Kiss the Joy as it flies... Blake's kind of morning.

The tomatoes are starting to turn red. Isn't this amazing? Give this heat loving plant the summer heat it desires and "Voila!", red tomatoes.

And so it is with the Moulin Rouge Sunflowers. They are happy with the summer heat and every morning they turn toward the East, as this radiant orb casts its light upon the farm, as if to proclaim the sun's arrival. Do flowers have rituals? Do they know what sustains them?

 
This bee is so beautiful against the white Agapanthus. It was early and many of them were still sleeping. What would it be like to sleep in a flower. The fragrance would be delightful. How do they hold on while they sleep.

My favorite bee is this one.... it's friendly and seems to like having humans around. They never get upset and I have had them crawl onto my hand without stinging. It's a bumble bee but I'm not sure what specific kind. Maybe a Golden Northern.

 This one loves the lavender. It's smaller than the black one and is probably a common Honey Bee. Very industrious, busy and brilliantly colored. They don't seem as friendly and when I started taking pictures this one buzzed and flew right at me, landing on my tee shirt. It stayed long enough for me to get a photo of it, then flew away, as if to say..."Don't get so close next time."

I guess it was just as curious about me as I was about him. Did you know that by passing food mixed with saliva to one another, members of a hive can chemically bond with each other? Is that like French kissing in the bee world? Did you also know that settlers brought the Honey Bee to North America in the 17th century. Just another immigrant, like my great-grandma. I love this stuff.

 Take a good look at this photo. My morning shadow made me look thin.  Thank you morning sun for elongating the shadow of my body and giving me a sense of slenderness that I find endlessly difficult to achieve in my everyday existence.
And as a parting shot..... Carl, the original "finders, keepers, losers, weepers" dog that The Prospector says "...does no wrong.".
I forgot to pick up my garden gloves and Mr. Opportunity found one of them. He would not look at me or drop the glove.  I had to chase him around the yard. I was so close a few times. But he would dart away when I got within reach of "his" prize glove. I finally grabbed him and got the glove. He seemed insulted. The other glove was missing. So was Cutter.... and Carl wasn't talking.
I finally found the other one in the house, on the table, where I had taken it off....Cutter was sleeping on the couch. How could I have blamed him for taking the other glove? Easy.... Carl is teaching him everything he knows. 

Carl with that "look".... and the glove.