Finding Yard Beauty

This morning, Mi Miguel was greeted by this little critter. Knowing that I love nature, he had to show me this snail slithering along his truck bed cover. Mi Miguel had to point out the amber shell thinking that would make me love it even more. Not only did I love it even more but I couldn't help but notice the detailed artistry in the design of the almost tortoise style shell.

I've never really been this close to a snail before. His shell is quite stunning if you really look at it close enough. An essence of the tiger eye stone even comes to mind.

 

After Mi Miguel and his hitchhiker snail left for work, walking back up to the house, I noticed all the bright colors in our yard this morning. Several days of rain brought out the red beauty in our hens and chickens. These are hens and chickens aren't they?

The lemon tree I bought for Mi Miguel's Father's Day gift, has lots of new blooms. We've gotten one lemon from it already. The scent from it was incredible but far from edible. A new one has started forming, can you see it?

 All the rain has made the flowers and foliage so vibrant and full. Love, love, love this shade of hibiscus pink.

We've received a few indoor plants from new friends that we've made. So far both of them are thriving. Here's the African Violet our neighbor gave us back in July. I can't believe I've kept it alive. They seem to be a temperamental houseplant in the Midwest. It's even had a few blooms on it under my watch. There's one blooming just now.

Mi Miguel's mom got us this petunia for Christmas. The rain has really made it bloom and overflow the container.

The frosted fern our dear new friends Steve and Karen got for us at Christmastime is also thriving under my care. 

Still walking through our yard, assessing the landscape plans, I had forgotten about the two heavy antique flamingos that were left behind when we bought the house. I still haven't decided if I should try to restore them or get rid of them. In truth, they would make great little concrete sentries standing among the ferns, bushes and flowering plants. I know, I know, Florida doesn't need another resident with flamingos in their garden.

 

 After observing all the beauty in my own front yard, my favorite is still this snail. He's asymmetrical with his shell slightly askew, proving that we don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. There's a lesson here. If life is getting you down try standing at a different angle so you can see things from a different perspective.

As far as the progress on our fixer upper, I did manage to pull the screens off of the windows and power wash the entire back of the house. Those new shades make the windows look so much nicer. Now to get busy choosing that paint color.