Tag: Plants

January Wildflowers

Published on by Anita27 Comments

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

Published on by Anita25 Comments

“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!

Published on by Anita24 Comments

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

Published on by Anita22 Comments

“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

Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day

That was then…

Published on by Anita23 Comments

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

Published on by Anita44 Comments

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.
    This is the same lizard as seen above.
  • A cute little creature!
    A cute little creature!
  • Typically, my macro lens was at home but I think my small Panasonic Lumix did an excellent job.
    Typically, my macro lens was at home but I think my small Panasonic Lumix did an excellent job.
Click on an image to enlarge.

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

Published on by Anita31 Comments

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.

Hello! I’m five weeks old now and still need my mom. I guess I’m the one who’s going to live with my mother while my five siblings move to their new homes. Although she who decides seems to have a hard time choosing ❤️

Light as a Feather

Published on by Anita28 Comments

This may not be a flower but definitely some kind of plant that over time has become fragile and elusive.Whatever it is, these are abundantly seen in nature now here in Malta.It’s not visible in my images here but these grow on large bushes where the “flower” is light as a feather. The one seen here has loosened from its plant and been stuck in a spider’s web while others fly freely in the wind.
Cee’s Photo Challenge Flower of The Day

Macro Monday

Published on by Anita33 Comments

Most of you probably recognize this little insect. Graphosoma lineatum, Strimlus in Swedish, which is part of the family stink bugs, även kallad bärfis. Thanks to Google and Wikipedia for the information.

They are often seen in pairs, especially on this kind of plant.A pretty special plant itself of the family Umbelliferae which looks completely different when it blooms.
Here it almost looks like it’s full of lice but I might show some flowering images in another post.

Today’s Plant

Published on by Anita17 Comments

I have no idea what kind of plant this is. It can be quite large and it is growing wild now here in Malta.I tried to search the images through google but got some strange suggestions. I know it’s not a broccoli and for sure it’s not a kind of fowl! For me it’s not a beauty but an interesting common plant. Maybe it’s eatable.

“Plants are like people:
they’re all different…
…and a little strange”
– John Kehoe –

Flower(s) of The Day

Published on by Anita20 Comments

Feeling Blue.Red for Love – Red for Fire. Snow WhiteYellow Solar heat. Pink – Passion.

Wherever life plants you…Susan’s Flowers on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge.

Flower of The Day

Published on by Anita16 Comments

Yesterday I saw an almond tree that was already blooming, although it was mostly buds.

It’s a lovely flower.It feels like spring though it’s still winter here on the island.“Almond blossom, sent to teach us That the Spring days soon will reach us”
– Edwin Arnold –

Susan’s Flowers on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge.

Flowers on Fridays

Published on by Anita13 Comments

This time I choose to show three different types of flowers but with similar shades of color.The flower on top I believe is an anthurium, also called flamingo flower.
The one above is a type of orchid but there are about 28,000 different species so I have no idea about its name.Plumeria flowers. Susan’s Flowers on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge.

Flowers on Fridays

Published on by Anita20 Comments

These beautiful flowers were taken when I visited Orchid Garden in Kuching, Sarawak. It’s obviously not some kind of orchid, but it is a beautiful flower that grows on large trees and has a lovely scent.If I’m not mistaken, this is Plumeria flowers which are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. But I could be wrong…

Susan’s Flowers on Fridays
Cee’s Photo Challenge.

Back..

Published on by Anita21 Comments

…back to my daily life here in Malta after a couple of weeks in Sarawak, Malaysia. Today’s images are from yesterday’s visit to Ta Qali Park. Nature has changed, in some way, it feels more subdued. It’s winter now, not so many colorful flowers, besides the yellow ones that bloom all year round. These special plants are now seen growing in abundance among the green grass in the park.
They are small and resembles a kind of pitcher plant.I really like being in Sarawak, I wouldn’t mind living there year around. It’s a very special part of the world. But I know it doesn’t work to take my dog ​​to the other side of the earth.
It feels good to be with Fanny again…

Pomegranates and Prickly Pears

Published on by Anita14 Comments

We spent another Sunday among pomegranates and prickly pears in Majjistral Nature Park. This time I had brought gloves so I could pick some of the prickly fruits. They taste pretty good, not too sweet.

The pomegranate kernels are not sweet at all but taste good mixed with yogurt and some honey.I found a small nest full of life……and a butterfly. There were plenty of them but I only managed to capture this one.Fanny was with us, as always. Here she rests after running around in the amazing surroundings of the park.And here she waits patiently between the rocks as we make our way up the last hill on the way up to the plateau where we have parked our car. The weather was fine, 25 degrees and another day of life is gone.

20 October 2019 Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park

Autumn Feeling

Published on by Anita24 Comments

Last Sunday we went to Il-Majjistral Nature Park here in Malta. We haven’t been here since last spring and it is always exciting to see how our nature changes, depending on the seasons. Now autumn is here.This is nothing to be found in the spring.

These thistles have completely changed colors. Once purple, now turned into soft autumn colors.Our nature is absolutely amazing! This picture speaks for itself. As always, Fanny was with us. She loves to run freely in the large nature park with all steep slopes. She has seen wild rabbits here, now sniffing and looking for them. Luckily she never catches any, they are too fast.

Sunshine’s Macro Monday.

Thursday’s pictures..

Published on by Anita19 Comments

The main thing these pictures have in common… …is that they are surrounded by the greenery of nature.

“In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light”
– Hans Hofmann –

The True Reality

Published on by Anita21 Comments

“There are some four million different kind of animals and plants in the world.
Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive” – Sir David Attenborough –“Let us develop respect for all living thing. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love” – Jane Goodall –“Ever since we arrived on this planet as a species, we’ve cut them down, dug them up, burnt them and poisoned them. Today we’re doing so on a greater scale than ever.”
– Sir David Attenborough –

“If we [humans] disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off.”
– Sir David Attenborough –Most of these photographs are archive images from my travels on Borneo while some are taken here in Malta.

Trees around a lake in Sarawak, Borneo.

Trees on Tuesdays

Published on by Anita18 Comments

One of the few old trees still left in Malta. Too many trees are cut down to build wider roads.

Tree trunks and a bit of imagination can create different kinds of figures.“The best friend on earth of man is the tree. When we use the tree respectfully and economically, we have one of the greatest resources on the earth.”
― Frank Lloyd Wright –

Susan’s Photo Challenge Trees on Tuesdays

Roses

Published on by Anita15 Comments

“My life is part humor, part roses, part thorns.”
– Bret Michaels –“A rose dreams of enjoying the company of bees, but none appears. The sun asks: Aren’t you tired of waiting? Yes, answers the rose, ‘but if I close my petals, I will wither and die.”
– Paulo Coelho –

Susan’s Flowers on Fridays # 7. 
Cee’s Photo Challenge

Today’s plant – Flower of the Day

Published on by Anita27 Comments

This may not be a flower.

But it’s a kind of plant and since all flowers are plants……this tiny plant is my flower of the day.
I don’t know what kind of plant this is but there are plenty of them now in Ta Qali Park.

“In all things of Nature there is something of the marvelous”
– Aristotle –
Susan’s Flowers on Fridays # 4. 
Cee’s Photo Challenge

Which Way…

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The foot bridge in Tigne, Sliema from where you can watch the view of Malta’s capital Valletta on the other side.
Harmony Bridge in Kuching, Sarawak.
Il-Majjistral Nature & History Park in Il-Mellieħa late afternoon.
Nerja, Andalusia, Spain.

This is my entry for this week’s Which Way Photo Challenge

Bee, Yellow, Blue & Jump to Pink…

Published on by Anita25 Comments

The mimosa flowers shines like small suns.A grasshopper rests on a blade of grass……while a bee searches for nectar among some flowers.Spring is here after a winter that has been too long and too cold.

Another weekend is waiting, on Monday I fly to Spain. It feels like it’s time to move on…

Spring is in the air…

Published on by Anita37 Comments

Back home and back to my usual routines here in Malta.

Last Saturday we spent the whole day in Majjistral National Park.It’s not often that I see mushrooms growing here in Malta, but here is one.

Snart blommar Mimosan / Soon the mimosa blooms.

The nature, the plants, everything are so different from what you find in the rainforest in Sarawak, Borneo. Very soon the mimosa blooms as seen in one of the image above. The very best about coming home is to be close to Fanny again. Away is good but home is best.

Some Fun Growths & Fanny

Published on by Anita34 Comments

There is a lot of growth to be found in nature now here in Malta.

Here are some of more or less funny plants that I saw last weekend when we visited Il-Bajja tal-Ġnejna. Another exciting nature park we never visited before. But thanks to Fanny we still find new places to explore.I’ve never seen anything like this. Looks edible! Wonder how this one will look when growth ends.A cool growth hairstyle.For me, the most precious growth, when Fanny became part of our family.

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Growth

The importance of Insects

Published on by Anita31 Comments

Insects, flowers and pollen. A fantastic combination for reproduction, created by nature.“If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from land. Within a few months”
-E.O. Wilson-

Summer shades…

Published on by Anita25 Comments

It’s very dry now here on the island.These are seen on many dry plants right now, I’ve no idea why.A glimpse of Selmun church is seen in the background.Fortunately, there are some plants that survive the heat.On a Sunday in mid July, most people here in Malta choose to have fun on the beach, 30 degrees or swim in the sea, 26 degrees. I think I’ll do the same. Wish You a great Sunday, wherever You are on this planet. Splash!!! 

Happy Midsummer!

Published on by Anita38 Comments

In the midsummer’s eve, according to Swedish tradition, seven kinds of flowers should be picked and put under the pillow. If you like to know how to celebrate midsummer in Sweden Click here. Two very special flowers from a very special blog friend.
Thank you BP, they are still in my kitchen after four years.“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…
it’s about learning to dance in the rain”

Seventh Heaven On the 7th Floor

Published on by Anita30 Comments

It was on our roof terrace I took my first macro images.A few years ago we bought seeds in an attempt to grow rhubarb. But it didn’t succeed.

Spiders! Click on an image to enlarge.

It’s early in the spring and my dear man is cleaning while I take a selfie in the window of our office.

I’m not sure how many different kinds of flowers we have had but these are some of them.

One of my husband’s many fun experiments. Can you really fry an egg in the sun? Obviously!!Our terrace as it once looked and below, what it looks like right now. Yes, added some color. Our office, my dear husbands atelier and our dining room that we use every summer are gone after twelve years. Of our flowers and plants there are only a very few left and so are the butterflies and other insects. Looking at the stars in the sky and the moon that shine but this is not my Seventh heaven anymore. Fanny, Yeah, come on!!! Rock ‘n’ roll!!!

All images in this post have I taken on our roof terrace over the years gone by…
…apart from the last one.

Walpurgis Night

Published on by Anita16 Comments

Walpurgis Night is the last day of April and a traditional non-religious holiday in Sweden. Especially in the City of Uppsala where there are huge student gatherings to celebrate the arrival of the spring.

Walking on water.
The Mediterranean around Malta has crystal clear water. It is now 18 degrees. within a couple of months 28 degrees.
From the plateau in Majjistral park
Some prefer to take a jeep to the edge of the steep cliffs while others prefer to walk.
Sailboats on the Mediterranean Sea.

Here in Malta April 30th is an ordinary day and my images have no connection with Walpurgis Night, or Valborgsmässoafton, as this evening is called in Swedish.

But I like to wish you all a wonderful evening wherever you are on this planet, no matter if you celebrate or not. Remember, even a small fly is part of our nature. Take care out there and enjoy every moment!!