Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - September 2010

This is one of my favorite "Muse" topics. I'm sorry I'm a couple of days late.

The Ways of Living Things

There is wonder past all wonder
in the ways of living things,
in a worm's intrepid wriggling,
in the song a blackbird sings,

In the grandeur of an eagle
and the fury of a shark,
in the calmness of a tortoise
on a meadow in the dark,

In the splendor of a sea gull
as it plummets from the sky,
in the incandescent shimmer
of a noisy dragonfly,

In a heron, still and silent
underneath a crescent moon,
in a butterfly emerging
from its silver-spun cocoon.

In a fish's joyful splashing,
in a snake that makes no sound,
in the smallest salamander
there is wonder to be found.

by Jack Prelutsky

Living Things - a Miracle in Motion!
:-) Happy Muse Day!

Please join Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago. Garden Blogger's Muse Day (about my favorite thing in which to participate) is her brainchild!

Garden Blogger's Muse Day - April 1, 2010

Blood Root (from my Aunt MEA) blooms today.

Now infant April joins the spring,
And views the watery sky,
As youngling linnet tries its wing,
And fears at first to fly;
With timid steps she ventures on,
And hardly dares to smile,
Till blossoms open one by one
And sunny hours beguile.

But finer days are coming yet,
With scenes more sweet to charm,
And suns arrive that rise and set
Bright strangers to a storm.
Then, as the birds with louder song
Each morning's glory cheer,
With bloder steps she speeds along,
And loses all her fear.

In wanton gambols, like a child,
She tends her early toils,
And seeks the bud along the wild,
That blossoms while she smiles,
Or, laughing on, with naught to chide,
She races with the Hours,
Or sports by Nature's lovely side,
And fills her lap with flowers.

---John Clare

Happy April 1st!

Happy Garden Blogger's Muse Day! If you'd like to see others that are participating, please visit Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - November 2009

I Don't Know How

(this year has gone so quickly)

Spring - 'twas wonderfully pleasantin weather and in flower --

Summer- 'twas extremely shyof norm, so cool and rainy --

Fall has felt quite fleeting,
quite damp with fallen temps --


And now we see November.

November,

sweet November

May allow yet time to see
(photos above and below taken October 28, 2008 - things looking unusually green)

me outdoors with my yardwork
as I long to be.
(photo above taken October 25, 2009 - same plants from above... fall-yellow)

Wouldn't YOU like to participate in Garden Bloggers' Muse Day? Carolyn Gail of Sweet Home and Garden Chicago originated this popular Muse. You could create your own post. But even if you don't, visit her site to see hers (click here) and find out who else is participating! :-)

Does July Remind You of Summer Camp?

I missed Muse Day! I dislike missing Muse Day. I always intend to post on Muse Day....

So, I'm going to post today. :-)

(2008 family reunion)

I've become a Billy Collins fan.
Billy Collins is the author of seven collections of poetry.

He is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, he was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 - 2003. He has also served as the Poet Laureate of new York State.

I've taken the following poem from
The Trouble With POETRY and Other Poems,
Random House, New York, 2005



The Lanyard

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the pale blue walls of this room,
bouncing from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past ---
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that's what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift --- not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.



(My cousin's pond)

Muse Day post - late.
See Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
to read all the timely posts! :-)

April Firsts - Garden Bloggers' Muse Day

I usually love the combination of photos and poems for Muse Day!

If you'd like to participate and/or read some great posts,
head to Sweet Home and Garden Chicago,
a garden blog by Carolyn Gail.

Would you like a little information about the first day of April?

From Wickipedia:
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day, although not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on fool's errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. In some countries, the jokes only last until noon: like UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool . "Elsewhere, such as in Ireland, France, and the USA, the jokes last all day. Another origin is that (at one time) April 1 was counted the first day of the year in France. When King Charles IX changed that to January 1, some people stayed with April 1. Those who did were called "April Fools" and were taunted by their neighbors.

Would you like to read lists of births, deaths, and important events that happened
on April first? This is another Wickipedia site.

Would you like to read another list of people born on April first?
Click here for this information!

Would you like to read famous quotes by people born on April first?
Click here for this information!

Did Wickipedia list all the historical events that took place on April first of any year?
Click here for this information!

If you want to know what is happening on April 1, 2009
use a Google search for a plethera of items!

One thing you probably won't find...
Shady Gardener and "Mr. SG" are celebrating
their (30+ years) wedding anniversary!

There may not be a post for a few days.
Believe it or not, it's the truth. ;-)
Happy Muse Day!

March Muse Day Post

Muse day is the first day of each month.
You should join this muse from time-to-time!
Visit Carolyn Gail at
Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
for more information or to let here you've participated.


This little video was taken in April 2008.
It will soon be warm enough to be digging again!

The Puzzled Centipede

A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
she lay distracted in a ditch
considering how to run.


---Anonymous

from "Favorite Poems, Old and New"
Compiled by Helen Ferris

Happy Muse Day! Have a good one.
:-)

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - February 2009

February 1, 2009


Winter Clothes

Under my hood I have a hat
And under that
My hair is flat.
Under my coat
My sweater's blue.
My sweater's red.
I'm wearing two.
My muffler muffles to my chin
And round my neck
And then tucks in.
My gloves were knitted
By my aunts.
I've mittens too
And pants
And pants
and boots
And shoes
With socks inside.
The boots are rubber, red and wide.
And when I walk
I must not fall
Because I can't get up at all.

by Karla Kuskin


The first picture shows our Michigan grandchildren. This bottom photo shows our Omaha grandchildren (in my knitted hat creations). ;-)

Join Garden Bloggers' Muse Day! Visit Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.Post on the first day of each month and let her (and the rest of us) know!

Absolutely nothing "shady" about this muse!

Garden Blogger's Muse Day, January 1, 2009

2009?

(taken in January 2008)

January
by John Updike

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor.
Milk bottles burst
Outside the door.

The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees of lace.

The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.

January does contain its excitement! :-)
And to see other Muse Day posts, visit Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Garden Blogger's Muse Day

First Snow

Snow makes whiteness where it falls.
The bushes look like popcorn balls.
and places where I always play,
Look like somewhere else today.

Marie Louise Allen

Join Carolyn Gail's Garden Bloggers' Muse Day! Post a poem on the first day of each month. Head for Sweet Home and Garden Chicago to look around.

Garden Blogger's Muse Day

"I like spring, but it is too young.

I like summer,

but it is too proud.

So I like best of all autumn,

because its tone is mellower,

its colours are richer,

and it is tinged with a little sorrow.

Its golden richness speaks

not of the innocence of spring,

nor the power of summer,

but of the mellowness

and kindly wisdom of approaching age.

It knows the limitations of life and its content."|

- Lin Yutang

Please visit Carolyn Gail, who conceived this muse, at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.

Happy November. :-)

Let Us Go Gladly Into October

May we remember

with gladdened hearts,
moments of beauty -
awe and/or mirth.


In anticipation
with respectful pause,
moments ahead seem
open and gracious.


May we be ready
with confident glances,
moments away are
beckoning welcome.


In acceptance
and graceful movement,
a season enters
beautifully timed.

'tis now
October.


by me - Shady G.
October 1, 2008

(this last photo was taken in October 2007)

Let us go gladly into this season.

Garden Blogger's Muse Day was conceived and is promoted by Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago . You, too, can participate!

September? September? September? Really?

We're entering September, and can anticipate the beginning

of one of the loveliest, showiest seasons!

Photos taken August 31, 2007
(American Pokeweed - Phytolacca americana)

This is something I found to Muse upon.
Hence, a Muse Day post.

"Simplicity in all things is the
secret of the
wilderness and one of its most
valuable lessons. It is
what we leave behind that is
important. I think the
matter of simplicity goes further
than just food,
equipment, and unnecessary
gadgets; it goes into
the matter of thoughts and
objectives as well.
When in the wilds, we must not
carry our problems
with us or the joy is lost."
---Sigurd Olson

Mark Twain was once asked if he wouldn't like to go off on holiday. He replied, "I'd be glad to, if only I didn't have to take that fella, Mark Twain, with me." Like Mark Twain, we often take "that fella" along with us when we go outdoors for recreation. our problems, worries, and other mental baggage usually tag along with us. Being so preoccupied with our internal world keeps us from feeling our unity with the natural world.

When you go out into nature, leave your everyday plans and concerns behind. Freeing yourself in this way will allow you to experience nature's cleansing and rejuvenating power.

the above was taken from Listening to Nature by Joseph Cornell

(Canada Thistle)

We are looking forward to a day with friends (tomorrow - Labor Day). I plan to take the above advice and not look ahead at the calendar until we return home. :-) For other Muse Day posts, visit Carolyn Gail at Sweet Home Chicago.

Have a fun day. Best regards. Shady G.

A Muse about the Rainbow

My Rainbow Garden

by Marilyn Lott

I have a Rainbow Garden
For inside of it you’ll see
Every color you would find
What a rainbow ought to be

The blue is for Forget-me-nots
(or in this case Brunnera, bloomed earlier)
Yellow for DaffodilsRed is for my gladiolas (or asiatic lilies and monarda)
(Asiatic lily - Crimson Pixie, bloomed in June)
Monarda (Jacob Cline, blooming now)My flowers are such a thrill


Green creates the many leaves
(hosta - Diana Remembered, blooming now)Of my Rainbow Garden too
I get such peacefulness
I would love to show it to you

My roses [flowers], oh I have many
My palette of color shades
I must enjoy them daily
For the time for them will fade
(daylily - Pretty in Pink, blooming now)(miniature rose - unnamed,
blooming now)(blackberry lily -Belamcanda chinensis
blooming now)
(daylily - Madonna, last blossom today)(daylily, Yellow Mammoth spider lily
just finished blooming)(Purple coneflower - budding in the shade)(dwarf aruncus - dwarf goatsbeard
blooming now)(Siberian Squill, very early Spring)(Water hyacinth, blooming now)(Dutch iris, early Spring)
So if you’re feeling weary
And you don’t know what to do
Plant flowers of all colors
And have a Rainbow Garden too!

(More of Shady Gardener's Rainbow)
(Stargazer Lily - blooming now)(Sempervivum - hens and chicks,
one is blooming now)(Aster "Alert" blooming now, new plant,
will bloom later)
(Sedum "John Creech?" blooms now)
(Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Milkweed,
blooming now)(Sedum, Blue Spruce, blooming now - about finished)(Sedum - Worm Grass, blooming now)(Lady Sheila Ann Germaney Iris - bulb, bloomed
early Spring)(Tricyrtis Hirta, new plant is blooming now)

Whenever I see a rainbow, I remember say "thank you!" :-) Yours truly will be absent for a week or so. Going to visit son's family in Michigan. Have a wonderful week. And, check out Sweet Home Chicago to see other Muse Day Posts.