Wednesday 11 April 2012

Blue, blue, blue

Brilliant blues
 happy blues!
Finally spring weather has arrived
and with it
blue skies
blue feathers
blue flowers and bright blue foliage.

Inside beautiful blue irises
and
outside the dainty bright blues and subtle blues
of spring bulbs



garden decorations have survived the winter
and gleam in the sunshine



Muscari


Periwinkle



Forget MeNot


Hyacinth


and most brilliant of all the blue skies, here seen through the cherry blossoms


and the sky reflected in the water on a small pond


"The modern English word blue comes from Middle English bleu or blewe, from Old French bleu, bleve, blöe, a word of Germanic origin (Frankish or possibly Old High German blāo, "pale, wan, blue-grey")." (Wikipedia)
Blue often represents the human emotion of sadness, maybe related to rain, which is usually regarded as a trigger of low moods. 
"In German, on the other hand, to be "blue" (blau sein) is to be drunk. This derives from the ancient use of urine (which is produced copiously by the human body after drinking alcohol) in dyeing cloth blue with woad or indigo." (Wikipedia)
Blue is one of the primary colours, and one of my favorite colours. Far from representing sadness, blue to me evokes blue skies, happiness and optimism. A time to enjoy the outdoors and Nature's beauty and a great time to take pictures.
"Blue is commonly used in the Western hemisphere to symbolize the male gender in contrast to pink used for females, although in the early 1900s, blue was the colour for girls (as it had traditionally been the colour of the Virgin Mary in Western Art) and pink was for boys (as it was akin to the colour red, considered a masculine colour)." (Wikipedia)
The blue and orange Koi (below) in the still murky water of a nearby Japanese garden
is now quite active with the warmth of Spring


A female Mallard displays her blue feather patch, and the water reflects the blue skies.



The local mountains still have snow and look very blue in the distance.




New growth and last Fall's "hips" on the wild roses in the park.

Bluish needles on the Blue Spruce Tree (Picea pungens) below.

Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa forbesii), below


Pretty blue, purple pansies.


New bluish foliage on my sage plant.

New growth on a Sedum plant is a light bluish colour.

The sky and trees are reflected in the pond at the Japanese Garden. 

Blue, blue, blue!
Bright blues, shy blues,
a happy, joyful
blanket of blue
gently wraps around me
and I
breathe in its' delicate scents,
feel the gentle warmth on my skin
look around in wonder
blue eyes, new sight.

I have had the cataracts removed from both eyes now, and am thrilled with the resulting near 20/20 sight. Eye drops for a couple more weeks and one or two more checkups; I expect I will be trying to take off my glasses or put in my contact lens for some time still, it's become second nature.
Ella Fitzgerald - Blue Skies


I have been doing some painting, some gardening, some sewing, some reading and lots of photography; a bit of an attention span problem, but no doubt I'll settle down. I finished the water colour below of Witch Hazel.


Witch Hazel watercolour

Thank you for dropping by, happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week.......

This post selected by Thje SmittenImage.blogspot.com as Post of the Week





70 comments:

  1. Flowers, nature, cherry blossoms, blue skies, poetry, a lesson in blue, an amazing Ella song, and to top it off a beautiful watercolor Very enjoyable visit here. I kept hitting play on Ella while reading other blogs. Great way to start the day.

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  2. I always enjoy coming to your blog, I always learn something new by the time I leave! Great post!

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  3. Lovely that you can see the brilliant colors in nature. What a stunning collection of blues....

    I miss that up here. But I am seeing some crocus popping up. Horray!

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  4. congrats on getting the 2nd eye done! your painting is gorgeous! and your blue blooms are, too! the muscari(?) is so cool!

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  5. Oh, I love the watercolor at the end, Gillian! It explodes with some of the excitement I sense in your writing now that you have perfect vision. How wonderful and freeing it must be to see so clearly without aids. :)

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  6. Gillian, I love your artwork. I love the blues of flowers as well. The desert seems to have more yellows and reds....but we do have some blue once in awhile:) And I do get the blues if we have overcast days for more than 3 days in a row. Hope you are having a lovely day.

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  7. PS. I hope your eye is healing better and that the sun isn't too bright. I have had relatives who had this surgery and I remember it took awhile to adjust to the sun. The nice thing about the eye is that is an organ that heals faster than others.

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  8. Gorgeous colors, Gillian! Your painting and photos are fantastic! I hope your eye heals quickly.

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  9. so many blue flowers. Glad they don´t bring the blues. :)

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  10. You certainly found quite a few blue subjects to photograph...all lovely!

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  11. A wonderfully blue post! I love all the flowers and your painting!

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  12. I appreciate colours more and more as I grow older, but I think blue will always be my favourite of all. I did as another poster suggested and read your wonderful post, with Ella singing in the background. Like you (and Ella), blue does not represent sadness, but rather the opposite for me. How fascinating to learn about the derivative of the German word for blue. Of all the lovely pictures here, I have always loved that patch of blue in the female mallard, and was thrilled to see that you included it. Finally, I have to marvel that you have managed to stay up to date with posts and also continue with your painting, through two eye surgeries. How wonderful that both have turned out so well!

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. I love all those beautiful blue flowers. Your posts are always so interesting and divers. The witch hazel watercolor is fantastic.

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  15. I love all your blues, especially the last of your watecolour! Interesting facts about colours and how what is accepted now as boy/girl colours wasn't always the case.

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  16. I love your post for today in shades of blue. Beautiful watercolor painting. One thing I noticed after my cataract surgeries, and had worn glasses for over 20 years, I still wanted to look for my glasses when I did not need them anymore. Or that old habit of adjusting the glasses on my face to later find out I am not wearing them anymore.

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  17. Hey, loved the pictures, blue is my favourite colour. Glad to hear your eyes are doing well, I look forward to lots of new pictures.

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  18. I am pleased that you have both of eyes are better, I hope that doesn't spoil the art so deeply inside you.

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  19. What a delightful array of blue in your shots - I particularly loved your muscari, hycathinch & forget me not captures.

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  20. gorgeous hues and blues in your garden, spring is really here and i am lovin' it!!

    your cherry blossom tree is a stunner!!

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  21. Wow, you spent a lot of time on this wonderful post. I really enjoyed looking at the photos and art, and learning so much about blue. Have a great day.

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  22. A wonderful series of blues! Just gorgeous.

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  23. Wonderful to see Gillian... blue is the colour for me on my way home from work at the moment... a whole day of rain and hail then early evening it all changes.

    Love your artwork.. it's a nice talent to have xx
    Hugs Drew.

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  24. Oh your Witch Hazel is lovely.. so cheery and bright. I think it reflect your new-found good vision.

    Lovely blue images, Gillian. "Happy blues" says it all.

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  25. I am always smiling when I drop in here. Your photo are so pretty. Spring is here! YEA.. Your painting is so Beautiful.

    ~Linda

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  26. As always Gillian - your photos are spectacular. I am happy to hear that your surgeries have been successful and that you are able to see so clearly once again. you must be smiling from ear to ear!

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  27. Beautiful blue post Gillian.
    A stunning Iris.

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  28. love your brilliant blue photos!

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  29. I wanted to stay here...for ever!
    This is great! BEAUTY is the queen!

    LOVE
    BShell

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  30. ...beautiful post. Thanks for including the music. I love Ella's version of the song. Also...beautiful new painting!!

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  31. Wonderful shades of blue in your post; they lifted up my mood today.

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  32. I love the blues...especially in flowers, and I feel the same way you do about the color...it makes me happy! Your witch hazel watercolor is so lovely!

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  33. wow, I love all your gorgeous blues. The flowers are all lovely and your watercolor is beautiful. Thanks for sharing, have a great day!

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  34. Wow, what a great "collection" of blues. Beautiful photos of lovely flowers. So glad your vision is 20/20 now--amazing what doctors can do these days. Enjoy the beautiful Spring weather. Mickie ;)

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  35. Wow many many blue colors. Beautiful! I associate blue with autumn sky many times. I love an indigo blue sky which appears just for a short time between sunset and night. Indigo is my favorite color also. I wish I could see the blue and orange carp which must be very rare. It is a moving jewel!!
    Thanks a lot for many interesting information.
    I love the watercolor.
    keiko

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  36. Love your blues, especially the iris ... reminds me of my grandmother who had many in her gardens. Glad to hear about your eyesight being so much better.

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  37. Who knew all about blue!
    I'll never be blue again!

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  38. Blue always makes me happy. :)
    Congratulations on your POTW!

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  39. Congratulations on your POTW award. I love the blue theme you've got going! Very, very pretty.

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  40. Thank you for this post and the collection of sky-blue flowers. I like it when blue sky is reflected in the pond and the reflected plants look floating in the sky.

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