Hi, howrya? Please read that in the Mayo accent in which I would say it. I must apologise to all the bloggers I follow: I can’t seem to be able to comprehend very much, my concentration is terrible, and my sense of humour has nearly deserted me (when is the last time I tagged something as humour/humor? It’s been yonks). I do read everyone’s blog, but I can’t seem to summon up much in the way of a response. Sorry, I hate being like this.
What seems to be working for me is visuals. So! More photos. I did a walk through town last time. I’ve taken more shots in town, but I think we’ll go back to purdy flors again. Please read that in the NW Florida/southern Alabama accent in which I would say it.
First photo is a crappy iPad one. But, it is my mystery plant, and the mystery is now solved! First I have to give a shout out to the fabulous website, Shoot, and its plant finder. It didn’t take much time at all to get to the eureka moment and find the answer to what I’ve been wondering for weeks.
Please meet my Mimulus! There are about 150 species and I didn’t have the patience to figure out which one I have. Or is that which ones, as there are three different colour blooms? Common name is ‘monkey flower,’ but I have no idea why.
The rest of my pics are taken on the new fancy-pants camera. Did I mention that it requires you to look through the viewfinder? And actually turn the lens to focus? It has a lovely big screen, like a digital cam should, but since I have to put my eye up to the little hole, the screen is always smeared with nose grease. That’s when my schnozzola isn’t pressing the menu button and changing the settings. Oh! Here’s a picture of the camera itself. I took it for a walk a few weeks ago. No pictures, because the battery, unknown to me, was dead. So I took a pic with my iPhone of the heavy-ass camera I took for a walk, in a bag on my shoulder, like an expensive pampered chihuahua. I thought I should take a pic of it just to memorialise the first time I took it out, since it didn’t bloody well work and I had no other way to record the day’s events. Yes, I stuck it on a stone wall in a cow field. Damn thing.
Okay NOW the rest of the pics are by the pretty Nikon.
Phlox, Phlox, Phlox, Phlox! My other mystery solved. I don’t remember planting this stuff but I have oodles. Really, oodles. Must have been one of those late plantings where I shrugged and said, ‘ah, who gives a phlox?’ It smells heavenly, and every flower seems to be a different colour. Sadly the bees don’t seem to know what to do with it. I have no idea what happens next, as phlox is a biennial and I don’t have any other biennials in my garden. We will see! But if I have to plant again, I will certainly put in fewer seeds. I have this stuff everywhere now. Not that I mind, of course.
My leggy irises. They are already starting to fade, boo. But I love that second bloom, it has white streaks on it when none of the others do. Have I created a mutant?
The weed! I love it. Screw the neighbours and their store-bought plug plants. Weeds are pretty too, and free!
This is a Houttuynia cordata ‘pied piper.’ We, um, kind of stole it from the church’s badly-cared-for gravel ‘landscaped’ parking lot. It’s in a pot and usually lives indoors – but I’ve seen a local garden where it has rather naturalised. I put it outside early this year and it is so very happy. I wish the colours were true to life – they aren’t, even after some tweaking using Perfectly Clear. That one leaf at bottom slightly to the left is amazingly bright! I couldn’t get fancy-pants camera to focus on just that leaf like I wanted it to. Maybe I should read the manual. Hahahah.
Californian poppies! These are blooms on the plants that survived the winter here – I never thought that something with ‘Californian’ in the name could survive so well here. But they seem to be slug-proof and the seeds are numerous and very viable. I’ll have these for the rest of my life, I think!
I’ll wrap up with my broad beans, I’ve never grown these before, and I’m astounded with how beautiful the flowers are. I had the most difficult time getting these photos. Nothing looked in focus, and I just couldn’t seem to capture that pale pink blush at the base of each flower. It shouted at me, that pink, when looking at the blooms. But it was so shy and didn’t want to be caught.
The bees love them, too.
heretherebespiders 
thank you: “like an expensive pampered chihuahua”! ahhhahahahahahaa!
love that you’re able to take pics even if your brain is on 30% power. ahh… pretty colors… good medicine to only think about that!
I’ve got that much, for sure! I’m a bit bored with local sights. I don’t know where else to go! Glad I gave you a laugh!
Looking with a macro lens at the world is full of subject matter. One of my favorite places to lie down and investigate is tundra/heath. Or rocks! Close-ups of the tiny life thereupon!
It’s *amazingly* restful to do only that which you feel like doing, Miss. Keep it up. A lot of nothing slowly….
Ah. I did too much yesterday. Stupid stuff that ‘needed done’ but wrecked me. I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 7:30am in the exact same position I fell asleep in. It took me 10mins just to turn over and get up to go pee. Ow ow ow! Sleeping is something new, lately, every night.
Isn’t that horrible how the stupid stuff lays you flat? Large WTF!! You sound as if you are allowing recovery time–good girl!
Um. Sort of out of the blue…but I just found out my cousin has been laid off her job as it/network expert. She’s Portland area – would you know of anyone looking for someone in her field? Anyone?
Does she do java script? Definitely not network, but I know it’s ugly out there in the IT world. Big Mister just told me about a telecommute job he heard about.
WOWZERZ!! Spectacular!! And the chihuahua had me lerfing too. I pictured Paris Hilton. Ya know? Or are you fortunately not in the know with that one? Really, tho — yr flower pictures are total eye candy. The beans! WHO knew!!
Yeah, if you can picture an older, more – ahem – ‘robust’ Paris, walking along an abandoned railway track through a bog while carrying a useless heavy companion – that was me! Ah, but I’m not a vapid blonde.
I cannot wait to eat the beans that come out of these flowers! Probably not meant to be nommed on raw, but I know I’ll do it anyway.
great pictures, fancy pants camera working well now, I see. I have those Californian poppies too, but didn’t know that is what they were called, thanks for enlightening me.
Yes! I think I stress over the shots not being in focus as I can’t see a damn thing thru the viewfinder. Even with my glasses on 😦 Aren’t the poppies lovely? Do they self-seed for you?
yes, I have had them coming up for a few years now,so you should have them for a while.
I didn’t know there was another ‘Yank” so close, I am in Mayo Abbey, the little tiny town just after Balla. I couldn’t use a view-finder even with my glasses on unless I had a magnifier attached as well;I put mine to use the screen instead of the view-finder. So I would say you are way ahead of the game as those are very nice pictures!
Hi Shaun! Yes, I think I’m one of only a few yanks in the village 🙂 Certainly the most recent blow in. Apparently we can only use the screen when doing video. The best thing about digital is the amount of pics I can just delete 🙂 I have a bunch from out your way, Moore Hall, but haven’t gotten around to putting them up yet.
Remember what Pythagoras said about beans — they must contain human souls because the breath of life issues from them! Eat gently!
And that HAS to be the classiest fart joke, ever. You will always have a special place in my large colon because of this comment 🙂
The scary thing is, I think Pythagoras was dead serious.
Yes, well. I don’t believe in a soul – but the idea that I might fart one out can only come from a philosopher.
Hey, I think ww may have an alternative creation myth! It’s at least as sensible as the rib one.
As one rib to another, I think I’d prefer the idea that I started off as a bean-fart instead. Of course it would still be a man’s bean-fart. Hmmm. Not so keen on the idea now.
Thanks for posting pretty flowers on solstice day. I don’t know if that was intentional, but I feel like you highlighted the day like nobody else did today. 🙂
It was not intentional! But I’m glad it made a connection for you 🙂
Wow you’ve got some gorgeous plants there! I don’t care that you had not a lot of humor – I still got a treat. Hey, I’ve been blogging sporadically lately, and I’m in a painting slump, but we just got to keep plugging away. I’ve got to get me some poppies, too!
Poppies! Poppies! Poppies! Sorry that’s from a Dr Demento tune 🙂 I’m actually experimenting with watercolour for the first time since I was… well, it would be a single-digit number. I refuse to go and see your work right now, to see what I ‘should’ be doing!
Ohh – don’t be afraid! I had to start out as a beginner, too! Practice. Use good tools and paper. Practice. If you love it, you’ll continue to practice.
Thank you so much! You were the second person I thought about as I was putting this up. I figured if I could be brave enough to show my fumbling newbie efforts to you, with your amazing talent, I’m really over my perfectionism!
It does take courage. I’ve been illustrating my posts with my digital illustration lately, and I fully know that others are way better at it than I am.
What are you using for digital work?
Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I’d never use anything else. But the learning curve for both are steep!
I have a very, very good manual for photoshop – but I don’t think I have a computer that can run it! Ah. I can’t stand to be indoors this time of year for long anyway.
Nikon! Always good! Love the new camera and the photo’s! So pretty!
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