Sunday, June 6, 2010

May Contain Traces of Peanut Butter

Allergy Alert:

Some folks out there are of the opinion that flower pictures are banal and have even developed allergies to them.  Yes, it's true that one can see so many floral photos that eyes start to water, the lungs gets stuffy, wheezing kicks in, uncontrollable sneezing fits explode from the nose, and an unshakeable feeling of extreme fatigue takes over after too much digital exposure to our fine-petalled friends.  That said, grab your handkerchiefs and inhalers everyone because have I got some sneeze fodder for you.





We have a peony bush near our back door and, I ask you, how could I possibly pass by this peony puss without giving her a close-up?




Of course, her big sister wanted to get in on the act.  (We know all about sibling rivalry, don't we Saj?)




Baby Face takes centre stage and mugs for the camera again.




How about a family photo?




Of course, in every family there's got to be one big show-off who tries to hog all the attention.






But I think there's plenty to be said for the quiet, unassuming relative who humbly takes her place and goes about her life in her own modest way.



I would like to dedicate this posting to my own dear real sister, Carmenooch, who celebrated a birthday recently. She and I get along like two pods in a peony patch. (Your gift is in the mail and may contain slight traces of peanut butter from my sticky fingers!) 







23 comments:

  1. Ah big Sis...

    This is really quite funny... can you hear me chortling and chuckling and galumphing ? I'm in the middle, right this very second of typing up the text, after having already uploaded all the photos, of a rather long post about... can you guess... that's right, you knew.... about flowers, and flower photos. I came into my sidebar to go grab the link to Roxana's place, because she just did a beautiful long flower symphony, and what do I see ??? At the top of my blog list, there is Décolleté, so I had to see what Mad Lynne had just posted, and what do I find.... a piece about flowers and flower photos...

    So, guess I'll just have to link to you too, you lucky thing you !

    Now you can get back to your bout of sneezing... I'll be posting it very shortly here this evening... almost done. What fun, what fun, a bit of synchronicity with one's daily soup.

    And I won't even mention the photo taken today of a little boy getting bitten by a naughty zebra at a circus yard...

    PS... WV is "mament", as in : It was a fine mament in blogging when Mr Toad found that Mad Lynne had just posted a nearly identical post to what he was in the process of writing when he stumbled on it...
    :-)

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  2. Really nice photos, I especially liked their redness.

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  3. Oh, how wonderful! I adore peony roses and last year finally got a very pretty lilac one for my garden- it didn't make it sadly and now I'll have to try again later this year. I laughed at your comment about there always being one in the family striving for more attention - we can just never quite agree as to who it is!! The weather report for today is snow to 200 metres...pass us that log will you dear, I'll get the drinks in...

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  4. Hey sister Saj ! Hope you have a good supply of drinks then... and there's a peony for you at my place too to help cheer you up... ah, after all the gloating about hot weather, now the tables have turned again... we just had a lovely bright sunny warm day... perfect for going out to photograph flowers... or not...
    :-)

    Sorry Lynne, I forgot which comment box I was in, they all start to look alike after a while...
    :-)

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  5. Anonymous06 June, 2010

    High art !

    Please have a wonderful start into the new week.

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  6. BrOwen:
    Frightening really, one brain two blogs.

    And I won't even mention the photo of a half-eaten baby deer head found in a near-by driveway recently!

    PS. Did you see my answers to your questions on my ponderosa post yesterday?

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  7. Thanks K. I was worried that they were too saturated and even toned the second one down a bit. But they are intense in real life, especially when enhanced by the rain.

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  8. beautiful peony shots - someone else who is making me feel homesick right now with such wonderful images....

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  9. Saj,
    Surely not 200 metres worth of snow? We will never be able to find you under such an avalanche!! Where are those St.Bernard dogs with the whisky kegs round their necks when we need them. Or do you mean 200 metres in reference to how low the snow is coming down the mountains??? Or the point on the mountain at which the snow starts? As long as it stays on the mountains I'm okay with snow. I'm glad that my peonies brought some happiness your way. You will note that they are rain-bejewelled, indicating the type of weather we've been having. Lilac coloured peonies sound lovely. Good luck with the next batch.

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  10. Apology accepted, Browen. See my "one brain, two blogs" comment.

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  11. Robert,
    Well, um, gosh. I don't know about that. But thanks.
    Glad you found the time to stop by and smell the peonies.

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  12. Catherine,
    Isn't homesickness a strange phenomenon? A couple presently living in the South Pacific (New Caledonia) recently came to look at our house, which is for sale, while they were on holiday because they can't wait to move back "home" in 3 years time and want to have something concrete (or wooden, rather) to come back to. The lady remarked to me, "There's no such place as paradise."

    Anywhere you hang your sombrero is not necessarily home, I guess.

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  13. Anonymous07 June, 2010

    Such a stunning essay on the joys of all things PEONY! loved it

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  14. Elizabeth,
    Thank you so much! Your own fruit and flower proferring today was beautiful (as well as sweet and tart), so I doubly appreciate your kind encouragement here.

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  15. (mr toad mumbles in his sleep) :

    eh, what's that about tarts ? does that have something to do with pie ? or another kind of tart ?

    (returns to deep snoring)

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  16. And besides, Owen, the way I figure it, it's only 2 a.m. over on your side of the pond so there's no way you're asleep. Naughty toad. After tarts in the middle of the night!

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  17. Yes, but I'm on vacation now, so I'm almost converted back to normal daylight hours, rising in the morning, falling exhausted back into bed around midnight, or a little later still, but soon to be even earlier... But tart is good at all hours of the day, especially rasberry chocolate tart like we had the other day...

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  18. argh! stop flaunting your tarte! it's so unfair.

    Reminds me of the Mother Goose nursery rhyme:

    Simple Simon met a pieman
    going to the fair,
    Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
    "Let me taste your wares."
    Said the pieman to Simple Simon,
    "Show me first your penny."
    Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
    "Indeed I have not any."

    Neither penny nor pie have I.
    :-(

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  19. What's that old expression :

    Life's a bitch,

    and then you... pie

    LOL

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  20. Owen,
    Do you remember the Lovin' Spoonful's song "What a Day for a Daydream"? There's a verse in it that is all about you:

    "And even if time is passing me by a lot
    I couldn't care less about the dues you say I got
    Tomorrow I'll pay the dues for dropping my load
    A pie in the face for being a sleepy bull toad"


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDDB0cRZ7NU

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  21. ah the wild, proud and hungry peonies, i adore them!

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  22. Roxana,
    Yes, they have a great thirst for life and an abundant, extravagant energy that bursts forth when one isn't looking!

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