Wednesday's Vine and Flower

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Happy Wednesday.  Today I'm back to the flower.  While it looks like this vine leads to and produces the flower, I think not.  The vine is just coincidentally there for the morning glory, or maybe it's the sweet pea flower.  I do like the way the vine leads to the lone flower.  I hope you do as well,

I also hope you had a wonderful Wednesday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Cotton Tuesday 10-6-15

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Hello on Tuesday.  As promised, this is the cotton that comes from the flower (square) and forms in the pod (boll).  It is fluffy like cotton candy and white.  It has a hard outer shell, though, that will hurt you.  My grandmother would tell us stories about picking cotton.  It seems her family were basically seasonal workers on farms and picking cotton was one of their seasons for many years.  Grandma would tell us how hard it was to labor on the farm and how the cotton shells would cut their hands.  She wasn't complaining (she never would), she was speaking matter-of-factly, and was just giving us information about her childhood and life.  She seemed to enjoy her childhood - she was a "'daddy's girl" - and whatever he wanted her to do, she was more than happy to please.  I enjoyed Grandma's stories and believed her of course, but, I never really realized just how hard her childhood and later life was of picking cotton until I saw cotton still on the plant, up close and personal, many years later.  I have actually tried to get cotton out of one of those pods and it ain't easy folks.  You think you can just grab and go but if you do that, you will get cut - and you don't want blood on that white cotton!  

Now-a-days machines are used to harvest cotton.  Sometimes, the plants are sprayed with some chemical to kill the leaves to make it easier for the machines to harvest the cotton.  That just seems wrong to me but I guess it makes it easier on the machines.  Gone are the days when people had a hand in harvesting.  Still, cotton is as pretty and as useful as it was back in my grandmother's era.  It's just not harvested the same.

I hope you had a terrific Tuesday.  Thanks for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Monday's Boll 10-5-15

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Hello and happy Monday!  On this Monday I have for you the cotton plant's "boll".   The boll is what's left behind when the flower or "square" falls off.  Inside the boll are moist fibers which grow and expand and eventually the boll turns brown and the white fibers burst out as cotton.  Tomorrow I'll show you.

I hope you had a great Monday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Sunday's Cotton Plant Flower 10-4-15

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Happy Sunday.  I thought I'd make this upcoming week about cotton.  I love cotton.  I have cotton balls to help remove makeup, cotton tips to help remove wax from my ears, cotton clothing of all kinds.  Cotton just feels so good on the skin,  This photo lets you know cotton is coming because it's a cotton blossom!  They appear after approximately two months after planting. This blossom is actually called a "square" and, after three days of turning different colors they wither and die and leave something behind called a "boll".  I will show you the "boll" tomorrow.

I hope you had a wonderful Sunday.  Thanks for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Sunny Saturday 10-3-15

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Happy Saturday.  Today I have for you Effie, my cat.  There has been so much rain lately, along with gray skies that there just hasn't been any sun for us to enjoy.  So I thought I'd dig into my photos taken earlier this year and see if I couldn't find something.  Well, this little cutie just improved my mood so I thought I'd share it with you.  Lying in a sunny spot taking a nap is something I think most of us can relate to,  I look at Effie and I can imagine myself lying in a hammock, enjoying the day soaking up the sun and relaxing.  So, if you've been in a rainy area for a few days, just look at Effie and imagine - and pretty soon your mood will be lifted, too.  If you've been in a sunny area for a few days, just look at Effie and imagine how you could enjoy the sun as well.  I think there's something for everyone here!

I hope you've had a sunny Saturday.  Or, at the very least, can imagine yourself on a sunny Saturday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Friday's Water

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Hello and happy Friday!  Today is about reflections; and growth.  We see the flowers in/on the water as the growth - flourishing in the water and sunshine.  We see the clouds and trees reflections that bring the UP to the DOWN.  That is such a great thing about water.  We can see what's going on in the water, on the ground and in the sky.  Of course, water is good for more than that (like drinking, bathing, etc,), which is a great reason we should make sure we protect our water.

I hope you had a fantastic Friday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.

Thursday's Bromeliad

Copyright 2015 AJ Horton

Happy Thursday.  Today I have another pretty flower for you.  This is an Aechmea Blue Rain Bromeliad.  This beauty is orginal to Brazil, and there it attracts hummingbirds when flowering.  I didn't see any hummingbirds when I photographed it, but I wasn't able to be around it for long.  I don't usually get to see bromeliads, only the fruit that come from the most famous bromeliad - the pineapple.

I hope you had a great Thursday.  Thank you for looking.  See you tomorrow.