Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding hearts have many names:  Dicentra spectabilis, Lady's Locket, Lady in a Boat, Valentine Heart, Dutchman's Trousers, Dutchmen's Breeches, Glory Bower, and Lady-in-a-Bath. I don't know how many other names there might be, but I was surprised when I started looking.


The sun was setting when I took these pictures, and was shining through the hedge behind these flowers. I thought it was interesting and wanted to try to capture some of the look. I changed the first picture to black and white to emphasize the heart at the front.

Just as the Bleeding Heart has many different names, so does our Lord and Saviour: Wonderful, Counsellor, Prince of Peace, Redeemer, Messiah, Son of God, Son of Man, King of Kings, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and many, many more. The God who made the world and all that is within it, loves each and every one of us.

 Jesus said unto him, 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:37

Double Daffodils

Last week I put some pictures up of some daffodils in our yard that our daughter had planted last fall. She was disappointed when she was here a couple of weekends ago because she had planted other daffodils that were fancier, and they weren't up or blooming. They bloomed this week, and are gorgeous. Thank you to my wonderful daughter for the Double Daffodils:) They are brightening our yard, and our days. I'm sorry you missed seeing them and thought this might be second-best for you.

 Therefore being justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ...

Romans 5:1

The Beauty of Flowers

I enjoy looking at the spring flowers that come up. This week I discovered some blue forget-me-nots in a small corner on our property. I didn't know we had them, so it was a pleasant surprise. We also have a grouping of trilliums, so it's interesting watching them grow too. They are getting thicker every year.  Both of these are growing "in the wild". We did not plant them. 

Forget-me-nots

Trillium

One of our daughters planted daffodils for me last fall. It's been lovely seeing them coming up and blooming. They are beautiful, especially when you zoom in on them. In these pictures, the sidelight from the sun add to their look.

Daffodils

Daffodil

 Flowers are beautiful, whether we have planted them, or they have "planted themselves". God provides for them with rain, sunlight, and food in the ground. We can be assured that He cares for us too. 

... the Lord your God goes with you;

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Visiting Niagara Falls

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to be in Niagara Falls, Ontario while I went to a work conference.  We've been there a few times before and have enjoyed many of the special attractions. We prefer the natural attractions, so spent most of our time walking to the Falls and enjoying their beauty.

We stayed in a hotel overlooking the Falls, so were able to see them at night with the lights on them, and in the morning as the mist rose from the water. When you open the window of the hotel, you get to hear the roar, which, of course, continues through the night. We also enjoy watching the lights on the falls at night. 

To get these pictures, I had to increase my ISO, especially for the night shots. 

Canadian Horseshoe Falls

The American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls at night

Canadian Horseshoe Falls at night

Top of the Canadian Falls

Top of the Canadian Falls

The Canadian Falls has a volume of water going over it at about 2 million litres per second and the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls have a volume of over five hundred thousand litres per second. It's no wonder it's so loud. There is always a large crowd around the falls, especially during the warm, summer months. I wonder how many realize that God created the  falls and the water going over them. Many marvel at the hugeness of the Falls, without acknowledging the Creator. He is the One who made heaven and earth, and has made each one of us. 

 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

His eternal power and divine nature—

have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Romans 1:20

Trying to photograph the Super Moon

I've tried taking photos of the moon before, so when we were told that it would be a super moon, I wanted to try taking a picture of it. It's not easy. As you can see from the following pictures, I experimented but still didn't quite get a sharp picture.

The first picture is of the moon over Beech Lake. It looks more like a star, but I like it because it's different. The second picture was taken with my iPhone, which shows more noise. Each of these makes the moon look small. When we first saw it coming up over the hills however, it looked quite large.


The last picture was taken with my 300 mm lens. The hardest part was making sure it was in focus, even with using a tripod.  It didn't take long to realize that the auto-focus didn't work very well, and  that I needed it to use manual focus. I did crop the picture some. Although I didn't completely succeed, it was fun trying. I will try again sometime. 

Moon over Beech Lake, Haliburton, Ontario

Moon over St. Nora's Lake, Ontario

Super Moon

 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, 

which you have set in place, 

what is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3,4

Spring Wild Flowers

Spring is definitely here. We are seeing small wildflowers coming up in the bush. What a treat to walk in the bush behind our house right now. It has dried up more, there aren't too many water puddles,  and there are no bugs yet. It won't be long before that happens, so we are enjoying our walks even more knowing that we'll have to take a break for awhile when the bugs start.


If you aren't paying attention, you might not even notice these flowers. They are tiny and you can easily walk right on by them. It's well worth it to take time to look at them. The trilliums have buds on them and will soon be blooming. When they are blooming, they look like a carpet of white and red on the forest floor. The cold must be affecting the trilliums this year as they are very late, and are quite small. 

Adder's Tongue

 Mayflower

Trillium (bud)

These small, dainty flowers are bright spots in amongst the browns and greys of the dead leaves on the forest floor. It feels like God provides them to encourage us that summer is coming. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

 He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11