Time to Stop and Smell the Flowers

Okay, so I didn't actually smell them, but I did take a photo:

                                     

I noticed several of my lilies blooming today and this particular plant had such beautiful coloring...creamy on the inside and a nice pink on the outside. 

Yesterday, I saw a BIG bumblebee in the back yard.  Now I know why. 

As an added bonus, today was the last day of school.  Actually, it was the last day I am contractually obligated to work for the school year.  I still have a few things to finish up (mileage reimbursement), but I can run in whenever I want in the next couple days to do those things.  I can even work from home if I so desire.

I actually plan on working summer school as an assistant, but that is only half days and I'm not the main person in charge.  I'm really just doing it for a small amount of extra money and to keep myself on some sort of schedule.

Lupines (At least I'm pretty sure they're lupines...)

Wow.  I did not realize that it has been over two weeks since I have made a post!  I hope to soon return to a more regular schedule of blogging...mainly because school will be out and I'll have a lot more time.  I am only contractually obligated to work 5 more days for this year...not that I'm counting or anything.

What have I been doing since my last post?  Well, I've had a cold which was slowing me down, I started (but have not yet finished) an Amy Butler Birdie Sling Bag using this fabric, this fabric, and this fabric.  I wanted to finish it by the 20th, but that didn't happen...and it is still sitting on the table in an unfinished pile. 

The reason it is in an unfinished pile is because my husband and I left the night of the 20th to take a trip to Las Vegas.  We had a nice time, but it could have been better.  We met some of my husband's family to celebrate my husband's nephew's 21st birthday.  I don't know if any of you have ever taken a trip with a group of people or not, but it is always difficult to accommodate everyone, there is always a complainer in the group, and someone wants you to participate in some sort of activity even though they didn't fully check it out first.  I did enjoy the sun a bit, the pool, and just having a lack of schedule.  We arrived back home last night, pretty late, and then I had to wake up early this morning to prepare for a meeting I had at 9 a.m.  Fun, fun.

I am happy to be back home with the thought of school finishing very soon.  I did sign up to be a classroom aide for our summer school program...a little extra money for craftiness and what-not, without the responsibility of being the teacher. 

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There is a story behind the lupines.  The first year I graduated from college, I did not have a job as a teacher.  Instead, I was a sign language interpreter for a 3rd grade student in a general education classroom.

During that year, the students read the story or story excerpt from Miss Rumphius.  In the story, there are lupines.  (Don't ask me anything else about what happened in the story...it has been 12 years since I read it) I had never heard of lupines before and I'm sure most of the students had not either, and the teacher had never seen them that she knew of.  (P.S. I really loved that classroom teacher...she was one of the best teachers I had the opportunity to work with).

Somewhere along the line, after that year, I was browsing in the seed packets at some store and came upon lupine seeds.  Then, I think I had the seeds a year or two until I gathered my wits and actually planted them.  Then, I promptly forgot about them. 

I'm not sure when they actually started growing maybe two years ago?  Last year, the plant portion came up and I didn't really know what it was...but I didn't bother pulling the plant up since it didn't look like a weed.  This year, the plants started growing early and last week I was delighted to see two flowers beginning to bud.  When I left for Las Vegas, they were still small and all green.  This afternoon, I had five flowers out there blooming.  They are all the same purple color.

I really like when I plant things and then sort of forget about them.  It's a nice surprise when they start growing and blooming!

Rogue Snapdragons

These are photos of my "rogue" snapdragons. The second photo shows my flower pot that sits outside our front door. Several years ago I planted snapdragons and I am thinking that I never pulled them up when they dried out, and then they went to seed. Last year and this year, all snapdragons are strictly volunteer.

As you can see the whole basket is full of snapdragons and they have also sprouted up on the ground around the basket, too (never mind the sickly looking lupines that are in amongst the snapdragons).

The close-up photo I took just because I love the colors of this particular snapdragon. The photo really doesn't do it justice... maybe I'll take a class someday.

The rest of the photos just represent the rogue snapdragons that have sprouted up all around....

Lily of the Valley

I have been so happy in the last week to see that my Lily of the Valley had come up and were gettting ready to bloom. It all seemed to happen so quickly. Of course, maybe all the rain we have had has helped to speed up the process.

Lily of the Valley has to rank right up there as my most favorite flower, followed closely by snapdragons! I always thought I should have been born in May instead of June, because I love emeralds and Lily of the Valley.

Maybe two years ago, in the fall, I discovered that my brother-in-law had some Lily of the Valley that grows on the side of the house. We dug some up and I planted it in a spot right near our front door. It has done just fine in that spot.

The only thing that makes me sad is that they really don't last that long and because they are so tiny they are almost difficult to pick because you need such a tiny vase to put them in. My grandma always had some teeny, tiny vase, but apparently when my aunts cleaned out her house, I didn't end up with one of those! (I say this because I just discovered some linens in my linen closet that my aunts "gifted" me with after the cleaning....maybe a small table cloth and some matching napkins that have been embroidered....I'll work on repurposing them this summer!)

My husband and I got married in May, and I carried a bouquet of tulips, but the florist tucked in a few tiny stems of Lily of the Valley for me!

My Dad's Garden

My dad likes to grow a huge garden. We visited my family over Labor Day weekend and stayed at my dad's house. He also likes to plant lots of flowers along the edge of his garden. There were also lots of butterflies. Unfortunately, most of them would not sit still long enough to be photographed....or else they kept their wings closed. I did manage to catch one of them, though. I was really intrigued by the flowers and some of their parts, how they are shaped and such.