Just a Little Lagniappe

I love cardinals and we have a male and female that visit our feeders every day.   Unfortunately, they are shy and won't stay if we are outside, and that makes capturing pictures of them very difficult.

One day last week I noticed them in the courtyard, and decided to try to capture them from one of the windows in our kitchen. Although the pictures aren't perfect, I was pleased with them.

I'm hoping they will have some babies in a few weeks and perhaps the babies won't be so shy, and I'll be able to capture them in pictures during their "flying lessons." 

Here's another picture I took from inside the window.  We have two hummingbirds, so far, and I'm looking forward to capturing more pictures of them as they get used to their new surroundings ... and us.  

We visited my parents over the weekend and I took a few pictures while we were there.  As I prepared to get some pictures of Mama's white calla lily, I noticed a little chameleon lounging on it.

I don't know if he was just enjoying the sunshine, or watching and waiting for his "lunch" to come by, but my camera and I didn't seem to bother him at all. 

I've never noticed a chameleon with a stripe down his back like this one ...

This lovely yellow ruffled iris caught my eye, too.  It is huge and blooms profusely.

We're supposed to have a couple of days of sunshine today and tomorrow, and I'm planning to visit one of my favorite "picture-taking" places tomorrow.  It's Mynelle Gardens in Jackson, and the azaleas and other spring-blooming flowers should be at their peak right now.  If you would like to get a "sneak peek" at the Gardens, this link will take you to a post I wrote a couple of years ago featuring the gardens ... Mynelle's Garden.

I think Spring is God's way of giving us just a glimpse here on earth of what Heaven is like. May your days be filled with the glories and joys of His springtime ... wherever you may be. 

Summer's End

I recently came across the lyrics to a song on a beautiful blog called, "The House in the Roses," which is written by a lovely lady named Cielo. If you haven't discovered Cielo's enchanting pictures and stories, I hope you will visit her magical House of Roses. I'm sure it will become one of your favorite places.

The song I mentioned is called Summer's Almost Over, and was written by Cheryl Wheeler. I'd like to share these beautiful lines ...

Summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know why,
Sentimental old fool, weeping for this blue, blue sky,
And the way the cat is sleeping and the way the garden grew,
Wagging dogs who lick my face and the way I feel for you.

Who could help but welcome autumn and the promise of the winter snow?
Still there's something sweet and wistful as I watch this lovely summer go,
But the sun is sinking sooner and the weeds have won at last,
With the berries on the bushes and the crickets in the grass,
Oh, summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know why.

Isn't that lovely! Thank you, Cielo, for letting me share it here at Southern Lagniappe.

I would also like to share a few pictures I took yesterday afternoon while walking around in our yard. I was thinking about the lyrics to that song, and found several signs that mark the passage of summer.

These are the last two lingering blossoms on our Crape Myrtle trees ...

Our Sasanquas are loaded with buds ...

They will look like this when they open:

I love the way this little rosebud's tip looks as if it's been "squashed." It's probably one of the last roses we'll have.

I think the faded rose pods are pretty, too ...

I captured these leaves on a Sycamore tree whose branches hang over our back fence.

They're almost as big as a dinner plate and are so pretty in the tree, but when they start falling in the flower beds, they're not so pretty.

I just happened to look into our cobalt gazing ball and couldn't resist capturing the reflection of an iron arbor in it.

I like this shot of the fleur-de-lis finial on the arbor, too.

I'm not sure what these shiny black berries are. They are growing on a vine in a tree behind our fence, and look like little glass marbles.

My lagniappe for the afternoon came in the form of this little emerald green chameleon who was playing on my glass butterfly feeder (you can click on the pictures to see him up close, if you'd like).

I bent over to photograph a fading Lantana bloom and captured a little bit of serendipity instead.

These little guys will be leaving soon.

Farewell, little hummers — Godspeed!

" ... There's something sweet and wistful
as I watch this lovely summer go."

Tuesday Lagniappe

Sometimes the best pictures are found in your own backyard, especially this time of year. Yesterday, I spent about an hour walking around our yard, and here are some of the things I captured with my camera.

We have Lady Banks Roses growing on the fence in our backyard ... this glorious yellow one, and two white ones.

The honey bees and bumblebees love the flowers on our Nellie Stevens Hollies, and they were literally swarming around them as I took these pictures.

I also discovered this little guy sunning himself on one of the branches. His body was only a couple of inches long, but his tail was probably twice that long.

The Azaleas growing around our pond popped open over the weekend, and I loved exploring them up close.

I hope to keep a photo journal this spring and summer of our plants and flowers as they grow and bloom, and I'm sure I'll discover a lot of lagniappe along the way, like the bumblebees and little chameleon I saw yesterday.

I hope you're enjoying a glorious Spring in your part of the world, too.

The Joy of Hummingbirds

Last September I wrote a post called Saying Goodbye to Our Hummingbirds, which featured some pictures of a feisty little hummer who was the last to leave for the winter. He was so cute and I really got attached to him and missed him when he finally left. You can read about him by clicking on the link above. In April of this year, I anxiously awaited his return, and on April 20th, wrote this story about the return of our hummers ... Welcome back, Little Hummers. Yesterday, I put some fresh nectar (1/4th cup sugar to one cup of water) in our feeder and noticed that one little hummer was happily stuffing himself. I ran and got my camera and staked out the feeder which is close to our porch. I probably sat there for an hour and a half, in 90-degree temperatures, but loved every minute of it. Here are the pictures I captured of our little hummingbird. I'd like to think that he's the same little guy from last September, but I'm not sure yet. If he ever perches on the top of the shepherd's hook that's holding the feeder, I will know for sure, because that's where he spent a lot of time. I'd also like to share a little lagniappe I received during one of the hummer's feeding breaks. I noticed a little chameleon in the bay magnolia tree next to the feeder, and was delighted to capture this picture of him "stalking" a little bug (if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the unsuspecting little bug) ... The bug saw him coming, though, and jumped off the branch just in the nick of time. I was glad, because I really didn't want to capture a picture of the chameleon having "brunch." I thoroughly enjoyed the antics of our little hummer, and look forward to watching him (and, hopefully, others) this summer. They are truly awesome little creatures.