Morning has broken

Morning has broken

Such a lovely fresh morning that I went out early this morning and took some photos. This kind of morning always makes me think of the hymn/song,” Morning has broken like the first morning”. It is one of my favorite songs. I remember singing it at school at mornng assembly. I hope to have this played at my memorial service. It is so uplifting.

Morning has broken 
Like the first morning,
Black bird has spoken 
Like the first bird.
Praise the singing! 
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing 
Fresh from the Word! 
Sweet the rain's new fall 
Sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall 
On the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness 
Of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness 

Where His feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight! 
Mine is the morning.
Born of the one light 
Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, 
Praise ev'ry morning,
God's recreation 
Of the newday!


Words: Eleanor Farjeon

Here is the link to thr youtube version by Cat Stevens.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TInLOJuUM

What's in a Name?

What's in a Name?

I read today that it is illegal in many countries to name your new baby certain names. Now I never knew that. I would consider that giving your baby any  name was a parent's right and really what does a government have to do with it. It seems a lot in certain countries.

Now I do realize that some people go too far and give very peculiar names to their kids. It does seem the more famous you are the more likely you will be to give your baby a unique or unusual name. Who does it hurt? Maybe the child ? but maybe not.

There are over 20 countries where names are regulated. 

New Zealand blocks, Lucifer but somehow Number16 Bus stop got through the regulations. One can only surmise why parents would consider this a suitable name for a child. The Bus stop in question must hold good memories.

It seems that many of the countries like China allow only names with a certain number of characters so they will fit on the government data base.That seems logical.

Iceland has a list of names to choose from,1800 for girls and 1700 for boys.So you can't get creative if you live there.

Ikea and Elvis are blocked in Sweden to protect the child’s reputation and well-being.

Elvis I can see.Ikea I can't unless it means something different in Sweden.

{f you want to read more and certainly in more detail check out the Washington post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/03/12-countries-where-the-government-regulates-what-you-can-name-your-child/

I found it very interesting.

First Time at Landscape in Watercolor

Photo of De Gray lake

So  I watched a few You tube videos and took the plunge. I selected a photo of De Gray lake at sunset. Quite a challenge. The trees were the most difficult to paint. I felt they came out too "blobby" .Also I still have to work on the paper "buckling". I can also see my colors are too pale especially the sunset colors.
I am also doing this blog on my new ASUS tablet which is also a challenge as the keyboard and controls are very unfamiliar. So is taking photos. I have yet to try to add to this blog. Now I am not sure what I have added. There should be 2 photos. One photo is the photo and the other the painting. Hope it works.

painting

May Day, May Day

May Day, May Day  

I hope they survive this time

A beautiful Spring day here. I put in over 50 red impatience  bedding plants in areas that needed a little color. The last lot I put in mostly got zapped by the late frost so I hope these do better. 
Although I just heard on the news there is a cold front swooping down on us and Denver was covered in snow again.  Here we can expect falling temperatures again with even a danger of frost in some outlying areas away from the hot concrete cities.Can you believe it? on May 1 in Texas.
So I nearly called out "May day, May day!". I just can't go around and cover all the plants up again for the third or 4th time this year. 
I was thinking about the distress call May day and couldn't thing where it came from. Obviously not from the actual May day which is associated with maypoles , or marching or moving depending on which country you live in. My only deal with a maypole was getting some cub scouts and brownies in England to dance around one for an event. It was an absolute disaster.The ribbons on the pole all got tangled. The kids thought is great fun.
It  seems the May day distress call  comes about because it was developed as the emergency call between British and French early air controllers and "m'aider" is the origin.
So now you know and so do I.

Poppies everywhere

Poppies everywhere

Last year in the Spring, we had a mystery plant appear. At first we thought it might be a cabbage or just a large weed,oh excuse me, a natural exotic plant of this area!  After a lot of research including talking to the new BRIT, Botanical Research Institute of Texas, we found out it was a poppy. I was delighted as the pretty pink flowers looked so good in the yard. Found it even better when we went to lovely Clark garden in our area and found they were growing them in huge beds.

Poppy 20 12

Well I dutifully collected the seeds as they formed and in the Autumn went around sprinkling the seeds all over the garden, hoping that at least a few would come up again.

Poppy 2013

Certainly some have come up. In fact lots have come up. They are all over the place but they are changed. This year's poppies are redder and have a black splodge on the petals. They are also not so tall but then our rain has been a lot less this year.
They are so pretty and indeed looks like I have more flowers to paint now. Who can resist painting poppies?

The Plant that keeps on growing.

The Plant that keeps on growing.

Our everlasting Swiss chard

Do you remember the fairy story of the oil jug that was never empty because that was one of the wishes the old lady made when she was granted 3 wishes?
 Well I am an old lady and we have one plant in our garden that keeps on growing and growing and growing and I never even made a wish!!
About  3 years ago I planted a row of Swiss chard seeds in my veggie garden in the spring. They came up  and we had about 5 nice chard plants to eat until the summer came and they looked like they were finished. So I  just forgot about them. 
 One plant however decided it hadn't finished and somehow kept alive until that fall. We didn't eat any of it, it looked too dried up and withered but it just kept growing. 
By the following spring among the dead leaves of the plant I spotted some green growth and saw that it was still alive. So I transplanted it into the front flower garden among the larksburs and poppies . So all last summer we kept "giving it a hair cut and eating the leaves". Along came winter again and it took a sleep as before but as soon as this spring came along  out sprung all the fresh leaves. We have already this year had 2 or 3 good meals from this one plant and there is no sign of it letting up.
It is always very tasty and doesn't lose its color like the shop bought green veggies do when they are cooked.So it is very green and verdant. 
So we just hope it continues to keep growing and we will keep cutting.....
Maybe it's an everlasting plant!

The Magnificent Larkspur

The Magnificent Larkspur

Photo by Mike

I just love the look of larkspur. It has such a country garden feel about it.

Last year I had a few that plants that were in a mixed packet of seeds that I put down but only a few came up . So in the fall just about November , I bought a large packet of Rocket larkspur and sprinkled them rather liberally over my main flower bed hoping at least ½ would do well.

Well they performed very well , except most of the seeds and therefore the plants, have migrated to the front of the beds so I have a big crop of gorgeous tall larkspurs coming up.

I don't mind .

I just love the vivid blues and purples white and pinks on this beautiful plant.