Weekend Reflections! Aug 29, 2009 ~ Reflections from a childhood day~

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Time for sharing our

  *Weekend Reflections* posts!

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I came across this neat picture of one of my grandsons from several years ago.This was Zach's 11th. birthday.

All my boys liked those Super Hero guys and monsters!

This one is Wolf Man!

  :)

(... I miss my kiddies...)

Junie

(Ginga)

Midweek Blues~8-25-'10- Little Boy in Blue

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 It's time for sharing our Blue photos.

 

 For more Midweek Blues posts,Visit Rebecca

Here!

~Little boy in blue~

 

This is Zach, the one of my 4 grandkids who didn't live in our town;

thus

his visits  with us  were always very special - for us,  as well as for  him.

Climbing this tree, just before leaving for his home after each visit, became part of his ritual. He would pretend he wasn't leaving for awhile. It became a game that the whole family played along with.

I can look at this picture and remember exactly how I felt- the mixture of sadness for his leaving and the spirit of fun in the antics of this little boy!

Old time memories now...

The tree is long gone from some weird insect attacks that killed it.

The little boy in blue is gone, too!

(except here in my heart)

Love,

Junie

(Ginga)

More on that plant...

LOL...And I feel stupid!

When C. brought that plant in for me to see we both felt a familiarity to it...It was kinda weird because neither of us could capture our memories/knowledge for this plant..but we both felt we had seen it before-also the smell of the leaves seemed familiar to us.

One of my readers  left a comment letting me know the name she knows it by.

 

Here  is the comment!

Mel Cole of PA, USA said...

Oh those! We call those Ampalaya. They are food for diebetic though. Have a beautiful Tuesday.  ~~

OK-I was excited to get this info and of course went to search out more information about this plant.

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I found~

 another name  for this plant is 'Bitter Melon.'

This is some info on Wikipedia.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon

~After learning this, Charles and I became concerned that this plant may have been planted by our daughter-in-law, Joy, as a veggie to use...and that it was NOT a wild plant at all like we had thought it to be!~

LOL-OK-later  that night I talked to my D-I-L ( My new D-I-L who is a Filipino girl) and-indeed- she knew all about this plant and had grown it from seeds she had got from a friend!

The name she knows it by is 'Bitter Squash.'

Oh, my! So we had messed up- but Joy and I had a good laugh over it!  :) Luckily, C. didn't remove the plants- just the fruit to show me!

...so...the feeling of having known this plant before- or one closely related- kept gnawing at my memories... I decided to search out 'Florida Vines.' I had  almost immediate results in this journey! I found this!

Bitter melon, Balsam apple - Momordica charantia

 

 http://www.floridasnature.com/vines_%20gallery.htm

 

...And then Charles and I both remembered a very similar problem vine we had  had in Miami that kept growing up among our Hibiscus hedge.  I remembered this but since the fruits were much smaller didn't make the connection that it is the same plant- or at least a very close relative!

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This plant seems to have many uses and is beneficial in a lot of ways ... also-parts of it can be toxic...so my first impression was not really that far off!

Only one of the fruits C. picked to show me was at the edible stage...when they turn yellow they are only good for the seeds. 

 

Anyway-I have the seeds and will save them for next year!

 

~~OK-then~ THIS is one reason I like blogging and the Internet!!  There's a whole world of knowledge at your fingertips!!~~

 

 

Junie Rose

Ruby Tuesday~Aug 17, 2010~ What in the world...??

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Today is...Ruby Tuesday!

 

Visit *Mary/Teach* to find other RT posts!

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What in the world is this?? I don't know!

My husband brought this in to show me this morning, after doing some mowing here at our place.

(He remembered my picture projects that I like to do!  :) -He mentioned Mellow Yellow but I said,"No-it's a perfect Ruby Tuesday")  :)

He said he found this growing along the fence and that it is common around here...but he didn't know the name of the vine.

I don't remember ever having seen it before.  Maybe I just never saw it at this stage with the pods popped open and the colorful seeds spilling out! How could I have missed it, otherwise!!

OK-I haven't looked it up but I took precautions in not touching it too much and letting the juice get on my hands. ...Never know...it could be toxic.It looks kinda evil but very beautiful to look at, nonetheless!

Does anyone know this plant? I'd like to know about it.

(click on pics to enlarge)

Junie

Camera Critters_ Aug 15, 2010_His lucky day!

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Camera Critters

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Due to circumstances at our place recently (A trip and some health problems) our yard has become over-grown and untidy in appearance!

My sunflowers that were such a pleasure to me  a  few weeks ago are now over and are a sad sight to see!  :(

But wait...

What is one person's 'eye-sore' can be an other's'found treasure!' 

(well, I guess that might just apply here if you happen to be a bird or a squirrel!)

In this case it was a squirrel! 

I spotted him from my kitchen and went out to happily watch him as he munched away on the sunflower seeds. I wished I could have gotten closer for my pictures but he scurried away when he saw me watching and moving closer.

Later, after I returned to the house, I saw him come back and resume his free feast!

Good for him!

  Hopefully, next week those dead stalks will be cleared out. I suppose I will save what's left of the flower heads(if anything is left) and put them out as needed for this guy and his buddies!

 

(click on pics to enlarge)

Junie

Midweek Blues ~ August 11, 2010

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While we were away for a few days this blue watering globe kept this flower looking good

~ in fact ~

Mellow Yellow! 

 

Junie Rose

Camera Critters_(for July 31, 2010)

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 Time for sharing our 'Camera Critters.'

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The Bumblebees have enjoyed my sunflowers in recent days,

but these flowers are just about over now.

:(

Wish I could have got better pictures of this bumblebee!

Junie