I Dream Of . . . Blooming Friday

I dream of  Flower Hill Farm spring blooms, landscapes and a world that has banned all toxic poisons.

I dream of a world that has food safety bills . . . I dream of all of you calling your senators to encourage them to vote YES on the Tester-Hagan Amendment. This amendment will protect small family farms and processors. Please call today. Here is a link to help you make the call. Watch a video about the bill.

I dream we are a world of informed and actively engaged citizens.

I dream of apple blossoms. I dream in colors of spring and a time when we will truly work towards creating green energy, which will help create millions of jobs, save our economy and our world. 

I dream of Magnolia and Lilac time . . . and a time, when we stand up for our children, by demanding the best possible education and health care for all. 

I dream of a time, when beauty and a way to be close to nature are basic rights to all citizens of the world.

The world I dream of will have already made certain that all peoples have safe, clean; water, food, shelters, heat, when it is cold, proper clothing for whatever the conditions. The people of the world will all be free of repression and exploitation. There will be no wars.

I dream of each person having dignity and purpose in their lives and contributing to the better of all within their communities. 

I dream of self sufficient peoples and communities the world over. 

I dream of meaningful jobs for all. 

I dream of a peoples the world over who hold our mother earth in great reverence. 

I dream of Roses and gardens for everyone.

I dream of sweet fragrance and kind people, who nurture compassion and tolerance for others within their widening hearts.

I dream of vegetable gardens and rabbits, who do not eat everything I plant. I dream of a good fence. 

I dream of healing for our world . . . for our peoples. I dream that all persons will be able to open and expand their imaginations throughout healthy times and during illness.

I dream of a world that lives within moments . . . a world that rejoices daily rituals and honors truthful traditions. 

I dream of peace and tranquility for all. 

Now you may think I sound like a "dreamer" . . .  but as our beloved John once said . . . "I am not the only one." See what other dreamers are dreaming over at Blooming Friday's hostess Katarina's Roses and Stuff

Nurture your dreams.

 Sweet Dreams to you all. Have a lovely weekend. 

All these photos are of my gardens here at Flower Hill Farm.

North Truro Sun Shadows Dunes and Waves . . . Muses at Play

Off-season bliss 

A body feels small 

 in the empty vastness 

of sky, sea and dune.

Early and late sun

play as a companion 

casting lengthy shadows 

allowing us to grow.

Time for rumination,

whimsical designs,

expansion of heart

and elemental intimacy.

Playful silhouette emerging from the shadow

awash with salty air and ceaseless rhythmic sounds

sighing to the sky and softness of the dunes

singing within the roar of ocean slamming to its floor

foaming as it breaks beaten egg whites floating across the shore.

Blooms and Plumes Near the Sea for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Salt spray roses offer hips for birds along the dunes overlooking Race Point Lighthouse. For over thirty years I have been visiting the outer cape but each time there is a new adventure. I have just returned home, with no time to stroll around the gardens, so I am sharing a walk I took for the first time yesterday as my contribution to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Be sure to visit Carol's May Dream Gardens to see other posts from around the world. I have walked along the beach at Herring Cove (as seen above) to arrive near the lighthouse, but this new to me and much longer walk took me through a wooded area, then dunes and over a dyke with lovely grasses gently swaying and harboring all sorts of striking wildlife . . .  then through even more dunes!

Just out of the wooded area . . . zooming in on the lighthouse. I am over an hour walk away. Well, admittedly I stop quite a bit to overlook the beauty of the surroundings. 

A Great Blue Heron so beautifully hidden within the tall reeds of grasses.

Getting closer but there are still more dunes to climb and meander through. 

Finally standing alone in front of this quaint but sturdy lighthouse. I would like to walk through the little wooden door. If you would like to learn more about Race Point Lighthouse visit this site. 

There is a charming Keepers house where folks from all over the world rent rooms. Many lighthouses stand all along the outer cape, to aid sea going vessels  . . . a fascinating subject that I may do a complete post on someday. For now I just wanted to share my lovely walk with you. I would love to see all the dune roses in bloom. 

Tiny and Sometimes Tragic Details for Blooming Friday

 Katarina . . .  hostess of  Blooming Friday . . .  has inspired gardeners around the big world with the prompt . . .  'tiny'. It is a favorite subject of mine and gives me another chance to share some of my favorite examples with fresh images and words. I am not speaking of nano here but tiny enough that we often miss the fine details. I hope you will forgive my overuse of the word tiny in this post.

Tiny boxes are attached to these large Hot Air balloons. I sometimes see tiny people standing within the boxes waving, while over looking the vast landscape. They can see for miles and miles but cannot view the tiny dramas going on within a hillside garden below.  Tinily they float away over millions of trees and ribbons of rivers. Of course the people and boxes are not really tiny they only appear that way since they are so high and far away.

Now for the indubitable tiny. Its tininess . . . the beginning . . .  a Monarch butterfly egg fastened to tiny hairs underneath a Milkweed leaf. If this were a better example of tiny, you would see the even tinier ridges carved along the egg. Any great pastry chef would be envious of the intricate design. 

Here a Monarch caterpillar hangs beneath another Milkweed leaf. Can you believe it was once housed within the tiny egg casing. Note its teeny shinny black true legs and cater feet.

Before long he reveals the secret he was carrying beneath his caterpillar skin . . . a tiny chrysalis. Note the teeny tiny shinny black dots at the top . . . they may be very small yet play a vital role in the life of the chrysalis. I believe these softly edged nodules cling to the old skin . . . if only for a nanosecond . . . when the 'crewmaster' (The tiny little black post . . . with hundreds of the tiniest hooks on its end . . . now clinging successfully to the silk button the caterpillar so cleverly sculpted.) has to pull out from under said pile of cater skin and attach itself as you see here to the silk button. Truly no tiny feat! A marvel of nature. You can see more about this on an earlier post. Teensy caterpillar wrinkles will soon smooth out . . . 

to this nearly completed form of a Monarch butterfly chrysalis. There are many minuscule details about this jewel, but I now wish to draw your attention to the tiny white beads with yellow above and a broken black line below. 

A mini scalloped edge when seen from above.

Mirroring the colors of the caterpillar and the milky white sap of Milkweed . . .  a purely ornamental motif. A tiny tribute perhaps. The three colors will also come off as gold on the fully developed chrysalis. Note the tiny yellow dots . . . they will later appear to be gold too. Decorative or defensive . . . as the 'gold' will reflect the sun and perhaps cause a tiny blind spot to any little round bird, squirrel or chipmunk eyes. 

Now to an even more tiny subject . . . yet one of gripping drama. You may recall my sharing observations of honeybees wearing Milkweed pollen in this post. These tiny pollen sacs and discs attach themselves like prisoner handcuffs . . . only to the feet of the unlucky honeybees, moths or other insects lured in for the flowers sweet nectar. Milkweed is a wondrous wild and giving plant, but as with much of life it is complex in its many attributes.  It gives life and I must believe unknowingly takes it away. This is not a tiny matter for the tiny creatures it harms.

 You can see how this works in real time by watching this video . . . WARNING . . .  it is hard to watch. Here is another blog that has a fabulous post on Milkweed and this formidable pollinating mechanism. 

Oh dear! the tiny cuffs are closing around the tiny feet of this Honeybee. (Maybe not for the explanation seems to say there are discs that snag the bee and then the two bags of pollen hang from the tiny discs.) She does not know what this will mean to her already tiny six week life span. Even with all those hundreds of tiny lenses in her compound eyes she cannot see what a burden the pollen saddlebags and discs will bring . . . perhaps even her untimely death. 

There are many more wild honeybees and other insects that survive and enjoy the nourishing sweetness of Milkweed nectar without falling into this trap.

Asclepias syriaca 'The Common Milkweed' helps to create the many jewel like details of a Monarch chrysalis and to ensure its own survival has a unique system for pollination, but it does not always work for either the plant or the victim. If a honeybee cannot fly away, how can it carry the pollen to other plants? I have never seen any insect trapped as in the video so I am satisfied to know this is not a certain occurrence. The plant thrives . . .  as do the insects that help it along. As so often happens there is a balance of give and take in nature.

On yet another note . . .  our tiny daily actions can add up to make our world a better and safer place. Small details in life are precious and sometimes heartbreaking but often lift our spirits up high . . .  as if taken for a ride in a hot-air balloon. Just the tiny rising of the lines of a smile can make a stranger or loved ones day a happier one. Understanding begins like a garden by planting tiny seeds of hope. May we always take time for the tiny things in our lives.

Be sure to visit Katarina's Roses and Stuff to see other post on 'TINY' for Blooming Friday. I am posting this early, as tomorrow the library will be closed and the sun will return! I look forward to catching up on visiting your blogs next week.