Current pictures from fmg. Older son is on vaca so he was able to join in as well. It’s the first time he saw his niece feeding the koi at the waterfall.
Remember that pretty yellow iris from TankaTuesday poem? The night of the day I took the pic someone/something snapped the stalk. I brought it in yesterday and put it in a vase. It fully blossomed today in the house and is now fading.
Song of The Day for Today (Steve’s Blog) wrote about Leaf Rapids’ new Album, “Velvet Painting,” in particular the song, “Night Shift.” I loved it so much I immediately bought the album (CD) and have been listening to it on repeat. I urge you to follow the link to Steve’s post where he explains his special connection to the band. I like all of the songs on the album. Night Shift is my favorite. Running a very close second is one called, “Paramjit’s Sonnet.” If this song doesn’t send you into orbit I don’t know what will.
Notes at the bands Band Camp site says about the song:
This was co-written with Paramjit Singh, a senior citizen who was paired up with Keri for a songwriting project called, Stories to Songs, where local songwriters were paired up with Seniors in the community during the pandemic to learn about each other and write a song together over zoom. It turned out so beautifully we had to include it on the album.
When every morning it goes away
I will not compare you to a flower’s bloom
A moment’s glory only to fade
I won’t call you a diamond
To be lost or stolen from me
Nor the taste of nectar sweet upon my lips
To thrill so briefly then disappear
To me you are a sonnet for my soul to dance within
In this way we will never be apart
A song that I’ve waited all my life so desperately to hear
Only to find that I knew all the lines by heart
May the tears of sorrow flowing from my eyes
Now that I can’t feel your hand in mine
Be dried up like the autumn leaves and swept away
Across the prairie sands of time
To me you are a sonnet for my soul to dance within
In this way we will never be apart
A song that I’ve waited all my life so desperately to hear
Only to find that I knew all the lines by heart
credits
MUSICIANS:
Keri Latimer – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Devin Latimer – bass guitar
Joanna Miller – drums, supporting vocals
Chris Dunn – electric guitar
Special guests:
Natanielle Felicitas – cello
John Paul Peters – violin
WRITTEN BY: Keri Latimer
PRODUCED BY: John Paul Peters and Keri Latimer
MIXED & MASTERED BY: John Paul Peters at Private Ear Recording
Written and recorded in 2023 in Canada
Tao Talk 
what a special time for your son and beautiful pictures Li. Yayyy love the bloom. Great song and lyrics and Steve does an amazing job on back stories and introducing us to wonderful music. Great post💕
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You’re so kind, Cindy – thank you!
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You’re most welcome, Steve❣️💕
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Cindy, it’s impossible to disagree with any of what you say here. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness <3
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Agreed! Oh you’re so very welcome!❣️💕
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Beautiful Iris! My grandmother used to grow huge purple iris and this reminded me of her, thank you!
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Dana, I see them as the real ladies of the garden with their many-colored ruffles. Glad they reminded you of your grandma and my pleasure.
I made a YouTube of some more of the irises in the yard:
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I will check it out, thank you!
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Beautiful!
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:)
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Lovely walk in the garden!
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Happy you enjoyed it, Randy :)
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The golden iris is spectacular! I love this time of year. Flowers are blooming everywhere. 🌼
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Glad you like it, Colleen. A lady I used to work with brought in bags of iris rhizomes just before she retired. Nobody else was interested in them so I took them all. Ten years later they are still blooming! Thanks, Judy, wherever you are!
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What a wonderful gift! I love Iris! 💖
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It seems there’s an endless stream of photos from the Meier gardens… lovely! And thank you for tghe shout-out on my blog and so kindly supporting Leaf Rapids’ new album! Joanna (the lead singer on “Night Shift” – my fave too) will be delighted with another wonderful comment from you!
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Steve, there *is* an endless stream of them. Always something new in bloom there, and these pics are just a drop in the bucket of what’s there.
You are welcome on the music promotion. I went to lunch with my old work lunch group a few weeks ago and brought this and the Taj Mahal CDs in to promote them there too. One of the guys is a musician and he was very interested in both albums.
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That’s so wonderful about the CD, Lisa! Thank you again. And yes, nature keeps serving up magnificence for our senses!
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I love the frog on the lilypad…that should be a post card….Nice mellow song for today Lisa…
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Max, there is actually another frog hanging on the edge of another lily pad that I cropped out. Maybe I should have left it in. Isn’t that song a winner? Sheer poetry and her voice is angelic!
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Yes I did like that song…it’s a great one today and it’s winding down.
I love the pic and I got it.
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:)
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Those lyrics are really special Thanks for sharing!
And such vibrant colors in your photos. Great frog! (K)
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Glad you like the song and the sun has been helpful for the photo colors.
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These are beautiful pictures Li. I’m glad the yellow irises survived.
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Thanks, Sadje. I always wonder how they get snapped like that. Nothing else touched in the yard.
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Perhaps an animal or a bird. Sometimes they are top heavy so they fall due to their weight
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I think maybe a one of the bigger birds might have done it, especially if it was heavy with rain. Thanks for saying that. It gives me some relief. My imagination goes wild sometimes.
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You’re most welcome
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Nice
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Glad you like the post, thanks.
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It is amazing the variety of color that iris can have. The one pot I have they are a two tone peachy/purple. With the inside peach and the outer petals purple. I’m not sure if the second pot will even bloom this year.
Lovely lyrics – reminds me of all the widows (and widowers) I have know who did not remarry, nor were interested in a second relationship.
There is a local resturant that has huge koi – you have to walk over a bridge to enter the resturant and if you ask they will give you a small container with fish food. I enjoyed feeding them. Some were as big as bass!
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Your iris sound peachy. I never tried to grow them in pots. Yes, I can see that in the lyrics now that you share your vision of them. Oh, those koi do grow huge, I know. They are huge at the fmg pond but there are also a lot of little offspring that manage to get some of the food. How cool they give you food to feed them :) I watch a YouTube channel called Ohio Fish Rescue. They have a big koi pond out back where they put the koi they rescue –and they rescue a lot of them! — that have multiplied and/or grown too large for home ponds. p.s. I don’t know how big bass get?
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I think one of the large koi was the size of an oval serving platter. Had to have weighed several pounds – well maybe at least one pound plus.
We had a ‘fair’ (gotten from a fair) Gold Fish that lived a long life. Perhaps it was part koi?
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Sounds like they are well fed and protected in the winter. I’m learning a lot about them from OFR. I don’t know anything about goldfish vs. koi. I do know that OFR rescued a giant goldfish (maybe saucer sized.)
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Ah… here we are; “They truly are a different animal. Koi and goldfish actually both descended from varieties of Asian carp but have grown into two distinct species. Koi usually (but not always) have barbs protruding from their lips that help them rummage for food along the bottom of a pond, while goldfish do not.
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Good to know, Jules. I’ll look for that next time we go to fmg.
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Good thing I’m not a cat – I may have used up seven of my nine lives with my curiosity about things :)
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:)
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Lovely photos, Lisa. And thank you for introducing me to Leaf Rapids. I love this type of singing where, there is that little moment of slightly off-key (to my ear) but it works so beautifully. What a lovely voice she has.
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Glad you like the photos and the music. She is the main singer for the band, but another female in the band sings, “Night Shift” which you can hear at Steve’s linked post. Hella good songs with hella good music/melodies. Thanks for reading, looking, and listening, my friend.
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I will definitely look into listening to more of their stuff. I love when. There is more than one lead singer in a band
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Dale, they also use an interesting instrument called a theremin on some of the songs.
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Cool!
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Stories To Songs sounds like it was a wonderful project. Lisa. Nice to see that Iris got to enjoy a full bloom as well, with your valued assistance of course.🙂
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:) Yes it does look like a worthy project. On another topic, I’m just starting S4 of Psych. I also just finished the final, 6th Season of Vikings. I highly recommend it (you asked me to let you know how it was once I got into it.) Lots of hand to hand combat but also lots of good drama in multiple settings.
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OK, Vikings does sound like I need to give it a shot. Sounds very promising indeed. So happy you’re on to Season 4 of Psych. Such a fun show with great characters.
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They get some pretty good guest stars on there. Just watched the one with James Brolin as the sheriff of the old west town. You could tell he was having a great time. They have inventive plots also. Like I said before, I love Corbin Bernsen as his dad.
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Corbin was a perfect fit as Henry. The role needed to be believable as both a taskmaster father and as a sympathetic dad, and he balanced it beautifully.
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<3
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