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Friday, June 5, 2020

Flowers and Fairytales


Summer arrives early in Albuquerque. By June first the softness of spring is all but gone. Only the hardiest of blooms survive unprotected in the heat. Ninety-nine degrees today.





It's nice to see roses bloom in the garden, but unless they are cut soon after blooming they shrivel in the sun at these temperatures. And since I have posted so many roses lately, I'm featuring flowers in pink from the florist this time.





My favorite hue of pink is found in the palest shades. I used to have a good supply of cheery floral tea and luncheon plates with pinks, but now mostly traffic in the occasional stray pattern. It will be nice to get back to garden parties! Maybe for just one or two guests.





Peonies are uncommon to grow in our zone (7), and are crazy expensive to buy. Trader Joes sometimes has them at a great price when they first come into season. At Whole Foods this week they were five for fifteen dollars. Not TOO bad. But still....





There were vibrant pink sweet peas from the garden this year. Bunches and bunches. But I never did get any shots of them. They dried to the loveliest shade of lavender blue.





I enjoy all dried flower petals as they wane, only tossing them when it finally makes good sense to do. (That's the sad part about most cut flowers.)






But Gladiolas live up well to their nickname. Glads! I could never have enough! I'll bet it's a good time to be in the flower business the way it is to be in the nursery business right now. Anyway, I hope so.





I am also sharing a snippet from an article titled "Flowers and Fairytales" by Allison Toepperwein: single mom, blogger, motivational speaker, and Parkinsons fighter, among other laudable things.





She says: "Life is about writing your own unique fairy tale, not that of make believe. It's about savoring every moment, including the ones you wish to turn the page on. In order to live a fulfilled life, you must take those paragraphs and chapters and grow. You must continue to write and hope it's filled with adventure and insight."





Who knows how long these days will last? The ones we are anxious to turn the page on. For now they are what we have. As for savoring, fulfilling, growing. That part is up to us.





But I have to admit. Some days I do lay my head on the pillow at night and say to myself (sometimes out loud), "You couldn't make this stuff up!" 











































Thank you so much for your visits! It's wonderful to have a word from you. I am so sorry to say that my stats still are showing that many of you have tried to leave me a message that never posts. So thanks to you in Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, Idaho, N.Y., Washington, Switzerland, Poland and wherever else you are in the world. I appreciate you too! 

Happy days ahead to you!

Jacqueline



14 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, a nice respite from the news and all the turmoil. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. Pink...my favorite color in the garden. The glads are lovely, I planted 70 bulbs in pastel shades this year and they are just beginning to bloom, this is my first time growing them, I hope that they do well. The ones you show here are so lovely.

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  3. Your peaceful photos are a calming respite from these turbulent times. Thank you.

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  4. Love this pos, two of my favorite things flowers and vintage dish wear .

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  5. I love your beautiful pictures! I would love to wander in your house and see all your beautiful things. Hugs,

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  6. Your peonies are gorgeous even if you had to buy them. One of my favorite flowers. I always swoon through your pics. So fun to see your post today. Glad we have our beautiful blogger friends to lose ourselves in some days. The world is harsh right now but we always have our friendships and beautiful posts to distract us. Thanks for posting.
    Happy Weekend.
    Kris

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  7. Your blog is such a treat, so beautiful and calming!
    Thank you.

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  8. These colors are so cool and beautiful. I have never, ever seen pink gladiolas. I usually am not fond of them -- they seem so big and bold. But these? These I adore. The pink helps balance their size. Stunners.

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  9. The softness of the pinks does sing to my heart. Plus making my own fairy tales does too. You are right about not making it up. It is indeed crazy. Interestingly my market where I have dared to go during this time has cut way back on flowers. I guess they figured most people were just trying to buy for survival. I try to help them out occasionally by buying something that I can mix with the roses in my garden.

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  10. Per usual, a lovely post. I especially loved seeing the Gladiolas = my sweet dear mom's name was Gladys. I called her Gladiola pretty much from high school on - she always laughed. She had the sweetest laugh.

    She passed away quietly on a beautiful June Sunday morning in 1993, in her bedroom with the big glass doors open to her screened porch facing her beloved woods and shaded rock garden - listening to the birds, and I am certain, listening for the sweet voice of the angels calling her to the Lord.

    My dear precious Gladiola. How I miss her.

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  11. You show wonderful pictures ... pink, such a beautiful cheerful color ...
    I enjoyed it.
    Thank you.
    Enjoy the day. Yes, enjoy every moment.
    Warm regards to you. Viola

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  12. Hello. Your photos are just lovely and especially the ones where you incorporated pages from Edith Holden's Country Diary. I love that book. I recently purchased a lamp with one of the images on it. Love. I love pink (our old farmhouse is a very light pink, almost beige). My foxgloves have multiplied in the hundreds this year and I can't wait for my peonies and hollyhocks to make their showing. For years I was in floral design and when a shipment came into the shop I would cradle and smell and even kiss those lovlies! Made the other gals laugh but flowers and my gardens, especially now, bring me peace and comfort. Thank you.

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  13. More beauty, in this lovely blog of yours!

    And wise words too.

    I am so happy, that I have found your blog.

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