Blog Archives
THE RUNNER-UP
When I was picking out a photo for my WORDLESS WEDNESDAY post today I was looking for something that would brighten up a rather bleak and bland late winter day that was being punctuated with intermittent snow showers. My first choice was this photo.
It’s a picture I took a couple of weeks ago during a visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden. While most visitors were concentrating on the superb annual orchid display, I stepped out to visit the Linnean House.
(Built in 1882, the Linnean House is the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi River.)
Every February, the camellias that grow there are in full bloom. 
And since the camellia is the floral symbol of the Chinese New Year, I wanted to capture a few pictures of them. 新年快乐 Even though the official New Year celebration ended two days ago. So why did the camellias come in second to Mlle. Renee and the gladioli? Well, I thought Renee told a better story without words for Wordless Wednesday. BTW, my original title of the photo with Renee smelling the glads is TAKE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES, which really doesn’t make any sense at all.
THE ROAD TO MADAGASCAR!
Yesterday, my longtime friend Bill and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s 2013 Orchid Show which was themed MADAGASCAR. Madagascar is a tropical island country in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, and many artifacts from that country were displayed among the exhibit of orchids. Enough for words, check the pictures. You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it.
It was really a fantastic exhibit!
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #045 – FEBRUARY 14
#1 ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – THE STAND-UP HEART
At last Saint Valentine’s Day has arrived. I think the calendar were just about to run out of ways you could possible fold an origami heart.
#2 THE MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – ROMANTIC COUPLES
There are nine pairs of fictional lovers hidden in the massive block of letters. I found seven pairs and circled the spots where their names cross. I also found two single males HEATHCLIFF and RICK, and for the life of me I can not find SONIA (Heathcliff’s girl friend) and shudder … I cannot remember Ingrid Bergman’s name in Casablanca. So without those names I am unable to decipher the remaining letters to find three more pairs of lovers. Alas, I’m just a sorry FOOL FOR LOVE.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DATE PUZZLE CALENDAR – DETAILS
Apparently the Page-A-Day puzzle maker didn’t get the message that today was Valentine’s Day. (Either that or he/she leads an extremely kinky love life and/or consorts with sundry demons.)
I circled the detail spots in the painting.
HAPPY SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY TO ALL!
And if your sweetheart didn’t send you anything special today,
here’s a sample of what I saw at the annual MOBOT
ORCHID SHOW yesterday.
More photos from the show to follow in another post.
CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL … LIGHTS OUT FOR THE GRAND FINALE!
Thankfully, there are a lot of benches around the MOBOT grounds for foot-weary visitor who have completed the 2.5 mile trek around the grounds viewing all 26 lantern creations. The break was also necessary because we’re still in the midst of summer days, and the MAGIC can’t start until the sun has set which in garden time is about 8 pm. Also those in the know didn’t start showing up until shortly before eight. We had decided we weren’t going to repeat the entire trek around the garden, and we were just going to revisit a few of our favorites we wanted to see illuminated. Don’t forget you can enlarge any picture by clicking on it.
It was a great presentation and I encourage all who can to visit it — it will run up until August 19. Dining from 5:30 – 8:00 in the Sassafras Cafe/Visiter’s Center and from 6:00 – 10:00 at the The Lantern Festival Food Court in the Linnean Plaza.
THE LILIES OF MY FIELD
I received the above email from MoBot today and I realized that my garden is filled with dazzling daylilies as much as theirs is. While the white lilies have been out doing themselves this spring.
The reds … 
Yellows …
And purples are adding their color to the front of the house.
30 DAYS OF CREATIVITY — DAY 8
Today’s post was inspired by Walt Disney’s FANTASIA. It was a photo I took recently while visiting MoBot … the Missouri Botanical Garden for those not acquainted with local vocal shorthand. I call it THE PROCESSION OF THE MIRLITONS. OK, so what in the hell is a mirliton? By definition it is a toy musical instrument with a nasal tone produced by a vibrating membrane. In other words … a kazoo! So here’s the picture …
You probably should also know that for a time when I was in a sci-fi mood I was calling the photo INVASION OF FLORIPODS and MARCH OF THE FLOROIDS.
But back to the FANTASIA inspiration. There are two … the obvious is the Nutcracker Suite with its multitude of floral references and one of the dances is even titled Dance Of The Mirlitons in some of the scores. The other is the Ava Maria section. Most people don’t even remember this segment because it’s the segue from A Night On Bald Mountain that closes the film.
BTW, if you’re lucky enough to have a Blu-ray player, check out the Blu-ray edition of Fantasia which was released last year. It’s visually fantastic! It also has a version of the film with commentary that gives you an in-depth look at this classic film.
... a somewhat unknown or perhaps imaginary actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, friend, brother, uncle and all round good fellow that you really should get to know because he lives with that most glamorous fourpaw Mademoiselle Renee. (Mlle. Renee for short)
