Crocus, "Pleasures of Hope"

Instead of trying to chase away those winter blues, embrace them in all of their glory. In the language of flowers, a crocus conveys cheerfulness, youthful gladness and mirth all in the spirit of hope for greener and warmer days to come.  Right now, during this cold month of February, with endless clippers blowing down from Canada and dusting the Blooming Hill landscape with snow, a little bit of hope and mirth goes a long way.

A beautiful illustration of crocuses with snowdrops and ivy.

The crocus comes in white as well as shades of purple and golden and, when we are lucky enough to see them popping through the frozen ground, often with snow glazing their petals, one can feel the gush of pleasure that spring is not so far off after all, no matter what the groundhog says.  Whether it's sooner or later, the presence of crocuses promises the coming of spring.  Hope truly does spring eternal.

A Flower Prayer for Healing and Reconciliation

I am a member of the Worship Committee at my church and, like all churches with many different people who come together for a few hours each week to worship, along with all of the good things, like fellowship and spiritual support, we also have our share of strife and struggle.  It seems as though we are finally coming out of a particularly rough time of it and this Sunday is our congregational meeting which has been dubbed a service for "Healing and Reconciliation."  Along with that, the budget will be reviewed and new lay leaders and officers will be elected into various leadership roles for the church.

In any case, as a member of the Worship Committee, I was charged with the task of coming up with table centerpieces that would convey the spirit of the day--healing and reconciliation.  Even though it's January, it seems as though life has not slowed down for me. So, it has just been in the last few days that thinking about these centerpieces has taken a forefront in the onslaught of activity and chores on my "to-do" list.

In my eighteen years as a devoted member of this church, I feel as though I've seen, heard and done a lot of things, along with so many others who I know have worked, most certainly, a lot harder than me at keeping  it's doors open.  Thus, we as a congregation will come to church this Sunday morning having weathered the ongoing growing pains of faith and community alike as we look forward to hopefully, an ongoing bright future.  Along with that, this is a good-sized congregation meaning that there are a lot of tables that will need centerpieces.

What shall I do?!?  Out came my books on the language of flowers so that I could somehow convey a message of what, I think, we as a congregation, are looking for as we worship together and then come to an understanding of what lays before us in the year of 2013 and beyond--In flowers, no less!  I looked out into the snow covered and very asleep herb garden to see what may be peeking out of the cozy white blanket enveloping it and sighed.

In the end, with the help of a few stalwart herbs from the garden, dried flowers from this past summer and Micheal's Craft Store, I gathered assorted greenery that may, or not, help us to reflect upon as we discuss future plans, make hard budgetary decisions, elect some new leaders and, at the same time, hopefully look with optimism toward the future.  If anything, these petite tussy-mussy style bouquets will smell good!

Yarrow = HEALING
Olive twig = RECONCILIATION
Rosemary and lavender = DEVOTION
Pine branch = FRIENDSHIP & SPIRITUAL ENERGY
Creamy colored roses = UNITY
Rue = BEGINNING ANEW
Myrtle = PEACE

While gathering all of this greenery, I came to realize that, like them, our congregation may look a little weathered, in spite of it all. Yet, in the end, we are a resilient group of open and welcoming people and we will be around to see many, many more years in the life of this church. I really do find this to be a prayer and, I hope that my congregation and clergy alike, will find it within our hearts to come to a meeting of the minds, learn from our mistakes, celebrate our achievements and above all, listen for God's word.  Yes, the gathering of these flowers and greenery really is a prayer for my church.

January Flower Fix

Mist and fog, go away! Come again another day!  January, with it's cold, cloudy and raw days, has it's colorless claws firmly entrenched in this new year and even the much needed precipitation falling last night and today, cannot make up for what seems to be an endless, claustrophobic tunnel of gray mist.  What happened to the sun?  Shouldn't it be rising over this dark tangle of tree bark and branches?  I am trying to be patient. Here in northern Virginia, the weather forecasters keep promising, "Any minute now," even though the grey clouds and the cold mist wore out their welcome, days ago.

Even my "go-to" happy place, the greenhouse filled with lustrous green texture and the soft intermingled scents of rich, brown earth and the sweet-citrusy-piney aroma of lavender, rosemary and scented geranium could use a few more shots of pink and red to highlight it's top notes.  It's still a bit early in the year for flowers to sing out here but, a little sun would go along way to hurry them along.

I look for my car keys, grab my umbrella and head for the only place I know that may satisfy the flower hunger in me--the floral department in, where else?--the local grocery store!  Here, I can tip-toe through the tulips, converse with the orchids, revel in the roses and even hang out with Sweet William while a bevy of mums, carnations and baby's breath actually look happy to see me.  So, this is where the sun is.  Oh yeah--I better get a gallon of  milk while I'm here, too.

Flower Press Pleasantries

Sunday afternoons in January are made for puttering around the house and discovering pleasant memories.  The Christmas decorations are down and working in the garden is still weeks away so, I found myself rummaging through the attic, thumbing through old books and cleaning out various drawers.   As I whiled away the day, I came across a flower press I had bought just a few years after I was married.  Since I've been married almost thirty-three years, I think I can safely say that this would be a flower press of a vintage nature as it must be at least 27 years old.  It had me wondering just what quantifies an item as being vintage anyway???   I remember the day I bought it.  We were visiting the Baltimore Aquarium and I found it in the Nature Store located there in the Inner Harbor close to the aquarium.

Inside, the press revealed preserved flowers in softly faded hues from translucent to opaque in purples, pinks, amber and celedons. I must have placed them, fresh from the garden, in there, so long ago, to try my hand at preserving flowers soon after I brought the press home.  I was surprised to see how good they looked even after all of these years.  Zinnias, hibiscus, loosestrife and roses, dogwood blossoms, tanzy buds and ruffled leaves, along with my very favorite, lavender, had withstood the test of time.

I had grandiose plans to gather and press delicate blossoms collected from our yard, which was then, a small patch of green attached to a town home in Alexandria, Virginia, far away from Old Town yet fairly close to the airport.  In any case, I had an inkling toward flowers, back then, even when my priorities were focused on a pressure filled full-time job in retail management.  Looking back, I guess I should have known then this small, unassuming little book of the few flowers I gathered would lead me to Blooming Hill, in some way.

What a treasure to find, on a cold winter day, tucked away in a cabinet, neither hiding nor calling my name but waiting patiently to be opened and discovered again.  I don't have the heart to throw them out so, I think I will keep them pressed between the layers and, possibly add to these flowers this coming summer.  Perhaps, in another 27 years, or hopefully sooner, I can rediscover them once again waiting patiently in my bookcase.

We're Getting New Neighbors!

Here we are on the eighth day of Christmas--January 2, 2013 and, at Blooming Hill, we survived our very busy end of the 2012 season, the Mayan calender miscalculation (or whatever you want to call it) and even the fiscal cliff!  Wow!  What next??  Swarms of bees?Hahaha...What??...Really???  You mean that jolly little man in the brown truck parked in the driveway (sans reindeer) isn't delivering eight drummers drumming but, is delivering bees????

Well, not quite yet, but on this eighth day of Christmas, my true love had delivered to me a brand spankin' new bee hive!  SURPRISE!!  The honey bees will be arriving later in March when the weather softens and the bees get busy themselves and set up housekeeping in their new bee condo.

Wait a minute!...I know nothing about bees and besides that, who is gong to take care of this buzzing community of busy behavior since I am busily just trying to manage my own P's and Q's?  Ohhhhhhh, my true love has decided that we should be in the business of bees to help boost our lavender and flower gardens and my true love has also been taking a course on bees while reading whatever he can about the business of bees because, we are just not busy enough...ya' think!?!

Well, OKAYYYY.  Alert Welcome Wagon and bring on the bees.   We will be ready for them, or, at least, Peter will be!  Can't you just hear them happily humming along in their high-pitched voices while doing their work in the beautiful gardens?  Flitting from blossom to blossom, then back to their copper-topped home, right here at Blooming Hill.  I can just imagine tasting their delicious lavender-infused honey, too!  I think I'm likin' these new neighbors already!  Happy New Year!

That Was Then, This Is Now!

Me, as the flower girl, age 4, in my cousin Susan's wedding on Saturday, December 16, 1962.   Sorry for the picture quality but I was taking pictures of pictures in a photo album in a softly lit room full of candles.

The wedding party, adorned in satin, lace, deep red velvet dresses and black tuxedos.  I'm the short one, to the left of the bride, with the  frown on her face yet, (probably a good thing for me that you can't make that out so easily) still bravely holding on to the beautiful white fur muff which became one of my most prized possessions for many years.

I really enjoy reading the "Time-Warp Tuesday" installments on my good friend and fellow blogger, Karen's (www.spokalulu.wordpress.com) site.  She always gives me a good dose of pleasant memories and happy nostalgia to think about so, I thought I'd do my own "Time-Warp Tuesday."  Only, it's now Wednesday so, I think I'll call mine, at least for today, "That Was Then and This Is Now Wednesday."  Even with that explanation for a blog entry title, I'm already late in talking about it since this really has to do with this past Saturday, December 16, and the 50th Wedding Anniversary party for my Cousin Susan and her husband Bob.  I  had the good fortune to help celebrate it with them, and the rest of our family, not only this past Saturday, but also fifty years ago as the four-year-old little girl you see in the pictures above.  Yep! That's right.  I was in the wedding party as her flower girl.  I know, I know--even with the visual, if you know me, it's hard to visualize me as a flower girl, even at the age of four.

Susan as the beautiful and very happy bride.

The father of the bride, my Uncle Glen, walking his daughter down the aisle.

Flower girl (me)  and ring bearer (my cousin John) walking down the aisle, together.  The only thing I truly remember  is going faster than John and turning around to tell him to hurry up.  Gosh, I was bossy even then!

The year was 1962 and Susan, the beautiful bride and her handsome groom, Bob, with nothing but good fortune ahead of them, came together on a chilly mid-December evening in a candlelit church surrounded by loving family and friends looking on while casting warm wishes and glad tidings their way.  My cousin, John, one of Susan's younger brothers, was my partner in crime as the ring bearer and contrary to our very serious facial expressions, I'm told we had a good time.  Of course, that was after I cried through the wedding pictures (and probably ruined a few good ones, to be sure) because I was a very tired little girl who just wanted to go home and go to bed.  No such luck, I had to stay and party the night away.  You know, the more I write about this, the better I remember just how good my four-year-old life was!  Scratch the no such luck part.

Fifty years later, still the happy couple with their handsome son, Rob.

Fifty years later, the ring bearer, John, and flower girl, me, have aged a bit but I think we still make a pretty good-looking  flower girl and ring bearer duo.  We are available should you need us for your own wedding events.

Bob, me and Susan.  What a blessing it was for me to be a part of their history together.

Anyway, fifty years later, we toasted Susan, Bob and their wonderful son Robbie and celebrated their life together and all of their good fortune, once again, surrounded by loving family and friends this past Saturday evening in a candlelit room on a lovely old estate in Geneva, Illinois. If only Susan's parents, my Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Glen, both passed away for many years now, had been there to celebrate as well.  Yet, I think I saw them out of the corner of my eye, mingling and laughing with the other guests there as the champagne was poured and the cake was cut, once again, in the candle light of a chilly mid-December evening.

My Aunt Jeanne and Uncle Glen, proud and loving parents of Susan, the bride, the oldest of six siblings.  With that many brothers and sisters, how did I get to be in the wedding, you ask? Well, I had the good fortune to be just the right age at just the right time.  Susan's has two younger sisters; Kim who was a bridesmaid in the wedding and Vicky who was an infant at the time.  The other three siblings are boys, Buddy, Micheal and, of course, John. 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Fifteen days until Christmas and counting.  The trees are up, the stockings are hung and, the Christmas cards, welllll, the Christmas cards will get written sometime, I'm sure.  Looking out at the herb garden, I see a tangle of tans, browns and mahogany's with undeniable spots of emerald greens that make the December garden come to life. Four of these herbal bright spots are parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  They not only brighten the sleeping garden but also they bring their flavors and scents inside.  After all, can you even think about that roasted Christmas goose (a.k.a. the turkey, in my house) without these four crucial ingredients?  Yet, there is so much more to these legendary garden mainstays that stretch beyond even the summer song's "Scarborough Fair."

Take parsley, for instance, cold resistant and still so very abundant in the garden and it comes with all sorts of benefits such being  packed with plenty of the vitamins A and C as well as calcium and parsley always dresses up a salad or pays a perfect compliment to fish and poultry.  I think the prettiest parsley is the curly kind but the more flavorful parsley is the flat-leafed or Italian kind. There is never really any need to nurse along a pot of indoor parsley, through the winter on the windowsill, as it will almost always provide the gift of beautiful leaves from your outside parsley patch for whatever your culinary needs may be.  In the language of floriography, parsley has always stood for joy and celebratory feasts.

Then, there is sage, which long ago was regarded as an herb that could cure almost anything.  Even it's genus name, Salvia officialis, means "health" or "salvation."  Sage is no longer known as a cure-all but can you imagine your turkey stuffing without at least a pinch of it?  Sage's presence in the garden year-round provides a healthy dose of grey-green folksyness and legend, too, such as, "sage promotes a happy home" and "where sage thrives, the woman rules."  With benefits like that, who would not choose to grow sage in their garden?  Certainly, not me, as sage always comes with wishes for long life and good health.

My favorite of these four essential herbs is rosemary, sometimes called the "Christmas Herb." It's rich heritage is steeped in all of the festivity of the season.  Rosemary's evergreen and fragrant stems are wonderful tucked into Christmas arrangements and those lovely standards and topiarys you see at garden centers and Blooming Hill got their start long, in history, ago as tiny tabletop Christmas trees.  They are still often brought inside and decorated while their piney, minty fragrance wafts through the house and mingles with the sweet cinnemon and citrus smells of holiday baking.

Finally, thyme, perhaps the oldest of these herbs, and maybe even the oldest of all herbs, and most assuredly the most classic, cannot be left out of this conversation.  It's green, earthy fragrance has often been described as the "dawn of paradise," coming in flavors of lemon to caraway to licorice. Thyme can be present in almost everything from meat and poultry dishes to cough syrup.  It can also help soothe indigestion, improve eyesight and relieve your headache.  This elegant little herb is an ancient symbol of energy and magic and, as much as bees love lavender, their very favorite herb seems to be thyme.  In fact, orchards were traditionally planted with thyme to ensure that bees would come in vast numbers to help pollinate the fruit trees.  Beyond that, thyme is believed to be the herb that dressed the Christmas manger for Baby Jesus.

This magical combination of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme bring whimsy and wonder to the December home both outside and inside.  Just take the time from all of your Christmas must-do's to run your hands through these herbs, or even open up your spice jars tucked away in your kitchen cabinet and breathe in their enchanting fragrance.  Then, you will see what I mean.