Wordless Wednesday: Flowers to Feed the Soul.

Wordless yes, so look... breath in.... "Bread may feed the body, But flowers feed the soul." ~The Koran~

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.

Lavender Bees and Annabel

The lavender is in full bloom right now and these beautiful little yellow bees have found there summer home. I think these are Golden, Northern Bumble Bees. The small dancing yellow bodies against the green and blue of the lavender is breathtaking. I must have taken 50 photos to get a few good ones. The last photo on the bottom right is, I think, a Mining Bee. They are all over the place aroung here but usually alone. They don't hang in groups like the little yellow ones do. This little guy was getting ready for bed. I was able to touch him. He was moving very slow and didn't fly away. I use to read the boys a story about a sleepy little bee. Maybe this is him.
Yes, it's Annabel. She's still here and she's made this place her own. She controls the mouse and lizard population, catches dragonflies midair and stares down the dogs when they bark at her. She has earned her right to be a critter on 3 Dog Farm, which we now call 2 Dogs and a Cat Farm. Although she is more like a dog than any cat we ever had before. She follows me on my walks ( or I should say.., LEADS me.) and has had stand offs with the deer that come into the yard looking for water and cracked corn. Yes, the prospector leaves food for the deer. I use to think he had an ulterior motive but I don't think he does. He's too soft hearted and now the does bring their babies. You just can't think "meat on the table" when you see these sweet, spotted babies with their mommies.
Anyway, Annie has settled in to her life here and, before it got warmer, we were closing her into the garage at night. Yesterday was one of our first hot days and so the garage gets way to hot to close her up in there. We leave the back door ajar and hope that she has the common sense to stay out of harms way at night. The foxes and coyote have been very active before and after the full moon. They come in close and make a lot of noise. I hope Annabel stays in the confines of the house area and watches her back.
Isn't she a beautiful cat?

I'm leaving in a few hours to see Mom and my sister. I'll be back on Thursday.

Lavender from an Old Goat

Look what I got at the post office yesterday. Guinnias, the "new" old goat at Apifera Farm sent me dried lavender all wrapped up with a note and a wonderful stamp. Guinnias has come from a rescue farm to live out his days at Apifera. He is a very old and wise goat who needed a home and the wonderful owners of Apifera Farm up in Oregon have taken him in (with the help of some of us who love old goats too and want the best for them.) In return he sent lavender. Wasn't that sweet of him? Thank you sweet old goat.

I put some of it outside my front door in a hanging bucket. It's so pretty. Now, everytime I go through the door I can smell the lavender and think of Guinnias and how happy he will be when he settles in to his new life. Every old goat needs a home.

This is a closeup of the stamp. Isn't it wonderful?
Guinnias , all of us here at 3 Dog Farm wish you peace, sunshine and a happy life.
Love; the Prospector, Farmlady, the dogs (Mokie & Maggie), the goats(Bart, Brownie, Murphy & Freckles) and the chickens.