Blue, she says, she wants blue, but...

I have a dearth of blue flowers in my yard. So, for my friend Yamini MacLean's Less Speak, More Peek challenge, I have photos containing blue.

Blue flowers, she said she wanted, and I have a dearth of blue flowers in my yard, but...

...here are some blue Grape Hyacinths. Where they came from and who took the photo, nobody knows, but they're blue.

Blue Alberta sky in the Badlands.

Our grandchildren's dog's puppies, two of them, in a blue bucket.

Pink crabapple blossoms with a pale blue sky behind.

These lilacs seem to start out pink, then take on a bluish tinge when they open.

And blue sky behind white blossoms. Pretty, no?

Kay Davies, photos, except first one, which is unattributed.

Here's what happened in our world

We had our big trees trimmed last week.
First, the men from the tree company cut down some of the smaller branches. These formed a trampoline that the man in the lift aimed for when he threw down the larger branches.

This big piece bounced when it landed, so it is slightly out of focus in the bottom right of this photo. I think I might have bounced a bit myself. I cropped the photo to show the large piece of branch. I really wasn't standing this close. (See top photo.)

Kay Davies photos, September, 2013

Afterward, all the branches, big and small, went into a chipper/mulcher machine that ate them all into small pieces. For safety reasons, the arborists didn't want a silly old woman running around with a camera, so I got these four shots, then went back inside the house where I belonged.
I just went through my archives to see if I could find photos that show the height of the trees hovering over our little hobbit house. I really don't have any that show the full height of either of them, but here are two for-instances.

Branch fell where Lindy naps!

The main reason I wanted the trees trimmed was the big branch that had fallen from one of them. It landed right where our dog Lindy naps during the day. Fortunately, it fell at night, but I didn't want to take any more chances. (The building seen behind the tree is a shed.)


Both trees can be seen in the second photo. They do provide plenty of shade, even shading the cars in the afternoon, but this old photo doesn't show how tall they really are. Our house is small, and not only small, it is low, and I think it is vulnerable. I'm glad the trees were trimmed.

Posted for
Our World Tuesday
Our World is hosted this week by Lady Fi and Oscar. My husband sure wishes our Lindy would swim like Oscar, but she's just not interested.

Crossbreeding can make critters cross

GENETIC  INTERFERENCE

How could they do this to a pig?

The pig on the right is 'way too big,

And covered all over in wild boar hair,

Which, seems to me, is not too fair.

For a pig should be slippery pink

And cool itself by a roll in the mud—

How many baths, what do you think

This hairy pig needs to get rid of mud-crud?

  

And the poor pig at left

similarly crossbred—

achieved the boar’s nose

and its temper instead.

Scratching the grey pig’s back with a hand

Might be satisfying to pig and to man,

But petting the brown pig 'tween its ears

Would conjure up  nightmarish fears.

However, in waterfowl, crossbreeding doesn't seem to be quite the disadvantage to the critter as it would seem to be in the case of pigs and boars.

Crossing a wood duck (right) with a rosybill (lower right) seems to want to produce a very pretty duck known as Netto Peposaca (bottom, centre).

Posted for

Open Link Monday
at the
Imaginary Garden
with Real Toads

Netto Peposaca and other photos from Wikimedia Commons

"What a deer family you have there, Bucky," said the magpie.

Hey, Bucky, wait up. I've gotta ask you,
is that your family over there? 

Wow, yes it is, Maggie. That's my brother's mate and her twins.
I see the little one lower down, on the right. They're such nice fawns.

Well, I think that human over there with the camera
has his eye on them!

I think you're right, Maggie, but here comes my brother!
He's big and strong!

I don't see the twins any more, Bucky,
so they must have moved up there ahead of their mom. 

And Big Brother is watching them,
to make sure they got away safely.

Posted for
Camera Critters
hosted by Misty Dawn. Thanks, Misty!

Lindy enjoying the sunrise

Lindy is glad the sun came up. She enjoys it and pays no attention to her dad, who is behind her, taking pictures...and not all his pictures are of the sunrise!

Posted for
Pet Pride
hosted by Lindy's friend Bozo
and his family in Mumbai, India

Lindy says, "Hi, Bozo. My dad and I go out for our walk early in the morning because the weather is still very hot. We sometimes see crows, but I don't pay any attention to them any more."

Lolamouse's inkblot challenge for Toads

Lolamouse is spending the whole day in the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, testing the rest of the toads with Rorschach-style inkblots to see what hidden meanings they have for us.
I am very busy sleeping today, and so is my dog Lindy, so we sent this little black dog to visit Dr. Lolamouse for us. Let's see how he does.

Picture: Portion of painting by Mary Cassat, Wikimedia Commons

hello, doctor lolamouse,

you have such a lovely house,

yes, thank you, I’ll sit on the couch

that chair’s low, I’d have to crouch

I’m here for the Rorschach Test

I hope I pass, I’ll do my best

to see hidden shapes and meanings

in the inkblots you’ve been screening

this one is a redheaded bat

any first-year pup knows that

next one is of jumping rabbits

so predictable, their habits

and the next one’s no surprise

a red-eared wolf with slits for eyes

then we have two kissing fish

close their eyes and make a wish

but the last one is confusing

probably because you’re using

all those colors, Doctor Mouse,

excuse me as I leave your house.

Inkblots provided with prompt by Lolamouse

Fireblossom Friday in Imaginary Garden

THE LOVESTRUCK STRIPPER

Wikimedia
Commons

the lovestruck stripper tried to be 

reincarnated studiously,

in order to impress

the man whom she’d obsessed

upon, unexpectedly.

a very studious prodigy, he

undertook preparatory

politically-correct zookeeping,

alas, the stripper came back, weeping,

still lovestruck, but just a zombie.

Fireblossom Fridays at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads are always unexpected, and usually fun. Today's was more fun than most. Fireblossom gave us two lists of words: one of adjectives, one of nouns, and asked us to choose one of each for our title, then write a poem about the resulting character.

Fireblossom herself can be more fun than most, as well, and her two lists of words were wonderful to choose from. I couldn't help using many more of them in my poem, as well as the two I used in my title.

Here are FB's two lists:

terrifying

regretful

miniscule

inebriated

envious

reincarnated

obsessive

lovestruck 

studious

unexpected

—

sherpa

ecclesiastic

docent

incubus

Gypsy

zookeeper

CSI

zombie

stripper

prodigy

What kind of reflection is this?

Richard Schear photo, August, 2013

I won't make you try to guess what this is. As you can see by the license plate, it's a vehicle—the back of a large van with double doors.
I like the way Lindy's wagging tail is reflected, and I laughed at how it made my husband look even slimmer than he actually is. He did lose a lot of weight a year ago, but he isn't this skeletal.
Meanwhile, the other door does nothing to make Lindy look slim, and I'm afraid it wouldn't do much for me, either, so I won't go looking for the vehicle in order to pose behind it.
And the bright light you can see reflected on the right? That's the sunrise. Dick and Lindy go for their walks early in the morning when they can, because the air is cool and fresh.

Posted for Weekend Reflections
hosted by James of California. Thanks, James!

Blue moon, blue sky at sunrise

Richard Schear, photos, August, 2013

These photos were taken during Dick and Lindy's sunrise stroll last month, when we experienced a "blue moon"...the second full moon of the lunar month.

Posted for
Skywatch Friday

Things we carry in the Imaginary Garden

Richard Schear photo

Peggy Goetz has challenged us to make use of the word "carry" today in the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.
It is a verb with many objects, and indeed more than one meaning. It is a noun. It is part of a phrase...carry on...carry out, etc.
But Peggy has asked us to write about "things we carry"...and there are almost as many ways to carry things as there are meanings to the verb "to carry" so we have wide scope within what might first appear an easy prompt.

I carry a heavy

heart within me

sadness for Syrians

for Israelis

and Palestinians

sadness because

the government 

of Canada

actively supports

oil companies

sadness because

the government

of the USA

actively supports

fracking practices

sadness because

Wikimedia Commons
4 images

neither government

supports healthier

more natural

alternatives

sadness because

one of my best

friends lost most

of her sight

Richard Schear photo

a year ago

sadness because

I’m helpless and

our beloved dog

is losing her 

eyesight now

she gets lost in

the house at night

her world is not

what it was, and

         nor is she

                ...and nor am I...

Kay Davies, September, 2013

H is for horses and helicopter

7:30 a.m., August 29, 2013

Posted for 

ABC Wednesday

the popular meme

started by Mrs. Nesbitt,

continued by Roger O. Green

and hosted today by
the musical memory man,
Roger himself

Richard Schear photos, August, 2013

Did someone say flat prairie? It's not flat where deep coulees have been carved into it by rivers and streams over the ages. Dick and Lindy have been going for their walks in the early morning recently, and Dick was able to capture photos of these three horses enjoying their breakfast, and also of a helicopter flying by after the mist of early morning burned off.

7:01 a.m., August 29, 2013, in southeastern Alberta

Oh what a beautiful day

We had a special visitor to our ornamental crabapple tree today. He was here for a long time, and my husband was able to get some wonderful photos by looking out his office window.

Richard Schear photos, September 3, 2013

Posted for

Our World Tuesday

Open Link Monday at the Imaginary Garden

wikimedia
commons
a. verhoesen

I don't know about the rest of the members and contributors at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, but I just couldn't resist the 2008 cartoon Kerry used on the Real Toads site today. Of course the copyright is held by the artist, Doug Savage, and we are merely borrowing it via poetic license here in the garden. (Although it is rather nice having chickens in the garden for a change.)

a poet lives
in his own world
surrounded by
spouses, ex-spouses,
brothers, sisters, cousins,
parents, grandparents, children,
grandchildren, cats and dogs,
nephews and nieces,
none of whom care
about poetry
at all,
although all
(except, perhaps, the cats)
do care about the poet.

a lonely existence
is the life of a poet
surrounded by
housework
garden work
automobile maintenance
social obligation
babysitting chores
shopping for food,
clothing, footwear,
and gifts to take
to social obligations.

the poet seeks
solitude and
a helpful muse,
a quiet spot
with quill and scroll
paper and pen
chalk and board
keyboard and screen
or tunnel wall and paint,
on which his words
will achieve
greatness
fame
posterity
and/or infamy
but especially readers.

September 2, 2013, by Kay Davies, formerly of it ain't art but it's mine dot com*

*imaginary website, see above re poetic license