An Explosion of Petals

These photos are taken from a lakeside park in the town of Morges.
Every year there is a magnificent Tulip Festival.
The choice of flowers is immense and I had to choose just a few of them here.

Some of the centres of the flowers quite take my breath away.
The flower photos need no accompanying text,
just scroll down and enjoy them!















The fresh green leaves of spring are reflected in the water

The faraway view was a little hazy, but if you look directly above
the post on the left, in the dip in the mountains,
the well-known Mont Blanc mountain can be seen.

This is the main path which goes alongside the lake and all around
the whole park.

I rather liked this very unusual green tulip.

Fresh green leaves which have just unfurled


Today, Sunday, there were barrel organs and singers dotted around the park
giving a very joyful atmosphere!

These were my favourites!



Five Things I Love about April

1. The meeting of the seasons:

I love how lingering winter and spring mingle together to create their contrasting beauty.
The last snowfalls and flowering magnolia are a lovely example here.

2. The lakeside

 Dreamy walks along the lake at times of the day when there are as few people as possible!
Don't you love this amazing metal sculpture of a wave of little fish?

Here is a close-up.

3. Nature waking up

The spring flowers which start to bloom just everywhere. I love them all,
but there's nothing like daffodils to represent spring awakening!

Deep pink Hellebore
sometimes known as 'Lenten Rose' or 'Winter Rose'

Grapes of tiny flower buds which hang so gracefully on the branches.

4. Getting out into nature

From where I live above the centre of the town, I can easily get public transport
by bus and metro, up to the fields and the woods to enjoy the wide expanses,
the green fields and wooded areas
with just the sound of birdsong and the breeze rustling in the trees.

5. The longer days

When I can enjoy early morning walks before breakfast 
when all is still quiet and then again in the evenings after supper to hear the blackbird singing
in the trees in my neighbourhood.

There are many other things to appreciate during the month of April
and I'm sure you have your favourites too!

Easter Day!

Tulips and chicks
with a grey start to the day,
but there are already sunny spells this morning
 and it should be lovely this afternoon!

Hot Cross Buns were eaten on Good Friday
and this morning too.
Quite delicious with butter and homemade marmalade!

Just the other day, I made some natural organic lip balm
using Shea butter, almond oil, beeswax and lavender essential oil.
It's beautifully nourishing for night-time or during the day.

I put the tiny pots into little sachets for gifts
and gave two of them to my family this week.

Such a joy to see primroses popping up in all the gardens on my afternoon walk!

I love writing with a fountain pen
and I have notebooks where I like to write phrases and quotations
and sometimes poems.
I recently wrote these powerful words by Gandhi.

I hope that your day will be a lovely one!

***

Crochet pattern from:this site

What to Do on a Rainy Day

There are so many things I love to do on a rainy day!
Crochet is one of them - and I recently finished my spring wreath for the front door.
It makes me feel welcome when I come home

I love to capture nature abstracts
like in the harmonious curves of the petals of my Amaryllis.
Photography is something we can definitely do on a rainy day, even inside!

Bringing home a basket of three daffodil bulbs was like bringing spring sunshine
into my home.

No need to resist capturing them from every angle!

Just drink in their yellow beauty until the sunshine and blue skies return.

Sit down with a big cup of  a delicious warm drink.
This one is a ginger and lemon infusion.

Why not practice some fun self-portraits.
My favourites this week are double exposures!

Oh yes, and another thing to do on a rainy day!
Make a new blog entry!

Instead of  wanting to make everything incredibly perfect,
just do things the way they are today
and that is enough!


Blogger's Block

It is a known fact that writers sometimes suffer from writer's block.
So it seems only natural that those of us who have blogs can experience a similar feeling.

After writing a recent entry entitled "Why Blog?". 
It did seem that I had lost my own enthusiasm - even though I know that I write here
for myself above all, but also for any others who care to come this way.

With the convenience and rapidity of computers, the art of letter-writing
has become a thing of the past.
It seemed to happen overnight if I judge by the stashes of beautiful writing paper  
I still have in my cupboard.

Last year, I took out that pretty stationery and started writing letters again.
They don't need to be long, but they do need to be thoughtful and caring.
I can imagine how nice it must feel to receive a pretty envelope containing a few personal words
in the post-box among the usual bills.

I certainly haven't experienced any blockages in taking photographs
and have been enjoying taking still-life images, 
like this tiny exotic perfume bottle, offered to me by my son many years ago.
A souvenir from Sharm El-Sheikh on the edge of the Red Sea in Egypt.

I've been playing with depth of field and colour and enjoying the effects.

Black and white photography can be really interesting 
and is especially suited to abstracts

or capturing light and shadows in my home in the morning sun.

During the whole of February, I've been taking daily self-portraits
as part of a gathering of other ladies.
This is a challenge as the years go by, but it's all part of our acceptance journey
of embracing the changes that inevitably take place.

So without waiting any longer to be inspired to make the best blog entry ever,
perhaps the everyday happenings are enough
and I'm just being hard on myself or too much of a perfectionist!

We've been going through a Siberian-like cold snap through this latter part of February,
but after a few snowfalls tomorrow, things will start warming up again.

March is definitely coming in like a lion! 
So I think we deserve some beautiful tulips - to remind us that spring is on its way!