Success we have a tomato....

... it is very small and green but it is a tomato!! It is probably due to the heatwave we had last week and the high 90 degree weather that made the plants spring up and bloom. They are probably confused yesterday and today as the temperature is actually a little cooler than normal with the sky very overcast and we actually had rain yesterday. 

Yes, that little green blob in he background is a tomato.




Look how big the plants have got they two Early Girls are both nearly passed the third rung of the cage. 

I eventually did get a cherry tomato plant which is taking its time to grow but I have confidence that it will grow big and tall very soon. 

My friend Maria added a comment to my earlier post asking advice from my green thumb. This made me laugh as I am know to kill most things that come into my garden with the exception of tomatoes.  The only thing I can think of for my success down here in Mountain View is the wonderful sun and I water them every morning and evening in the very hot weather.  Also shhhhhh don't tell anyone, I also talk to them as I water them and I tell them to grow big and strong and bear me lots of fruit!  I suppose I show them some LOVE! I did also have success growing tomatoes in San Francisco but I think that was due to that wonderful window seat I had and even on the foggy days it captured the heat like a glass house. Hope that Alexander has some success with his tomato seeds. 

I will finish up today with a beautiful poem by Hafiz and a wish that today you all felt loved and the encouragement of light to show your true beauty to the world.

It Felt Love

How did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to this world

All its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light

Against its being,

Otherwise,

We all remain

Too frightened

Happy Mothers Day Gwen

So Mothers day in not today in Ireland, it is celebrated there in March. Gwen is lucky as she gets celebrated twice and how best to celebrate her here by showing what an awesome artist she is and showing a cross section of her wonderful paintings:

Tomato progress and other miracles in my garden

I just got back in from watering the tomato plants and I am proud to announce we have flowers!

And of course, I took some photos to show you all:

And that was not the only surprise I got, we also have strawberries. The miracle of the strawberries is that these were planted last year and did give us a few fruit  and when I got back from Ireland I noticed what I thought was some dead plants were coming back to life again so I stared to water them. Here is what I saw this morning:

Some other photos I took:

The Butterfly Story

Before this great change comes about, The fuzzy little worm withdraws from its caterpillar world, an finds itself a place alone ,and there painfully, and with much struggling, it wraps itself tightly into a cocoon of its own making; It literally seals itself from the world. Days pass and then, very gradually, a crevice appears in the hard outer layer of its private little cage---and finally a new creature emerges, quite different creature, too! It sits for awhile, clinging to its familiar surroundings, waiting for the warmth of the sunshine to dry its wings-and after while , it begins to flutter from flower to flower; and each time it lights on one it strengthens itself with what each one has to offer ,and at the same time it leaves the pollen that it has gathered up from every flower it has visited-thus enabling the flower to make seeds and born again.

The butterfly is a spiritual symbol-transformation, beauty ,fragility .It has been described as the Kiss of God. Look at the butterfly and see GOD.

How addicted are you?

87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Happy May 1st - Enjoy this video

The first time I saw this it gave me goose bumps and as May starts I want to share it with you all.

It the time of the year.......

......in the Bay Area to plant Tomatoes. We went to OSH today and got some tomato plants, I grow them every year and have fun seeing how they grow and how many actual tomatoes I get per plant. Here is what I planted today:

There is one empty pot to plant cherry tomatoes, which they didn't have at OSH today.  Now I just have to remember to water them every day and promise to post pictures again in a few week to show you all how much they have grown!

My Happy Birthday trip......Happy Birthday Aunt Veron

My recent trip to Ireland allowed me to celebrate a number of birthdays.  

Aunt Veron and I went for Lunch at Hayfield Manor a wonderful 5 start hotel near our home.  Here are some pictures of the birthday girl:

And a slide show of all the pictures taken that day!

A Cork tradition - Feed the Swans at The Lough

On Sunday morning the O'Flaherty girls - Aoife, Aislinn, Eimear, Gwen and Leona - took a walk to The Lough to feed the ducks and swans. This was a very special occasion as it is a Cork tradition that goes back generations. Nannie Gwen used to go to The Lough when she was a little girl, I spent allot of childhood there and it was really wonderful to spent a few hours there with my three wonderful nieces. We fed the swans and the ducks, played on the swings in the little playground, met "Len" the dog and of course I took lots of pictures:

And of course the ususal slideshow:

Am I in Cork or Africa??

Sunday afternoon the O'Flaherty family took a trip to Fota Wildlife Park and had a wonderful time. 

My favorite pictures was the Peacock with his tail up, I loved the giraffes and the monkey very funny too.

And of course the usual full slide show of the afternoons visit: