Stopping to Smell the Roses and the Flowers

Hello dear friends,

In my walks each week I try to spot the beauty in the small places and to literally stop and smell the roses, and the other flowers.

These beauties were what I stopped to enjoy earlier this week.

What about you dear reader? 

Do you stop and smell the roses too? 

Or perhaps there are other ways you like to enjoy the simple things in life. 

Let me know in the comments.

Roses ~ Tuesday 4 Meme

Here is another of Tuesday 4  invented by Toni Taddeo and kept alive in her memory.   While June is the month of roses, they do bloom all summer long and well past September in many places.

1. What is your favorite color of roses? Do you have a favorite kind of rose? 

My favourite colour of roses is 1) orange or 2) deep pink. I also like the same coloured roses but with cream on the outside.

I was trying to find a photo of such flowers for you because I know I've taken some but I can't seem to find more recent ones. The one I'm sharing is quite old and taken with a small camera in the days before the smart phones started taking good photos.

 

2. Do you ever buy flowers for your home?

Rhododendrons

Yes, I definitely love buying fresh flowers but they've become so expensive just like everything else here. I heard an American from Ohio the other day say she can buy a bunch of fresh flowers for $5. I've been buying fresh flowers here for decades and the price has never been that low.  It used to be that on the street where I live there would be many small stores that would sell bunches of fresh flowers and in those golden old days, the price was probably close to $10 for one bunch.  Nowadays most of those shops are gone and flowers, when you can find them, are at least $15 and up to $100 + for a fuller more varied bouquet.  Sadly this means I don't buy fresh flowers very often these days.  If I have an extra $15 to spend then I'd prefer to buy fresh fruits or vegetables.

3. Are there any roses in your yard or neighborhood? If not what kind of things grow around you?

No. My neighours and I only have patio balconies and I've yet to see anyone growing roses. They do grow rhododendrons and other flowering bushes though I can't say I've seen everyone's garden since we have privacy walls. In the stand alone residences in the neighbourhood some people do grow roses of various kinds though one doesn't see as many of them as one would think.

4. What do you see when you look out your front door?   How about out your kitchen window or back door?  

My daily view. 🙏

I only have a front door and a patio door and north facing windows.  The bathrooms and kitchen have no windows. When I walk out my front door I see a hallway.  When I look out the patio door I have a very beautiful view of the mountains and a church steeple.

Hello

Hi friends,

I'm back in this space for a short while.

I've recently been on travels and so I hope to share some of that along with photos in the coming weeks.

I just wanted to pop in and say thank you to those who have continued to pop by here and leave me a kind word or two. It means a lot.

My laptop stayed home while I was away and though I did borrow one I didn't have time to actively visit blogs or to post here though from time to time I tried.

I know Valentine's Day has passed but I wanted to share the beautiful bouquet I received which was a lovely surprise.  I had a spa appointment that day at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi and was gifted with a few more red roses and a lovely chocolate. Later on when having dinner at the Java House, in Nairobi's Westlands area, I was also treated to a delicious surprise of pistachio and hazelnut ice cream compliments of the restaurant.  All in all it was a lovely day.

I have lots to share but for now I leave you with these beautiful flowers.

Pretty in Pink ~ Macro Flowers

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Famous line from Shakespeare's, Romeo & Juliet

 

I've always loved roses of any kind and especially if they are fragrant. These ones are located along a busy road way at the edge of someone's garden.  

Even when the rose begins to wither, it's beauty is still there.

 

 

 

 

Click the badge to join in Macro Flower Saturday.
or 
Join in the fun at Weekend Flowers hosted by the lovely, Tina.

Day Trip to Kamloops, My World Tuesday

Driving to Kamloops, BC. We are at the highest elevation of the mountainous highway.

Passing by Merritt, BC.  One hour left to go before we get to Kamloops.

Today my brother, my cousin and I took a day drive to Kamloops to visit my mother.  We left around 7:45 a.m. and arrived in Kamloops at 12:30 p.m. after a leisurely drive and several stops. I only took a couple of photos along the way.  After stopping for some lunch we arrived to visit mom. She was waiting in the dining hall anxiously keeping watch for us and was so happy when we arrived.

We visited for a time in the dining hall and I showed her the shawls and dresses I had brought for her. She loved them all.  After visiting for awhile my brother went to pick up my niece who lives about a half hour from where mom now resides.  When he returned, we left my brother to visit my mom in private while I took my cousin for a look around the facilities and took my niece to see the new rose garden that is now open at the facility.

As soon as we opened the door to the garden, the fragrance of the roses was heavenly.  I took a few photos as the blossoms were so lovely.  There were about 6 or 7 varieties of roses in the garden but I took photos of these beautiful red blossoms only.

Afterwards, my cousin and I took mom to her room where we tried on her dresses as best we could given she was sitting in her wheelchair. My guess is that the staff will cut the new dresses up the back to make them easier to wear. Hopefully they won't wash them. I will have to retrieve them later and sew some seams up the back.  She loved both dresses but I think the red one particularly caught her eye.  While we were trying on her dresses my brother drove my niece back to her home.

We visited awhile longer with mom and took her back to the dining room for dinner before calling my nephew to come and meet his auntie for a quick visit. We visited with him briefly in the parking lot before we departed at 5:45 p.m. for the drive back to Vancouver. He usually wants a real quick visit so we were careful to take little of his time. This time he asked why the rush, lol. We may seem him this weekend when he makes a trip to the big city.  Soon he will be moving to my city permanently as he has given up his job to return to university and complete his Bachelor of Arts degree.

We made it home at approximately 9:45 p.m.  We were all very tired as none of us slept well last night but all in all we had a fruitful and pleasant visit.

For more scenes from around the globe please click here.

A Rose is Sweet ~ Simple Joy Saturday

I was blessed this week with roses blooming in my garden.  I love flowers of all kinds and I especially love roses. This one comes from my garden. It comes from a rose bush that was in my garden when I moved in to my apartment. It has always been a spindly plant and I'm afraid I don't tend to it well. Yet it gives off such pretty blossoms each year. Only a few blossoms though and so they are rather precious to me.


Thinking about the beautiful rose brought to mind the famous Shakespearean line about roses.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

Meaning

What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

Origin

From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1600:

JULIET:
      'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
      Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
      What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
      Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
      Belonging to a man. O, be some  other name!
      What's in a name? that which we call a rose
      By any other name would smell as sweet;
      So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
      Retain that dear perfection which he owes
      Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
      And for that name which is no part of thee
      Take all myself.

 

Please drop by Jan's new meme, Simple Joy Saturday by clicking here and tell us about your simple joys.

Shades of Red & Pink

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

I took these pictures in my garden last night. My first night in my own home since two days after Mother's Day. It is a great gift to be home and it will be even better when I can get everything out of boxes and onto shelves and into drawers.

It is going to take me awhile so thank God the weather has cooled down a bit as we don't have air conditioning. That is one thing I will miss from my hotel. Air conditioning and the beautiful ocean view. At home, I do have a beautiful mountain view. God is good and gives us good gifts. He never changes. Gotta love Him!

Nobody knows this little Rose

by Emily Dickinson

Nobody knows this little Rose --
It might a pilgrim be
Did I not take it from the ways
And lift it up to thee.
Only a Bee will miss it --
Only a Butterfly,

Hastening from far journey --
On its breast to lie --
Only a Bird will wonder --
Only a Breeze will sigh --
Ah Little Rose -- how easy
For such as thee to die!