Wednesday 24 April 2013

April Showers

April weather can be quite a mixture, and this year we have just about everything from rain, hail, wind, snow (on the mountains) and then some glorious sunshine too. After a recent heavy rain the sun came out and I captured the raindrops.


I was reminded of a childhood rhyme:

Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
Nnow the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again!







The amazing flower below is a Fritillaria:




"Fritillaria meleagris is a species of flowering plant in the family Liliaceae. Its common names include snake's head fritillary, snake's head (the original English name), chess flower, frog-cup, guinea-hen flower, leper lily (because its shape resembled the bell once carried by lepers), Lazarus bell, checkered lily or, in northern Europe, simply fritillary.
The name Fritillarea comes from the latin fritillus meaning dice-box, and (possibly) referring to the chequered pattern on the flowers, though this derivation has been disputed. The name meleagris means ‘spotted like a guinea fowl’." (Wikipedia)







April Showers (Al Jolson lyrics)

Though April showers 
May come your way, 
They bring the flowers 
That bloom in May; 
And if it's raining, 
Have no regrets; 
Because, it isn't raining rain, you know, 
It's raining violets. 
And when you see clouds 
Upon the hill, 
You soon will see crowds 
Of daffodils; 
So keep on looking for the bluebird, 
And listening for his song, 
Whenever April showers come along. 















So judging by the amount of rain we have had here lately, there should be a wonderful array of flowers coming our way in May.


Quite an assortment of birds in the garden this week too





I did not manage to get the goldfinches, crows smashing peanuts, or hummingbird with something caught on its beak with my camera, but I'll leave those to your imagination.

A new watercolour ("Japonica"), inspired by a picture I showed on the blog a couple of weeks ago.


For more information on this and other works follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

That's it for this week, happy whimsy Wednesday, thank you for stopping by, until next time ..................

15 comments:

  1. These are great. Your plants are much further on than ours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's an amazing series of raindrops on leaves and flowers. Perfectly beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can imagine you with camera in hand looking for raindrops on flowers. It brings to mind the song “My Favorite Things” and the lyrics “raindrops on roses”. But the fritillaria flower particularly charmed me, as it looks so dainty and enchanted.

    ReplyDelete
  4. beautiful detail in your painting! your talent is amazing!

    loved all of these shots. made me smile with the renewal of spring.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think spring is finally here!! Your blooms are so beautiful with the soft, plentiful droplets!!

    And you have hummingbirds?? I can't wait!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Magnificent water-drops on the flowers and leaves, ending with birds, so good, and the great Gillian's painting, absolutely brilliant, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gillian your photos are lovely! I love all the flowers and birds.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The flowers are so beautiful and there's nothing I find lovelier than raindrops on flowers and plants.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love when the sun shines after it rains. Your photos are wonderful, Gillian.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Lovely spring blooms awash with raindrops. We could use some April showers here too. I love your second Fritillaria photo! Beautiful Gillian!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I know one of these flowers as a Snakes Head Fritillary - they became very rare in the wild in the UK when water meadows were drained and "improved".

    Nice pictures.

    Cheers and thanks for linking to WBW.

    Stewart M - Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stunning painting! Great assortment of flower shots especially the Snake Head Fritilary.

    ReplyDelete
  13. There isn't anything much prettier than raindrops on petals and leaves... except for your lovely art. It's always beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So many beautiful flowers. I just love all the raindrops my friend.

    Hugs~

    ReplyDelete
  15. WOW!!! You have hummingbirds already! Awesome! I'd love to see these birds again when I go home to visit in Wisconsin. They do not come to Arizona very often. Spring is wonderful in that it brings us color splash when we need it most to help jumpstart our creative flow:)

    ReplyDelete