| Maltese name: Ħalib it-tajr kbir |
Plant Family: Asparagaceae 
Present on the Maltese islands before man
English name: Large Star of Bethlehem
Flowering time: April-May
Flower of The Day
Tag: Blommor
Lovely Spring!
It feels wonderful to be able to go out and find nature just around the corner. I’ll never regret moving from Sliema to Rabat. Even if it’s temporary, this is how I want to live in the future, close to nature along with my lovely dogs.
Lovely Poppies 
Grains 
The grapes will ripen in autumn 
Lavendel? 
Within a few months, the figs are ripe to eat 
Bituminaria bituminosa 
Borago officinalis 
Prickly Pear 
Felicia, always curious…
A selection of images taken while walking my dogs in the surroundings of Rabat.
Malta 25 April 2021
Yellow Mellow
“How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun.”
– Vincent Van Gogh
English name(s):
Crown Daisy, Garland, Chop Suey Greens
Indigenous.
Present on the Maltese islands before man.
“Silence isn’t golden. It’s yellow”
– Zell Miller
Species name: Glebionis coroniaria 
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot,
others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
– Pablo Picasso
“Yellow usually means it’s not that serious.”
– Bobby Unser
Above are some trifling knowledge, a couple of quotes and some flowers from yesterday’s walk with my doggies. I chose the yellow ones, there are plenty of them now. Don’t forget to click on an image to enlarge.
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
By the way, we’ve moved from Sliema to Rabat! Nature around the corner, the dogs can run freely and it feels great! Here we’ll live temporarily, finally on our way to “who knows where” to our new home in Cyprus. Meanwhile, now that the first move is complete, I’ll get more time for the blog and to visit you and others out there, in this amazing bloggosphere.
Morning walk in Rabat
Malta 19 April 2020
Poppy- Flower of The Day
Yesterday I saw the first poppies of the year, one of my favorites when it comes to wildflowers.
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson”
The purple is not as common as the red ones. Sure, they’re all beautiful!
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
– Buddha
This look a bit like a butterfly.
“Butterflies are self propelled flowers.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
With this post, I wish you all a Happy Easter Holiday!
Now I’m takinga short break and I’ll be back in a week or so.
And don’t forget…
Gladiolus – Wild plants of Malta
This is one of many colorful wild flowers that can be seen here on the island right now.
The beautiful gladioli are sometimes called the sword lily because of the sword-shaped leaves of the plants in this genus but the most widely-used English common name for these plants is simply gladiolus.
This lovely flower appear between March and May and is quite common throughout the Maltese countryside.
Feel free to click on an image in the collage and it becomes even more colorful.
Malta March 2021
Almond trees, Flowers & Nuts
Species name: Prunus dulcis
Maltese name: Siġra tal-Lewż
English name: Almond
Status for Malta:
Non-native species, but introduced in Malta before 1492 when Columbus discovered the New World.
Flowering Time: Dec-Feb.
But they are still in bloom here in Malta, even though we are in the middle of March.
Gerbera – Flower of The Day
Gerberas are believed to symbolize Beauty, Innocence, and Purity.
“Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions”
– Pablo Picasso
“Whether the flower or the color is the focus I do not know. I do know the flower is painted large to convey my experience with the flower – and what is my experience if it is not the color?”
– Georgia O’Keeffe
“We are all called upon to do small things with great love”
– Mother Teresa
Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this?
No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.”
– Pablo Picasso
Wild Plants of Malta – Narcissus Tazetta
The beautiful wild flower Narcissus Tazetta has flourished in diversity here on the island of Malta since time immemorial.
Today, there are significantly fewer of these beauties seen in nature, mainly due to its attractiveness and delicious scent which leads to man being tempted to pick them.
It may be easy to be tempted, but given that they may soon be gone forever from the islands of Malta, makes it feel easier to leave them where they belong…
…in nature.
Dog Joy
Fanny, her daughter Felicia and their best friend Freja running and playing in a sea of greenery and white flowers.
Running together in nature without a leash is pure joy, both for the dogs and their owners.
My dear husband, our best friend Fredrik, two basenji’s and a very cute American beagle.
Here we go!!!
…and here we were, in the area of Miġra L-Ferħa.
Located along the sea from where we could see the small island of Filfla. It was a very nice day!
Thank you Fredrik for taking us to this for us unique and unknown scenery.
Malta February 2021
Tulips – Flower of The Day
I bought a bouquet of tulips, in two different colors, three pink and four red. That was then, now they have begun to fade. But my images do not wither, they remain as long as I choose to keep them, I can keep them alive.
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”
– Walter Hagen
“I’d rather wear flowers in my hair, than diamonds around my neck.”
– Unknown
January Wildflowers
Ja, alla dessa vilda blommor växer och frodas här på ön just nu.
Som vanligt lägger jag upp lite för många bilder men det är så svårt att välja.
Dessutom är det av olika skäl lite långt mellan inläggen just nu, tid har jag men känner ofta att jag inte vet vad jag vill med mina bilder. Fotograferar mycket och kan sitta i timmar och sortera och redigera, men sen blir det oftast inget mer.
Min finaste lilla Felicia, hon får alltid vara med på ett hörn.
Trots att hon inte är en blomma, är hon ändå en slags blomma, för mig.
Liksom hennes mamma, ett riktig guldkorn i tillvaron. På den här på bilden är Fanny bara något äldre än vad Felicia är idag. Då, i november 2017 var hon drygt fyra månader gammal. Time flies..
Malta 11 January 2021.
Welcome Year 2021
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
-Albert Einstein
“The past is our lesson. The present is our gift. The future is our motivation.”
– Anonymous
I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.
– Benjamin Disraeli
Among wild flowers, colors, thoughts and happy-go-lucky dogs.
Life is a challenge, Life is good, after all.
Close Your Eyes & Make a Wish.
Trust the Magic of a New Beginning.
Malta 01 January 2021
Happiness & Joy!
That was yesterday, when we celebrated Christmas Eve at home.
Today, we went to Ta Qali Nature Park.
A blue sky with few clouds, green grass and plenty of wildflowers. It felt like spring in the air.
While Fanny could run without a leash as usual, little Felicia jumped happily and curiously around in the green grass in her eight-meter-long leash. Within a very few days she will be three months old. Time flies…
Malta 25 December 2020
Flower of The Day
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a wildflower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.
And Robin Redbreast in a Cage Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
A dove house filled with doves and pigeons Shudders Hell through all its regions.”
– William Blake
That was then…
That was then, last summer, when the bumblebees were playing hide and seek.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin”
― Mother Theresa”
This spring I saw lots of these, as well as during the summer and fall.
Now that winter is here, they are still there. Unaware of seasons…
“Time is an illusion.”
― Albert Einstein
“It’s being here now that’s important.
There’s no past and there’s no future.
Time is a very misleading thing.
All there is ever, is the now.
We can gain experience from the past,
but we can’t relive it
and we can hope for the future,
but we don’t know if there is one.”
― George Harrison
That was then, just a few weeks ago.
Puppies, growing and exploring a new world.
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”
― Marthe Troly-Curtin.
Pembroke Part 2
Here are some more pictures from Pembroke Heritage Trail.
This time I show you some plants and a cute little lizard that I guess is a kind of chameleon.
These are some of the plants that are now found in the Pembroke area.
This is the same lizard as seen above. 
A cute little creature! 
Typically, my macro lens was at home but I think my small Panasonic Lumix did an excellent job.
Pembroke, Malta, November 2020
By the way…
This is the puppy that we are going to keep, she’s absolutely gorgeous❣️ The only thing I’ve not found out yet is her name. I’ve thought of too many and I feel confused. Honey is too close to Fanny but maybe Sapphire or Lady or Felicia. What do you think?
More from Ta’ Qali
Here are some more images from Ta’ Qali Nature Park.
The weather here on the island is fantastic considering that we are already in November.
It’s the first time this year that I see a ladybug and the berries of the olive trees are ready to be harvested.
Now that the first rains have fallen after the summer drought, it’s easy to get a sense of spring.
I don’t feel I have succeeded so very well in photographing insects this year and now the dragonflies are fewer.
There are many yellow butterflies in the park right now but they are not easily caught.
I end the post with Fanny, an amazing mother who will now slowly but surely spend less time with the puppies so that at the age of eight weeks they are no longer dependent on their mom.
Ta’ Qali in October
Här är några bilder från Ta’ Qali Nature Park dit jag åker med Fanny nästan varje dag nu när hon sakta men säkert börjar vänja sig vid att vara ifrån valparna under längre stunder.
Höstfärger.
Färgstarkt och vitt, två av en mångfald av de blommor som växer här just nu.
Ett av många små hus med dess invånare som bor i parken.
Valparna är nu drygt fyra veckor gamla och stunderna i parken blir inte så mycket längre än en timme.
Sen vill Fanny hem för att se över sina småttingar. Hon är en helt fantastisk mamma.
Så fort hon kommer in i valparnas rum samlas de runt henne. För att dia mjölk och för att busa. 
Matdags
Saturday’s Flower
“May the flowers remind us why the rain was so necessary”
-Xan Oku
På promenad…
Man kan gå hela sträckan på cirka tre km utmed havet från Tigne i Sliema till Spinola Bay i St. Julian’s men vi går sällan hela vägen utan vänder efter en halvtimme, speciellt nu när Fanny har valpar som väntar därhemma.
Går vi inte på klipporna så går vi på den breda strandpromenaden, här sedd ur Fanny’s perpektiv.
Den här skylten har sett sina bättre dagar och är knappast bildskön
men då jag ser den så ofta när jag är på väg hem får den också vara med.
Idag har det gått 18 dagar sen valparna föddes. 
Fanny tar det med ro 
Hon är en fantastisk mamma, inte alltid så lätt när sex hungriga valpar skriker efter mat.
Avslutningsvis några bilder på vovvarna. Valparna har precis öppnat sina ögon och snart är det slut med att bara äta och sova. Nu är det lugnet före stormen då de strax ska ut på upptäcksfärd med allt vad det innebär. Ska bli jättekul och snart kan vi också ana var och ens unika utstrålning och karisma.
Vill passa på att tacka Anki som varit behjälplig när jag skulle försöka lära mig den nya blockredigeraren. Tack vare henne lyckades jag bland annat att få in den vita texen i bilderna och göra dem klickbara.
Haha.. det tog faktiskt flera timmar att skapa vad ni ser här ovanför.
The Power of Color
“Life is a painting, and you are the artist. You have on your palette all the colors in the spectrum
– the same ones available to Michaelangelo and Da Vinci”
– Paul J. Meyer
“Color is a power which directly influences the soul.”
― Wassily Kandinsky
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry.
And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”
– Walter Hagen
The power of color is inescapable. Color affects your behavior, moods, and thoughts. Your reactions to colors are often deeply personal and rooted in your own experiences. A certain color has the ability to soothe your frazzled nerves, agitate a hostile adversary, motivate and empower you to take action, and also to bring healing energy when you need it. As Wassily Kandinsky proclaimed, “Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body.”
Make Life Beautiful
“A good life is a collection of happy moments”
-Denis Waitley
“Don’t cry over the past, it’s gone. Don’t stress about the future, it hasn’t arrived.
Live in the present and make it beautiful”
– Unknown
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
And for those who may be curious about Fanny’s pregnancy.
Fanny is always curious about what’s in the bag when dad comes home from the store.
She is curious about everything.
She gave birth to six puppies last Sunday night.
Everyone’s fine, more to come…🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕
Sun Flower
“Sunflowers end up facing the sun, but they go through a lot of dirt to find their way there.”
― J.R. Rim.
“Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.”
– Old French Proverb.
“...and are we not all just wilting flowers in a crowded garden
waiting for someone who will appreciate the beauty of our petals
While it still exists”
– G.M
Today’s Flowers & Quote
“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful;
they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.”
– Luther Burbank.
Today’s Beauty
Flowers, Quotes & Thoughts
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”
– Audrey Hepburn”
“Great photography is about depth of feeling, not depth of field.”
— Peter Adams
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
— Ansel Adams
“I don’t trust words. I trust pictures.”
— Gilles Peress
That I like quotes is obviously no secret. I often use them when I myself cannot find the words. I don’t want to be anonymous but my blog isn’t intended as a diary, although I sometimes create posts about my everyday life. Still, publishing pictures without a single word reveals a certain personality of the person who took them.
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
It’s true, the last image is not a flower but for me Fanny is constantly blooming and fills my life with joy.
White Beauty
“White has it all, its beauty is absolute, it’s the perfect harmony”
– Coco Chanel
“For those colours you which to be beautiful, always first prepare a pure white ground”
-Leonardo da Vinci
“If peace of mind considered as pure as white colour then I know why it’s my favorite color”
– Rubeena Khan.
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do”
– Rumi
Mimosa or What?
It’s getting hot here in Malta now and most flowers fades away and thus all its colors, except this one. 
The mimosa trees bloomed here in Malta in April and these really look like mimosa but…
…I really can’t recognize their long sharp thorns.
Whatever it is, they give a lovely splash of color in nature, but you have to watch out for the razor-sharp thorns.
Flowers of The Day
When I look at above images, I realize that they would probably fit better in a theme called “Today’s insect”.
So here I show some wildflowers that are found here in Malta, without any visible insect.
Finally, Fanny, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a stunningly flourishing scenery.
Susan’s Flower on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
Spiny Caper – Wildflowers in Malta
I have shown this flower before, its very common here in Malta and I like it a lot because it’s so special.
The plant is actually a bush and each flower lasts only for one day and one night which means you can see a lot of flowers in different stages on the same plant. The flowers bloom from April to mid July. 
Spiny Caper or Kappar tax-xewk as it’s called in Maltese, grows abundantly here in our Mediterranean climate and even in arid deserts. For me it is a beauty at all stages and it has a lovely scent.
I have many favorites when it comes to flowers here in Malta and this is undoubtedly one of them.
And yes, the flower buds, capers, can be used as a taste in different dishes and sauces.
Click on an image if you like to see them enlarged.
Susan’s Flower on Fridays (a day late)
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
Hide and Seek with a Bumblebee
Don’t ask me why but I really love bumblebees and there are many to be found now among the flowers.
Bumblebees are not as aggressive. Males cannot sting, and females only do so when they feel threatened.
Bumblebees are excellent pollinators, they are in fact much more efficient pollinators than honeybees
But they are not always so easy to capture as they usually hide half of themselves deep into a flower.
Thanks for not hiding. Sometimes you’re lucky!
Flower of The Day
Now the cactus is blooming and within a few months we can pick tasty and sweet Prickly pears for free. 
When you see them like this it feels hard to believe that they will be edible.
Cropping & Mixed Thoughts
We all know that sometimes cropping is a must when you want to highlight the main subject of your image.
Not cropped at all
Cropped to just over half
Very cropped
Other images may look better if not cropped too much or not at all if it reveals a poorer image quality.
Feel free to click on an image above to enlarge and compare them to each other.
This one couldn’t be cropped because I was so close but in this case there was no need to crop either. 
I’ve too many images in my archive that easily could have been thrown away but for some reason they are still there. Some images evoke memories even though they can be seen as meaningless to others. 
Note to self; crop when you think it improves, throw away when you are not happy and sort out your archive when you have time. Enjoy life, and never give up! The key to learning more about the noble art of photography is curiosity and a sense of joy in what you create.
Flower on Fridays
This flower has a red-colored visitor with eight legs. It’s almost invisible but you’ll see it if you look closely.
This visitor isn’t at all invisible and may take up more space than the flower itself.
But you cannot miss these flowers different shades of the vibrant and lovely purple color.
Susan’s Flower on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
Wild White Beauty
This is one of all the wild flowers found here on the island right now.
Soon the summer heat will come and most plants will dry out while the Mediterranean will be warmer and maybe, wishful thinking, our everyday life will return to being the way it once was, and we’re back to normal. Non-essential shops have opened again this week and cafes and restaurants may open at the end of May. Perhaps…
Wishing you a great weekend from sunny Malta!!
Susan’s Flower on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
Flowers on Fridays
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do”
– Rumi –
“Remember to look up at the stars, not down at your feet.
Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist.
Be curious.”
– Stephen Hawking –
Flower of the Day
Me and my dog
In this post I show some images from my recent walks with my dog in various Nature parks here in Malta. 
Thanks to Fanny, I’ve discovered amazing sceneries on this tiny island in the Mediterranean.
The greenery, the narrow paths and the deep slopes of Victoria Lines.
The barren landscape along the sea in Pembroke.
The steep clay slopes in Ghajn Tuffieha.
Together we have made adventurous climbs in Il-Majjistral Nature Park.
Besides Fanny, I also photograph the variety of wild plants and insects found in our nature, more of that will come in a later post. And don’t worry, Fanny is visible also in the first image, but you have to look closely.
Friday’s flower
I’m not very good at wild flowers and tried to find the name of this colorful one via Google “Search by image”. I got the suggestion Carpobrotus rossii, also known as Karkalla. Then I read that that’s a plant native to Australia which is quite far from Malta. Regardless of it’s name, it’s a real splash of color in nature.
Susan’s Flower on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day
Just a Small Difference
There’s only a slight difference between these two pictures.
I prefer the last one. The flower itself is very small.
“Small Differences can lead to Big Changes.”
