Adventures

On Pondering Thoughts Of Summer

Shelley

Here I am at my computer desk, typing away as I ponder the joys of being a mother, an amateur photographer, a blogger, and a summer-only gardener. Dare I point out that there’s an ending in the ‘er’ theme appearing here?

Well, dang…er isn’t one of the blogging prompts I’m working with. But, I’ve made it so, so let’s go with that as I combine the other three prompts below.

Let the thought streaming commence…

Why am I in the pondering mode as a blogger you ask? I’m still working diligently to figure out WP blog issues. I’m feeling more confident in recognizing the numerous ways to manage comments. After reading recent comments, I need to revisit my writing efforts according to what I hope is a true Spam comment that blessed my blog’s Spam folder this week. Do you read and ponder Spam comments too? If this spam comment is true, then the AI Grammarly function in WP needs to be fixed. It has nothing to do with me. So, er, there. Insert whatever emoji works. 😏

Anyhoo, I digress. I would rather spend time thinking of fonder things. Like it’s Mother’s Day as I write this post and I have much to be hopeful about for the summer as it unfolds.

Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.

Bob Goff

Mr. and I took a road trip to meet our daughters yesterday. My heart is full of happy memories. I think it’s cute that we all wore a shade of blue too.

I’ll think fondly of our time together as I work in my gardens today. Mr. saved my Hyacinths when he installed a new border around the garden bed next to the shed. With so many well-established-for-decades-weeds, I’ll have a project to work on the whole summer.

When he asked me how far out from the shed to place the blocks I said, “Far enough so that my hyacinths survive.” They’re mighty resilient, I find them in the grass right here every spring.

Depending upon the lighting when I take photos, they look purple or cobalt blue.

Or a combination of both when I use the vintage filter.

They’ll no doubt survive along with the irises. They don’t need my help just the space to grow.

On the other side of the yard, are the flowering crab trees that bloom each year on Mother’s Day and the garden beds where the weeds have been waiting for my return to finish what I started last week. I took a detour from weeding to place all the planters around the yard.

My squirrely thoughts about flowers and critters (aka scoundrels) carefully balanced in my mind remind me that summer each year is on temporary loan to us all. We better take it and run with it while it lasts!

Thank goodness, I properly placed the cobalt blue birdbath bowl on the stand so it wouldn’t tip and fall off. Been there done that. A crow landing and pushing off is less than a delicate move to watch.

In my winter coat and hat, which I wear to walk in the early chilly mornings, I grabbed my camera and took a closer look at the garden beds to prepare my thoughts about where to start or restart my summer gardening efforts.

My lone shadow, with a stretch of the imagination, could resemble a packman ready to gobble up something. 🤔😂 You see it too, don’t you?!

Doesn’t the shadow of the cracked birdbath look like a heart? Or a Tesla logo? 🤔

Oh, my, I’m so happy. I believe the bleeding heart plant I rescued from all the weeds last week will survive. I can’t wait to see the heart-shaped blossoms!

“I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days.”

Henry David Thoreau

Ah, summer days are here again! On Saturday morning, Mr. and I woke up early enough to see the Northern Lights. You’ll have to trust me as I didn’t take any photos, I stood there in awe though. Fascinating to see!

I shall sign off now. I’m off to the great out-of-doors with the hope of planting seeds in garden beds so I can look forward to discovering flowers popping up from the ground later this summer. 🌼🌻🌸

Until then, my dear lovelies, I hope the sun shines where you’re at and enjoying the day most grandly! (er…just so you know Ms. Spam Commenter…that was a sentence the AI in WP wrote for me).

PS: Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “loan/lone.” Use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun! Terri Webster Schrandt’s May 12 Monthly Color Challenge: Cobalt Blue and Patti for Lens-Artists #299 – Hopeful.

PS – Did you see the Northern Lights too? What time of the night/early morning did you see them? Are you a fan of buying established plants to put on your gardens or do you like to plant seeds and watch them grow? What is your favorite memory of your mom on Mother’s Day? Can you believe it is almost halfway through May?

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

43 thoughts on “On Pondering Thoughts Of Summer”

  1. Your posts are always so entertaining, Shelley, and I LOVE your hyacinths! Such a gloriously rich cobalt blue! I’m obsessed over your cobalt blue bird bath! Our two are a boring gray stone, but won’t tip over. That raven dwarfed yours!

    I’m glad to read you saw the northern lights. I was thinking of you and several bloggers who live in the northern lats of the US. I stood out there like a geek for over two hours and took 100 pics with my phone!

    By the way, the spam comment you shared is a lot like the ones I get. I read two sentences then permanently delete them. Most of those are bots (AI-generated) that scrub post looking for hapless victims.

    Happy, happy Mother’s Day to you! My dots are all too far away but I’m sure they’ll call.

    1. Aw, thank you, I’m glad you enjoy my posts, that means a lot to me! This year the hyacinths lasted longer than normal. We love our bird bath even though it is cracked. We bought a new one to replace it, but didn’t like it as much so that’s in another spot.

      Yes, I saw the lights – not at the peak of them like you did though. I’ve seen them before in just the northern part of the sky, this time, they were 360 in the sky and they were fascinating to watch as they moved across the sky! I tried to take one photo and gave up and just watched them.

      Thanks for the spam comment advice. I’ve deleted it since, I don’t want to be a victim of those annoying bots!

      Happy Mother’s Day to you too – I hope you enjoyed your calls with your dots (what a cute way to put it!) 😍🥰🤗

  2. The aurora was visible down here but I was busy sawing logs. I love the beautiful blues in the flower photos, Shelley, the color is very mellow and relaxing. The photo of you and your girls is wonderful, happy Mother’s Day, Shelley!

    1. Sawing logs is important! Dessy woke us up at 3:20 am so we were ‘awake’ enough to see the tale end of the light show. It was 360 degrees in the sky – we’ve never seen that before.
      Thank you for the Mother’s Day wishes – I’m glad you enjoyed the blues and the photo of me and the girls – it was a special moment to capture! I hope you thought of fond memories of your mom that made you smile!

      1. You’re welcome, Shelley, I miss my mom so much. I wish I could give her a hug and kiss on the cheek again. I’m glad you saw some of the show!

        1. Aw, your mom will always hold that special place in your heart. She was lucky to have such a wonderful son. 🥰🤗

  3. Sometimes it feels like summer has arrived early, and then, being Michigan, it gets down in the 30s and freezes stuff again. My sister and I camped for 3 nights last week….it was 33 the first night. Long story. We made it through 2 nights and came home early. Yes, she and I saw the northern lights on Friday night, we were racing up north to see them and got half way to my destination when they started dancing so we pulled onto a dirt road and watched them from there. There will, eventually, be pictures. Not as amazing as some other photos I’ve seen, but they remind me of our adventure. The lights were 360 degrees around us. It was something I’ve never seen and probably will never see like it again. Last night I took husband out to a field but we had clouds and we gave up too early, so didn’t see anything. We might have a chance tonight. I’d like him to see something of what we saw Friday night when he stayed home.

    1. Yeah, I agree – hopefully we’ll be through the potential of frost at night soon. The latest I’ve seen is June 14th and the corn crops were damaged that year. That’s nice you and your sister got to camp (albeit in the cold – 🥶🥶). YES – that’s what I saw too (only at the end of the hurrah of the lights, no colors at 3:30 am). 360 degrees in the sky was so fascinating. I’m glad the cats woke me up in time to see them. I look forward to seeing your pictures. I hope your hubby got to see some of them too. 😊 PS – I loved seeing your tribute to your mom post – what an inspirational mom she was!

  4. A lot of spammers leave “comments” on your blog, with the actual objective to follow the link to their website, because if they throw an ad in, Akismet can tell right away. My feeling is, if something hits my spam queue and it wasn’t a legitimate comment, it gets purged.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

    1. Thank you for the spammer advice. My spam filter must’ve glitched for this comment to get through to my spam folder. I shall enjoy hitting the permanent delete button! 😆

      Thank you for the Mother’s Day wishes!

    1. I did, and I’m sore…but another section of the garden is weed free. When I saw several spiders scurry away, I thought of you and that macro photo!!! 🕷🕸
      PS – glad you saw the PacMan too 😉

        1. Autumn, already! I know we’re on opposite sides of the seasons, still makes me pause to think of that. 😉 Happy yard clean-up time to you 😊

  6. Your blues are great here Shelley, whether it is the three ladies in two generations wearing blue or the flowers. All are pretty. I do see Pac-Man in your shadow. I always like the shadow that you have on your site. I hope you are successful with your wildflowers seeds – a quick and easy way to create some color once the Springtime hurries up and gets warmer for you!

    1. Thank you, Linda, I’m glad you enjoyed the blues and that you saw Pac-Man too. I’m going to plant the seeds soon…I hope they’re successful too. It was 81 yesterday and will be back in the 60s today – it’s that up and down time for temps here. 😉

      1. We have that big fluctuation in temps too – it was gray and cloudy today, so I didn’t go to any big parks. You had nice blues and I’m glad they made it and bloomed for you.

        I didn’t make it here last night to Notifications because I could not access it … so today I tried and it is different. Vertical, not horizontal and an option to return to “classic view” or the “default view” – I looked at the old way and it stuck me here anyway! I have unsubscribed to everyone’s blog as it inundated my e-mail folder and what if I had issues with Comcast?!

        1. We had sun, but it was chilly and the sky was full of pollen. ‘Tis the season. Thanks, I’m glad the hyacinths bloomed again. My mother-in-laws hyacinths were spectacular, it must be their year to bloom!

          Thank you for persevering through the WP issues. I’m glad the old appearance came back for you. I know how you feel about the email subscriptions. It’s a battle figuring out. 😣

          1. We had a gray day today and I left the heat on. I was going to go somewhere far, but there was a chance of rain, so I just walked at the Park.

            The WP issues are a pain … I can no longer access the “Comments” section half the time and the “Notifications” is different now and for some reason, when I go there I used to go through the “Likes” and clear them, then go to the other comments/replies. Now I can no longer see the “Likes” unless I scroll down this new vertical way to do things. And, when I logged on I had to do “Control K” to find my dashboard. I have not gone to Reader yet as I got here later and my Comcast is messed up again, or was earlier. I am thinking besides the WP issues, it is a Firefox issue for some of this stuff. It is a battle. I unsubscribed everyone yesterday – if I could have filtered people I would have used it, but that only worked some of the time which also made no sense. The majority of posts were not filtering into their e-mail folder. I couldn’t deal with that.

          2. I’m glad both your A/C and your furnace are working for this yo-yo weather! Way to take a walk while the weather permitted.

            I’m sorry you’re having so many issues with WP. You notice things more than I do, so maybe I’m oblivious to how many things aren’t going right with it. 🤔 I hope the Happiness Engineers can help you figure it out. I agree, the email subscription solution becomes challenging quickly. I wish I knew how to help make it work better for you and all of us who are struggling with the glitches! 🤗

          3. It has taken me forever to get thru the Notifications part as I have to keep refreshing the page which sends me up to the top and I have to start over again, scroll down with the new arrow feature and it blocks out the “likes” and I find if I “like” when I scroll down the next time, the “like” is gone. I am trying and I did clear my cache earlier, so have to reput all my passwords in for everything. I am not going to make it to Reader as it’s late and it’s starting to rumble out there – we have storms tonight and throughout the day tomorrow.

          4. Your persistence in working to figure out WP is impressive. That and enduring the crazy weather you’ve been having!

          5. I just wrote them back about a half-hour ago – they sent their evaluation of their “help” – I told them I had a workaround which worked well, but I had to go down from the top – before I started where I left off. The weather is rumbling now – we are having a storm pretty soon … I’ll get off if it gets worse. I set my post to publish at 7:00 because of it, so I can send it to Terri and speaking of Terri, she was not in my Reader …I had to re-subscribe to her today, just as I had to re-subscribe to Zazzy yesterday.

          6. What an adventure it has been for you to work through all of these WP issues. Your persistence will pay off. I hope the storm wasn’t too bad!

          7. Got another e-mail from the WP Happiness Engineers – they say the glitches are from using Windows 7. But a subscriber is not a blogger, uses her iPhone and has the same issue as me … I told them. They said have her contact us … she has a free account, uses Reader, but doesn’t have a blog.

  7. Your yard is looking gorgeous, Shelley! I love the hyacinths so much! I did get to see the Northern lights. I went out at 10:30 pm and I could see the green streaks dancing around. It delighted me so much! I took some pictures with my iphone, and they look more spectacular than they did in real life with lots of pinks. But a photo can’t capture the dancing.

    1. Thank you, Michelle! I’m a hyacinth fan too – they’re so resilient and surprise me with their arrival every spring. Your post about seeing the Northern Lights was so sweet and your photos turned out great. What a wonderful experience for all of us to share. You’re right – the dancing of the lights was spectacular to see.

  8. Sounds like Mother’s Day was a nice one. Good to see the gardening efforts pay off, and I’m glad the birdbath can stand up to the crows. Ours is on the ground, and I worry when the crows decide to bath. I don’t look at the spam folder often. I’m sure I let some real comments get deleted, but I get so much spam, I close my eyes to it.

    I hope you have a great week, Shelley!

    1. Hi Dan! Yes, Mother’s Day was a nice one. I hope the Editor’s day was nice as well. We’ve waited so long to be able to be outside, it’s hard to refrain from over doing it. You’ll be excited to see some of the projects Mr. has taken on for the summer. 😉 I wonder what the birds would do if we put a bird bath on the ground. The scoundrel squirrel might like that too much. 🤔
      Thanks for the words of wisdom on the spam comments – it does feel rewarding to hit the delete button on spam!
      I hope you have a great week too – I enjoyed seeing that Curley won the position as the bartender!

  9. Your post is lovely, Shelley and it inspires hope! In turn, I hope that you have a wonderful summer. It’s your reward after a long winter. I used to live in NH so I know how precious the warm weather is. Enjoy! Your hyacinths are gorgeous!

    1. Thank you for your feedback, Patti! I appreciate your wishes for a wonderful summer too. You’re right, after a long winter it’s rewarding to enjoy the outside time and the flowers & green colors of spring/summer.
      Thank you again for hosting the inspiring challenge full of HOPE – I so enjoyed each photo you chose to share. Each one intriguing and inviting to show us how to find hope wherever we may be. 🥰😍🤗

  10. Your beautiful daughters have your smile. Shelley. There is truly no better gift than the gift of time.

  11. The squirrel on the fence! I do like how clever they can be, when I’m not muttering about them pulling up flowers from pots. As for your spam, ’tis special. Lately I seem to be getting spam that wants me to call a phone number to talk with a witch doctor about my financial and love life problems. So there you go.

    1. Hi Ally! Thanks for stopping by, I hope your summer is off to a wonderful adventure.

      This squirrel (we think is female) is the queen of the yard. She competes for bird seed with the crows and she sunbaths on the fence often. Oh, no, I didn’t know squirrels pull flowers from pots! Thank you for the heads up. I haven’t planted any flowers in my pots yet, so now I’ll have to plan to deter the squirrel and the rabbits and the deer. 🙄🤔

      Thanks for sharing about your spam encounters. That’s interesting spam, well-deserving of the press of a delete button. 🤣

  12. Shelley, thanks for getting me to stop and ponder about things that matter. You point out flowers, summer days, and other things. This is a great post, and I liked your photos very much, too.

    1. Egidio, thank you for stopping by to pause and ponder with me. I appreciate your encouragement. I so enjoyed your take on the prompt too – the stunning photos and the words of wisdom warmed my heart as I sipped my first cup of morning coffee and enjoyed the views you shared! Well done!

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