Pentecost

 "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”" (John 20:19-23)

The first summer morning lights

Drought-tolerant plants

I have just converted this section so that it requires much less watering. While I was looking for help, I found a very good page on the internet. On the Washington State University’s site Professor Virginia I. Lohr and Caroline Mon Perason made an excellent collection on drought-tolerant plants. As their conditions are very similar to ours, their experiences can be particularly well used at us.

Hardy Plants for Waterwise Landscapes

On the feast of St. Catherine of Siena

Today it is the feast of my patron saint, St. Catherine of Siena. I greet her with these photos. And as her heavenly birthday is celebrated not only here, but over there as well, it is particularly worth to ask today for her intercession in our issues and troubles.

Blessed and happy Easter!

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen: he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There you shall see him, as he told you. (Mk 16:1-7)

Helleborus orientalis

One of the earliest flowers, it has been blossoming for at least ten days in the warmer part of the garden. I think it is beautiful, and  it is absolutely not difficult to keep it.

It originally grows in Northern Greece, Northern and North-Eastern Turkey as well as in the Caucasus. Probably in the mountains, as it is extremely cold-tolerant (Z4-9). In places with mild winters it is evergreen. At us it also maintains its leaves, but in the spring, when the new leaves come, the old ones dry out badly. Then I usually cut them.

When fully mature, it is 30-40 cms high. Overt the years it forms a large bush. In smaller places it can be used as a ground cover. If you do not cut it for dried flowers as I usually do, then it abundantly reproduces from seed. It is a semi-shade or shade flower which likes to be watered, but it also lives in a dry place. In Hungary you can buy it in Hegede and Mocsáry nurseries. You can find further interesting information and pictures on it at the site of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Fruit-Grafting Lady Day

The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
(Jer 31:31-34)

After snowfall

In the afternoon I went with the dogs in the garden, to take food to the squirrels after the snowfall. The lights were so beautiful that I ventured to take some photos.

Good morning!

Images of last week's snowfall

"The Lord bless you,

and keep you.

The Lord show his face to you,

and have mercy on you.

The Lord turn his countenance to you,

and give you peace."

(Numbers 6:24-26)

Wish you a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:68-79)

The first snow