Lilies and cats

Posted on July 24, 2023 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Care, Cat, Damage, Dog, Flowers, Gardening, harmful, Life, Pets, Plants, Toxic4 Comments

Lilies are beautiful flowers, but when I grow them I put them at the back of the border away from where the cats go. That is because they contain toxins that are dangerous to cats and dogs.

The Internet says :

Both calla lilies and peace lilies contain insoluble crystals of calcium oxalates (insoluble means the crystals don’t dissolve in water). When a cat or dog chews on or bites the plant, the crystals are released and directly irritate the mouth, tongue, throat, and esophagus.16 Sept 2021

So be careful what plants you grow, and try and be aware of what can be dangerous to your pets.

Mirrored poem

Posted on July 21, 2023July 21, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Collage, Flowers, interesting effect, Life, Mirrored, Poem, Poetry, Reflected, Short poemLeave a comment

You never know

When you reflect

What you will get?

The yard

Posted on July 21, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Back yard, Flowers, Garden, Gardening, Green, Hanging baskets, Life, Overgrown, Plants, potting on, Time4 Comments

Very leafy, I need to pot some small flowering plants on but not while my arm is shaking and sore. I’ll try and use some pain killers to stop it hurting so much. Hubby has dumped a big bag of compost in the way and I need to get it moved so I can get further up the yard. Some of these plants survived the winter, they are very leafy, to be honest I could move them into the main garden but I don’t have the energy and there are some dodgy steps as you walk round the back. I must get hubby to get some sand and cement to replace some loose bricks.

Wild flowers in town

Posted on July 17, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged car wash, Colour, Flowers, Gardening, Growth, Old building, Plants, Wild flowers, wild plants1 Comment

Wild flowers sewn at a local car wash a few years ago are a riot of colours and shapes now. They haven’t been cut back and each year the crop gets more varied and colourful. I hadn’t seen the yellow spikes of flowers until this year. Unusually we have had a lot of rain recently and I think that has encouraged a spurt of growth.

Simple rose.

Posted on July 16, 2023July 16, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bees, Flowers, Gardening, Honey, honeybee, Insects, Life, Nature, Nectar, Pollen, Simple, TimeLeave a comment

Some flowers are very complex and can also be bred with double the petals, they look very pretty. But bees and pollenating insects can’t get at their nectar and pollen. A massive bloom could make it difficult for bees to feed and collect food for their grubs.

So try and choose bee friendly plants, they often are labelled to help you chose them. And look for simple flowers like this where the central flower parts, anthers, stamens etc are easily accessible by the insects you want to attract.

You can also build bee hotels for solitary bees from grasses and sticks and small lengths of hollow bamboo. If you look you can find designs on line to work to. Have fun and support your local bees! I was speaking to a beekeeper today. He said one honeybee only makes about a twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime!

Washing and hanging baskets

Posted on July 8, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Drying, Flowers, Growing, Hanging baskets, Life, Plants, Rain, Scent, Washing, Water, Weather5 Comments

It’s a struggle to dry my washing in the back yard at the moment. The washing line snapped and I’ve tied it back up but it’s a bit saggy. It is also surrounded with hanging baskets which are a riot of colour and lovely scents which I hope will infuse into the drying clothes (although it’s already rained this morning!). I can’t fit a dryer in the kitchen even if I could afford one, or afford to run it. Just hoping the day stays dry now.

With thanks

Posted on July 4, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chocolates, considerate, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1987, Flowers, Friend, gratuity, Polite, service, thanks gratitudesLeave a comment

How do you express your gratitude?

You have to say thank you when you receive a gift, or service, or just someone’s kindness. Why wouldn’t you?

Sometimes just the words will do, but when the person has done more for you, or worked harder than expected then perhaps a gratuity (tip) is required. That might be when you are getting work done on your car. Or the waiting service at a restaurant is good (and in some cases people only make enough money because of tips).

When you say thank you for something to a friend, that may mean that you want to give them a gift. Maybe something small? Some flowers or some chocolates. The recipient may not expect or want a gift, but that shouldn’t stop you from making the offer. Even a thank you note is considered a pleasant gesture.

So don’t forget to pass on your thanks when it’s deserved. Or even sometimes when it’s not?

Reds..

Posted on June 28, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Back yard, Colour, Flowers, Fushias, Gardening, Health, Pelagoniums, Poppies, RedLeave a comment

These are a few of my favourite red plants. Well petals not leaves. I love poppies and chuck in a few pelagoniums and fushias.

Photos from a couple of years ago. I’d have planted up a lot of annuals by now but I have had bigger bills to pay, and having problems with shaking and weaker muscles means I cannot shift flowerpots around like I used to. I do hope my health improves. I have to rely on (argue with) hubby to move things about. Anyway I’ll post photos once I’m satisfied with what it looks like.

Flower head

Posted on June 28, 2023June 28, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramic, Flowers, hand built, Head, Life, Pottery, Rain, Sculpture, snapdragon, WaterLeave a comment

Pottery head I made over twenty years ago. It’s planted up with straggly snapdragons this year but this photo from two years ago looks better. I really need to get out in the garden but I don’t seem to have the strength to sort things out at the moment. I’m fed up and I know gardening would help but the heat over the lost few days has made me really weary. It’s been close to 30°C. At least my hubby has been watering plants. Today? We are expecting heavy rain showers, so the plants will get a little water.

Thursdays prompt…

Posted on June 23, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Drawing, Felt pens, Flowers, Gardening, Life, Memory, Pansies, Quick, Sketching2 Comments

Cheap, cheerful and quick! Found some pictures of pansies online and rememberd how much I loved them as a kid. So yet another felt pen (cheap and cheerful) sketch. Another #bandofsketchers prompt completed.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Flowers