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.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - INTERESTING STORY ABOUT THE DOG

 This is another from my archives. We are all of different faiths and beliefs. However, I hope all dog lovers will enjoy this story. The dog I mentioned below has long since moved on with his humans.

This is dedicated to my sweet four-legged neighbor across the street, with his cold, wet nose often pressed against the glass door, who always barks a welcome when I return home from a trip be it long or short. I wave and he wags his tail.

How the Dog Got a Cold, Wet Nose.

When a man named Noah started building a boat in the middle of the desert, everybody laughed. They thought he was daft. But Noah wasn't listening to them, he was listening to the God of the Hebrews, who said to build a boat.

So Noah built a boat. Noah called his boat an ark. When he finished it, he rounded up all the animals, two by two, to travel on his ark. People laughed at Noah's opossums and panthers and penguins. They laughed at his cheetahs and chinchillas, giraffes and gazelles, and rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses. Into the ark went all the animals, two by two.

Pretty soon, it started to rain. It rained, and it poured, and it rained some more. People stopped laughing and the ark started floating. Noah and his family and all the animals, two by two, rode safely on the waters.They sailed for 40 days and 40 nights. When the rains stopped, out of the ark came Noah and his family and all of the animals, two by two. Except one.

No one could find the little dog. Noah searched everywhere. He looked on the first deck. He looked on the second deck, then the third deck. Finally, in the farthest corner in the lowest deck, he found the little dog. The dog was shivering and standing with his nose pressed hard against the side of the boat. "Come here, little dog!" called Noah. "It's time to come out! Here, doggie, doggie!"

The little dog wouldn't move. Noah gently pulled him away. "What's this?" said Noah. "A hole in the ark! The ark might have sunk! Little dog! You kept us safe - me, my family, and all of the animals, two by two! With your little nose!"

The little dog was proud. But mostly, he was hungry. "Little dog," said Noah, as he pulled out a juicy bone, "so all the world and all the generations will know your great deed, your nose will always be cold and wet, just as it is today."

That's how the dog got his cold, wet nose. When you feel it, remember the little dog who used his nose to protect Noah, his family, and all of the animals, two by two.

~Stanley Coren~

Thanks for visiting and 

Happy Sunday Everyone.

Enjoy your day!

FLOWERS - SPRING STARFLOWER

Wishing you all 

A Very Happy First Day of the Month. 

These were growing like a carpet in a lot of yards 200 miles south of here. A very pretty flower, identified as Spring Starflower, also known as Starlikes and Mexican star (Ipheion uniforum).

It is a low-growing, hardy perennial bulb native to South America, specifically Argentina and Uruguay.  

Often one of the first signs of spring, it produces dainty, star-shaped flowers that emit a sweet, honey-like fragrance. 

A very pretty flower! I usually see violets growing in the grass instead of these, a very welcome sight too.

Thanks for stopping by and as always, 

I hope your day is a great one.

RANDOM PHOTO - A HORSESHOE CRAB

I find these fascinating creatures and very prehistoric looking. As I am sharing from my archives and looking at a lot of old blog posts to reshare, I found this. We were in Virginia Beach walking along the sand. It is a shell of an old Horseshoe crab. I wondered if its demise was caused by a hungry gull. Their footprints were everywhere, as you might expect from a walk on the beach.

Horseshoe crabs are marine anthropods of the family Limulidae and order Xiphosura or Xiphosurida that live primarily in and around shallow waters on soft sandy or muddy bottoms.  

A horsehoe crab is best described as a 'living fossil', an ancient, armored arthropod that has remained virtually unchanged for over 450 million years, predating even the dinosaurs. Despite their name they are not true crabs, but more closely related to spiders and scorpions. 

There is an amazing amount of information about them online, but I will finish here.

If you want to find out more, you can go to this link. The following photo I found on pixabay.com

Thanks for looking and I hope you are having a great week so far.

THE GOSSIPS...

...otherwise known as Blue Jays, taken at one of the feeders in our back yard a while ago.

Shrill, blue squawker...

Guardians of the forest gates.

Jay waits to cry out.

~Justin Farley~

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - A BEST FRIEND - FOR THE HORSE LOVERS OUT THERE

I found him on Dartmoor in Devonshire many years ago. He was a friendly enough fellow but I didn't get too close because they roam free on the moors and are semiferal (my camera had a zoom lens). You can read more about them at this link.  Horses/ponies and their ilk are beautiful animals! I don't get a chance to be around them that often, so these memories that I have of my short time with them, are treasured memories.

 

FOR THE LOVE OF CHILDREN

"Teaching Your Child Through Play"

I tried to teach my child with books

He gave me only puzzled looks.

I tried to teach my child with words.

They passed him by often unheard.

Despairingly, I turned aside.

"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.

Into my hand he put the key,

"Come," he said, "play with me."

~Author Unknown~

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

PELICAN SQUADRON IN FLORIDA 2014

From my archives: we were on a road trip down to Florida and we had left our hotel that morning. We stopped shortly afterwards, so that we could enjoy our daily exercise by walking along the beach. An added benefit of course was being able to see not only the gulls but also the pelicans. As you can see by this first photo, it was a very foggy morning but there I am, camera in hand, enjoying all those birds.  

I thought they were waiting for the fog to clear before taking off over the ocean......

but more likely they are all facing the same direction into the wind to stabilize themselves while standing. There is less chance of them getting blown over this way. Facing in this direction gives the gulls an easier takeoff, which I suppose applies to the Pelicans. Birds are generally referred to as a 'flight' when in the air and a 'flock' on the ground, but gulls on the ground are called a 'colony'.  

So, what do you call a group of Pelicans?

A Squadron......

and this Squadron of Pelicans decided it was time to take off.....

but first they had to receive their orders from their Squadron Leader....

who was chatting with his second in command.

"Get ready chaps!"

Uh-oh!  They're doing a scramble.  Scramble? According to RAF (Royal Air Force) terminology, getting airborne as soon as possible. But they're looking a bit at a loss as to which direction to take off in.  A bit ropey chaps!

Should we scrub take off?

Whoa, steady now!

No?  It's a go!

And the crowd roars!

The Squadron Leader called it, a "Jolly good show and a good practice run. We will do even better tomorrow.

Let's head back to the NAAFI to get a cup of char".  That's tea to everyone who doesn't know what a cup of char is.

It is said that Pelicans are the largest flying birds, because they have air in their bones that makes them lighter and more graceful than they appear.  

Thanks for looking and if you remember this from last time, (last time being in March 2014), hopefully you will enjoy it again.

Have a great day!