Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms. I hope you have a wonderful day

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

"And honeysuckle loved to crawl up the low crag and ruin'd wall."

This is a quote from Marmion, the epic poem by Sir Walter Scott, about the Battle of Flodden Field (1513).

Isn't it amazing how flowers find their way into great works of literature?  Well, I have two honeysuckle vines, which are crawling all over my picket fence. They love their little spot which gets sun virtually all day.

They started putting out new growth in early March. I have two types of the twining honeysuckle--yellow and red.  The name of the yellow escapes me, but the red is called "Alabama Crimson." They are the non-fragrant kind of honeysuckle, with long tubular flowers.

The foliage turned from a brownish color to bright green within a few weeks.

These plants have totally entwined themelves around my fence. Is the fence holding them up, or are they holding up the fence?

"Alabama Crimson"

View from my neighbor's yard.

Alabamian of the Month for May - Jesse Owens

Who would have thought that the son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave would go on to become the best remembered athlete in Olympic history?  In winning four Olympic gold medals he thwarted Adolf Hitler's plans to use the games as an example of Aryan superiority.

James Cleveland Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama on September 12, 1913.

Called "J.C." by his family, the name "Jesse" was inadvertently given to him by a schoolteacher in Cleveland, Ohio, where the family moved when he was nine years old.  When asked for his name, he replied "J.C."  However, the teacher thought he said "Jesse," and that's the name she entered in her roll book. From then on he was known as Jesse Owens.

When Jesse was in high school, he won all of the major track events, including the Ohio state championship for three consecutive years. As a result of his high school career, several colleges recruited him. And although Ohio State University couldn't offer him a scholarship, he chose to enroll there. To support himself and his wife, Ruth, he worked several jobs: night elevator operator, waiter, and gas station attendant. He also worked in a local library, and served as a page at the Ohio Statehouse.  He somehow managed to find the time to practice and set records in intercollegiate competition.

Source: http://www.jesseowens.com/

More to come....

Iris -- Goddess of the Rainbow

When I was in high school, I was a "Latin" geek. I took three years of Latin in high school, because I was so interested in mythology.  Since there were only about fifteen of us in third year Latin, our teacher asked each of us to choose a Latin name.  So I chose the name "Iris." 

Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, and the messenger of the gods. She was the goddess of the sea and skies, and as the rainbow arcs from the sky to the sea, she was believed to replenish the rain clouds with water from the sea.

My real reason for choosing that name was because of the iris flower, which has as many different color combinations as the rainbow. 

Probably the most beautiful iris of them all is the bearded iris.  My daughter has taken quite an interest in these beauties and has given me some as well.  The following pictures were taken in her garden over the last couple of weeks.  I don't know the names of these lovelies; I just know that they take my breath away.

This one is in my front yard.

Is This What T. S. Eliot Had in Mind When He Wrote

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats?

This little fellow apparently has found a home under my house. Since I have cats that live outside in my back yard and I feed them at my back door, imagine my surprise to see little Pablo trying to eat cat food the other morning.  One of the cats was just sitting there, watching him. The poor thing can barely chew the food. I'm guessing he's an orphan, but he has the instincts that God gave him to know when he's got a good thing going.  As long as it's live and let live, I'm okay with him hanging around.

Everything's coming up roses - for me. (Ethel Merman)

Roses in my yard. I don't know the names of most of them, since many were planted when I bought the house. This is one of them. I love its color.

The bud of an English tea next to my garage.

Fully open.

This one is called Night Owl.

Betty Boop.This climber has been planted for at least three years. Now it's blooming for the first time. The picture doesn't do it justice, though. It's covered in 'bunches' of blossoms.

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns;

I am thankful that thorns have roses. (Alphonse Karr, author).