Showing posts with label balcony flowers. Show all posts

March Winds and Sunshine

The first pink blossom of the year!
I can never resist it.
The sunshine in this month of March has been incredibly generous so far,
but the winds have sometimes been quite cold.

There are always lovely walks somewhere along the lake.
This time it was in Montreux which is well-know for its microclimate of warmer weather.
It was quite misty over the water and mountains on this particular day.

There are various artwork pieces along the water's edge.
This one has a great deal of presence.

This one is fascinating and the given title is 'Above Sea Level'

I've moved in closer here, so that you can see the details better.
If you look carefully, especially at the very top of the sculture,
you can see that it's made up of hundreds of tiny, stainless steel fish!
Click on the photo to see it even larger.

My favourite art work, is this poetic one of a little boy high up on a very tall ladder.

He is holding a marble up towards the sky.
There is an accompanying poem in French below.
The first line reads: "Et si ma bille était la lune?"
which means: "And what if my marble were the moon?"

I can zoom in closer with my camera, but to see his face from the front,
 I might have to go into the lake.

The mist on the other side of the lake didn't really disappear through my walk
but I like the dreamy look that it gave.

Apple Blossom!
I know it's far too soon, but I saw this beautiful blossom in front of a florist's shop
which sold flowering Bonzai.
I think that Apple Blossom is my favourite of all!

When we see daffodils in the gardens, we know that spring is well and truly here.
Yesterday was the first day of spring and the daffodils are everywhere.
I saw these in the park yesterday.

Another walk along the lake in the very small town, almost just a village,
called Cully.
The day was mostly dull, but I liked this scene of a couple sitting on a bench
framed by the tree boughs on either side.
On a clearer day, the view here is glorious!

I made a collage of all the flowers I saw between the train station and the lakeside.
The pink blossom is called Deutzia scabra, then comes the yellow Forsythia,
A beautiful daffodil and some purple-pink Aubretia.

I wanted to include some yellow and blue to honour the Ukrainian people.
These hearts and yellow pansies and tulips are for them.
The garland in the middle is the one hanging over the couch in my living-room.

The crochet collage is a small couch throw that I've been making for an old friend.
The colours were chosen to go with a creamy coloured couch.
Apparently, it's very snug!
I've been making a larger couch throw/small blanket for my son and his wife,
but I was waiting for a delivery of extra yarn to arrive
and was able to finish the above project.

On Saturday, I did a lot of gardening on my balcony, cutting back plants,
scraping the surface of the earth and lots of watering.
I thought that it would be really lovely to make a collage of everything in flower right now.
I took these photos yesterday, on the first day of spring!

On the upper left, my tiny Campanula have been giving flowers all through the winter.
The Camellia plant has just given me two beautiful blooms.
The pansies speak for themselves - always so cheerful.
The tiny green leaf is new growth on my geranium plants.
The pink Cyclamen has survived the winter, all three plants.
The tiny viola on the lower right is new this year!

I hope that wherever you are, you are also enjoying the joys of spring
and some of you may be experiencing a beautiful autumn!
Until next time with more flowers and lake shots and some crochet too.
May you enjoy this month of March.

Out and About

Mother swan and her four cygnets
Always so touching to see on the lake.

The month of May seemed more rainy than usual with rather few really beautiful days,
but I did get out and take photos when the weather was sunny and dry.
So I have some photos from the sunny days in May that I still would like to remember
through my blog!

These water Iris were just starting to come into bloom.

Mother's Day is on the second Sunday in the month of May
and I received this beautiful bouquet from my son.

I met up with my daughter and grandson.
We had a lovely lunch together at home and then went for a walk down by the lake.

The Lilac bushes were in full bloom in my neighbourhood and my evening walks
were filled with their fragrance.

The deep purple flowers seemed to have a particularly lovely scent.

On one of the sunny warm days, it was lovely to walk along the edge of the forest
for coolness. The moss was so prettily illuminated by the filtered sunlight.

I do love to see the Chestnut Trees in flower.

I love collecting conkers too in the autumn!

Birthday collage.
My birthday falls in the middle of the month of May.
Three of my birthday cards, a gorgeous Peony flower and a picture
by Loretta Grayson entitled "Still I Rise"
I love her art.

Some beautiful pastel roses in memory of someone important in my life
for May 27th.

The Rhododendrens have put on a beautiful show of colourful flowers

They look especially lovely against a blue sky.

Or behind some railings.

The Dogwood flowers stayed in bloom for a long time.

I love seeing red poppies growing in the long grasses.

I even passed some sheep enjoying the luscious long grass when I climbed the hill from the station
to visit my daughter who lives out of the town centre.

A collage of my balcony flowers:
Blue Campanula, Daisies, Asters, Osteospermum, Bidens and the tiny lavender stalks
not quite in bloom.

My latest crochet project which is a lovely pattern from

It is called 'Mitered Blossom Dishcloth,
but I think it makes a really pretty mug mat.
The loop can be useful to hang it up on a hook in the kitchen.

Flowery Interlude

Where do the days go?
Since my return from England, life has been so busy and I'm not quite ready
to put up my photos from England.
So I thought that a flowery interlude would be something nice to do!
This sunflower is growing in my neighbourhood.

The back view is just as beautiful!

A Magnolia bud discovered on a tree when walking up the hill to the local
Farmer's Market.

A joyful encounter!
Several tall stems of Hollyhocks have been planted by the roadside
at the base of one of the young trees along the road.

A Campanule growing in a planter.
Every single flower I see in town is a real joy to me!

My lavender on the balcony is preparing for a second blooming.
It has been wonderful this year.

A tiny flower among the petals on one of my Gaillardia blooms.
The bees just love these.

For the first time this year, I planted some Coneflowers.
botanical name: Echinacea.
They are very vibrant in colour and represents perfectly
the hot weather we are having right now.
Our heatwave is building up and by mid-week it will reach 34C (93.2F) in this area.
I avoid going out in the middle of the day and am thankful to have fans
in my living room and office here.

Now I need to get out for my early morning walk before the sun comes over the hill!

The little ant.
I added this photos after my walk.
The sun came up rather soon after I left home and I must get out earlier
to enjoy the cooler air.
I did love the sun shining behind this sunflower, showing up the lovely details.
Click on the photos to enjoy a full-screen view.

I'll be back with some highlights of England
when things are a little less busy
and hopefully,
a little cooler!

I hope you're enjoying summer wherever you live.
Remember to drink lots of water!

An End of Summer Feeling

A tiny feather floated down zig-zag fashion
and landed on my Gaillardia flower.
It made me think of autumn leaves falling.

This summer has been particularly hot
and we have experienced heat-wave after heat-wave
with temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius.
It has been uncomfortable
and I prefer the cooler seasons of autumn and spring.

Luckily the lake is not too far away and I can reach the water
in fifty minutes on foot
or take the metro for fifteen minutes if I prefer.


Which way is the wind blowing?
The weather vane tells me that it's coming from the south-west.

Steam boat rides are always part of summer!

My grandson loves to look at the workings of the boat!
We have a summer tradition of going on a steam boat when he stays with me!

Chrysanthemums are already planted in my window-boxes
I love these striped ones

and the centre of the yellow ones too.

The early morning sunshine streams into my home
and I just love witnessing this peaceful moment.

My coloured marbles love the sunshine too!

The clouds formations remind us that a change of weather is coming

Sunset

and sunrise

The light is changing
an end of summer feeling
storms are on the way.

This is the essence of my summer.