Posted on July 28, 2021 by gifted50 — 12 Comments

Flowering Beauty

Bright orange lilies, with raindrops sprinkled on their petals. — Image credit: Pene Hodge

Besides writing, photography is another dream of mine.

I love taking photos of nature.

So when I awoke one-morning last month to the sound of rain outside my window, I knew what I had to do. Get my trusty phone and head on outdoors.

I began taking pictures of various flowers with the rain drips caught on their petals.

These lilies looked especially beautiful like diamonds sparkled about, enhancing their natural beauty.

So so lovely.

Zoomed in for a close-up or two.

Beauty created for me and you.

Beautiful bright orange lilies sprinkled with rain drops — Image credit: Pene Hodge

Fun facts about lilies

◉ Orange lilies signify passion.

◉ The lily is the 4th most popular flower across the globe! I must admit they are one of my favorites.

◉ The lily is a flowering plant that belongs to the family known as Liliaceae.

◉ Lily is a perennial plant, which means it can live for three or more growing seasons.

◉The oil extracted from lilies is said to have skin healing and softening properties.

◉ The oil has been known to work well for cracked and dry skin.

◉ Bulbs of lily contain a lot of starch and they are used as root vegetables.

◉ Humans, some insects, squirrels, and deer sometimes eat wild lilies.

◉ The Chinese believe they can bring good luck.

◉Lilies often come in beautiful vibrant colors.

They are highly toxic to your cats!

Bright orange lily flowers sprinkled with rain drops — Image credit: Pene Hodge

That …

Rainy day showers make beautiful flowers.

Posted on June 25, 2021 by gifted50 — 9 Comments

Poem - The House By the Side of the Road

The House by the Side of a Road

(1890–1911) by Sam Walter Foss

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;

There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths
Where highways never ran —
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Let me live in a house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by —
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner’s seat
Nor hurl the cynic’s ban —
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife,
But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan —
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead,
And mountains of wearisome height;
That the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
And still, I rejoice when the travelers rejoice
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by —
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish — so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat,
Or hurl the cynic’s ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

My WP friends, I have a deep love of poetry. Many speak to me in deep and enduring ways. I heard the above poem for the first time last week and wanted to share it with the poetry lovers out there.

Please feel free to share your thoughts or other great poems with me.

Thank you!

Posted on April 29, 2021April 29, 2021 by gifted50 — 27 Comments

The Unmistakable Beauty Of Nature

In response to Cee’s Flower of the day challenge

I love photography. I cannot resist a beautiful flower. I am especially enamored with the natural beauty of God’s world.

I hope you enjoy it!

*************

So I am currently fully vaccinated. With the first dose, I felt like I had a watered-down version of COVID that lasted about three days. During that time I took some ibuprofen and that helped. The second dose, which just about 5 days ago I had a sore arm.

I will admit I was a tad scared as I still had antibodies from my bout with COVID last July. A few of my co-workers had more dramatic reactions to the vaccine. But all in all, I would say it was not as bad as I feared.

*************

The constant wearing of masks is making me have so many break-outs. I have so much hyperpigmentation from acne, but there is no other recourse at this time. We must wear the mask.

I have begun using Retin-A again to help with accelerated skin turnover. I used it about 8 years ago for a while then forgot about it until now. Will construct a post about it especially when I have pictures to show you the improvement.

How are you all keeping out there? Is everyone fully vaccinated? Are you having skin issues from wearing masks? Let me know how you are dealing with them.

Stay safe and be blessed.

Posted on August 17, 2020 by gifted50 — 20 Comments

Beauty Along My Walk

These flowers looked so lovely to me.

These are wild flowers — I have no idea what they are called.

The one below looks like a painting.

Hope you enjoy … I love photography and will be exploring photography in more depth.

Have a blessed day!!

Posted on June 10, 2020 by gifted50 — 48 Comments

Beauty I see

A yellow and beautiful mushroom — Saw this beautiful yellow mushroom (maybe a telluride, I am not sure).

Below in my mother’s garden, this little guy may be a vegetarian.

Mr Lizard was hanging out in the garden. The green is another type of spinach (called malabar) I will document its growth in a week or two.

Brilliant violet flower — This lone purple guy was so bright he needed showing off.

These flowers looked so beautiful, I just had to take a pic.

2 children sitting on a large rock. — My children taking a rest on our walk, the young ones are not built like the old folks, lol.

I saw this turtle crossing the park. They are such shy creatures.

Met this one a different day while walking.

This is broad-leaf thyme we use for cooking, its scientific name is Plectranthus amboinicus, we planted it and curiously it began growing in this odd rose-like pattern. Even though it has regular leves now, the rose-like pattern still remains. I had never seen it grow like that before.

I find beauty in many things and in many places.

Stay well, stay safe … keep exploring

Posted on May 18, 2020 by gifted50 — 31 Comments

Mom’s Dahlia Flower

The smaller plant, cannot recall the name, but it smells like lemon. Just beautiful. It has those small yellow flowers that smells divine.

Just starting to open.

It is underway.

Still more opening to go.

Today is has opened even more. And it is beautiful.

Be blessed and have a good day.

Posted on May 4, 2020 by gifted50 — 29 Comments

The Master’s Hand

God’s painting: look at these gorgeous colors.

On my way home from work last evening, I am met with the masters handiwork.

God is painting again today. For me it is a sign of hope, He is not yet through with us.

A picture of the sky painted all beautiful pastels. Simply beautiful. — **The sky painted in pastels.**

Look at these beautiful color in my neck of the woods.

Peace, love and blessings!

Posted on April 8, 2020 by gifted50 — 38 Comments

Sunset

I of course, am always looking towards the heavens. I love looking at the sky!

On my way home last evening I could not resist taking these pictures. A plane had left that streak across the sky and the way the light from the setting sun was reflected there looked like the sun was shining directly out of that sliver.

I thought it was beautiful.

Some nuances you just cannot capture with a camera. It perhaps the way our brain process what we see.

I was just happy to appreciate God’s beauty.

Stay safe and be well!

Peace.

Posted on November 8, 2019December 17, 2019 by gifted50 — 19 Comments

Yesterday

So yesterday I was off from work! Whooo!! I awoke early, of course, the young-uns needed mothering.

I had a doctor’s appointment, it had been set for 09:00 am but the rain was carrying on fiercely outside, so I knew that I had better leave with plenty of time to spare.

My daughter took the bus and my seven year old loves to walk to school. However with the combination of the rain and cold, this was not the best option for him so his dad drove him to school.

It took me about one hour and forty minutes meandering my way through side streets as the highways were a parking lot.

I arrived late for my appointment, of course.

Later on I was on Word Press and Gee was looking out the window and saw this red tree outside. He says he is learning to see nature through my eyes now as I see the beauty of God’s handiwork while he just sees “things in a space”. Lol.

So he said, “you have to take a picture of that for your blog.” I think at first he felt a little left out from the time I had been spending with “my blog”, but yesterday I can see he is beginning to appreciate the joy it brings me. Plus I share your stories with him.

The tree in the above picture in all its red fall majestic glory. I see the beauty that our God has placed here for us to temper the hard edges that life can sometimes bring.

The beautiful differences in everything he has created, the diverse shapes and colors. They shout ‘hallelujah’ as a testament to his love for us, and if we are discerning and silent we can hear it.

So I shuffled outside towards the end of the day to take my pic before it got too dark. What a sight I must have been, toes peeking out of my red and blue flip flops and a pepper-mint colored robe over my clothes.

Red leaves on trees along the river in autumn

There is beauty in every season. Especially the cool stillness of an autumn day.

Tag: beauty