Zinnias

The Flower Lady speaks again. It's been a long, hot summer. The 'girl's' blushed as predicted and now it's time for harvest. Here's a picture of zinnias grown from last year's saved seeds. They are the delight of the finches who come and feast on their nectar & seeds. They are amazing ~~ actually hang upside down to access the delicacy. The added benefit is that they delight us just watching them. Nature is so wonderful if we only take the time to stop, look & listen . It demands we take the time to be still and know that there is a God that provides for all his creatures ~~ humans included if we allow ourselves to be open to beauty, quiet & awe. How can anyone say there is no God?????

Today, we encountered a mystery of nature. I'd arranged a bunch of wonderful sunflowers & grass out on our deck. I'd left it outside to hydrate & make sure there were no resident bugs. Later, I brought it inside placed it on the DR table. After dinner, we went out on the deck & noticed sunflower petals & seeds on the rail of our deck. I went in & checked the arrangement & sure enough, one of the sunflower heads had been bitten off (assuming by a squirrel). I'm wondering where he carried it off to. Nature is so wonder~full !!!!!!!!

The Flower Lady Speaks

Happy Birthday to the Flower Lady's husband. Won't divulge his age. Age is only a number as far as I'm concerned. What matters is the youthfulness of his spirit which captivates my heart over & over again. When we met I felt young all over again. Life felt like it was beginning rather than waning. And that's how it's been the past ten or so years. I am so blessed to be his wife.

The Girls

My Early Girls, taken 6/28. Think we'll make it? Tomatoes by the Fourth of July? The Flower Lady says, "They're not even blushing." It is true: girls today just don't blush like they used to.

June, Bustin' Out

Trying out a new template. Is it too sophisticated??

The Flower Lady was commenting, as we sat in the barely fading light of day here in the Northern Hemisphere, that the days actually get shorter as we go through the summer. Doesn't seem right, does it? And why is the first day of summer called Midsummer's Day? Hmm? Well, I'm sure the correct answer is out there somewhere on the Intranet. Let me know what you find out.

It's been a beautiful June, albeit warm. Not enough of those crisp, blue, fall-like skies and "that high-builded cloud, moving at summer's pace." June can be very beautiful here in our little valley; it can also bring two weeks at a time of misery-inducing rain and 55-degree temps, just when you've been entertaining visions of lolling in the sun. But after October, it's our most reliably enjoyable month.

And things are bustin' out. The catbird and I have been dueling over our bounteous crop of blueberries. He likes them just a bit tangier than I do. But the FL and I have managed to cop our fair share. And, across the way, a young lady of our acquaintance has found her true beau, and wedding plans are afoot! I am, it is true, "neither father nor lover," but having listened to her tales of the trials and tribulations of young adulthood for some years now, I feel a proprietary interest. Like the country squire marrying off his parlor maid to the village smithy. June, young love, hopes and dreams...rather makes the heart melt, doesn't it?

June

As James Thurber said: coreopsis has set in!

Temperature's Rising!

We didn't really go to Rio, as I intimated in the last post. Lear jet's in the shop! So we stayed home, celebrated Memorial Day, and prepared for summer.

The FL always makes some nice plant groupings for the deck.




Table for two (for you know who), alfresco.




Tomatoes are in the ground. We're ready for summer!

Human Ingenuity

In our never-ending quest to dominate the floral decorating industry through vertical integration, The Flower Lady and I recently visited a local vase-making facility. You know those scruffy-looking teens and post-teens who wander around the mall looking like they couldn't tie their shoelaces on the first try? Well, some of them have jobs! They were working there. Not the guy in the picture--he's one of the glassblowers--but they were there assisting. Apprentices on a different career path. Quite inspiring, it was. They had to be alert, attentive, and focused: hot, molten glass is not exactly user-friendly. Dangerous, unforgiving stuff on which to practice a skill difficult to master. So hats off, future glassblowers!

All of which goes to say how much skill is involved in the floral designer's art. You've got to have the right container. And that's just the beginning.

Next week, the FL and I jet down to South America to visit our vast flower plantations. Hasta la vista!