Friday, May 10, 2013

HAVE A SUNNY AND HAPPY WEEKEND



Ah Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveler's journey is done.

Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow:
Arise from their graves, and aspire,
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go!


William Blake




Sunflower fields near the Gilboa mountain. 
Helianthus Annuus, the lovers of light and followers of the sun - this is a beautiful myth, but actually only the buds and leaves follow the sun, the flower, once it has opened will stay, facing the east where the sun rises.

Golden, bright and proud, they bring joy to our hearts with their range of colors, the sun yellow petals, and the seed pots, changing from light green to dark orange over burnt red to the black seeds.


Sunflower oil, low in saturated fat and very healthy.
Sunflower seeds, tasty and a great source of vitamin E.
Some varieties are excellent for bird feed.
Sunflowers arranged in a vase on the table - a delight.
 
Sunflowers as a Dye (this is for you Hilde): sunflower petals can make natural dyes which range in color from yellow to orange or a light tan. Sunflower seeds can also be used for natural dye, particularly the Hopi dye variety which can produce grey to dark purple shades.

 Vincent van Gogh

At early dawn, like soldiers in their places,
Rank upon rank the golden sunflowers stand;
Gazing toward the east with eager faces,
Waiting, until their god shall touch the land
To life and glory, longingly they wait,
Those voiceless watchers at the morning's gate.

Dawn's portals tremble silently apart;
Far to the east, across the dewy plain,
A glory kindles that in every heart
Finds answering warmth and kindles there again;
And rapture beams in every radiant face
Now softly glowing with supernal grace.

And all day long that silent worship lasts,
And as their god moves grandly down the west,
And every stem a lengthening shadow casts
Toward the east, ah, they love him best,
And watch till every lingering ray is gone,
Then slowly turn to greet another dawn.


Albert Bigelow Paine

 Claude Monet


Enjoyed by us yesterday and photographed by my husband Uri Eshkar.

The last photo: my Shabatt flowers from our son's girl, who will be soon his wife - each Friday afternoon I get a bunch of flowers from her. :-)

P.S. My Japanese blogger friend Yoko turned my attention to a similar post she had about sunflowers, two years ago. Have a look here.

17 comments:

Hilde said...

Beautiful bouquet of flowers, Yael, such a lovely gift :)
Love your post, love the photos and I love sunflowers!

Thank you so much for the information about sunflower dye. Petals and seeds, wow, I did not know, it is definately something I would like to try out.
Last summer my sunflowers failed. This spring I haven't got around to sowing seeds yet, but I have a fresh package of sunflower seeds, and into soil they will go today :)

Have a happy and sunny weekend you too, Yael.
Many hugs :)

Dies und Das vom Neckarstrand said...

Liebe Yael,
die Sonnenblumen lassen hier bei uns noch eine eile auf sich warten, Bei euch sind sie in voller Blüte und eien wahre Pracht. Mir gfällt das Gemälde auch sehr gut.
Es sit doch schön, dass du von deiner angehenden Schwiegertochter jeden Freitag einen Blumenstrauß bekommst.
Ein schönes Wochenende wünscht dir
Irmi

Annuk said...

What wonderful flowers, Yael!!! I love sunflowers, they are true happy-makers! To me, they look like they are smiling, maybe because they are so large and look like thousand and thousands of happy faces! :)
And your soon-daughter-in-law is so sweet! You are a lovely family and of course you attract lovely people! :)
Have a wonderful weekend, dear Yael!
Hugs

Unknown said...

There is nothing as beautiful as sunflower fields. This time of the year is such a relief to the soul in our dry piece of land.

Dawn of LaTouchables said...

This is the flower that makes me the happiest...gorgeous photos!

I didn't know you could get a dye out of it--I will try this year!

Bob Bushell said...

Brilliant pictures of the sunflowers, thanks Uri, and cheers to you for the speech.

stardust said...

Your sunflower photos are stunning! (Cheers to Uri!) I’d like to dive into the sunflower fields. I also remember the William Blake's’ poem and Van Gogh's painting by association. But Albert Paine’s poem is new to me, thanks for the introduction. I posted “Ah, Sunflower” on August 26, 2011, inspired by the sunflowers. If you feel inclined to and have time, please have a visit.

Yoko

Yael said...

Thank you Yoko san, I added the link of your beautiful post! :-)

Magia da Inês said...

¸╭•⊰✿¸.

Lindas fotos!
Gosto de girassóis, da beleza das pétalas, das abelhas, do perfume que fica no ar.

Bom domingo!
Feliz Dia das Mães!
Beijinhos.♡ღ

•*✿⊱╮ღ

wandamarie.blogspot.com said...

I LOVE YOU, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY YAEL SAIL. I will leave a real message when the troops go home today! oxox

Friko said...

thanks for the good wishes, but sunny the weekend most certainly wasn’t. Not here. Sunflowers? fat chance.

These are gorgeous. Sometimes the sunflower seeds I give the birds fall on the ground and sprout. But there are so many, or they are in the wrong place and I have to pull them up.

I would think that you must have received the seeds by now. I hope they got to you?

stardust said...

Hi, Yael! I am delighted to see we share the same or similar thoughts and ideas. Thank you for taking time to see my sunflowers and even making a link on your post. Have a nice week.

Yoko

rachel awes said...

these sunflowers are GORGEOUS!!!!
i can't get over the garden of yael.
xoxoooo

Tomoko said...

Hi,Yael.
You have to know how delighted I am to see those sunflowers field now!They are so gorgeous and beautiful! How smart sunflowers are. They are together facing to the sun!! It is first time to know that sun flowers can be used to dye. The dyed color must be so pretty!

I hope your leg will completely recover too! Yael,

Tomoko

mispapelicos said...

Wonderful flowers, and magic comment in my blog Yael.
Are you German.
XXXXXXXXXX

TarracoStyle said...

preciosas fotos, me encantan los girasoles.
mil besos

Ansku said...

Lovely photos! Sunflowers are amazing.

Thank you for your comments in my blog! Feel free to ask me, if you can't find a translation to some things. :) Have a lovely week!