If You Were A Bug,

On August 5, 2015October 21, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES270 Comments

what would you be?

A butterfly,

or a bumblebee?

Remember Gregor,

so hated his job,

he went to bed,

and woke up a beetle?

I never did get, Gregor,

why not a spider?

You could weave your web,

and as Charlotte said,

“people are not as smart as bugs.”

Along came a spider,
who sat down beside her,
and interested Miss Muffet for hours 😉

Cheers to you from all the clever crawlies~

“If I can fool a bug… I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs.”
― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

“What a fate: to be condemned to work for a firm where the slightest negligence at once gave rise to the gravest suspicion! Were all the employees nothing but a bunch of scoundrels, was there not among them one single loyal devoted man who, had he wasted only an hour or so of the firm’s time in the morning, was so tormented by conscience as to be driven out of his mind and actually incapable of leaving his bed?”– Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis

Azores Dreaming…..

On May 4, 2015May 4, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS141 Comments

in a North Atlantic way.

Such idyllic islands,

for whiling time away.

Only sad time had here,

is when you sail away!

The Azores are a Portuguese island chain in the mid-Atlantic blessed with heavy rainfall and a temperate climate.

They are pristine ecological wonders,

filled with exotic plants and beautiful, historic Portuguese architecture.

Cheers to you from the remarkable Azores~

Blumen Blühen (Flowers Blooming)~

On April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES255 Comments

Poppies tell us,

spring has come.

Sweet peas climb,

and scent the air.

Soon the blooms outshine the sun!

Cheers to you & Happy Spring~

Let Me Take You Down~

On April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS233 Comments

cuz we’re going to,

ranunculus fields,

everything’s real.

Ranunculus fields forever!

I’ve been visiting these fields forever.

Well, at least all my life.

Fifty acres of springtime joy!

The ultimate eye candy.

Cheers to you and Happy Easter from all the spring ranunculus! <3
Adapted lyrics: “Strawberry Fields,” Lennon & McCartney

Lavender, Passion & Furbees~

On March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES220 Comments

Fuzzy Wuzzy,

was a bee!

The bees are buzzin,

cuz The Holler’s bloomin…..

Furbees favor passion flowers,

and lavender.

But this buggy-buzzer likes blooming blue sage!

Soon we can eat the passion fruit too!

Cheers to you from the Holler furbees, flowers & fruit~

Las Rosas del Holler~

On March 21, 2015March 21, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES281 Comments

The Holler is rural and rustic, so when I first moved here, almost seven years ago now, I first planted roses.

It was an act of faith. Roses are civil, and I wasn’t sure this place was.

Somehow I knew from the very beginning to encase their roots in chicken wire to repel the gophers who turned out to be legion.

This first day of spring, The Holler roses are in wild, exuberant bloom!

At night I hoot in communion with the owls, in the morning I wake up to be greeted by the hawks.

This is the most civil place I have ever lived.
Cheers to you and Happy Spring from The Holler’s Bloominng roses~

Anza Borrego Desert Wildflowers!

On March 16, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES262 Comments

Spring wildflowers,

carpet the desert,

with fragile blooms.

Some live only for a day.

No matter how brief,

they fill the arid desert,

with the joyful beauty,

of Life!
Cheers to you from the fragile desert~

See Bee-knees!

On March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES178 Comments

The grapefruit orchard is blooming.

Perfuming the air with intoxicating scent,

and bringing hordes of honeybees.

At night I drift,

drunk on grapefruit flower air,

dreaming of the buzzing bees.

Cheers to you from the Holler Orchards and all the humming honeybees~

Huahine~

On January 17, 2015February 24, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS151 Comments

Huahine, also known as The Garden Isle, is one of the least visited islands in French Polynesia and retains a strong sense of early Polynesia.

We are staying in Lapita Village. Lapita refers to the ancestral culture of the ancient Polynesians. The village consists of thatched bungalows built around a natural lagoon in the style of an ancient Polynesian Canoe House.

In addition to jaw dropping natural beauty, the area is an important archeological site, with settlements and artifacts found nearby dating from 750 AD. Lapita Village maintains an onsite archeological museum.

Huahine is essentially tropical jungle, exotic flowers and fruit are growing everywhere in abundance.

Our accommodations here are far more lux than in Raiatea, in that we actually have AC and island critters can’t enter our abode, and beds, through all the open nooks and crannies! Woo Hoo! I have never loved AC this much! Not to mention beds shared only with my husband!

Far nostalgia purposes, here is a look at our over water bungalows in Raiatea. Pretty? Yes. Comfortable, errrrrrr….. AC and closing those nooks and crannies would work better for me in summer in Polynesia. Oh, and scraping the coral off the dive ladders would work too! My up close and friendly coral cuts still prevent me from going in the ocean.
Am I complaining? No. It is gorgeous here and the food is fabulous so I am a happy non-camper!

Cheers to you from our ‘very cool’ abode in gorgeous Huahine~
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Raiatea’s Remarkable Flora & Fauna~

On January 13, 2015February 24, 2015 By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Uncategorized174 Comments

Raiatea has some unusual flora and fauna.

Check out the colors of these water lilies for example!

The scent of tropical flowers perfumes the air, sending you off to sleep, even in mid day!

I tried my new underwater camera for the first, and last time for awhile, because I got a nasty coral cut, that is now infected. I got it from fire coral that was not visible on our balcony’s dive ladder. No more underwater photo practice for me until it heals.

I did manage to get some decent shots on my first attempt. Can you see the camouflaged octopus here? He was quite large and stuck his tentacles simultaneously down many holes searching for prey. When he found some, he ballooned his entire body around it and killed it.

So many beautiful fish, I even saw a lion fish wish I would love to show you. Lots of giant clams too.

This guy was half in and out of water!

And this one appears to live in the thatch of our bungalow.

Raiatea is surrounded by motus, which are empty atolls, that you can sail or kayak over to, and spend your day on your own private island like Robinson Crusoe!
Cheers to you from beautiful Raiatea~
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.