TINY TUESDAY AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE!

I was actually dressed when I went out into the garden soon after 8 a.m. looking for something tiny for today’s challenge!  I didn’t need a jacket as it was already quite warm, so I wandered round “snapping” whatever I could see that was tiny, and there are still plenty of flowers, tiny runner beans, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes and of course, lots of spiders!  

I had to be very careful not to walk into the many cobwebs that float between plants but was attacked by some because they were so small and delicate that I didn’t notice them.

Mr. HCB is very proud of this hollyhock, which is only about 2 feet tall, grown from seed and which started life in the greenhouse early last year then was planted in the garden in Spring of this year.  He’s not sure where it came from - but it was possibly one that we had seen in a friend’s garden, and of course, if you are prepared to be patient, rather than buying almost fully grown plants, it is very satisfying to grow your own.  Incidentally, we can't agree on the colour - Mr. HCB thinks it's red and I say it is a deep pink.  

Whatever the colour, I dedicate this beautiful flower to our lovely granddaughter, Charlotte, who is on a city break with her boyfriend, Jordan, in Barcelona and celebrates her 20th birthday today.  We hope she has a lovely birthday and no doubt there will be cake and perhaps even candles!  I have put a photograph of Charlotte and me in as an extra, taken at her parents’ Silver Wedding Anniversary ten days ago.

The fact that I can plant a seed 
     and it becomes a flower, 
share a bit of knowledge 
     and it becomes another's, 
smile at someone 
     and receive a smile in return, 
          are to me continual spiritual exercises.
Leo Buscaglia