First Bouquet of Spring

The girls picked these for me today.

Bluebells

Bluebells are blooming! The girls and I took a quick hike through the woods and enjoyed the brilliant display.

They are beautiful, dainty flowers, but en masse they are stunning.

They’re so pretty we had a spring in our step as we followed the Bluebell Trail.

And then we stopped to play Poohsticks at the bridge.

The End.

It’s Going To Be A Good Day

I love a prophetic breakfast.

Amateur Botany

While I did end up purging the vast majority of books we inherited from my dad, I kept several cherished ones.  One of my favorites is a wildflower field guide.  I love trying to figure out what all the pretty and interesting blooms are in the backyard.

We’ve been walking in the woods across the street a lot, now that the weather has warmed up. That’s a great place to spot wildflowers.

Right now, the bluebells are starting to make their annual appearance.

They’re not quite at peak but already look beautiful.

Of course, there are other things to admire and identify besides bluebells. We spotted this trout lily next to the trail:

I’m not exactly certain what these white flowers are. They look like a sort of phlox, but the leaves seem too big for moss phlox.

The mandrakes have their umbrella leaves up and buds are starting to form underneath some of the plants.

We even spotted some skunk cabbage about to unfurl.

Skunk cabbage is a foliage plant, sort of like a hosta.

Of course, there’s nothing like picking dandelions on a pretty spring day.

We didn’t even need the book for that one.

This Poor, Neglected Blog

I don’t know why I get out of the habit of writing here.  Sure, I have absolutely nothing vital or even remotely interesting to say, but that’s not the point.  The brain exercise ought to at least keep me coming back.  My noggin feels smarter when I blog.  Okay, maybe not smarter, but definitely clearer.  Writing is healthy.  It’s good stuff.  I should do it more often.

This past weekend was a strange juxtaposition of tragedy and celebration.  I spent Friday and Saturday alternating between a funeral for my cousin and a wedding for our good friend.  It was rather bizarre, truth be told.  I also attended Mass twice in one day.  I haven’t been to Mass since … well, since the last funeral I attended.  Or maybe the last wedding.

As the weekend unfolded and I had to make decisions about what things to attend (rehearsal dinner or calling hours? Pictures at park, or mournful luncheon?), I found myself gravitating towards the funeral functions.  I didn’t want to be at the wedding, making merry.  It felt more comfortable to be at the funeral home, surrounded by weepy people and rapidly-emptying boxes of Kleenex.  (They were real Kleenex, by the way.  I checked.)  Now, what is wrong with me, that I’d rather focus on gloom than gaiety?  Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that the clothes you wear to funerals are a lot less revealing.  Black is more flattering than, say, lamé (not that I’d ever wear lamé anywhere.)   Or maybe I’ve become a negative person who prefers sobbing in a dusty funeral parlour to the artificial pageantry of an all-out wedding reception.

(Or maybe I may have just answered my own question.)

Anyway, all that’s behind us, and now we can focus on really important things, like planting seeds and getting the garden ready for the growing season.  I hope we don’t go another round with the bunnies and deer, but  I’ll give them a damn good fight this year if we do.  Meanwhile, things are already looking greenish.  Spring is here, honestly and truly.  I have some plants coming up, many returning from last year, some of which I never thought we’d see again and some of which I have no idea where they came from.

Check out these sweet little flowers in the backyard:

And look at this gorgeous bloodroot, which came from who-knows-where (I didn’t plant it, that’s the thing)

These adorable little perennials are displaying up front:

In the woods across the street, there are many other pretties making their annual spring appearances:

Of course, it wouldn’t be spring without the bluebells. They’re up and getting ready to put on the late-April show.

I’ve got a few peas coming up (should take pictures of those, before the bunnies find them) and some other things started in pots, like parsley and tomatoes.  All of our tomato seeds are saved from last year’s crop and/or heirloom fruit we got from friends, the CSA box, etc.  Same with peppers.  This is an experiment: I’m testing out our highly scientific seed-saving technique (which involves dumping the pulpy seeds into a small container, covering with a coffee filter, and letting them congeal into a hard film.  In the spring I peel the film off the bottom of the container, stick it in a pot, cover it with dirt, and voila.)

The girls got some seeds in their Easter baskets (Cosmos and bachelor’s buttons) and are eagerly watching to see when they’ll bloom.  Those are some fast-germinating plants, let me tell you.  We planted them maybe five days ago and already have little sprouts in our pots.  I suppose annuals have to get on with it and not waste time, unlike perennials, who can try again the following  year if things don’t work out so well.

Our tulips bloomed on Saturday, incidentally.  I haven’t photographed them yet, but we have two glorious flame-orange blooms out front.  I’d better get those tomorrow, too, before the deer find them.

Advent

One of my favorite Christmas memories (and we’ll just ignore the fact that the last blog post was October 1 at the end of CSA season, right?) growing up was doing an Advent calendar with my siblings.  I remember we had a paper calendar, with little doors that you popped open to reveal a cute little holiday-themed picture.  There were, of course, 24 doors, one for each day of December until Christmas.  The last one had a picture of Santa in it.  I can’t remember now if my mom bought a new one every year, if she got them from church or something, or if we reused the same one.  But it sure did heighten the anticipation for Christmas all December long.

I’ve been wanting to make an advent calendar for my girls ever since my artist auntie showed me the one she made for her boys when they were young.  While the paper doors were fun, my aunt’s version was handmade, reusable and incredibly personal.  Into the pockets for each date in December she put little notes and poems, left clues for prizes, stuck in candy or sweets, and generally had a lot of fun helping her sons look forward to the big day.

Well, this year I’ve finally gone and done it.  I feel a tiny bit embarrassed about this project, because I practically copied it verbatum from The Purl Bee’s version.  But my plate is so full with things to do/places to be/ stuff to bake and make for the holidays already that I figured it was better to make someone else’s design and use it than spend all my time daydreaming about what I’d like to make (and never finishing it).

Anyway, here it is hanging up next to where the tree will (soon) (hopefully) be:

And here is some slightly better lighting:

The pockets consist of a 2 1/2″ square, embroidered with a number and stitched to a 3″ square of a different color felt.  The larger square is then sewn as a patch pocket onto the felt background.  Fairly straightforward, really.  Actually, my pockets aren’t exactly “straight”.  I wanted it to feel homemade and not in the least bit commercial, so I did all of the placements by eye.  I am noticing that everything sort of slants to the right as a result.   Honestly, it looks much better in person.

Let the anticipation begin!

(By the way: thank you, Purl Bee, for such a cute idea. I didn’t mean to suggest your project was an embarrassment, only that I’m not the type to just blatantly copy someone else’s stuff… even if it is a free pattern!)

A Gift for Every Occasion

Here’s an idea that took care of at least two of the 9,320,235,412 pieces of art the kids have generated thus far:

1. We started off with a watercolor painting that the girls did on regular old copy paper. I laminated each painting with laminating sheets, cut the laminated pages in half, and creased each half to make a “cover” for a book.

2. I cut some more copy paper – about four sheets for each book – just slightly smaller than the cover, then creased and stapled them inside the cover to make the “pages”.

3. Since the girls were using these particular ones, I covered the staples with clear packing tape to help prevent them from getting scratched. Et voila! A sweet little book for them to write in or give away as a gift.

They each gave one to Grandma for her birthday. I am still patting myself on the back for (a) coming up with such a clever gift that is both sentimental and functional, and (b) getting rid of some of the kids’ artwork without feeling guilty about it. Score!

Describe Today In 100 Words Or Less

Fall has begun. Crisp air. Leaves are starting to turn. Spent time outdoors today with husband and the kids. The sun is bright, but not as warm. Kids wear socks today for the first time since May. I bring a thermos of coffee along. Stop at the fruit farm for cider and donuts. Mums are in full bloom. The truck is hot when we get inside, but it’s too cold to leave the windows open as we drive. I put my sweater on, take it off, put it on again.

I think we’ll have a bonfire tonight.

Happy autumn.