Monday Mellow Yellows: Cactus Flower and Friends

I think I've posted similar photos before, but I love capturing shots of all the tiny critters we've got around here. Well, as long as those critters don't get on ME!

Monday Mellow Yellows is hosted by Gemma Wiseman.
For more Mellow Yellows, just click on the button:

Monday Mellow Yellows: St. John's Wort

I believe this is St. John's Wort (Hypericum calycinum). We used to see it quite a bit in Virginia, mostly used as ground cover. Haven't noticed it quite so much here in central Texas, although I think it's supposed to like warm climates and sandy soil, which seems like a perfect match. But I think in some areas it's considered an invasive weed — so not very welcome, I suppose. Still, it produces a very attractive bright yellow flower with five "ruffled" petals and many, many long central stamens.

The name St. John's Wort evidently has to do with St. John's Day celebrations and the ancient practice of gathering the flowers and burning them to ward off evil spirits. And warding off evil spirits sounds pretty good to me right now.

Monday Mellow Yellows is hosted by Gemma Wiseman.
For more Mellow Yellows, just click on the button:

Monday Mellow Yellows: Yellow Hibiscus

Last month, M and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. (Yes, it was a teenage wedding — at least for me.) And since it was such a momentous occasion, we decided we needed to do something to make it really memorable. That took some deep thinking — we're generally pretty boring and unimaginative, at least when it comes to travel. Tend to do the same things and go the same places every year. But after mulling it over for a while, we decided to book a trip to Hawaii, a place neither of us had ever been but always wanted to go. And I have to say, it was worth the wait. Hawaii is absolutely beautiful, the Hawaiians were friendly and welcoming, and the trip was relaxing and exciting at the same time, and most definitely memorable.

And ... now I have hundreds of photos to sort through! Many of which, I'm sure, will be appearing on this blog in the coming weeks. (So stay tuned!)

Here's one.

The yellow hibiscus was everywhere in Honolulu. There were even vast walls of the flowers along the highway. Gorgeous. I've since found out it's the state flower of Hawaii, a lovely choice. (Almost as lovely as the Texas bluebonnet!)

Monday Mellow Yellows is hosted by Gemma Wiseman.
For more Mellow Yellows, just click on the button:

Monday Mellow Yellows: Memory of Spring

This is my first time participating in Monday Mellow Yellows — a lovely meme hosted by Gemma Wiseman. Yellow is one of my favorite colors. I even have a Pinterest board devoted it. 

This shot was taken in our front yard back in the spring. April, I think. We had a spectacular crop of wildflowers this year. Not many flowers out there right now, though. The rains have washed most of the blooms away. But at least we haven't had the kind of floods they've been experiencing in Louisiana the last few weeks — so far.

In the last couple of weeks, we've had almost ten inches of rain here at our place, and there's more rain predicted for today, I believe. I actually don't mind having a little rain now and then, but I hate it when the clouds set in and we don't see the sun for days at a time. Makes me crazy and not fun to live with — just ask the hubby.

But all this yellow definitely makes me feel a lot better.

Monday Mellow Yellows is hosted by Gemma Wiseman.
For more Mellow Yellows, just click on the button: