Sparkling Jewel

Yesterday morning was kind of muggy and humid.  As always, I was going through the garden and I found this sparkling jewel next to the garage, near the raspberry patch.  This is nature at its best.  You can’t ask for anything more.  I call it Rhinestone Leaves.

Rhinestone Leaves, Home, Boisbriand, June 28 2011

Rock Star Guitars



March 10 2008, Toronto



On a totally different note (et c’est le cas de le dire) here is a few pictures I took of Rock Stars' guitars during their shows.  Anybody can guess who is behind each one?  As a clue, I will give the date and place of the show.  Some are easier than others, specially for those who know me.



July 07 2008, Detroit



Here is another tip: The first two guitarists are from the same band.

June 17 2007, Warwick, QC

 This one is probably the most difficult as the band is not as well know as the others but, they are just as good.

The last two are from the same guitarist at the same show.

July 17 2007, Montreal



I will post the answers in the next couple of days.  Have fun guessing.



Special Yellow Flowers

Remember in the last post I was hoping.  Well, I didn't hope for nothing. Today, I was pleasantly surprised.  I actually was able to talk to two nice ladies on the phone without having to go through 5 minutes of instructions before I actually heard a human voice.  A big thank you for those companies that still think that talking to real people is important.

In the last couple of days I have been flower hunting and found I lot of yellow flowers.  So today I’m offering you a yellow flower special.

Here is the first one of eight.

 

Lotier corniculé, Boisbriand, QC, June 21 2011

Here is the Lotier corniculé (Bird's-foot Trefoil) also known as pied-de-poule in French.  It is found in fields and along paths.  It is pretty common here in Québec.  It belongs to the same family as alfalfa and peas.  Interesting! 

Lysimaque nummulaire, Boisbriand, QC, June 21 2011

The second one on the list: Lysimaque nummulaire or, which is much better; Moneywort or herbe aux écus.  It is a ground covering plant that came from Europe.

My third one (this sounds like playing charades) is Millepertuis commun; The famous St-John's Worth known for its anti-depressive properties. 

Millepertuis commun, Boisbriand, QC, June 21 2011



Number 4 is from the Crassula family, the same as the popular Jade plant. It is named Goldmoss sedum or Orpin âcre in French.  They look like little stars. First time I ever saw some.



Orpin âcre, Laval, QC, June 19 2011



Five, six and seven are from the same genus but different species.  That is why they look so much alike. They are Potentilles or Cinquefoil.



Potentille dressée, Boisbriand



Potentielle ansérine, Boisbriand

Potentielle argentée, Boisbriand



Renoncule, Boisbriand, QC, June 21 2011

The last one but none the least: the Renoncule or Buttercup (Bouton d'or).  There is numerous species in this family and I am not sure which one this is.  I think it is Ranuculus repents (Creeping Buttercup). If anybody knows, please let me know.  They are very hard to differentiate even when looking at the leaves.

Well that's it for this series.  Back next time with some other finds.  Until then.

Nice morning discovery

It's been a couple of weeks. I'm trying hard to get a new job, which is not obvious, as every company in the universe now uses websites for job application.  Try as you might to get to talk to a human being, it's a heroic accomplishment.  Even then, if you’re lucky, you get to talk to the receptionist that tells you that she is not allowed to transfer you to the HR department.  If you’re ever so blessed to have a phone number with the name of a person attached to it, you get their voice mail; you leave a message hoping they call you back………still hoping.

On a better note, I discovered a new flower in my garden this morning.  When I get up, one of the first thing I do is take a walk around the garden to see what’s new.  We’ve been getting nice red strawberries the last couple of days but, this morning along the wooden fence, I saw something pink that was not suppose to be there.  To my surprise there were three pink flowers. 

Perennial pink geranium, My garden, Boisbriand, June 17 2011

They are geraniums of the perennial variety.  They probably were planted there a while back and are now resurfacing which is great because I get to see a new flower in my garden.

Can’t wait to see what else might pop up.

California Style

I went to California at the beginning of May for a short vacation.  I wanted to share the beauty of San Francisco with my boyfriend and he wanted to see the giant Sequoias in Yosemite.  So we combined the two for a weeklong trip.  We saw a lot of things and met some interesting people.  One of them was an art dealer that wanted to sell us an original painting from LeRoy Neiman called "The Breeding" Go have a look and you will understant the title  (LeRoy Neiman "The breeding").  My boyfriend had him convinced that we were seriously considering buying it, which of course, wasn't quite true.

Here are a few places that we visited in San Francisco



The dome at the Wesfield San Francisco Center

  

This is the dome inside the Westfield San Francisco Center.  The dome was first built in 1896 as the main feature of the Emporium Department Store.  It was destroyed by fire after the 1906 earthquake.  Rebuilt by 1908 and fully restored for the 2006 reopening of the new Westfield San Francisco Center home of Bloomingdale, other major chain stores and boutiques. 

Learn more about the dome



The Ghirardelli Store on The Wharf



Of course being in San Francisco, we had to go to Fisherman's Wharf.  There, we met a lady that was celebrating her fiftieth birthday by taking a swim in the bay.  We were given a task of the wonderfully gooey Ghiradelli chocolate by a smiling employee at their store and, we had a great lunch of clam chowder sampler on the terrace at the Blue Mermaid restaurant, while listening to a guitarist playing the Blues.



California Poppy

This is my favorite picture of the hole trip.  They are California Poppies, native flowers of California and the southwest United States.  The picture was taken during our visit to the Coit Tower another San Francisco landmark where you have a 360 degree view of the city.
Learn more about the Coit Tower



The Coit Tower



I know, everybody has seen it, in pictures at least; The Golden Gate bridge.  However, it is still an amazing site to see, especially with the fog that seems to linger around it most of the time.  I thought I'd show it to you in a little different angle; through a hole in a fence at the Fort Point overlook.      Learn more about the Golden Gate bridge



The Golden Gate Bridge



Next time, I'll post on our excursion to Monterey

Enjoy your weekend

New Beauties

Last night I went for a walk and I found these new beauties; some that I missed two days ago or that bloomed in the mean time.  Anyway they are just gorgeous.



This one is called Bermudienne à feuilles étroite.  It is also called Blue-eyed Grass.  How appropriate since it's tiny and lost in the middle of tall grass.  I was lucky to find it.  There is even a bug on the stem as a bonus.
  
  

This second one was well hidden under its leaves and in a very unexpected location.  I found it on the lawn of a newly finished house mixed with weeds, sand and gravel and yet, it has these delicate petals with pink coloring.  Its name is Mauve négligée or Common Mallow.  Even if its leaves look like the one of geraniums they are not from the same family.