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.......

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