Flowers that make missing loved ones a lot less difficult

The first Siberian

All the pretty little Siberians, blowing in the sweet summer breeze

Black Magic

Blooms six, seven & eight

The first Cream & Sugar

The largest of my Bearded Irises

The ninth & final Black Magic

I know I griped a lot during the winter about the cold and so on… now if I could only take that and combine it with the sweltering conditions currently moving its way through the Not-So-Great-White-North!

I haven’t been able to leave my house for a couple of days. My car has air conditioning but it also uses a lot more gas if I use it. Which, combined with the gas prices… well, you get the picture. Day before yesterday we hit 94 degrees with a heat index of 99 because of the 91% humidity!

See… that’s the reason I didn’t want to move to Florida! Oh wait… I’m not in Florida!

Cripes.

I’m surviving. The new windows that were put in a year ago have paid for themselves and then some. I paid an average of $26 less a month in heating costs. I expect the same will be reflected in the ac costs this summer. I also am able to use most of my energy usage in the off peak hours.

Guess it’s a perk of not sleeping during the night. I wash clothes, dishes and run the ac mostly during the night. The other day though I had my ac on through the day. A rarity. Mostly because the humidity makes my breathing incredibly difficult.

On the flip side… I wake up breathing so that’s so much better than the alternative! I have finally finished up the last of the 50th wedding anniversary invitations and all that jazz. My Aunt is very happy with the end result. My Uncle was thrilled when he saw his parents wedding picture on the invite. I was so happy to surprise him with that!

So now all we have to do is wait until the big day and have a great time! I’m thinking that won’t be a problem! The whole family is stoked for it. My Mom’s side of the family hasn’t been together in awhile and a celebration of 50 years sure is a lot better than the usual venues of saying good-bye to yet another family member, as has happened in the past.

My irises were spectacular this year and I was thrilled. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was Grandma saying hello. Mom’s 8th Celestial Birthday was last week. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Some days it feels like it was last week. Nine months from now it will be Grandma’s 9th. How did that happen?!

I guess when you love someone so deeply and completely, your heart tries to convince you they are still near, and you never stop missing them. You just forget the days and years because you only remember the happiness and love you shared with them.

Am I sad? Yes, there are some days that are worse than others. If I’m alive 20 years from now, I doubt it will feel any different. Love never dies… it just becomes another form of beauty. I look at my flowers, the humming birds zipping about my yard, by Dad’s… I firmly believe it’s Mom‘s way of telling us she is in a better realm.

Of course the flowers? The flowers are definitely in Grandma’s hands! She could grow a flawless rose that she stuck in an old coffee can and set out by the porch! No joke! She had the touch, no doubt about it. This year my Black Magic iris had 9 blooms! Nine! Phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. Thanks Grandma… you given me the opportunity to at least look like I know what I’m doing!

The lilies are on the verge of bursting forth. My Tiger Lilies have already opened with tons of pods, the Oriental lilies are close behind as the day lilies are getting ready to commence blooming any day now. With this weather, I’ve done something I never did before. I watered! Which is of course why it rained most of the day. Go figure.

But even so, it was a lovely, all day soaker rain that we really needed. Especially the area farmers. It means the next farmers market on the square should have some awesome vegetables this coming weekend. I about killed myself with fresh strawberries. Gees O’ Pete’s… those things are like the old potato chips commercial… you just can’t eat just one! What can I say? Every now and again it doesn’t hurt to get lots of sweet tasting fiber to cleanse your system out!

Well, it’s been a long day and I’m ready to crash, I thought I’d share some flower pictures. As the lilies begin to open I’ll be posting them too. What I’m really excited about is the area of plants that I planted from seeds from my Alaska trips.

They’re really filling in and are very pretty and beautiful shades of green. I just wish I knew what they are going to turn out to be! I had the seed packets pasted on sticks in the beds. But the howling winds we had in the early spring blew them away. Ah, what the heck… I love surprises!

Be well my friends!

The Wedding...

There is love....

This Kiss...

Just a quick posting on the fly... a relative is coming to visit so my house needs to be 'white glove' clean!

The silly, silly bride and groom thought that because the plates and cups were not glass, (I think they're called Melmac?!) but back to the subject, they thought they'd be able to thwart the tradition of kissing every time someone began to clink glassware.

They were wrong, we managed.

Then they made the ruling that the only way they'd do it, was if you sang a song with the word "love" in it.

It didn't stay quiet long.

But this kiss? Now this kiss brought down the house. The bridesmaids and the groomsmen belted out, "My baloney has a first name it's O-s-c-a-r, my baloney has a second name... of course you're all familiar with one of the next lines... "I love to eat it everyday..."

We decided after that to allow them to eat in peace, but it had us all happy and laughing and it was just one of the most beautiful days I've ever had! So what if it was only 50 degrees and rained all day? When you're at a wedding, everyone remembers that they're in love... how could it be any other way?

My first iris has bloomed!

The striking inside view

Front the front

From the side

I'm so happy! I really know that spring/summer is on it's way when one of my irises open! This is one of my favorites as the bloom is the size of my hand! There are seven other buds on the stem so it should produce some beautiful flowers!

My Cream and Sugars are beginning to show growing pods, they're considerably smaller but I just love the delicate yellow and white blooms.

My absolute favorite, the Midnight Bloom has one bud beginning to break free of the pod, with many others in line. From a distance, this iris looks black even though it is really a deepest of deep purple. I also love it as the blooms are even larger than my hand! It's awesome!

My day lilies, oriental lilies and tiger lilies are beginning to bud as well. My Siberian Iris are also beginning to break free from the pods. The current count on those is standing at 18 right now. I planted the wild Alaskan irises near them for contrast. I doubt the Alaskan irises will bloom this year but the the leaves are just as gorgeous right now with their luscious shades of greens.

Tomorrow is my nephews wedding day. Good heavens, on what planet did that happen?! He was about three years old yesterday! Cripes. Where have the last 22 years gone?!

I am praying that it is a beautiful day, filled with love and happiness. I'll probably post some pictures after the weekend.

Well, time to log off... I still have to figure out what I'm going to wear... it'll all depend on the weather. Today was sunny in the 70's... tomorrow is supposed to be 50, rainy and windy. Go figure.

Well off to bed, it's been a long day.