Thursday, May 24, 2012

Ferns and Flowers and More

Rain At Last!

Darkening sky - early afternoon
Recently had a week of rainy days, or afternoons, after many months of drought - oh, so welcome! 

Raindrops on thirsty leaves and ferns

Another attempt to capture the welcome wetness
The ferns on this little overhang were totally dried-out and looked dead before the rains.  Now  a week or so later without any rain, they're totally dried-out again.



The rain and cooler weather that came with it inspired me to buy some flowering plants.




I bought the coleus because it reminds me of my mother. I purposely bought one with that big side piece hanging over so I could cut it off to root.  She always had coleus "rooting" in the house - just a piece of the plant stuck in a jar of water on the kitchen windowsill.


And I bought the red geranium because it reminds me of my Virginia grandmother who always had them on the doorstep or back porch. Every time I smell a geranium I think of her - and also of a friend who had left instructions to use geraniums at her funeral service.  She had loved the book, Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy, by Barbara Johnson. They had hundreds of little geraniums all over and encouraged everyone present to take one home to remind them of her lovely spirit during her courageous battle against cancer.


My flower pot doesn't look quite so pretty today because some wormy creatures have snapped off the zinnias! But it still adds a bit of color to all the green around here.


One of our cute but pesky raccoons came out looking for something to eat. Don't be misled by that cute face - they are wild animals and can be quite fierce! I was almost afraid to get so close to snap the photo! They shouldn't even be out in the daytime.

Hoping for some more rain soon, but not too much, of course!





6 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures......about raccoons, you are so right. So many people think they are friendly......but they need to beware. My mother let her Yorkie outside to potty in the daytime. She didn't ome right back When my Mom went outside to check on her a raccoon was on top of her. She did what we all probably would do......reach in and try to get the dog away from the raccoon. He attacked her as well. It was a bloody mess. They both survived. My Mom had to have the series of rabies shots. Not sure if they ever caught the right raccoon. Thanks for posting this.

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  2. Great pictures of the yard! I love geraniums too! Last summer when leaving for work, we discovered 5 baby raccoons under the car! The mama was on the fence and was not very happy. We went back in until she finally got her babies up on the fence with her. Very cute babies...not so much the mom!

    XXX chris

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  3. Flowers and ferns and fresh rain are the perfect recipe for happy faces all around. I love flowers in my yard. So do the deer and chipmunks, rabbits and whatever else crawls or nibbles. Each of your purchases is so sweet holding wonderful memories. Racoons certainly are not safe to get close to. Very cute but dangerous. Lovely plantings. Safe weekend dear...

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  4. When I lived in CA in the mountains we saw raccoons out all the time in the daytime in fact he was around do much I named him Oberon!

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  5. Glad you got some rain.. we could use some now too. I love to plant flowers.. I just hate taking care of them afterwords! lol!
    cute little racoon you got there! but be careful!
    xoxo
    vivian

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  6. A raccoon?! I'm glad I don't have any around here... I'd be tempted to feed them and make them my buddies lol
    I love-love geraniums... I especially love the lemon geranium that I got a branch of from a kind lady. I simply stuck it in the ground a few years ago--- and keep doing it every year, and now I've got to much lol... but its all good :-)

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