After The Rain - 2

Paw~

Emma~

Birthday Cake

This reminded mom and me of Miss. Havisham's (Great Expectations - Charles Dickens) abandoned and rotting table of food, left from her wedding. 

Frog

I went to the pond to catch a frog,
I searched and searched on every log.

I brought with me a great big tub,
And sat it beneath a flowering shrub.

I searched up high in the trees,
And scraped up both of my knees.

I crawled around on the ground,
looking for something laying around.

I had mud all over me from my head to my toes,
I even had it on my nose!

My stomach told me it was time to eat,
So I put my shoes back on my feet.

As I walked away feeling very sad,
I saw a frog sitting on a lily pad.

My face lit up with a great big smile,
for he must of been there for quite awhile.

I leaped into the water up to my knees,
and he jumped away with the greatest of ease!

Spider Web

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.”
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

Violin

The Fiddler
Hans Christian Andersen

In the little town there is much festivity:
they are holding a wedding there with dance and play.
To the happy man, the wine sparkles so red;
but the bride looks like whitewashed death.

Yes, dead she is to him whom she cannot forget;
he is at the feast but not as the bridegroom.
He stands among the guests at the inn,
stroking his fiddle cheerily enough.

He strokes his fiddle, his hair turning grey.
The strings resound: shrill and loud;
he presses it to his heart, paying no heed
whether it breaks into a thousand pieces.

It is quite hideous when one dies this way,
his heart young and still striving for joy.
I cannot and will not watch any longer!
It will make my head spin.

Who are you, with your fingers pointing at me?
O God - graciously protect us
from the madness that may overwhelm us.
For I am myself a poor musician.

After The Rain - July 17

 A song from "A Midsummer-Night's Dream"

Over hill, over dale,
Through bush, through brier,
Over park, over pale,
Though flood, through fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the mooné's sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green:
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favors,
In those freckles live their savors:
I must go seek some dew-drops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
~ William Shakespeare

Summer Nature July 15

"...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Matthew 6:28-29

Geek And The Bully Grapes - July 2

  Have you ever been to a plant nursery and fallen in love with the most pathetic, ridiculous looking flower there? Well, mom and I did today. We were out, running a few errands, and we stopped at Agway for the plant nursery. While checking the clearance plants, under the tent, we noticed a scraggly, half dried out, wilted, and very tall, flower. He was two feet taller than any other of his kind. We picked him up and put him on the wagon, calling him “Geek”. After getting the flowers that we wanted from under the clearance tent, mom went to search for some grapes to grow along her pergola. It wasn’t long before mom found her grapes.  Of course, she picked out the most handsome looking of them all. They were tall, deep green, very robust, and, of course, full priced. Mom set the grapes on the cart next to “Geek”, not realizing that her decision was poor, and could have been fatal to innocent “Geek”.

Bully Grapes

    Mom and I were at the checkout paying for our plants. Everything was fine and well. We were talking about how Geek was finally going to have a decent home in our gardens. We would make him feel special. But when mom reached down to take the grapes off of the wagon, she yelled out “Annie! Quick, save Geek!” While we weren’t paying attention to the plants, the grapes decided to gang up on Geek. Of course, Geek was just too little to fight back…the Grapes were strangling him. They probably said to him “Oh, it’s you again. I thought you got shipped to the clearance tent, Geek! Ha-ha-ha!” and then pounced upon him. Their vines were all tangled around Geek’s stem. I, of course, rescued Geek by untangling Grapes arms from him. I set him up on the counter, but Geek was too weak from his tragic experience with those nasty, bully grapes. His little stem was bent over and he was lying against his friend, who was also a geek. When mom, Geek, and I got to the car, we got some medical tape from the trunk and bandaged him up the best we could. Geek rode in the front seat with  me so that he wouldn’t break anymore. I believe that made him feel special. He had air-conditioning in the front, while the other plants, including those bully grapes, had to sit in the hot trunk.

    When we got home, we immediately brought Geek to the garden, dug a deep hole in the earth, planted him nicely, and gave him a drink of cold water. He is now a happy little Geek in the garden, soon to be amongst many of his friends from the clearance tent. We hope that Geek will have a many good months in that dirt, and Lord willing, the frost will be late this year.

  

“For lo, the winter is gone, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard on our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell…” 

Song of Solomon 2:11 – 13

Hail Storm - June 29

"Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm so that it's waves are still."
Psalms 107: 28-29

                                            

We collected a few pieces of the hail from the ground.

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." 

Psalms 139: 14

After the storm, the sky cleared, and the sun setting was truly beautiful. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30