Glimpses of joy

 We have been working this week on a great adult jigsaw puzzle more normally called putting up Ikea furniture as we renovate a guest bedroom. It has been fun working together but meant no time for ambling. But this evening looking through some photos I realised that over these last months of illness and dark times there have been a number of glimpses of joy- and all related to little moment in time in the natural world. So here are a few - the first this parent bluetit that with its partner built a nest in our garden nestbox and reared a fine brood of chicks. The dedication of the adults is breathtaking- returning up to three times a minute with tastey morsels for the young.

And the second - having rebuilt our pond this year the first dragonfly to visit it- this stunning large red damselfly- made me fly inside for the camera to just be in time to get a shot of it. Watching dragonflies has been such a therapy for me on days when I needed an escape and they never failed and stir up a passion in me that I feared had fled with so much else - and driving along yesterday a fantastic view of a red kite did the same.

 I love plants and flowers and one of my favourites is the garden pansy. They create nostalga for me as I recall bunches of them in small vases in my grandmother's home and they are so Victorian. The pallette of colours they come in is so wide but I love the lemon and indigo hues of this shy nodding flower in one of my planters. I love too the funny and smiling faces they often have and in particular the more unusual but fragranced violas such as Irish Molly. 

 A day learning about beetles was another good day earlier this year- not being so well I did not take as much in as I might have but it was wonderful to look at and learn about this group of insects- there are so many different groups and I can imagine it will take many seasons to learn about a good number of them. They come in amazing colours and shapes and are so often overlooked as we gaze at seemingly more attractive creatures. 

And last but not least - this wildflower- the Bindweed being visited by a hoverfly. In the agrden the bindweed is not welcome but in the wildflower meadows and borders it is a beauty- with its delicate shades of pink and creamy white. Just shows that being in the right place makes such a difference to how we look at things and how they appear to us. A rose by any other name, a bind weed in a different setting.........

And over all these wonderful creatures and flowers speak of the wonderful God who created all.