All the individual blooms on my Birthday Orchid are connected by the branches from which they spring. My birthday was in mid-April, and I have taken photos of it from then until now, watching all the individual blossoms open from buds.

This was the day I received it, at the hotel where Hubby and I stayed for the next two nights of our Hillsdale conference and my birthday dinner.

This was at the end of May.

This was last Friday.

And just this afternoon. All the buds have blossomed, and I noticed the purple under the blooms. I normally can’t grow anything, so I am surprised and pleased at how all the buds but one have opened up.

Horseback riders have special connections to their steeds, and I think watching kids at the State Fair is my most favorite of the fair’s many attractions.

This young lady and her horse just seemed to flow across the ground, almost as one organism.

Same with this one, aren’t they beautiful together?

Speaking of horses and riders, these race-horses and their riders have a special connection.

Check out horse #6, only his front two legs are connected with the ground. And horse #1 only has one leg connected with the ground. They are pretty close to flying.

The two nuthatches are connected to each other by the shepherd’s crook hanger for the suet feeder.

The large flock of swans is made up of families. Swans mate for life, and have chicks (cygnets) each year. The gray one is a juvenile, and the adults are white. Swans return to our Skagit Valley every year, and we look forward to seeing them.

Here’s the Link to this week’s Original Post. And the Link to Tina’s wonderful post (African animals here).