July 14, 2009: We had gone that day up the road into Waterford County, Ireland by car to the town of Lismore, a very historic and lovely town. Lismore Castle, with its magnificent gardens is there, and one can visit and walk the gardens. It is indeed peaceful and exquisitely beautiful! We have visited it before and it is magnificent. The Castle belongs to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, now being one of their residences. The gardens are a wonder and many types of plants and flowers and trees are growing there. The Castle site was originally an abbey. It was an ecclesiastic center when Henry II, King of England stayed here in 1171. In 1589 Lismore was leased and later acquired by Sir Walter Raleigh. Later he sold the property to Richard Boyle. We love the gardens, and a nice walk through them is very peaceful and serene. See my photo taken of some towers of the Castle from the garden. We are home from a very hot visit to family to the south of us. The temperature was around 100° F. during the day and very tiring and uncomfortable. We are happy to be home to our Gold Coast area. We will return to Lismore to visit the Castle Gardens as often as we can. It seems to be one of our regular side trips when in Ireland. Ireland is a wonderful country and much fun to visit. I hope your week is a good one. I hope you enjoy the new photos I posted today on the opening page: the Picasso and the Iris from the Gardens at Lismore Castle. How dramatic and lovely the Picasso is! I really like the blossoms! And the iris, which my Mother raised for years are fantastic!! Do enjoy!!--BT, July 14, 2009.

July 7, 2009: The Gold Coast is bathed in the warmth of a summer sun, and it is a beautiful day. I am a day late getting this Minutia segment written and posted. I hope you liked the hummingbird photograph that I posted yesterday. I had just turned off the lawn sprinklers and this little hummingbird had gotten a bit wet(he probably wanted to as was hot) and had come in and settled on a Red Blizzard blossom stem to preen his feathers and dry off a bit. I was in the kitchen and spotted him on his perch, just outside the kitchen window. I got my Digital Rebel camera and returned to the kitchen, pulled up the blind just a bit quietly, turned off the lights and was able to get many photographs of the bird with the Canon EF75-300mm lens. He stayed on the stem of the flower for the longest time. How nice to have such a wonderful and very closeup view of one of nature's most fascinating animals! I read once that hummingbirds have to eat many, many times their weight everyday to maintain their strength and activity......And right from our kitchen! That is exciting for sure! I like to photograph birds, they are so beautiful and interesting. And we have several varieties in our area. Neat!! Today, I repotted two medium size Christmas cactus from small pots to larger ones. The two plants had grown a lot and really needed to be re-potted. The job is done! They will do well in their more roomy environments now. 8-))))) Henry James said it, "Summer afternoon - Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language." It's a good afternoon to read some poetry or your favorite book! And how true it is. This afternoon is fantastic, blue sky, a nice cooling breeze from the sea and it is indeed wonderful!! I hope you enjoy your week. July 4th is over for another year and we now are moving toward mid-summer, then fall and so on. Enjoy!-BT, July 7, 2009.

June 27, 2009: Have you seen the reds on the opening page today?? Wow, is all I can say! And yes I am partial to red geraniums. The Arctic Red and Sundance are among my favorites. I was out in the garden working on tomatoes and watering and feeding the roses when I looked at the geranium terraces and wow!!! The red geranium colors "jumped" out at me and it was time to go get the camera. I hope you like the new flowers today. Do scroll down a bit too on the opening page and see the Royal Pink and others lower down on the page. It is warmish and wonderful today. The fog is nowhere to be seen and the sun is out! Nice! My collection of flower pictures is really getting big. I have hard drives and CD's full of them, as I have been building this web page for several years now, and I really enjoy it. I hope you like it too. I found some cherry tomatoes that were ripe and brought them in for the salads tonight. They are just starting to ripen. The Better Boys are not ready yet altho we have quite a few on the vines now. They will be so good when ripe! I hope your weekend is a good one. Ours is going well. Summer, summer.......................how lovely you are!! And in our moderate climate, wow!! is all I can say. It is magnificent. Do enjoy the weekend!--BT, June 27, 2009.

June 24, 2009: When one has a garden, you are busy! And I mean busy. I have been pruning some of the geraniums and giving the clippings to one of my friends who loves to plant them at his house. He says he has a myriad of wonderful colors in his yard from my geraniums. How cool is that!!!!! I like it!! One of the best things you can give someone if they like plants and/or flowers is a plant! The marine layer was very thick this morning with a mist falling when I went out for the newspapers. Wow, that is unusual for sure. But the heat wave is coming. I don't know when, but in the summer we have them. And the breezes turn around and blow from the mountains to the sea, the air heating by compression as it passes over the mountains and down the canyons. It is coming. Fathers Day was very nice. I received some very nice gifts and cards and how wonderful it is to hear from and spend time with family. I love it! Now coming fairly soon is one Daughter's birthday, and that will be much fun. I am a bit tired today. I worked on some projects yesterday around the house and yard, things that periodically have to be done. How long in life can one continue to do so? I suppose one's body and system will tell you when to take it easy. So today is kind of an enjoyable "off-duty" day as far as those kind of chores are concerned. It is summer and the 10th one since I retired, and I love the time off, and being retired. Can do what I want when I want! What more can one ask!!! 8-)))))) A relative once asked, "Now that you are retired what do you do?" Huh!!?? I thought and tried to explain to him that I garden, eat out with my Mrs., read books, do projects, travel, shop and so on! How good can it get????8-)))))) I hope your week goes well. Ours is. One needs to enjoy each day for sure, as time moves quickly. I know, I know, I have said that many times in this Minutia. But it is true. Do enjoy and I hope you enjoy the macro photo of Arctic Red that I posted today on the opening page. In my view, Arctic Red is one of the most beautiful of my collection of geraniums. The maroon/dark red color is incomparable!--Enjoy!-BT, June 24, 2009.

June 19, 2009: It feels like summer is here! I know, I have said that before but one can definitely feel it in the air. There has been a slight balmy breeze off and on today, and it is great! I posted Pretty Polly and another Rocky Mountain Violet for you today on the opening page. Their colors are glorious!! How beautiful can they get!!?? Yesterday was the day I checked all the geraniums for water levels, and that is quite a job. Many needed a drink and they got it! I have quite a few clippings in the garage on the work bench to plant soon. Also the hanging baskets in the front garden needed pruning and I did some of them today to open the plants up to air and freshness. They are doing well. Those in the front garden get about a half day of sun, the afternoon shade and they seem to like that environment. My Daughter and her family will be going down to France soon on their annual vacation, and I remember in the 1960's going thru Southern France and seeing all the beautiful golden grain fields among the villages there in that magical land. It was beautiful. More stakes are required for the tomatoes as they are huge! They need to be well supported as they get fruit on the vines. We are ready for home-grown tomatoes for sure!! Fathers Day is near. I hope you have an opportunity to do something nice for your Father if he is still with you. That would be nice! The summer highways are now filled with daily traffic, cars, trucks, buses etc. The time of lazy days and warm evenings is here. Do enjoy the summer! Brew up some ice tea and sit out under a tree or patio somewhere and 'drink in' the wonderfulness and count your blessings!! Happy Days!!!--Enjoy, BT, June 19, 2009.

June 13, 2009: What a summer day! The sun is out and it is breezy and balmy!! Just what we want this time of year for sure. I have enjoyed watching the Christmas Cactus plant blooming these past few days. I just posted a photo of the blossom on the opening page for you. What a beautiful blossom! And why is it blooming in June. Well, I don't really know, but it happens in my cactus garden area just in the corner of the patio fairly often at odd times of the year. I like it! What a color, and how gorgeous it is. We are having one of those wonderful days around the house where we have time to do the jobs that are due to be done. How nice it is. We have been busy running errands it seems, this week. Nice to slow down. We have framed some of the recent photos from Ireland of our Grandsons, which we took on our trip there a few weeks ago. They are nice and remind us of the trip and of our neat times with the boys and their family. Very nice! How is your weekend? I hope it goes well. Do enjoy the time and have a great day or two off.

Our plumber was just here installing a new kitchen faucet. He has done work for us for many years and is excellent. He is a new Grandfather and we enjoyed hearing of his new Grandchild. Houses need continual work and improvement and replacement of things that wear out. We have lived here for over 30 years in this house and it has served us well. We love it! We are approaching mid-June. Time continues to move. But we all know that don't we. So one needs to make the best of it each day and enjoy. Have a great weekend.--BT, June 13, 2009.

June 11, 2009: I have been out in the back garden today potting geranium clippings. What a fantastic day for that. The temperature outside is in the low 70's, and it is wonderful! I had my hands in the potting soil, and it felt good. I like to pot new clippings to produce new plants. It is a good feeling. The Maiden Iced Wine is really starting to bloom. The photo I posted today shows that. I hope you like it. It is one of my favorite colors in the geranium family. I was out in the tomato garden checking for new fruit and there is quite a bit there, not ripe yet, but soon! The plants continue to do well. One can feel the renewal of the growing season easily, just by being out with the plants and working on them a bit. They are doing well. The 2 new Mexican Sage plants are really coming along, and the lavender is very healthy. The bees really like both of those blossoms. The first day of summer nears: June 21 which is also Fathers' Day here in the U. S. I had the best Father one could have. He was the only one in his family to complete college and to do that he borrowed the funds from a family friend many years ago. He was a fine man and I learned much from him about so many different things. Thanks, Dad, for all those great times we had. They are forever in my mind! The clouds are again coming in from the sea this evening. The old Marine Layer, as the weather people call it. I don't mind it. June moves along. Are you enjoying the month? We are, and we talk much about Ireland and our last journey there, and our next trip there again. YES, we are going back one of these days!!! 8-)) We just cannot stay away from the place. 8-))) You know why, don't you! The Grandsons................They are fantastic little guys, and we love them dearly. Also our Daughter and her Husband are there and we enjoy them lots. Do take care and enjoy what is left of the week. --BT, June 11, 2009.

June 8, 2009: I am writing today from a real cloudy and overcast sky. That is living near the sea! We have this every year and I do not mind it. It is kinda cozy and nice for the plants as they do not require much water in such weather. We have been home now a bit over a week, and it is good to be here. One's home is and should be your place to be. By that I mean when you are not out in the world doing all those things we do like shopping, traveling and so on. Ours is a comfortable and cozy home and we love it! Our youngest Grandson in Ireland just had a big birthday party this last weekend, complete with a Bouncy Castle set up in the yard out there at their house in the beautiful Irish countryside. I am sure it was a blast, as all of his school class and cousins were invited, probably around 20+ kids. And I know they had a great time! Irish birthdays are big, at least for the children, and that is nice. My neighbor watered my garden while we were in Ireland, he has done that for several years, and it is much appreciated. We do the same for them when they travel. It is mutual watering 8-)))))) I guess you would call it. The tomato plants are coming along great. They must be 4-5 ft. tall now and putting on fruit. We will enjoy the tomatoes when they are ripe. It is a lazy afternoon. I am writing to music at the moment and I like to do that. It is slowish and relaxy to do so. I hope your week will go well. Have a cup of coffee and enjoy the "down time" or tea, if that is your choice. In Ireland tea flows freely, but some coffee is always available if one wishes. I have posted a new French Quarter ivy geranium on the opening page for you today. Its color and beauty are incomparable in my view. The colors of geraniums are fantastic and wonderful!!! I shall never tire of them! Do have a great week. Have you noticed there are a few new quotations above on this page? --BT, June 8, 2009.

June 2, 2009:We are home! The trip to Ireland was fantastic and fabulous!! What more can one say!!?? 8-))) We spent such wonderful times with our daughter and our grandsons. We had some rain, but not too much! The moment we stepped off the plane in Ireland a huge downpour hit us. But not a problem. We were in Ireland, the green and very beautiful land which we have visited many times. It was magical to be there again, seeing how our grandsons had grown and how their interests had changed. How fun it was! What a long flight it is over the Atlantic Ocean to that Emerald Isle! Hour upon hour, and one gets very tired just sitting, but we had our books and iPods with us, and the time moved along. We visited Fota House, a historical great house there being restored by the Irish Trust. We had visited it several times and it looked great. We attended a charity program by Irish Diva Cara O'Sullivan in a wonderful old church, St. Mary's Collegiate, that was built around 1200. One of our grandsons had his first communion ceremony with his school class, and that was precious to attend and view. We love the place!! I supposed the memories of the trips there to Ireland will cling to us forever. We will return soon again to see the friends and family we know. I have always felt travel is so good---you learn your way around this great blue marble that we call Earth, and on which we live. You learn to better understand customs and the cultures of the various countries. How great is that!!?? The jet lag continues. We were up about 22 hours getting home that last day, with airline delays etc.!! I was ready to kiss the tarmac when we deplaned from the last aircraft. It took 3 different airplanes to get us home. We got up at 4 a.m. Irish time that day, and we are home. We love our home. I hope you like the new flower photos I posted today from our garden. Soon I will post photos from Fota House and Lismore Castle Gardens in Ireland on the page, on a link called 'Flowers of Ireland'. I think you will like the Irish flowers. I am glad to be back with you. Take care and Enjoy the day!!!-BT, June 2, 2009.

May 18, 2009: Well our travel time is near. Soon we will be on that "shiny bird", the airplane cruising at 6 or 7 miles above the earth and at 600 miles per hour. It takes a long time to get to Ireland, anyway it seems that way to us. We have done it many times, and always have a good book with us to help time to pass. It is cool and rainy there, so the warm clothes go in the luggage! I saw a Hooded Oriole bird this a.m. in a nearby palm tree. They are only here for a relative short time and they nest in the palm trees. I did get a photo which I will post today on the bird page. One cannot miss them with their gold and black coloration. I posted a Colorcade®Cherry Red geranium today on the opening page. It is really bright neon and stands out from other reds. I like the flower a lot. The wailing sad fog horn blew into the night last night as the fog crept in from the sea. The garden likes the additional moist air that comes with it. June is nearly upon us with the family birthdays which come with it. That will be fun! I again want to post one of my favorite poems from the early 1940's. It is called High Flight, and I always think of it when we are about to fly to Ireland. Do enjoy the day. Until later when we return.--BT, May 18, 2007.

May 16, 2009: The overcast and fog is in this afternoon, and it is nice and on the cool side. Mothers Day was wonderful. We lunched at one of our favorite cafes, then home for gift opening. It was nice. As per other years the cafe gave Mothers a beautiful rose bud. I have documented those on other pages of my web page. What a beautiful way to honor Mothers, a beautiful rose bud!

The tomato garden is really coming along. We expect fruit in June, and that will be fun and delicious!! The hummingbirds have found the sage and alstromeria blossoms in the east garden. This is the first day we have seen them there. They are ever beautiful and lovely and make our garden a wonderful place to be and view.

A pair of adult hawks are back in the large old nest down the way in the eucalyptus trees. There must be eggs too, as they are like sentinentals for much of the time watching over the nest. This nest is made out of a myriad of large branches and twigs, and has been used several seasons by hawks.

The month of May is dwindling. Do you realize it is already May 16th? Well it is, and time is moving quickly. Ireland calls and we will soon be there with the rain and cooler temperatures. That is Ireland, a most beautiful land across the sea. We love it! I hope your weekend goes well. Ours is, and I have posted a Salmon Queen geranium to the opening page today. I hope you like it. The geraniums are coming along after suffering through the heat and smoke from the brush fire. Soon I will trim them back a bit. Below, a quotation or two about our Mothers. They are angels on earth! Enjoy--BT, May 16, 2009.

May 9, 2009: It has been a rough week here! We had a huge brush fire break out again in the area, many homes were lost and thousands were evacuated from their homes for several days. Not an easy thing for anyone for sure. Then the temperature day before yesterday was officially 100° F. here in our little village! 100° F.-----Wow!! that is hot, hot, and more hot! I had to drench the geraniums and other plants to keep them going. And several times!! This a.m. I was out in the garden working assessing the heat damage. It was pretty heavy!! The Iceberg Roses really took a hit, the blossoms browning up quickly. I pruned them off, then washed the heavy coat of ashes from the fire off of everything: geraniums, roses, alstromeria, tomatoes, lavender and so on. The ashes are on everything even tho the fire is miles away and burning away from populated areas. The winds were wild during the fire, bringing the flames ever closer to homes--many were lost! A tragedy of great sadness for those who lost them. It has happened in our area many times before, and one never gets used to the danger and destruction. Last night, one could feel the cool sea air start to come in, and this a.m. the fog and overcast was here giving the firefighters a helping hand. People were allowed for the first time to go home to their houses if they were still there. Hopefully it will all be over in a few days. I think the birds know when danger from a fire is near, as they tend to "hole up" somewhere, I don't know where, but certainly there were fewer in the air around here. We count our blessings and hope for the fire to be put out soon! I hope your weekend goes well. I haven't photographed too much in the past few days, as we were keeping an eye on the fire and wondering if we would have to evacuate. We didn't! Do take care and enjoy every minute of your life.--BT, May 9, 2009.

May 1, 2009: Can you believe it? May is here. Doesn't time move quickly. It sure does for me. My Mom always said it did. And she was right! This brings to the front the idea that one should really enjoy every day, make the most of it; as who knows how many tomorrows we may have. Mr. and Mrs. House Finch have taken up residence in the geranium-Dark Red Blizzard-hanging basket just in front of the kitchen window. Yes, they are building a nest, and they are hanging about flitting in and out of the plant. How fun to observe them! We may have a bit of very unusual rain this evening. There is a forecast for such. And we would love to have a last watering of the country and hills and plants before the long, long hot summer. I hope it does rain!! I worked over the geraniums this a.m. They are so beautiful with their varied hues and colors. What a pleasure to have them in the garden! We love it!! We are reading a lot this year. We enjoy different authors, and our bookshelf of books to read is growing daily, almost! 8-)) . It is still rainy in Ireland and soon we will be there. The flight is long, but we make it ok. That is where we do lots of reading--flying at 35,000 feet or so. It helps to pass the time of the long flights. Did you notice the Christmas Cactus that I posted today in position #1 on the opening page? Isn't that amazing, the Christmas cactus are blooming, well some are -- and just a few blossoms, but the colors are amazing and very "eye-catching". If you are a regular reader you have read of how I became interested in Christmas cactus thru my Mother raising them too. They will always be in my garden for sure! Enjoy your weekend and do something nice for someone. I know you do, but maybe this will be the weekend you do something special for someone that means a lot to them and you. Mothers Day is coming May 10th. Do enjoy!-BT, May 1, 2009.

April 25, 2009: We had been talking about our times in Spain during our Spain days of travel. We would fly into Madrid, that fabulous and very historic capital city, stay awhile, then go North to the province of Asturias, far to the north on the sea and even up to Covadonga National Park, far up that winding road into the mountains. It is wonderful there and peaceful, and there is so much beautiful scenery to see and experience. I think if I ever lived in Spain, it would be Asturias, with its small sea villages like Candas and so on. One learns to really appreciate the beauty of this earth by traveling and seeing the different parts of the planet. Spain will always be one of our favorites. We remember well Oviedo with its Romanic Churches, Segovia with the fantastic Roman Aquaduct, La Granja with the Royal Palace built by Phillip V in the 1700's, Santiago de Compostela with its ancient Cathedral on the big square in the old city. We are so happy that in our lifetimes we were able to go to Spain and explore and experience. It is a wonderful country, and we will return one day. Enough of that! It makes me want to travel, and we will very soon now. The cool West wind has come up today, with beautiful sunshine to accompany it. The weekend is here, and it is a nice one. Enjoy it wherever you might be!--BT, April 25, 2009.

April 19, 2009: The warm weather has come in early today. And boy is it warm!! We expect 2 or 3 days of this type of weather, but it is very nice. I was out among the terraces a bit ago this afternoon, and the colors of the geraniums are so refreshing and nice to see. It makes one appreciate that they garden and have the flowers that come in the spring. Yesterday, I put up the tomato vine stakes, as the plants love this warm sunny weather and are really growing. I like seeing their progress. I have posted some new Burgundy Ice flowers and some new Hummingbirds photos on the web page. Just wait until the hummingbirds discover that the Alstromeria is blooming, they will come in large numbers to feed on the beautiful blossoms of the plant! That, of course gives me a great opportunity for photos of the hovering, skimming beauties!! The offshore winds are blowing a bit this afternoon thus the warm weather coming in today. It is dry and warm! But in a day or two the fog will come in from the sea, and the temperature will change markedly. I like this ocean climate a lot! We have weddings and new babies occuring in the family! How fun and exciting for everyone involved. It keeps one's mind moving!! 8-))))) I hope your weekend has gone well. Ours has. It is nice today in the garden. I have taken several quick walks out to look for birds and insects with the Canon Digital Rebel XT, with its telephoto lense! I am looking for hummingbirds and the hooded oriole to photograph. They are both very beautiful birds in their own way. We did a bit of genealogy this afternoon, finding some names of people in our database. It is so interesting to work a bit on the family records now and then and find first and/or middle names which you didn't have in your database. Are you ready for next week? Ours will be busy for sure. Do enjoy what is left of this weekend and appreciate your growing plants. Let's all celebrate our life and blessings everyday!! That always make life enjoyable!!!--BT, April 19, 2009.

April 17, 2009: What a beautiful and balmy day here on the Gold Coast. The high winds of the past 2 days are gone and we are glad! They were very strong and cool winds. They blew the geranium terraces but the plants seem to do fine. The terraces and hanging baskets are all those wonderful geranium hues that one would expect. This is indeed a growing time. The tomatoes, planted April 1, are doing well and showing growth. Soon I will put the climbing/support stakes in the ground among the plants to brace the plants as they grow tall. Boy, the tomatoes are really going to taste good soon!! The Alstromeria is fantastic! It is budding out all over and soon will bloom in a myriad of colors. We like its flowers very much. Our Iceberg Roses have a million buds ready to burst. Well, almost a million!! 8-))) Gardening makes me feel good when I am out among the terraces with the geraniums. How fun it is!!Spring is rapidly moving toward summer. How nice. We love this time of year on the Gold Coast. It is great! The weekend approaches, and I hope you enjoy it and have a good one. The Hummingbirds are around and skimming about looking for nectar. The Lavender plants are covered with blooming stalks and millions of honeybees. Spring is here! Have a good weekend. --BT, April 17, 2009.

April 11, 2009: I have been gardening all morning and what a glorious morning it is--full sun, a few clouds in the sky and a coolish wind! I love it-very spring like for us! While working in the front garden, the neighbor lady called across the hedge, "Would you like some Easter flowers?" Knowing she raises very beautiful roses, of course we would! She brought over a bouquet of her lovely roses in a vase to share with us. She has done this before, and what a kindness she has shown us. She has a good heart, and we appreciate her sharing the roses with us. They are beautiful and are in a vase sitting on the fireplace hearth. How kind it was of her. "In everything we say and do, kindness is the way." We have our first Alstromeria stalk of flowers in the house from the big plant in the East Garden. How lovely it is, and here is another sign of Spring. The flowers and shrubs and trees all seem to come alive after April 1. How beautiful! The House Sparrows have been swooping and buzzing around the Front Garden the last week or two and I wonder if a nest is being planned. We have had that happen before in the front hanging geranium baskets. We shall see. Happy Easter to all! I remember the Easter egg hunts we always had in the back yard for our daughters and how much fun we all had. One easily remembers all those good times and cherishes them carefully. The mind remembers ! Do have a great Easter weekend. Plato said it a long time ago: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Enjoy the weekend, and enjoy the signs of Spring, if you see them in your part of the world. --BT, April 11, 2009.

April 4, 2009: I had been in the tomato garden that day, and I heard them before I saw them: Hawks! As I have said previously, one can instantly recognize the call of the Hawk once you have heard it. I came out of the garden and there they were, a pair above soaring together in wide circles thru the azure sky and occasionally calling to each other--a moment of beauty in this place called nature! Yes, the tomoato garden is planted, and the plants are doing well. This is early for me to be planting tomatoes as we usually wait until we return from Ireland in the late Spring. But this year they are in, so should have wonderful Better Boy tomatoes by June. They are absolutely delicious! My wife will make parmesan tomatoes, and use them in sandwiches and salads. Yum!! Can it get any better than that for a tomato farmer!!! We planted another Mexican Sage in the east garden yesterday, this one being a dwarf and will grow up to 2 feet. The sage are beautiful and wonderful. The hummingbirds love the nectar and come in daily to feed among the beautiful purple blossoms.(see photo below). The sage is also drought tolerant and easy to care for. Yesterday a strong wind came up from the west and blew into the night. It blew over some of the potted Christmas Cactus, but I left them down until this a.m. as the wind would have just blown them down again. Spring is surely here! What a beautiful and sunny day today with a bit of breeze still remaining. I also potted a parsley plant for my wife to use in her cooking. It looks strong and healthy and we will enjoy the fresh herbs from it thru the summer. It is nice to have the long evenings coming into our daily schedule. I like it a lot. I hope your weekend goes well. Enjoy. --BT, April 4, 2009.

March 29, 2009: I have been doing this web page for sometime now. I must have absolutely thousands of photos of mostly geraniums. I keep taking new photos and storing the old ones. It is an endless process. My Mom and Dad always had geraniums growing in their garden as far back in time as I can remember. Geraniums are flowers I have known forever it seems. I enjoy photographing and posting to my web page for you the reader. I hope you enjoy it too, and perhaps get some peace and quiet as you scroll about on the Digital Flowers page. Yes, I will confess: I do that too. Occasionally I will open the page and look at one of my favorite flowers, and I do have favorites, not one but many!! 8-)) It makes the day a bit more lovely and peaceful for me. What a beautiful afternoon we have today on the Gold Coast. The sun is bright. I moved some of the geraniums on the back garden terraces out into the sun, and I can tell they like that. How do I know that? The buds are growing and soon will be wonderfully hued flowers. That is so neat! How good can it get for a gardener!! March is leaving soon, isn't it!! Time marches on, and one must appreciate and enjoy each day as it is. I like what Barbara Jordan said about today and tomorrow. She was a Senator from Texas some years ago. You can read her quotation below. It is a good one for sure. The weekend has been a good one for us. Today is a quiet day, one for reading and relaxation. And that is nice. Once when I was young, I had a friend named Jack who loved hawks and raised and trained them. His hawks were beautiful! He wanted to be a veterinarian. When I see a hawk soaring, sometimes I think of when we took his large Red Tail Hawk out in the country to exercise and fly him untethered. And he did come back to Jack when he blew a whistle. What a magnificent animal the hawk was. That was many years ago. And how interesting it was! Are you thinking of something from your past? I do often. The human mind is a miracle. Do enjoy your day!--BT, March 29, 2009.

"I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning I say: What is my exciting thing for today? Then, I do the day. Don't ask me about tomorrow." - Barbara Charline Jordan

March 27, 2009: It seems like the whole countryside and every gardener's garden is exploding in color and blossoms!! Yes, Spring is here and in a big way! And I feel summer just there over the horizon, preparing to make its way into our lives! The geraniums are so prolific and healthy with the multitude of hues in the blossoms!! I love this time of year. For we who entertain allergies throughout the year, of course it is sniffle here and sniffle there! But we somehow manage to make it thru the season. I posted today, a new hummer photo of an Anna's Hummingbird feeding on one of our Mexican Sage plants in the front garden. Actually I photographed from the kitchen window with the Digital Rebel and its telephoto lens. When you are photographing Hummingbirds, you have to photograph quickly as they do not stay in the same location very long! 8-))) Actually it is a fun challenge. The warm weather is just with us now, and warmer just over the horizon to come in -- in a day or two. The air conditioner is uncovered and ready to go if it gets hot! And it will get hot! Believe me. I noticed a hidden Sybil Holmes geranium blossom the other day. The plant is starting to bloom its very beautiful pink. If you haven't looked at my Sybil Holmes or it has been awhile, and you want to see the blossoms of the flower click here. It is such a beautiful flower. The birds are all over the area now: Mockingbirds, White Crowned Sparrows, English Sparrows, Towhees, the Hummingbirds, Scrub Jays and others. You hear them everyday, some raucous, some gently singing their songs. It is a pleasure to have them back with us. Our gardens are always welcome homes to the birds. They make the garden a pleasant environment. How fun that is!! Our week went well. Time is flying. It is still rather cold and rainy in Ireland, but we hope for warm pleasant weather when we are there. It has to be!! 8-))))) Do have a great weekend. How is your garden growing? It is snowing in Iceland again so my friends there tell me. And raining in Ireland. And here we sit on the Gold Coast in the warm Spring Sun with the geraniums blooming their colored blossoms wildly!!! Can it get better than that???!!!! 8-)))) take care and enjoy.--BT, March 27, 2009.

March 15, 2009: Spring is near! Can you feel it? I suppose it all depends on where you might live. Are you in the snow? Or the sun? It has been a beautiful day here on the Gold Coast. The sun is out, and it was a perfect day for photography. I hope you have noticed the 3 new geranium photos I posted for you on the opening page. I have to say, I really like the colors of the flowers. We are ready for spring--those nice balmy days of spring, and heading into summer. In Ireland, of course St. Patrick's Day is coming next week. And the Irish love to celebrate the festive day. There will be parades, music, dinners and the like! And here in the States, Americans always like to acknowledge and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in their own way. If you were in Ireland you would find it a bit difficult to get a taxi, eat at early closing restaurants and the like on that day. I spent some time with the flowers yesterday out on the back terraces, watering those that needed it. The plants are looking very healthy and just busting with buds and blossoms. How colorful they are! My geraniums always remind me of the small villages in Asturias, northern Spain, and our Spain days. In the villages there are pots and planters of geraniums everywhere, even up on multi-storied buildings, sometimes hanging from the side of the building where they are mounted. It is a very colorful sight, and I have seen the same in England and Ireland. Geraniums are universal, I think! Spring is officially here at the end of next week, but for me, we are already in Spring with the sun and the blue sky and the colors in the garden. I do hope your weekend went well. Ours did. I think I may have been invited out to lunch tomorrow. Hope so, that would be a great way to bring in St. Patrick's Day and Spring. Watch for Spring. As one of the quotations below says: it is indeed nature's rebirth! It is upon us soon!! Enjoy the day, BT, March 15, 2009.

March 7, 2009: I really like gardening!! I find it fun and relaxing. I think I learned to grow things from my Mom and Dad. And my wife has always had an interest in gardening. Many of my ancestors were farmers in the mid-west in the early days. Maybe I have some of their farming built into me, also. It is a peaceful and fulfilling experience. Today I worked on the geranium terraces. If you want to see what they look like today go to the March, 2009 page and scroll down a couple of pictures and there they are. The terraces are really alive and growing at this time of year with many, many flower buds waiting to break open in a myriad of wonderful colors! I always check each plants water needs with a moisture meter to insure that they don't get too much water. They do very well with less water than more water. It is beautiful today, the sky dotted with cloud shapes and blue sky. What a fantastic time of year. I especially like the photos I have posted for you today on the opening page, the Bravo Light Pink and the Rocky Mountain Violet, both zonal geraniums. And they must be watched for caterpillars! They can eat your entire plant if you do not find them and get them off the plant! Soon the clivias will bloom. The buds seem to grow a bit each day, and they will be beautiful! I feel Spring out there somewhere. It isn't too long either. It is very cold in Ireland still. I hope it warms up by the time we are there. Enjoy your weekend, BT, March 7, 2009.

March 4, 2009:The rain has come and it is renewing and refreshing. It is as tho a giant hand has washed the mountains and the plain. We are still far behind our normal rainfall and I expect that it will be a long dry spring and summer, but it always is, it seems! I was thinking yesterday of Doc, one of my 3 Grandfathers. I don't know why I was thinking of him but I was. I do that often, especially since I have been doing genealogy. I don't know why everyone called him Doc. He was not a medical doctor or anything like that. I have asked some of the relatives who knew him how he got the nickname Doc, and nobody seems to know. It is one of those historical mysteries. 8-)))))) My parents and my sister and I called him Dad. He was a quiet man from the mid-west and came west as a young man to farm and work in the oil fields. He was gentle and kind and had a soft spoken voice. He loved my Mom especially and when he and his wife would come over to visit to our house, he always liked to visit with my Mom. I used to take him fishing to the pier when he was older, and he always enjoyed that a lot. He loved fishing. He and his wife would go and spend all day on the pier fishing. I have been photographing today a bit. The clouds are beautiful in the sky and already it is March. My daughter in Ireland sent photos today of the snow at their house yesterday, and there was lots of it! And very cold. Our Grandsons went out and made snowballs, of course, and I would have loved to have been there with them for a good snowball fight. Fun!!We lunched with old friends yesterday. How nice it was. We figured we have know them for at least 40 years, and they have been very good friends. They live north of us a couple of hours. I feel time moving now, with spring just around the corner, daylight savings time, Easter and so on. You remember in earlier writings I had said that my Mom always said that the older one gets the faster time goes. Well I am convinced she was right, and I have never forgotten it! One must take each day as it is and enjoy to the utmost and appreciate the beauty of the day. Well that's it, my thoughts for the day. Enjoy the week. --BT, March 4, 2009.

February 26, 2009: The west wind has come up today, blowing rather strongly into the east. What will this bring? I don't remember it being forecast, but it gives one a good sensation to feel the wind against your skin as you are outside! The hummingbirds are still here, the Anna's, anyway and I mixed up a new batch of hummer food today and cleaned their feeder and put the new food in the feeder. They will be coming in soon this afternoon for a sip; hummingbirds need to feed many times daily as they are so small and use so much of their energy flying and hovering. I am always amazed at the Christmas Cactus, how they continue to bloom in our climate even after Christmas. I hope you like the new photograph I posted on the opening page today. What a beautiful, yet dainty and elegant blossom!! They will forever be one of my favorite plants in the garden. And that blossom is on one of the starts I planted a few months ago. The piece had broken off the main plant, and I never throw Christmas Cactus branches away. They are always replanted to make a new plant. Daylight Savings Time will soon come to our area, and we love the long spring/summer evenings. They are so nice! I can hardly wait! I talked to my friend in Iceland via a computer chat the other day, and they are still in the snow and ice. Wow, I wonder what that is like?? 8-))) I have only been in the snow once or twice in my life, and that was as a child. So I haven't many memories of what it is like---to be in the snow. My wife is the snow expert having been raised in snow country in the eastern part of our country! Our clivia plants are starting to put up their buds to prepare for their March blooming. You can be sure I will photograph them and post them for you to enjoy. The lavender in the east garden is growing, growing, and growing. I brought some blossoms in the house today for us to enjoy--such a wonderful aroma! They are pristine! The iceberg roses, having been cut back a bit ago, are growing new leaves and we are looking forward to the iceberg white roses! They are beautiful. I hope your day went well. Ours did, doing small chores around our place. I even planted two geranium cuttings for new plants today. So that is it! Each day is important, as someone said, "it is the immediate moment that is the one to reckon with!" The wind chime sings its song as I write this and the wind plays its wonderful tunes on the chimes. What more can one ask??!! Enjoy!--BT, February 26, 2009.

February 18, 2009: One might think, by observing my opening page that I am partial to red geraniums. Well, I must say I really like them, and my collection of geraniums has many, many reds among the group. The colors are outstanding and the difference in the red hue is easily observed when you compare a Royal Dark Red with an Arctic Red. But I do like them all. I posted a Picasso for you this a.m. Hope you like it. We are just having a wonderful and very sunny day after the several days of rain. The rain was nice and good for the mountains, hills, roadsides and yards, but we are not rain people who would be happy with several days of rain--anyway more than the 2 or 3 that we had. The sun is beautiful today, and I did some work on some of the geraniums trading some of my newer starts in for some of the hanging pots in the front yard. I like to rotate them once in a while. The evenings are still cool for us, but not as cool as where my daughter lives in Ireland or my friend in Iceland. He emailed this a.m. that the snow is melting on some of the nearby mountains that surround his village there on the roof of the world, as he likes to call it. Our Towhee has been flitting about the yard this a.m. and we like to see him out there on the fence or in the yard. I know the mockingbirds have a nest in the privet hedge as they daily frequent the same area taking nest building straw and grass into their hideout. They are such sleek and beautiful birds in their gray feather-coat. I hope your week goes well for you. Ours is moving along very well. Enjoy yourself.--BT, February 18, 2009

February 14, 2009: Happy Valentines Day to you all! I don't know if you celebrate Valentines, but we do with a lunch out and gifts. It was a nice one. The rains came this week, quenching the parched land, and it really made the mountains turn green with new growth of grasses and plants. And more is expected over the weekend. That will be good. It was nice and sunny but cool today, and a perfect day for potting clippings from the geranium plants and checking the terraces under the patio roof. It has been very cool at night and in the a.m.'s, and spring is just over the horizon with Daylight Savings Time. That we like a lot. The Canon G10 camera is so responsive. It is fantastic, so small but so well equipped for zoom, closeups and the like. I am enjoying it a great deal and will take it to Ireland when the time comes for that trip. We have been there many times and will continue to go. We know the little village so well that we visit. It is very historic! But cold in the winter! I hope your weekend goes well. Ours does. The fireplace continues its nightly burn for us, as has been quite cold. I have been off Minutia for a bit as not a lot going on. But I will be on it more now. Do enjoy and have a great weekend. I posted some new flowers for you on the opening page. I hope you like them. Enjoy--BT, Feb. 14, 2009.

February 1, 2009: I felt Spring in the air yesterday and today. The warmth of the sun is lovely! For sure I did! I know, I know, it is the middle of winter but with our off shore flow of air, we are sitting in the middle of spring here on the Gold Coast and I love it! What weather! The birds are singing in the neighborhood, and it is nice. I have been working on the web page today, added the February flowers page and placed some other photos on the page. It is relaxing and fun work for me. I ran into a former student the other day at the Dr.'s office. Boy, when you see your former students as grownups, you don't recognize them. This student did recognize me and came over and talked with me. It must have been 10-15 years since she was in my classroom. Time really moves doesn't it! I love retirement, time to do those things one never had time to do while we worked all those years. Are you retired? If so I hope you like it as much as I do. Rain may come in later in the week. We need it very much. It is dry and arid, and we need the natural watering that the rainfall does to the countryside. It may snow this week in Ireland. Wow, what would that be like? I have only been in the snow once or twice in my life and don't remember much about it. The weekend ends, enjoy next week! Have a cup of coffee to celebrate life! Enjoy the day.--BT, Feb. 1, 2009.

January 29, 2009: It happened to me the other day. You know, that opportunity to help someone in need. Wow! I was glad I was there to help. Some would say, oh that is nothing to be excited about, but it was for me as I am big on we who inhabit this great blue marble called Earth, helping and assisting where we are in our place and time, here. I had just pulled my car into a self-service gas station and was filling my tank when another car pulled in behind mine, and a lady got out of the car. I didn't pay much attention to here--just another customer topping off the gas tank! She hesitated for quite a time at the gas tank of her car and finally looked at me and said, "Can you help me?" I went right over and the first thing she said was something like, "I have only put gas in this car once, my husband always did, and he died!" Wow, I gulped, "How do you open the gas cap? I can't seem to do it." I showed and offered to do the filling of the tank etc, but she said she was ok with that. I am not writing this because I did the "help" in this situation, but am writing it to show, yes these situations do happen and there are genuine people who need help. I am thankful I was there to assist her. Yes, I said HELP! I enjoyed helping her and felt good about doing it. We are all brothers and sisters here on Earth, and someday each of us will need help. I know many of you do this all the time and I commend you. The breeze is coming up this afternoon. This a.m. I worked over the back terraces of geraniums and did a bit of pruning. Lots of buds are showing. It is Thursday already, and February is near.Valentines Day is coming! Are you ready for it? I hope so. I am! Do enjoy your day and the forth coming weekend. Enjoy!-BT, January 29, 2009.

January 26, 2009: Wow, think I got it correct this time: writing the year 2009 instead of 2008! Do you have that problem too? I sure do! 8-)))) I posted two new flower photographs on the opening page today, one of the Royal Dark Red and one of Christmas Cactus: Truncata. Aren't Christmas Cactus amazing? Here it is in the middle of a cold January, in fact near the end of a cold January, and some of my plants are blooming. I keep them outside under the patio roof in their favorite place in the corner there. I like to leave a plant in a location where it is doing well. It is almost like they have found "their place" in this vast plant world. I was in the front garden and our pair of Towhees were there scratching a bit in the grass. They are such a beautiful and calm bird. We like them very much. They are always welcome in our garden! I have been watching the Bravo Light Pink Zonal Geranium carefully for worms and insects. I have been nursing it back from the ravages of the insects, and it is looking very well. It has a nice flower bud developing and am looking forward to photographing it soon. How fun for me! This raising geraniums has become a real interest and hobby for me. Do people still have hobbies? I remember when I was young I collected stamps, postcards, and made model airplanes out of balsa wood. 8-))))) That probably gives you a hint as to my age and generation. 8-))) You just don't see many balsa wood airplane models today! And were they ever fun--building them and playing with them. It has turned cold today with a very brisk wind blowing. The fireplace will definitely be used tonight. I hope your beginning of the week goes well. Enjoy each day; I was talking with a nurse this a.m. and discussing the exact same thing. She commutes everyday to work and enjoys seeing the sea and the sunsets. It sounds like she enjoys her days. The Digital Flower web page grows almost everyday. I really enjoy the photography and the putting together of the page. I think Ben Franklin had a good idea when he said the below quotation. I hope you enjoy it too. Enjoy the day!!--BT, January 26, 2009

January 24 2009: The rain came in slowly and subtley and quenched the plants thirst and need. It was wonderful! I have always liked the rain, and it really gives the plants a boost in the wintertime. There may be more rain next week. We shall see. We will take all we can get at this time of year. A reminder: if you want to go back to any of the previous minutia pages, the links are down at the bottom of this page. I thought it was time to make a new chapter of Minutia. I posted two rain flowers for you this a.m. I went out to the garden with the G10 camera and was able to get some photos to post. I like them, showing the rain droplets on the petals. How refreshing and renewing the flowers in the photos appear! January moves quickly now, and daylight savings time will be coming in March. Are you thinking about Valentines Day? I am, and have shopped for my wonderful loved one already. It is a special day to show your appreciation and love for someone special, and I hope you will do that for someone on Valentines Day. It is coming soon. Don't wait too long to prepare for it! We like the long evenings of Daylight Savings. It just gets dark too early now in mid-winter. I hope your weekend goes well. We will have a quiet one with some fires in the fireplace and a good book or a good mystery movie from Britain. We like that sort of an evening. How did your week go? I hope it went well. Did you have any opportunities to be kind to another person? I hope so. Plato said it long, long ago: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." I think in many ways that is very true. Kindness is something this world needs in a great way! Take care and enjoy!!--BT, January 24, 2009.