Macro Monday - Forget-me-not

 "The blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,

Hope's gentle gem! The sweet forget-me-not." 

I just love this flower. So small and so simple and so easily overlooked. You have to slow down to appreciate their beauty. You have to stop to see their diminutive blooms. The skyblue flowers with their sunny yellow centres always put a smile on my face.

Back in the English Middle Ages, it was thought that this flower could cure the sting of an angry scorpoin, due to the fact that their buds form the shape of a scorpion's sting. You have to wonder what they were thinking, especially given the fact that there are no scorpions in England!?! There are lots of stories about how the flower got its name, such as the medieval knight and his lady, walking along the bank of a river. He saw the flowers in the water and went to pick them for his sweetheart, Unfortunately, as he was picking the flowers, he fell in. Before the weight of his armour pulled him down to the depths of his watery grave, he managed to huck the flowers to his lover, crying out "Forget me not!" Now, I know that I am a little cynical and not especially romantic, but really, who on earth wears their armour when out on a romantic stroll with their sweetheart!?! Not going to get much action, are you? "Hold on, honey, I just have to remove my breastplate."

Since I have now lowered the tone of this blog considerably, you might as well go and check out these - the Forget-Me-Not panties, which have a built in GPS so that you can keep track of your wife, girlfriend or daughter or at least always know where her knickers are! There is also a sensor incorporated into the crotch area so that you can tell if her temperature or heart rate is rising. You might get a bit of a shock when the knickers are in the wash, or if she is sitting on the washer during the spin cycle! You can buy a week's supply for $1200 - except for the fact that they are all sold out. Bugger.

OK, let's get back to the real subject of this post. You really have got to love macro photography. I was not even aware of this little guy, sorry, girl, lurking on the buds of my forget-me-not until I started to edit my photos. If you look closely, you can make out some even smaller aphids right below her abdomen.

Just in case anyone is wondering just how macro my photos are, here are the flowers with a Canadian nickel. And no Carolina, I am not sending you this or any other money just so that you can see how big the coin is.

Sadly, I am guilty of forgetting my forget-me-nots, which are now dry, shrivelled and very definitely dead. Ooops.


For more Macro Monday, go here.