What's going on at Bangor today?

Today's weather was either sunny or pouring with rain. I thought I would go to Bangor Walled Garden to see how it  had matured.  I had to wait 10 minutes in the car before getting out due to a down pour.  The garden was planted about 3-4 years ago and is growing well.  Below is a small part of it and mostly green at the moment as this is a herbaceous area and will flower later on in the year.

The main colour in the garden at this time of year are the tulips so I photographed those to show you.  Although now the sun was shining brightly the rain was still on the flowers.

Hopefully there will be a tulip above that you will like.  

The last shot is a close up of the inside of one of them.

Most people only ever look at the outside and never see the beauty that is within each flower.  This is often true of life when  people quickly judge on outward appearances and don't wait and look deeper to get to know the inner personality of the 'real' person.

In the garden I was pleased to see Wrens and Robins that obviously had chicks as they had food in their beaks.  There was a Dunnock who was sitting in a bush singing, perhaps still looking for a mate.

Dunnock

There were also Wood Pigeon and Magpie flying around so after a coffee at the cafe I went down to Bangor Pier to see the Black Guillemots again.

This Black Guillemot kept his eye on me!!

This Black Guillemots just turned his back on me!

This one serenaded me

These 2 Black Guillemots below were displaying to one another.

I travelled further round the coast road and saw a lovely grassy bank of daisies where there were Starlings and one Greenfinch feeding.

Starling

Greenfinch

On the stones at the sea shore I spied this Pied Wagtail below. 

Further along the road I noticed a lot of activity on the water and stopped the car.  I discovered there was a kayak race about to start and  it was in tribute to a young man who suddenly lost his life at the early age of 20.  50 people from all over Ulster came to race today and raise money for charity.  This video below shows kayak getting really for the off.

It had been hoped they would race to Groomsport however the weather was too bad for that to happen.  Weather was good to start with however turned very hasty when those that were doing the 6 mile race went into the second leg off that.  Some people paddled 3 miles however some capsized but there were quite a number of rescue craft to help anyone in trouble.

I left for home just as the wind came up and the rain came down (again!!!)

World of TULIPS - Tribute to the Netherlands Blogging People

As I was looking at the beautiful Tulips in my garden I wondered if others would like to see them.  I also know that people from the Netherlands have looked at my blog.  So this blog is especially for them although I hope others will like the photos too.  The Tulip, one of the most accurate and beautiful signs of the arrival of Spring and is the national flower of the Netherlands.

Though these flowers are coveted world wide for their eloquent beauty, one of the more unique and delightful features of these Dutch ladies is that they keep growing after they are cut - growing up to 5-6 inches more while in the vase! When placed near a window, they will turn themselves towards the sun, opening more when it is warm and closing when the temperature drops.  

The word Tulip is thought to be a corruption of the Turkish word 'tulbend' for turban. The Tulip was introduced by a famous Austrian biologist Carolus Clusius. Tulip plants belong to the genus Tulipa, in the lily family, Liliaceae. Tulips bloom on bulbous plants, with large, showy flowers with six petals. There are around 100 species of Tulips, which actually came from the Central Asia where they grew wild. Turkish growers first cultivated tulips as early as 1,000 AD. 

Close up of Tulip

Tulips come in an incredible variety of colours, height, and flower shapes. Some Tulips are even fragrant.  Do we often look right into the centre of a Tulip to see the depth of its beauty? (see above)

Tulips are very popular to an extent that during the 17th century, most of Europe particularly Holland, was gripped in a craze for Tulips that as a result, many had to even sell off their fortunes just to buy a Tulip bulb.  It was popularly known as the Tulipomania.  

There are now over 3,000 different registered varieties of cultivated Tulips. 

They symbolize imagination, dreaminess, perfect lover and a declaration of love.

Tulips grow wild over a great territory in Asia Minor through Siberia to China and were first cultivated and hybridized by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire.

Every year billions of Tulips are cultivated, a majority of which are grown and exported from Holland. 

These photos are a very small snap shot of the many different varieties of Tulips, however I hope at this time of the year when these beautiful flowers are brightening up our country, you will take a moment to look at them more closely.  I will leave you with a tip!

 Tulip bulbs are a good replacement for onions in cooking!