task, of which I spare you the technical details. This shows how the road to perfection is strewn with thousands of obstacles. The closer one gets, the more time and effort need to be invested to make a project even better still.
But I will keep my promise of getting the first report published this coming Tuesday. Thank you for all your anticipatory comments that you sent me during the last two weeks! They were greatly appreciated.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 