Showing posts with label valentines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label valentines. Show all posts

Monday, 26 December 2016

The most romantic flower gardens in the world...

Husband plants thousands of pink blooms so people would come to see them and spend time with his blind wife so she didn't feel lonely. Toshiyuki Kuroki and his wife Yasuko had been married for 30 years when she began to have trouble with her sight. Within a week Mrs Kuroki, from Miyazaki Prefecture, had gone blind, after suffering complications from her diabetes. Mr Kuroki, a dairy farmer, had to watch on helplessly as his wife became depressed and withdrawn from the world. But he struck on the idea of creating a garden so beautiful that people would come to visit it and keep her company.

A husband in Japan has spent a decade creating a landscape of pink blooms to cheer up his wife after she went blind. Toshiyuki Kuroki and his wife Yasuko, from Miyazaki Prefecture, had been married for 30 years when Mrs Kuroki began having problems with her sight. Within a week, she had gone blind, suffering from complications relating to her diabetes. To the pair of dairy farmers, who had woken early every morning to look after their herd of 60 cows, her loss of sight was devastating.
They had led a difficult but rewarding life, also raising their two children, and had planned to celebrate their coming retirement with a massive tour around their country.
Mr and Mrs Kuroki were heartbroken that all their plans now seemed impossible. Mrs Kuroki shut herself away from the world and Mr Kuroki was forced to watch on, helpless, as his wife sunk into a deep depression.
That was until one day, Mr Kuroki noticed passersby admiring their small garden, which was filled with bright pink Shibazakura flowers, also known as moss phlox.

Shibazakura is a flower that grows thickly, covering the ground like a lawn. The shape of its pretty flower petals looks like that of sakura (cherry blossoms) and it comes in a variety of colors including different shades of pink, white, and light purple, with some petals having striped patterns.

He thought that if he planted more blooms, more people would come to see them and would help to keep his lonely wife company.
And so he quit his dairy farm and started work on creating a carpet of the pink flowers, surrounding their house and creating a striking and beautiful landscape.
He spent two years creating the foundation for the garden, reported RocketNews24, chopping down trees and caring for the fledgeling plants.
Now, more than a decade after the first seeds were planted, the garden in Shintomi Town is open to the public and attracts more than 7,000 visitors every year.
Throughout March and April, when the flowers are in full bloom, Mrs Kuroki has countless people to talk to and put a smile back on her face.
And visitors can also tour the old cow sheds, where they can hear more about the flowers and about the touching love story that brought the garden into being.
Source - HERE
The Shibazakura Festival is one of the most unique and colourful festivals on the Hokkaido flower calendar. Winding paths lead you across a surreal pink and purple hillside overlooking Takinoue town. Every year from early May to early June, Takinoue Park is covered with a carpet of Shibazakura which started from the equivalent of a single tangerine box filled with seedlings. These flowers have spread and grown every year and now cover an area of 100,000 square meters.
Image Source HERE
Shibazakura ~ Takinoue Park 
The park began in 1956 with a “mandarin orange box full” of moss phlox seeds. More and more flowers were planted each year until they filled a 100,000m2 area. The beautiful carpet of flowers covers the hillsides for around a month. As well as being a beautiful bright pink, they fill the park with a sweet scent, drawing you into a dreamlike world. 
May 1 - early June
The backside of the Daisetsuzan Mountain Range offers its pointy snow-covered peaks as a backdrop and tulips adorn the wide gently-sloped paths on your journey across the hill.
In the Ainu language, the Takinoue area is called Ponkamuikotan which roughly translates to "Village of the Small Gods." The name Takinoue, which literally means "Above the Waterfall," originates from the first Japanese settlers who founded the city upstream from a waterfall.
Hokkaido Ainu is the sole survivor of the Ainu languages. It is spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Ainu has no generally accepted genealogical relationship to any other language family.
How beautiful...This Ponkamuikotan reminds me of Calageata in which (first draft of book) Bea travelled through a waterfall to visit. In this special place, purple flowers are abundant and it is the home of ethereal beings called the Sindria.  
Moss Garden, Saiho-Ji Temple [Kyoto, Japan] ~ Infrared photography
An interesting theory ~ (used inspiration for book - Calageata and Well of Souls)
Purple Earth hypothesis is an astrobiological hypothesis that life forms of early Earth were retinal-based rather than chlorophyll-based thus making Earth appear purple rather than green. An example of a retinal-based organism today is the photosynthetic microbes called halobacteria.
 Early Earth
Furano City, just south of Zerubu Hill above, is where tourists go to get their lavender fix. Even though the lavender blooming season is relatively short—just July and August—this city is very popular that there are more than one million visitors a year. This violet garden spreads out in every direction. Aside from lavenders, there are also cosmos and dahlia. 
www.jmbihorel.myportfolio.com
Flower Soul
Love and light,
Trace
xoxo

Saturday, 23 April 2011

La Diada de Sant Jordi Lovers Day


23 RD April...
a date for the diary


La Diada de Sant Jordi, also known as el dia de la rosa (The Day of the Rose)

or el dia del llibre (The Day of the Book) is a Catalan holiday held on 23 April,

with similarities to Valentine's Day

and some unique twists that reflect the antiquity of the celebrations.


The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and respected ones. Historically, men gave women roses, and women gave men abook to celebrate the occasion—"a rose for love and a book forever." In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is also customary. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition originating in 1923, when a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to commemorate the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on 23 April 1616.Barcelona is the publishing capital of both Catalan and Spanish languages and the combination of love and literacy was quickly adopted.



In Barcelona's most visited street, La Rambla, and all over Catalonia, thousands of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 800,000 books will have been purchased. Most women will carry a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.


To the world you may be one person,
but to one person you may be the world.

- Bill Wilson -

The sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, is performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona. Many book stores and cafes host readings by authors (including 24-hour marathon readings of Cervantes'

"Don Quixote"). Street performers and musicians in public squares add to the day's atmosphere.

23 April is also the only day of the year when the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona's principal government building, is open to the public. The interior is decorated with roses to honour Saint George.


The ancient Crown of Aragon, the Feast of St George is celebrated enthusiastically in the Community of Aragon,

being the country's patron saint and its national day.

On 23 April, Aragon celebrates its "Diya d'Aragón" (Day of Aragon) in commemoration of the Battle of Alcoraz

(Baralla d'Alcoraz in Aragoneese), on which Huesca was conquered by the Aragonese army

and in which tradition says that

St George appeared at a critical moment for theChristian Army, aiding them to win it for the "True Faith".

As in Catalonia, roses and books are exchanged among individuals, often bearing ribbons with the colors of Aragon's flag.


If you notice someone's face is
Looking rather low
Come along beside them
And let your caring show

Place your arm around them
And give a little squeeze
There's nothing like a hug to
Give the heart some ease!
~ Jennifer Byerly ~

We sat side by side in the morning light
and looked out at the future together.

- Brian Andres -

When you love someone,
all your saved-up wishes start coming out.

- Elizabeth Bowen -

England

St.Georges Day

A traditional custom at this time was to wear a red rose in one's lapel,
though with changes in fashion this is no longer common.

Another custom is to fly or adorn the St George's Cross flag in some way:
pubs in particular can be seen on 23 April festooned with garlands of St George's crosses.

St George's Day is celebrated by the several nations, kingdoms, countries,
and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint.
Most countries which observe St George's Day celebrate it on 23 April,
the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in 303 AD.
This day is May 6 for Eastern Orthodox Old Calendarists, who use the Julian calendar.

What Is It That I Love?

If asked why I love her I would say
It’s the sway in her hips,
the thickness in her thighs.
It’s the lust in her lips,
the love in her eyes.
It’s the softness of her skin,
the silk in her hair.
It’s the twist in her walk;
it’s the sweetness in her talk.
It’s the way she loves me
that makes me love her each day.
That is what I would say.

- Justin Hutchins -

What is a hug?

A hug is something special
A hug can give such joy
A hug can bring a little smile
To every girl and boy
A hug can say a thousand words
Without a single spoken one
A hug can put things right again
When everything seems wrong
A hug can be a lovely thing
It doesn't have to contain a touch
A hug can be on paper
The word 'hug' just means so much
So I'm sending you a special hug
Not physical, it's true
But this hug is sent to let you know
I think the world of you

~ Yvonne Lowther ~


LOVE & LIGHT

Trace

OXO