Spring has been caught speeding . . .

. . . yep, it was spotted on the gulf coast going 80 in a 60 degree zone!

Now, I know, I'm not going to get much sympathy from most of you,

but we already had to turn on the A/C.

It's February people! And I was quite hoping for a REAL Spring.

But . . . 

1. I'm over the moon to see the bees again.

2. And apparently the bees are over the moon flowers to drink nectar once again. This, seemed

to be a common sight the other day at the nursery . . . they appear to have tipped the juice

a little too far and were in a suspended stuper. (He seemed to be hanging on for dear life.)

3. Look who's here . . . he emerged on Tuesday and since we've had several hard freezes I have

zero plants for a food source, so I boxed him up and took him to my nursery. I figured he would

really enjoy the variety of flowers and appreciate the fact he didn't have to fly all over looking for food.

And...that proboscis of his went right to work.

4. As I was making my way to the front I spied this Houdini leaf performing feats of wonder. If you look really, really close you can see a hint of a silk string. I didn't really think much about it, until I noticed it

was bobbing up and down? next......

5. So.....I looked up, and, what do ya know I found Charlotte! She was using the leaf for one of her anchor threads for the beautiful web she was putting the finishing touches on. She was tricky to get a picture of moving around so much because when your a spider, there is no rest for the weary.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm loving the fact that it isn't 50 shades of grey (of course by the time you

read this it could possibly be raining cats and dogs), but you have to remember . . . here on the gulf coast our summer is a little like your winter only instead of below zero, we are over a hundred. It's just that I was thinking it would be nice to have spring first.

and one more, 7. because I know you were wondering. The APHIDS are out in full force already, UGH!

Have a great weekend - I would if I could bottle some of this up and send it to you! :)

Love, Kim xo

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday

I'm a little behind . . .

May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity.

Your heart sing sweet lullabies of timelessness.

May your essence be the nectar of the open blossom of your joy.

May your spirit soar throughout the vast cathedral of your being.

- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Well, I had all kinds of things I wanted to share with you today, beachy things, from the beach here, in Galveston. But, some things came up this week that got me behind AND I had the pleasure (insert much sarcasm here) to stand in line for hours yesterday while I renewed my drivers license . . . and with no a/c.

Nothing like waiting til the last minute, it expires on Sunday. I almost didn't pass the vision test. Apparently,

you have to read the entire line with or without help. No mixing and no matching with the help of readers. Your either all in or not....ha ha....and well I know this because I tried to read part of it with my glasses and part of it without. Hey that worked like a charm, bingo. But, the sheriff sitting at the end was paying just a bit too much attention to the girl behind the curtain the vision tester and made me do an entire line one way or the other. So I picked my poison and put my readers back on, she even dropped me down a line (sad face).  I breezed right through the first two sections, and that last one was really tough. I mean readers aren't for long distance, right? But thankfully, and I think she felt pity for me, I passed.....Yeah!  But does that now mean I need bifocals. OMG!! I guess I will find out next week . . .  

So, Foto Friday will resume in it's entirety next week, because I'm in need of some beach time where I always feel like a kid, especially because on Sunday the first digit of my age flips to a new decade! haha

Wishing you all an incredible weekend my friends!

Love, Kim

XO

 

   

Foto Friday - Stop the merry-go-round!

"So much time, and so little to do! Strike that, reverse it."

- Willy Wonka

Oh, how I wish it was that way.

So much time, so little to do.

It sure would make my day if all I could do was play.

(linking this with LEM - the theme is 'fair')

(Yeah, I'm a top three winner!)

But not here, not today . . .

I've been on a merry-go-round as they say!

I've been waiting, and wishing, and hoping and praying that the wheels would just fall off,

because it should be illegal

for anyone to be as busy as a bee. 

You know me,

and where I would rather be -

on the beach of course in the presence of a seagull.

(linking this with foto friday at La-La's Home Daycare - theme 'fill the frame')

Where I would lock myself away,

(Linking this with favorite photo at Through a Photographers Eyes and fabulous friday

at McDougall Photography)

in the sweet nectar . . .

enjoying the quieter moments of life,

remembering time for reflection at the end of the day.

(Linking this with photo friday at the hollie rogue)

Enjoy the weekend my friends,

Love, Kim

XO

 "

Foto Friday - A walk, some reflection and a vine called Passion Flower

As tired and exhausted as I have been lately, I needed to take a walk. To walk somewhere that was peaceful, quiet, and where I could reflect on my thoughts.

As I walked I thought about the journey that Jesus took to the cross. What did he see? What did he think about? I thought about how he freely offered his life for ours. How he died in our place on the cross taking our past, present and future sins upon himself. He paid the ultimate price for you and me and he could have saved himself, but endured this suffering because of His love for us.

For this, I am very thankful.

My walk began on a coastal birding trail leading to Pine Gully Park diverse in marsh areas, estuaries and restored wetland. In most areas there are trails on both sides of the marshes where you can cross from one side to the other by an iron bridge. This is the view from one side of the bridge:

Since this area is only about a mile from Galveston Bay the water levels will vary according to the tides. There is an American alligator that lives here, but I have yet to have seen it. And as diverse in nature that it is, I could only hear that which was around me. Everything seemed to be quite elusive on this morning.





That is until I came across this gorgeous dragonfly! He seemed quite happy to have his picture taken, appearing at times to be posing. I could swear that he's smiling in this one!

This dragonfly is a skimmer called Halloween Pennant.

I love the way the light reflected off this grass.

After my walk and a quick lunch with my man I headed over to Bay Area Design in search of some flowers for my garden and to specifically take some pictures of the Passion Flower Vine. The smell alone will capture your heart much less its beauty! But even more interesting is how it got its name.

Spanish Christian missionaries in the 15th and16th centuries named it the passion flower because they believed it symbolized the suffering or "passion" of Christ and his death.









The five petals and 5 sepals which on the passion flower look almost the same, represent the disciples who remained faithful, leaving out Judas the betrayer and Peter the denier. The double row of filaments or Corona was thought of as the crown of thorns Jesus wore. The three stigmas at the very top represent the three nails and the five stamen underneath those, his wounds.

They also noted that the flowers are spent after a single day, the time Jesus was on the cross. And the petals do not drop from the flower but re-close symbolizing Jesus enclosed in the tomb.

Anything that wants to delight in this flowers nectar must work extra hard to get it.

I couldn't resist this beautiful pink zinnia...

One of the things I love about Bay Area Design aside from the flowers and the wonderful people

 who work there is all of their fountains! Not only are they beautiful, but the sound of trickling water is just, well, mesmerizing and very relaxing.

I love how the background in this one turned out - like a watercolor.

I could just spend all day here, flowers, fountains, wildlife - who could ask for more?

(Hmmm, one in my yard would be nice) : )

I hope your weekend includes a walk, some reflection and a little passion flower.

Have a blessed weekend!

Love, Kim

XO