... that I love a drop of summer rain!
I have been speaking to a friend in France this morning and it seems they have had no rain for nearly 2 months there - I'd hate that! 
I went outside to the garage this morning and noticed the fennel in my herb patch all glistening with raindrops - it is a beautiful delicate plant at the best of times but covered in diamonds like this it was ethereal and I just wish my photography could do it justice. I decided to stroll round the garden to see what other treasures there were ..... 
Here is the lilac all freshly washed and shining - it is just under an ash tree where the birds like to congregate before coming down for the seed I put out and consequently it is often covered in "white stuff" but not today! 
How pretty the montbretia looks with its dusting of raindrops.
And the marigolds racing away in the new raised bed - thanks for the seeds Lesley!
Isn't this beautiful? Brings a whole new meaning to the term rose water doesn't it? No loss of perfume either as I discovered when I sniffed it.Daisies are our silver
Buttercups our gold
This is all the treasure
We can have or hold
Raindrops are our diamonds
And the morning dew
While for shining saphires
We've the speedwell blue
These shall be our emeralds
Leaves so new and green
Roses make the reddest
Rubies ever seen
God who gave these treasures
To your children small
Teach us how to love them
And grow like them all
Make us bright as silver
Make us good as gold
Warm as summer roses
Let our hearts unfold
Gay as leaves in April
Clear as drops of dew
God who made the speedwell
Keep us true to you
The new clematis planted on a trellis designed to hide the ugly green plastic water butt. I think it will do the job don't you?
Hope the weather will not spoil whatever you had planned for today - for me it is a welcome opportunity to give up on the gardening for a while and get on with some indoor things. Hadn't intended to take so long trying to get this post done though - this is my second attempt as the earlier one before lunch I deleted in the end as I just couldn't get Blogger to do the spacing and it was miles long and every time I did alter anything the fonts had all altered add to that the inadvertent deletion of photos and you can see why I deleted it and went to lunch instead!
PS I still can't get the spacing right but am going to leave it now and go and get a cuppa!
Rain drops really are jewels on fresh green leaves, aren't they? Beautiful photographs, I can almost smell how the rain has freshened up your garden - I love that 'just rained' smell in the summer. I also love how excited the birds get - they know it's dinner time!
ReplyDeleteI did leave a comment 'before lunch' but blogger still seems to be playing up. I loved this hymn as a child and as a teacher. I can remember 'getting it' quite young and the sentiment that nature's treasures are more precious than the expensive sort was a lesson well learnt. Love your photos Jane, but we could do with a ray of sunshine to make the diamonds gliitter.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm so glad you did post this second attempt! The poem/hymn you shared with us is a new one to me, but so charming. I would have loved it when I was a child (and do even now six decades later!) Raindrops on leaves and flowers sparkling like diamonds are some of my most favorite things. And where I live we don't see this all that often.
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteI remember that hymn so well and I've just sung it to Roy who purports to have amnesia about it - or perhaps my rendering of it was a bit off key. We've had a lovely bank holiday here after early rain and the radio has just said there are huge queues on the M5 north so we'll stay put and enjoy our gardens shall we? Lesley x
I don't remember this hymn, but it does have lovely words, and I can see why it would become a favourite. The gardens certainly need the rain, but it does seem a shame that it chooses to fall on a holiday. I think your new clematis will do very well, they love something to climb over and around, they are lovely flowers and you look to have lots more to come.
ReplyDeleteAs a new Blogger I too am struggling with spacing, and today my post ended up with two different fonts despite not touching that button! Perhaps Blogger is having a bad day!
It was only last week we had rain for the first time in months - I had forgotten what fresh rain smelled like.......delicious.
ReplyDeleteNina xxx
Lovely photos of raindrops, and a wonderful day of steady gentle rain.
ReplyDeleteThe garden looks full of appreciation, and the smells are glorious.
I remember bits of that hymn, and it's interesting to see the complete version.
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteHow I envy you having the rain. We have not had any real rain for around eleven weeks now. We have had the odd twenty minutes of drizzle but nothing that wets the ground or plants well.
My lawn has huge cracks in it.....and look like August, not May.
Fennel and raindrops....what a perfect combination. I also love lady's mantle....always looks beautiful when the rain has touched it.
I remember that hymn but not all the words.....tks for the memory!
Please send us some of your rain! Brittany is so dry, and our plants are beginning to suffer.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful.
Yes, I did the same as you yesterday and wandered about looking at raindrops on leaves - so fresh! Abby x
ReplyDeleteRain most of the day here but I loved seeing it on the plants too - like mercury.
ReplyDeleteWe finally had some rain today - it certainly freshened things up in the garden. I don't remember the childhood hymn but think it is lovely anyway!
ReplyDeleteI must say I don't mind some rain but we had way too much this summer, it's much better now, just the odd shower a couple of days a week.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are lovely, the clematis is so pretty.
True jewels, the best sort! Shall put your card onto PK after work today. (We have sunshine, so I shall be cleaning windows for others methinks. Will be great to be outside though).
ReplyDeleteOh we have had so much here Jane that I am getting desperate for some sun! Endless grey and/or wet days with hardly any warm sunshine and so very cold too. Ho hum... x
ReplyDeleteI do envy you your rain - we have had hardly any at all and the grass is yellow like August, and so many of the plants look like they really need a drop. We have also had to spend hours watering.
ReplyDeletePomona x
gorgeous rhyme xx
ReplyDeleteOh yes I do remember that hymn, but haven't thought about it for donkey's years. As for the rain, I know we need it for the gardens, but it wasn't very welcome on Bank Holiday Monday when we had to sit outside all day by a lake trying to demonstrate and sell felt!!
ReplyDeleteI love photos of raindrops on things, and that poem is one that I will have to write down!
ReplyDeleteThe rain looks so fresh on the greenery! I also planted a clematis to hide something un-attractive--my trash cans by the house! (It's working!)
ReplyDeleteAhhh...I was singing this to my husband on Saturday; we were in a field full of buttercups, daisies and speedwell.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos!!