Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97- Pastimes
Thank you, Sue (Mac’s Girl), for hosting the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge this week. COVID19 gives us more time to stay home and spend more time on our hobbies and pastimes.
I have many passionate hobbies, enough to occupy three times of my lifetime. For this post, I only focus on two activities I’m engaged in daily, which are gardening and enjoying the amazing creatures in my garden.
There are four fruit trees and two grape vines in my garden. I have a different story about the plum trees this year. In the winter of 2018-2019, there were seven weeks of rain that soaked the plum trees to produce gorgeous blooms. The warm sun came to keep the clovers strong and pretty to invite the bees. The bees found their way to pollinate the plum blossoms which yielded 1,100 plum. Well, the rain, the clovers, the sun, and the bees didn’t coordinate this year, and I could see about 10% of the plums growing compared to that of last year.
I appreciate the year-round flowering of the hibiscus and roses. Their graciousness, loyalty, and steadfast to bloom were the inspiration of my poetry.
I started watching and feeding the birds in 2014. My regular visitors are the Mourning Doves, House Finches, and sparrows. The Scrub Jay and Pin-tailed Whydah paid occasional visits. I used to put the bird seeds on several spots of the top of the retaining wall closed to the slope where they searched for food. Unfortunately, the stray cats crept under the bushes, darted upward to snatch the Mourning Doves, then dashed away. It made me so mad. I used the chicken wire to fence off the area, but the cats outsmarted me. My new spot for the bird seeds is now on the patio ground.
I would like to have flocks of butterflies, but only a few visited. The Mourning Cloak butterflies came a few times. The Monarch came, but there were only two. I planted the Butterfly bush, but the growth is too slow to attract butterflies. Last week, a Monarch delighted me to visit the Salvia plant. The bees and the hummingbirds love the Salvia plant also. Two days ago, I bought four of the 2-gallon pots Salvia and planted them strategically to feed the hummingbirds and attract bees to pollinate the plum blossoms next year.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97- Pastimes
The Showers of Blessings 
Covid19 gives us more time to stay home indeed! Also, I realise I haven’t shared anything for months. I’m back 🙂 …don’t know for how long!
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I took a long break also. It’s always good to come back. 🙂
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Your garden is gorgeous, Miriam. I wish I had time to garden but that is just not possible right now.
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I understand perfectly, Robbie! It’s just shifting priority for me. Enjoy all that you’re doing. Time and place will come when you can do gardening!
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Beautiful picture symbolising nature in it’s true forms..
How are you doing, well these days are difficult because of the pandemic. Anyway I am Dalton. I am a simple man fill with simple dreams, i always like to look at the brighter side of life because it makes me happy, i am easy-going, straight forward, caring, humble, thoughtful, handsome, hard-working and God-fearing.;I have heard so much about this books club stuff and I believe I can find some solitude moments reading books and getting to meet new people here
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I particularly like the Monarch on the purple spire. Beautiful!
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Thank you, Liz. I was so excite about the Monarch that I spent two days searching for California native milkweed and ordered come. I learned a lot more about why Monarch butterflies are reduced drastically. Some organizations give free milkweed seeds to promote the Monarch growth!
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That must explain why there were so many Monarchs where I grew up. Milkweed was very common.
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Lovely, lovely garden you have, Miriam. Beautiful butterflies especially!
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Thank you, Amy. I saw another kind of butterfly fluttering next to me when I was doing gardening. Too bad I didn’t have my phone or camera!
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Hi Miriam, Wow, 1,100 plums? What did you do with them? We used to have plum trees and one year my husband made wine from them. It was only okay wine. I love the way you describe the hibiscus and roses. “…graciousness, loyalty…”
Your photos are gorgeous. You have such an artistic eye for capturing beauty. The butterflies are exquisite.
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Yes, Erica, I was curious about the trees covered with plums, so I tallied as I picked them. I gave most of them away every week when I went to the adult fellowship group.
I’m glad you liked my photos. Your photos are gorgeous also. Do you do any editing?
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I find I tweak “saturation.” Surprisingly, most of my photos the last few months are with my iPhone XR. I often do no editing with the phone pics. I take many, many photos and get lucky once in awhile.
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I do the same, especially during travel. I take photos in thousands, thinking I could delete some later.
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Your photos are so lovely and peaceful, Miriam. Gorgeous. And thanks for the tips on the salvia. I’ve tried planting milkweed without much luck. I know I can make salvia grow!
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Thank you, Diana! Salvia is a hardy plant. I think I remember you had a milkweed plant and you wrote a poem about that. There’re several CA native milkweed. I wonder if the weather is better here for milkweed.
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I got my Salvia on Friday, Miriam. So thank you for the recommendation! Not if it will just stop raining, I can plant it. 🙂
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Yay to the gardening, Diana! 😊🦋
The last few days I researched about Monarch and the reasons for their deminishing. Long story. Many stores promote safe the Monarch and even give free milkweed seeds.
I bought some California or west coast native milkweed seeds and hope to turn the slope in back of my house into a butterfly garden.
From what I read, some plants die and revive the next year. It’s good to encourage the butterfly migration. If there plants don’t die, it encourages the butterflies will linger, but the leaves may get inflected in the winter and cause the deaths of the butterflies.
If planting the milkweed plants the don’t die such as Tropical Milkweed, must cut all the way back in fall.
I only got the Narrow-leaf milkweed and Showy milkweed seeds. They’re not very colorful but they’re the right kind. 🦋🦋
Wish me luck! 😊💐
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I need to get some Oregon variety milkweed and actually nurture them from seed. You’ve inspired me again, Miriam!
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The Showy milkweed is good for the east coast. I want to do my small part to bring back the Monarch, Diana! 🦋🦋
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I just ordered some seed! I’m going to start a bunch in little pots and just scatter the rest. 🙂
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Good idea, Diana. I remember gardening in the Oregon rich soil when I first came as a student. There growth was amazing. With the drought we have, I have to start all the seeds in little pots, but I’ll wait for the instructions. 🦋🙂
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Gorgeous photos of flowers and butterflies and birds, oh my! We only have “winter” birds here in NE in the winter, and of those, the red cardinal is the brightest. Our cardinal family stays here year round, and now shares our suet feeder with an amazing ORANGE Oriole. What a sight! And I love the cooing of the doves. They stay on the ground underneath our bird feeder, and fortunately no cat has got to them yet. I think the wild turkeys scare the cats away. ;-0 xo
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Thank you, Pam. We only have spring and summer here in southern CA. The winter and autumn are just teasers. In fact, summer is pretty long. Did you live in LA once? You mentioned your mom visited you in LA. Is it dry in NE? I can’t imagine seeing wild turkeys!! ❤
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I lived in the SF Bay area for 20 years – how I loved it there! New England weather is a challenge, but from my front porch I watch the wild turkeys share the bird seed (on the ground) with the multitude of squirrels and chipmunks here, and two days ago, at 7 a.m. a large gorgeous red fox raced by. ;-0
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I’ve been living in Orange County for 30 years.
It must be enjoyable to watch the wild animals from your front porch.
Up until three months ago, my daughter lived by a huge park bordered by acorn trees with squirrels everywhere. I only have one or two squirrels rounding around. We had coyotes in my backyard but the county tried to catch them and take them to the shelter. 🙂
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These are amazing photos, Miriam! Thank you for brightening my day. 🙂
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Thank you, Mark! I’m so glad to share the wonders in my garden. 🙂
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I love those birds and butterflies, Miriam. What a beautiful garden.
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These days I take care about the birds and and other little creatures like taking care of little kids, Norah. I guess some people do a lot for their pets also. I’m glad you liked my garden.
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It’s delightful!
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❤ 🙂
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Your garden looks beautiful Miriam. Nature is such a tonic isn’t it! 😊💚
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Yes, Miriam. I need a good dose of the garden every day!! ❤ 🙂
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Me too! 😊
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Magnificent photos Miriam!
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Thank you very much, Kim!
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Your photos are stunning and I love how you have used the blocks to do this so beautifully.
I have put out water in my garden in the heat, for the birds and squirrels. I want take a picture of birds enjoying the water but my timing is not right and I dont think the are yse to having water in my garden except for a big magpie.
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Thank you for reading and comment, Bella.I have a birdbath in my garden. The birds don’t go there all the time. The do sometimes but I can’t count on them if I want to take photos.
It’s nice you have birds and squirrels in your garden. It’s nice to just watch them, especially the squirrels. My squirrels rest on my retaining wall, on top of the wooden fence. They are not in a hurry of going anywhere so I could take good photos of them.
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lovely. I hope you and your family are well
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We’re doing well, Bella. We’re playing safe and being cautious!
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Take care
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You too!
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Great photos. Superb, Miriam.
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Thank you so much, John!
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What a photographer’s paradise in your yard, Miriam! It’s so nice that you can not only enjoy the garden but all of the beautiful things that reside there.
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Yes, Pete, I got more joy in my garden than the work put in it. I’m grateful!
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Awesome pictures….
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Thank you so much!
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I love all your photos, especially the flowers. But at the top of my likes are these beautiful birds. And you’ve been able to get them to feed at your place. Excellent!
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Lovely photos, Miriam. I particularly like the ones of butterflies. Absolutely gorgeous!
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All these beautiful creatures and flowers made my stay home days easier, Gwen! Thank you for checking them out!
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So beautiful Miriam!!!
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I appreciate your comment, Paulo!!!
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Beautiful photos.
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Thank you so much, Susie!
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Your welcome
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Such beautiful pictures for the challenge, Miriam! The late frosts here certainly did some damage but all the rain that we’ve had recently has brought everything along very nicely. Your rose and hibiscus images are lovely and you’ve captured the birds so well. There’s nothing like salvia for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds and your monarch shots are awesome! Thank you so much for participating in the challenge.
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So glad you got some rain that helped. Thank you so much for your challenge this week. I could make two more posts with this theme. I didn’t go out too much but just went to the nursery at the right time and bought several pots of Salvia. For the Monarch, I happened to look out the window. I walked very slow outside to catch the shots.
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Lovely pastimes Miriam 🙂
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Very enjoyable. Thank you, Brian. 😊
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Beautiful!
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Thank you, Peter!
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