Day 23 - Entrance

The entrance to the houses or buildings where we live is important.

Although I live in a building bordering the town centre,

I appreciate the fact that there is greenery and some flowering bushes 

along the path leading up the the entrance.

There's something welcoming about big hydrangea blooms

that line the path where I live.

The greenery nearby and the trees that are planted

are compensation for living in a built-up area.

I have all the advantages of  shops nearby and great public transport

but can still enjoy a little of nature where I am.

To get out into the real countryside, I need to take some form of public transport

like a bus, the metro or the train.

All of them are very easy to reach from where I live.

When Summer Lingers

This is the time of the year

when late summer and early autumn join together

as the autumn equinox approaches.

I notice this as the hydrangea leaves change colour with splashes of red.

The petals take on a more muted shade

and shades of green come back rather like in the springtime

The dahlias are having their last fling in glorious full bloom

and showing the intensity of their varied colours

Bees are still busy taking advantage of the sunny days to collect pollen.

and the Golden Rod lights up the gardens

and Rudbeckia blooms dazzle us with their sunshine petals

until one day it starts to rain

and the first autumn leaf floats down to remind us

a change in seasons is taking place.

***

The last blog header to remind me of earlier days

when sunflowers still waved in the fields.

My Balcony in June 2017

These are the last of my pansies which I picked mid-June

so that I could plant the dahlias!

Every season has its flowers

and after pansies come all sorts of beauties

like these orange and yellow dahlias with a fine red line around each petal.

Refreshing pink

and luminous red

and a mixture of warm colours.

Two window boxes of dahlias are planted in front of the garden table

where I eat every day.

A hydrangea heart.

This plant hadn't flowered for three whole years

and I was about to give up on it

and told it so!

It must have heard me because it suddenly started growing

beautiful light pink flower clusters!

This is my oldest hydrangea.

Last year, I bought a new hydrangea to compensate for the 

older plant which had remained dormant for so long.

I'm thrilled with the deep raspberry pink of these new flowers

which can be seen even better here.

but the hydrangea star of the show this year has been this beauty

in tones of  pink lilac, developing into deeper tones of blue.

This one was a beautiful birthday and Mother's Day gift

from my son this year!

The final colour.

Though as I speak, the flowers are changing yet again

to more muted pastel shades with touches of pale green.

Beautiful at every stage!

The Physalis, or Chinese Lantern

is doing so well.

I love to watch the tiny white flower transform into tiny bud

which then develops in to a little green lantern.

They will look so pretty when they all turn orange.

The different stages can be seen here in the collage.

Pink anthemis flower the whole summer through

these are a welcome splash of colour next to my kitchen door.

My small olive tree is laden with tiny flowers which will become olives!

New this year is an oleander plant with beautiful coral blooms.

Two kinds of bell-flowers or Campanula.

The ones above which have grown back from last year

and these smaller ones in a big tub which come back every year.

All these wonderful colours make life living in the town more bearable.

My flowers are my joy and I love to sit outside

for all my meals and read surrounded by all these manifestations of nature.

Sometimes,

I like to pick just a few flowers to enjoy inside.

If you have a balcony or a terrace, or if you're fortunate enough to have a garden,

I hope you are enjoying all the wonders of nature.

Just like me!

A May Birthday

I've always loved having my birthday in the month of May

It's in the springtime which is my favourite time of the year.

Rituals are created

and the main one consists of having breakfast out!

If the weather is warm and sunny, an outside terrace down by the lake

is the very best place to be!

A basket of assorted breads and croissants,

a freshly squeezed juice and a good coffee.

If a pretty birthday card is presented, it is put on show like this one.

Here is my favourite birthday breakfast outside terrace under white parasols.

It's at the Hôtel d'Angleterre.

After a leisurely breakfast,

a long walk along the lake in Ouchy

admiring water reflections on the way.

The weather-vane shows that a light north-easterly wind is blowing

and that's just perfect to keep the clouds at bay and the weather fine.

A beautiful steam-boat glides by on tranquil waters.

I laughed to see the formation of fluffy white clouds

 as if they were escaping from the boat's chimney!

We walk past sandy beaches and see the outline of the mountains

on the French side of the lake.

Just the right amount of breeze for this little sailing boat.

The furthermost tip of the coastline is where we're going to have lunch

in the village of St-Sulpice.

The walk from Lausanne takes about two hours at a leisurely pace.

This is the view from above the village

before taking a bus and metro back home again.

A special birthday cake that was waiting for me:

Chocolate Truffle with fresh raspberries within the mousse-like filling!

It wouldn't be the month of May without my favourite flowers:

Lily of the Valley

Hydrangeas

and  gorgeous peonies.

If your birthday is also in the month of May

perhaps you love these flowers too.

If not, I'm sure you have favourite things from your month of birth!