Higher - Optimo Maximo

Visited Rome and Florence. Saw major things that somehow had not seen before. Would go back tomorrow and see many new things.

Santa Croce altar. The entire body of the church probably looked like this before it was "updated." Michelangelo and Galileo are buried here.

Finally got to visit interior of Borromini's St. Ivo on a  Sunday morning - didn't take any pictures.

Baroque stone clouds - Sant'Andrea al Quirinale.

First visit to Bargello was amazing.

Amazing courtyard space in Bargello.

Optimo Maximo refers to God (Deo) being the greatest and best - the initials DOM are everywhere in Rome.
But seems ok to appropriate:
How's it going? Optimo Maximo!

Returned to Farm and it had been raining, raining, raining. Cloudy skies - not exactly Mediterranean.

Fragrant Spring - Easter Everywhere

Lost in the rain... Anyway this is the most fragrant spring I can remember as well being so gloriously beautiful. The Narcissus bloomed early in winter, then Osmanthus Fragrans and now Wisteria - all these are heavily scented and sometimes their scents mix in the air. Blue Bonnets are blooming now and have a light fragrance surrounding them, and there are other wild flowers that have faint but very amazing scents. Soon there will be Honeysuckle, another heavily scented flower, and then in summer, if enough Petunias come up they will scent the air all around. And yes the Wisteria and Honeysuckle will need some management.

Narcissus and one group of yellow Daffodils

 Osmanthus Fragrans

 Wisteria

 Blue Bonnets

 Grape Hyacinth - these really do smell like grape soda.

There are so many flowers with more or less fragrance. Some very small but so beautiful - Toadflax, Bluettes, Spring Beauties, Blue Eyed Grass. Used to see many Violets but now none for many years.

Really Spring?

Not to complain but the last two winters have produced really cold weather right at the last minute so that it seems winter will never end. Anyway might be over now. But did do something unusual on a miserable day which was to try to cook a pie. Tried to cut down on the sugar and oil probably a little too much. But it looked ok and was healthy even if not hugely delicious.

Went to Costa Rica over the winter and stayed a few nights at a place called Essence Arenal. Arenal is the name of a volcano. Went to a hot spring that was more like a rapidly running river - Tabacon. Very nice.

Then we went to a friend's place on the beach that was almost a religious experience. Nearby was this strange bird and its baby sitting on a fence post absolutely still with sharp beaks pointing up. Ojoojo is what they call it. Have never seen anything like it. May be a night bird that just blends in during the day. Do you see them?

FarmHenge

Woke up early Summer Solstice Day (but not quite at the crack of dawn) and was surprised to view the sun rising directly at the end of the front porch. Long ago when we were reworking the foundations of the house, just under the north corner (diagonal orientation) there was an old Indian axe head under the foundation stone. Always wondered about that, now wonder if it is only coincidence about the seeming solstice alignment.

There has been rain this year the fields have been so green. It seems to be beginning to dry out now.

Mid-Summer Days/Nights

The dwarf water lily has grown. We finally had a little rain so the water level went up, and the lily pads got up on the edge of the little pond - some culprit ate leaves from the edge - hope this does not continue. Some leaves form tiny baby plants in their centers that begin to grow when the leaf dies. There are a few tiny plants floating around but not sure how they will attach roots to anything. The rain also got the frogs excited so there are frog eggs in the water. The water is pretty clear, without the water lily I think it would be like pea soup from algae in the heat of the summer. The Rosy Reds are happy. There were some bigger silver colored minnows in there but haven't seen them lately, they could easily still be in there.

This moth had about a 4" wingspan. He is resting on the new screen door that is supposed to keep out kissing bugs. But we found a kbug the other night while watching tv - need to seal all the cracks. Are they coming in the chimney? Surely they don't actually live in house? (Need to get a cat have had mice lately - that can attract the bugs.) Sent it to CDC, also recently Dr. sent blood test to CDC since I was bitten on Mothers' Day night. No results yet. Bummer in any case 

Early Summer

Dwarf tropical water lily - Dauben. Always wanted a water lily so now there it is - seems pretty happy growing very fast. Note cactus blooms - all the cactus are happy and blooming. Also note pony tail palm, it is well over 30 years old. It was about 8' tall but froze down one year when it got into the mid teens, it was in the barn and froze anyway.

Hoya is really blooming now. But aphids show up about once a year - fairly easy to get rid of. Spray with very diluted dish soap, then spray with water hose a little later. Moved it to a location that will hopefully allow the fragrance onto porch. Petunias and osmanthus also scent the porch. Had a few stunted Easter Lillys that were wonderful.

First time to plant cosmos, bad culprits below loved it. Had to put up ugly fence. Token garden includes tomatoes, basil, cayenne peppers. Also zinnias and a delphinium in pot.

Magical Aloe Vera blooming. 

Magical Morning Glories just starting - suffered at first bc of bad culprits below... had to replant.

Bad baby culprit - ToughButt wouldn't have allowed it. These little things have almost no fear. Also baby squirrels have found the bird food. On a better baby note - there are a bunch of baby birds around, including blue birds. They love the yard w short grass to catch bugs.

Spring 2013

Tough little bluebonnets dealing with hard conditions this spring. Didn't post flower pictures so far this year bc it has been so dry. We did have a little rain last week.

Eastern Bluebird eggs in one of the nest boxes my brother and I put up this year. This is the second round of eggs in this box. We have had a few nests that had babies in them w feathers - hope they made it - bet they did.

Mourning doves in nest by kitchen window. First time any bird has made it this far in this location - usually something gets the eggs or babies. Saw one of these fly out of nest the other day. There are now a new set of eggs in the nest.

This is its first bloom - four years old, a unique plant. Grown from seeds that came from plants that a friend gave me - this is the only survivor of maybe 50 or 100 that I tried. If I had a hundred plants to decide if they were beautiful enough, I might x this one. But as it is, think I'll keep it.