A Sunflower in Miniature

A couple of months ago, my youngest daughter and I started some little sunflower seeds indoors.  They came in a kit which included the seeds, a very little pot, and a little disc of potting soil that only needed to be soaked in water after which it filled the little pot.  The seeds sprouted, and have been growing in their little environment on the window sill.  And now we have a little teeny tiny sunflower blooming in the house.  Its diameter is only about an inch, and it really is the cutest little miniature sunflower that I have ever seen.  Actually it is the first miniature sunflower I've seen, and I must say, it is quite a cheerful sight to see.

Round Two

Now that the marigold garden has been planted, it was time to go buy more flowers.  You see I really love flowers, and the more flower gardens the better as far as I'm concerned.  Next on the planting agenda are my zinnias.  This year I will be planting them in my two big flower boxes by the front door, and in two smaller gardens just as you walk through the gate into our yard.  Those smaller flower beds are also lined with white alyssum.  So back to the store I went and purchased three flats of zinnias, one flat of alyssum, as well as a few smaller plants that will go into my pots.  My daughters were with me, and since they are in charge of two very large sections of flower beds that I have, they thought they should get more marigolds.  So we loaded up all our pretty flowers in the back of my car and brought them home.  Now I am just waiting for some sunshine to return so I can finish planting up this batch.

Marigold Time

Last year, because of circumstance beyond my control (i.e. weather, etc.) I was unable to plant my "marigold garden".  I have planted this garden for so many years, that probably the soil was happy for a year off.  However, this year I am back in business, and my goal yesterday was to get it all planted. 

I'm really not sure how long the garden is, but two cars can easily park alongside it with more garden on either side of them.  Here is a shot of it right before I began planting:

Yes, there is a HUGE boulder that sits towards one end of it.  Actually in this picture it looks like it is smack dab in the center, but it is much closer to the end I took the picture from.  You may wonder where that boulder came from ---- well, when we were preparing the ground for this garden, it was unearthed, and because of its huge size, we decided it would look very nice if left in the garden (or maybe it was because it was way too big to move).  And you also may note all of the large rocks lining the garden ---- well, all of them were found in our yard and garden area.  We literally have rocks all over the place, and every year I am digging up more. 

In this picture I obviously still had some weeding to do around the edges, but after that was accomplished, and the soil all raked smooth, one of my daughters and I got busy planting.  I use nearly 4 entire flats of marigolds to fill this garden up, and here is the variety I chose this year:

In year's past, when my kids were younger, they would all come out and help me.  It was really quite the process as everyone had a job, and after each row was planted, everyone rotated into the next job so that all jobs could be experienced by each one of them.  It was actually very fun, and each year we would time ourselves to see if we could beat the time from the year before.

Here is the garden after it was all planted yesterday:

Not too amazing yet, but if all goes well, as it usually does, it will look like this in no time:

This picture was taken a few years ago from the other end of the garden.  See that big boulder at the other end......

Spring

I was gone last week visiting my sister in Southern California.  The climate we experienced there was so much different than the climate that I left behind.  She has flowers in full bloom, but I left home with no flowers except a few dandelions, and some tulips that were promising to bloom soon.

The tulips did not fail me.  They greeted me very cheerily when I returned.  And the one positive point about the cool, rainy weather that we have been having, is that the tulips last a nice long time.

Glory in the Morning

Outside my front door, I have two built-in planters that I like to fill with zinnias.  And tucked in with the zinnias, I really like to have some morning glories growing.  They are usually volunteers, but over the years, I encourage them to "volunteer".  They just seem to fill in any blank spots, and besides that, I am simply fascinated by morning glories.  A delicate flower, blooming profusely in the morning, yet when the sun gets a little hot for them, they close up tight until the next morning. 

This morning I thought they were so lovely that I had to take a few pictures.  I love the way it appears that a bright light is shining right through the center of the flower, even though the picture was taken in the shade.  God's glory can certainly be found anywhere we look.

My Red Tulip

I like tulips, especially red ones.  Red ones remind me of my dad because those were his favorite.  But tulips seem to come and go so quickly each year.  Depending on the weather, some years they last longer because of a cooler spring, or if hot weather arrives too soon, the tulips just don't seem to be able to take the heat, and disappear for another year.  I now have a red tulip that will last all year long thanks to my son.  He is very talented when it comes to working with metal, and he made this flower for me.  I just love it :)

My Lupine

In my previous post, I mentioned how beautiful my lupine have been this year.  They are just now beginning to show signs that they will be finishing up their show in the coming weeks.  I have enjoyed them so much; and I have so many this year, that even as you walk by the house on the street, their peppery scent fills the air.  Lupine are truly one of my very favorite flowers of all time, and what a bright spot they have been during this very wet and cool spring.

Happy First Day of Summer

Wow, the first day of summer has finally arrived!  And believe me, around here it is a most welcome sight.  I just found out this morning that our local spring weather was our wettest in history; and believe me, I don't remember ever seeing so many wet, gray days all lined up one after the other.  Today however, it is a different story, and we have been blessed with sunshine and warm weather to boot.  On the upside though of having a wet spring, my lupines have been blooming non-stop for quite some time, and putting on quite a grand show at that.  Typically by now, they are just finishing up.  And my clematis, even though they are behind schedule, have just begun to show their pretty little faces.  Happy 1st day of summer everyone!!

Forget-Me-Not

A number of years ago we met a little elderly lady who was basically alone in the world.  She was the sweetest little lady and we quickly formed a close friendship.  She loved flowers, but in her elderly state she was unable to get outside and take care of them.  Her gardens were overrun with weeds, but you could see that at one point in time they had been beautiful.  Over the couple of years that we knew her, she had given me a number of seeds and starts from her flowers; and these weren't just random gifts, it was important to her because near the end of her life she thanked me for perpetuating her flowers.  One of the flower starts she gave me was a forget-me-not.  This spring the forget-me-nots have been beautiful, and I honestly can never see them without thinking of my dear friend, Olga.

Sweet Signs of Spring

The official day of spring is just around the corner; however, I've been noticing several signs of the upcoming and long anticipated for new season.  The birds are singing so cheerfully, patches of snow are getting smaller and smaller, the neighborhood sledding hill is now bare, I actually spotted my first fat robin, and the crocus have begun to bloom. 

A Nice Surprise

This morning while in the midst of my usual teaching school, clean the kitchen, do laundry, etc., a woman came to our front door carrying a box.  Look what was printed on top of the box :)  Of course every task I was involved in came to a screaching halt.

I knew this had to be something good!  Inside were 2 dozen beautiful roses .... a mixture of colors!!

They are so pretty, and I was totally taken by surprise.  It isn't my birthday, Mother's Day, etc.; but they were from my son, just because he loves me ....  thanks, Luke -- you made my day :-)

Determination

Right outside our front door, there are brick steps that lead up to it.  I walk up and down those steps so many times in a day; and of course all of those daily steps add up to many, many more steps when you take an entire summer into account.  This summer, each time I walked up the steps, I kept my eye on a little cosmos that decided to plant itself right in the middle of them.  Early in the summer I heard someone mention pulling it up ... but no one ever did.  I haven't watered it, or fertilized it, just watched it.  And that little flower has been determined to grow without any humanly help.  Finally, it reached its goal .... and it is only about three inches high.  This tiny flower is so sweet, blooming ever so brightly.  And it just makes me smile, knowing that it is only there because of God's hand.

An Every Day Teapot

When my grandmother was first married, the only teapot that she had was a beautiful china one with gold trim.  My very practical great grandmother (her mother-in-law) did not think it was a good idea for her to use such a beautiful teapot every day.  So she bought her a more practical one, and told her to put the other away for special occasions.  My grandmother decided that she really didn't think anyone else should be able to tell her which teapot she could use on a daily basis (a bit of a stubborn streak I'm thinking), and put the new one away, and continued using her beautiful teapot.  After my mom was married, my grandma gave her the unused, more practical teapot since she didn't have one.  I grew up with that being my mom's only teapot, and she used it all of the time.  My sister, Kass, is now in possession of it, and it is so nice to visit her, and be poured a cup of tea from such a beautiful (but practical) teapot.

Recently, I was attending a sale just kind of looking around at all of the fun items.  My eyes were just wandering when all of a sudden they came to a complete stop.  There was a teapot identical to my mom's teapot .... except without the lid.  I just had to buy it, especially since the price was only $6.00.  Now I have my very own "practical" teapot, except without the lid I have come up with another use for it:

And just in case you were wondering, my grandma's "fancy" teapot sits in a place of honor in my mom's china cabinet, and you never would have known it had been used on a daily basis for so many years.

Lilac Season

The long awaited time of lilac season is finally here in our neck of the woods.  Our lilacs are bursting forth in all of their glory.  I do believe that their scent ranks right up there amongst my top 3 favorite flowers to smell just for smelling's sake.  When out in my yard, I will purposely head right over to one of the bushes for the simple purpose of enjoying their wonderful fragrance.  And now that it has finally stopped raining (at least for today), my daughters clipped some beauties up at their grandparent's house this afternoon, and brought them home to me. Not only do I love them for their scent, but if you could actually see these lilacs in person, I know you would agree that the colors are absolutely amazing. 

A Sweet Vase

My grandmother was the world's best pickle maker.  Every summer she would work so hard canning up all types of pickles.  She would make dill, sweet, zucchini, lazy housewife, corn relish, pickled beets, and I'm quite sure there are others that are just not coming to mind at the moment.  I love my memories of her busy in her kitchen.  And of course one tool that she used over and over in her canning, as well as her baking, was a very cute measuring cup.  I now have the honor of being in possession of that particular measuring cup.  I don't use it as it is intended; but I keep it on my window sill as a sweet reminder of her.  But this time of year, I use it as a vase by filling up a small baby food jar with water, and placing it inside of the cup.  I just know she would approve.

Red Tulips

It would appear that nice weather is here at last.  The past few days have been so warm and sunny.  I have been able to begin my yearly task of getting all of the flower beds prepared for their pretty little flowers; as well as the vegetable garden for its yearly task of providing us with all sorts of goodies.  I love this time of year.  The work is tiring, and my muscles protest, but I stick with it.  The reward is tremendous!

Daffodils Make Me Smile

This time of year, daffodils have an amazing effect.  The very presence of them in a room sets such a joyful tone.  I simply love daffodils.  We are blessed with their beauty for such a brief time.  Unfortunately, I don't have any growing in my yard; but I will buy them at the grocery store when they are available.  This particular batch was a gift from two of my daughters.  They purchased them with the buds tightly closed:

 This way we get the most possible enjoyment out of them.  And then when they burst into bloom:

They truly make me smile!

A Thoughtful Son

I have heard that one way to tell if a young man will make a good husband, is to observe how he treats his mother.  If this is the case, then my son will someday be a very thoughtful husband.  While shopping at the store the other day, he picked up this beautiful cyclamen plant for me.  He didn't buy it for any special occasion, he bought it just because.

Spring Crocus

Spring is always so full of surprises. It doesn't seem to ever matter that each year these particular surprises return again and again. They are always received with such joy and hope of new things to come.

A Touch of Spring

In great contrast to some of you that live farther east, our winter has been the mildest winter since somewhere back in the 1920's. We have only had about 7 inches of total snow overall. Even though the mountains have been getting some snow, I haven't been skiing even once this year. Without having all of the snow right outside my door, it's hard to get in the right frame of mind for winter sports. As the days click by, the prospect for snow gets less and less. So in light of this, I am really getting ready for some spring weather. And to add to this excitement, my tulips are starting to make an appearance. These truly bring a smile to my face.