COSMOS AND A BUMBLEBEE FOUND IN NORWAY MANY, MANY YEARS AGO.

These have little white bands on their bodies. I found a White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum).

A very happy bumblebee with heavily laden pollen sacks on its hind legs. Only the female has these sacks but I would appreciate hearing from our bee experts among our blogging friends to tell us for sure.  Hi Erika, I always enjoy those interesting posts on your bee hives.

Those bee sacks are on the middle part of its hind legs, so I read.

More found on a Google search.

🐝 

“Writers, naturalists and philosophers across history have expressed deep admiration for bees, celebrating their profound connection to nature, their selfless labor, and their vital role in creating harmony and life on earth.

Throughout history, literary and philosophical figures have honored bees for their selfless labor and vital ecological roles, often using them as symbols of harmony. Key themes in these reflections include the following: 

Wisdom and Devotion: St. John Chrysostom praised the bee’s selfless labor, while Leo Tolstoy linked caring for bees to approaching people with love. Henry David Thoreau likened beekeeping to directing sunbeams.

Connections to Nature: Khalil Gibran described the relationship between bees and flowers as an ecstatic exchange of life. Elizabeth Lawrence called the hum of bees the “voice of the garden,” and Emily Dickinson expressed admiration for their nature.

Wonder and Reverence: Albert Einstein (often cited regarding the ecological impact of their disappearance) and William Blake both delighted the profound, industrious nature of bees.” 

🐝 

Thanks for looking and I wish you a great day.

SPREAD KINDNESS…

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

~William Shakespeare~

The Merchant of Venice

Wishing you all 

A Very Happy First Day of October.

and thanks for stopping by.

For our international friends to translate 

by using my translation widget on my sidebar.

Teddy’s Shirt says 

“Spread kindness like wildflowers.”

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - TODAY AM SHARING A MARGUERITE DAISY

 As you can see. it has a tiny visitor, a hoverfly I'm thinking. I remember how much I enjoyed taking photos of these flowers, such a pretty bloom.

It is the Marguerite Daisy

This pretty yellow flower (scientific name Argyranthemum frutescens), belongs to the Asteraceae (daisy/sunflower) family. White is the most common native color, but because of selective propagation, you can now find them in vibrant yellow, pink and burgundy.

It originally came from the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago which is roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) off the northwest coast of Africa. They belong to Spain despite the fact that they are over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away from the Spanish Mainland. They sit directly opposite the border between Morocco and Western Sahara and are just north of the Tropic of Cancer. 

In my youth, long before I met my dear other half, my first job out of school was working at a travel agents and I often dealt with the paperwork of people who had booked their holidays there. I wanted to go myself one day. But I'm getting off track, back to this delightful Marguerite Daisy.

Because of its Mediterranean heritage, it thrives in coastal locations and can tolerate sea winds very well. It is described as an evergreen shrub or tender perennial. In cooler climes that experience hard winter freezes, it is widely grown as a seasonal annual.

The Marguerite Daisy is a pollinator magnet and its center is packed with hundreds of tiny individual disc florets that do an amazing job of attracting butterflies, bees and other helpful pollinators, like our hoverfly.

That's all about the Marguerite Daisy today, with my little detour to the Canary Islands. My curiosity always gets me off track and yes, here I go again because my memories have started flowing. 

I have always loved geography, which is why I thought it would be a great idea to get a job with a travel agency. I had grand ideas of taking a holiday or two. Except that they didn't pay diddly-squat and I eventually left to find a higher-paying job, so that I could save up and go on a couple of vacations with my friends.

 A conundrum to be sure, but at least I was able to save up more easily, go out with those friends to the local disco occasionally, buy myself a dress or two, and pay room and board. 

Anyhow, from a glamorous sounding travel agency job (it wasn't), to one in a legal office with the local government. Kind of boring to someone my age - even though I was grateful I hasten to add, and I was able to join my friends on a couple of those winter skiing holidays. We all had to save up the whole year to do that even then, but we got there. I also had a couple of other jobs later, being given good advice by my friends to look for a rise in pay when something became available, but I'll leave those 'exciting adventures' for another day (that was a bit of tongue in cheek, they weren't exciting).

I'll end this before I take you on yet another memory bender.

What a pretty daisy that was! 

My attention span seems to be that of a gnat these days.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - GREEN SPRING GARDENS - OUR LATEST WALK ON 9-12-26

I thought I would showcase one of the flowers I saw today. It's called the Larkdaisy (Centratherum punctatum) also known as the Brazilian Button. It is native to Brazil, as you may have guessed, but other parts of Central and South America (ranging from Nicaragua to northern Argentina). 

It has also been suggested it was native to the Philippines and Australia, globally recognized today as an introduced naturalized species in those subtropical zones.

A few facts:

For centuries, the Larkdaisy was treated as a "pass-along plant", shared informally among gardeners in warm climates rather than sold commercially. It was first noted in British botanical texts in 1865 by botanist Robert Sweet, who recommended treating as a "half-hardy annual" to cope with chilly European temperatures. It completely disappeared from commercial interest until a sudden revival around the year 2000, when gardeners rediscovered its intense heat tolerance and unique attributes.

When the leaves or stems are crushed, they release a strong, refreshing resinous aroma that smells exactly like pineapple.

In countries like Indonesia (where it is known as Bunga kancing lurah) a fresh paste made from the leaves is applied directly as a poultice to clean minor cuts, sooth burns and accelerate wound healing. It acts as an emergency painkiller and a localized safeguard against infection.

In old regional practices, the concentrated juices of the plant were applied topically as a swift folk remedy to neutralize discomfort from snake bites and toxic insect stings.

It has other medicinal properties supposedly but while these laboratory findings are highly promising, Larkdaisy extracts are incredibly bitter, and their complete internal toxicity profile is still being evaluated by global scientists. They issued a warning at the ending of my findings, "Always consult a certified healthcare professional before attempting to use raw botanical specimens for medical treatment." They definitely don't want you trying this at home folks but it's interesting and has potential. 

Beyond human health, tests have shown that volatile oils extracted from the leaves are highly toxic to the larvae of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, making it a potential eco-friendly resource for mosquito control.

There's a lot more information about this. It always amazes me what we can find out about individual flowers and plants. Lots of talk about medicinal treatments with this one.

Thanks for looking and reading along with me.

I hope your day is a great one.

REMEMBERING THE TULIPS - FROM THE ARCHIVES

I found these looking through my old photos, going back to 2014. We were walking around Meadowlark Gardens, newly discovered by us at the time. The tulips were in bloom. I always look forward to this time of the year. 

I was practicing close-ups.

but above everything, I was enjoying those gorgeous yellow tulips...

newly opened with perfect petals.

For a change, not much narrative today.

Thanks for taking a peek and enjoy your day.

A FEW RANDOM PHOTOS TAKEN THIS WEEK AND A BIRTHDAY

 

Early evening when the sun was going down on Monday, August 17th (yesterday), we had very interesting skis overhead. 

Bubbles is still dropping by too. We opened up the curtains one morning and three mourning doves flew off the edge of the birdbath.  No photos of them though. I am wondering why the camera didn’t catch that. You can see more clearly one of the copper objects I placed into the water to stop algae from growing. It is a dragonfly.  

I finished a jigsaw puzzle and thought it was very nice. Edible mushrooms I suppose? I really would not know and will continue to get mine from the store. 

A photo taken the last time we were at the garden, I found the flower along the path near the greenhouse. It is called Mohr’s Rosinweed, native to the Southeastern United States apparently, namely northern Alabama, southern Tennessee and extreme northwest Georgia. 

A quiet day but a pleasant one. I had a mad moment and made breakfast for dinner (yesterday this would be and it was a late lunch/early dinner). We had French Toast with a banana and the last of the raspberries. It has been a long time for French Toast and we much enjoyed the change. Later we snacked on a little ham and Campari Tomatoes.  

It is a special day today. Our son turns 47. 

Happy Birthday Son! 

We are going out with him and our dear daughter-in-law for his birthday meal later, after their work day. 

Take good care of yourselves 

and I wish you all a very happy day.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - MORE FROM THE GARDEN CENTER

I started outside first. I was looking around for plants to purchase, not just plant pots. I headed this way after looking at all the ones I shared in my other post. 

I found a bee that caught my attention.

A closer look. My attention span and I are easily distracted, especially when it is hot and muggy and there are bees around.

All the plants on display were delightful, but I thought this was a particularly beautiful plant below. It is a Panicle Hydrangea.

The bench called my name. I sat there for a few moments...

and it wasn't long before I went inside. Gregg had already gone off to purchase the two red geraniums I had picked out.

The 4th of July items were still on sale through to the end of July.

I didn't see anything to buy, but it is always fun to browse.

I thought a bit about this puzzle. I still have a couple of unopened ones at home. It stayed on the shelf.

I skimmed through lots of items, not really with the intention of buying anything. By this time I was ready to leave, and Gregg had texted me to say the geraniums were in the car. On the other side of the aisle is my favorite gift shop area. I didn't go on this visit but I'll start there next time. I enjoyed what I did, though had reached my limit and was glad to get into the car. 

Thanks for spending time with me, and I hope you are having a great day whatever you are doing.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE TODAY IS…

 

My heart finds its home

Where butterflies kiss the flowers

And the soft bees hum

For our overseas friends to translate:

The collage of three above reads: 

“Today is a Good Day for Flowers.”

My sign-off signature reads:

“Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting.

Denise”

MEETING A NICE COUPLE ON OUR WALK - GREEN SPRING GARDENS CONTINUED...

Gregg dropped me off in front of the visitor center as I wanted to see what the children's garden had added. We hadn't been there for a while. He caught up with me half-way along the path. I am slow and also like to take photos of flowers along the way (and feathers as you can see in my last post). 

We were also going to check out the area where they grow produce, and it was there that we started chatting to this really delightful couple, B. and T., I'll call them. I could tell right away that they were good people, very friendly and very interesting to listen to. We must have chatted for half-an-hour. 

On impulse and after the half an hour, just before we were going to go our separate ways, I asked them if they would mind if I took a photo of them. Thankfully they were very happy to do that. I only ask if I feel comfortable with people, and we certainly felt very comfortable with each other. 

Now, this is where I am kicking myself. I said I would be happy to send them the photos and there's me thinking of a piece of paper and a pen to write their number down, which I couldn't find. I still like my trusty ballpoint pen and small notebook.

B said I could text it to them and suggested putting it down in my iPhone which I did - I thought - but wouldn't you know it, when I got home to do just that, I couldn't find the blessed phone number that I thought I had put into my contacts. 

I did give them a card I had made up for those times people have asked me in the past - yes rare but they stick with me - to take photos of them and their children and sometimes visiting relatives who have asked that please could we send it to them - so on a whim I gave B one of my cards with my email and blog printed on it. 

So...B & T, if you read this and didn't get those photos I promised to send you, this is why. I am hoping that you will read this as we had talked about my blog, and please send me an email or write a message on my comments so that I can send these photos to you. They turned out lovely and I dearly would love to send them. We so very much enjoyed our conversation with you both.

I think that's enough for today as I have an uncomfortable headache, which is a sure sign than I need to get off here.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Thursday.

Wishing you all sunshine and flowers.