Flowers In La Casa Primavera

Sunday. In the house?

The flowers were the least of it.

The house was full of visitors from San Francisco and Switzerland.  They came to see the garden and hold the baby.  The sun shone, the baby chortled and we dragged all the chairs from the house and squeezed around the outside table for hours of eating, talking and dog whispering.

Before they came we brought the garden inside.  GG trimmed the fig tree to allow for easy passage and I filled a vase with the branches.  Instant buffet piece.

The window box was cleaned of its greens to allow for tasty eating.

Peonies were tucked about.

 

And irises were placed in nooks and crannies not so as to be seen but rather smelled.

(Yes that is grape soda you're smelling)

     

And right after they left, just before we fell into a deep nap, I got the money shot.  The picture that lets you fall asleep with a smile on your lips knowing all is right with the world.

The very heart of the tree peony.

And now? Your house?  Flowers?

Let's take a peek, shall we?

It Was A Very Good Year

Though I had hoped to have a 10 things list up for you last night, the beautiful pictures were too big for blogger to upload.  We're working on that.

We're also working in the garden.  Not as hard as the weigela or the baby love roses, both having a spectacular year. 

The red charm peonies are ready for picking and the Spanish lavender is stopping traffic on our little street.

All of this a prelude to the coming Monday.  Flowers In The House Monday.  Cut 'em from your garden or terrace.  Buy them at your independently owned flower shop or greengrocer.

But join us in a spring floral chain on the last day of April and help me celebrate 6 months cigarette free!

Breathe. Release. Repeat.  For real.

xo Jane

The Week In Review

Well it's not as though I've just been lying about reading the hunger games.

There was the gym and Zumba.  Mr. Baby or,the little pasha I like to call him now, dropped by on Wednesday.

There was the unforseen bobbing of the hair on Thursday afternoon.

Oh,and a ban on computer use after 10:00PM.  

And work; weddings.  The garden: weeding.  

And today, Sunday?  No sun at all. Much needed rain instead.

Trip to the farm rainchecked.

There might be a pedicure and or movie.  There is the gym.  And the possibility of a nap.

And a visit to see what you've been up to.

Much needed rain indeed:-)

Just Another Manic Monday

Just a quick hello.  GG has taken the day off so we'll be enjoying another morning of boot camp gardening.

At least we won't have to stop at noon as we did yesterday so I could run to the gym for an hour with Andrew.

Stop working out so we can work out?  Curious.

Saturday was a blur of activity:  adding ribbons to bouquets, packing all and then hauling them and the centerpieces up the steps from the basement to the van.  Up a long stairway.  21 pieces for one wedding not including the cake bottles. 42 for the gala.  11 For the other wedding. That's a lot of up and down.  Gwen and I kept trying to do the math and figure out how many trips we'd be taking but some only carried one at a time(me) others two in a small bread tray.  Variable math is not my strong point but I love that I kept trying to work the numbers out. Self soothing:-)

So a few shots, a bit of  the all Coral Charm peony bouquet. The bridesmaids carried all vodoo roses.

And after the simplicity of the bouquets, the centerpieces and buffet arrangements were full of color and movement and sweetness. They had brought us a case of empty coke bottles to fill with loose stems for the cocktail tables and buffets. Did they drink 36 bottles or pour them down the drain?  I didn't dare to ask.

I am being served an incredible looking and smelling breakfast burrito here so it's time to run.  She's fattening me up for our own private hunger games in the back yard.

90degrees here today.

This Is How We Roll

Two weddings and a gala.  What the hell was I thinking?  I take the appointments, I write the proposals. I order the flowers and then what?  The weekend comes and we have to do all the work.

Just say no Jane.

And then you arrive home all dirty and tired and find out you have half a hour to get into the city to a birthday party.

But you don't panic because you are both a gardener and a blogger so you unearth a sweet casserole from some GoodWill trip, send GG out into the garden with a trowel and Voila!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Off to the coal mines wish us luck.

xo Jane

Behind The Scenes At The Museum

Who said my weeds weren't as bad as her weeds?  Oh right , Karin.

What do you think now?  Can you see the one small area I cleared?  All the rest are weeds.  Chickweed, duckweed, sow thistle, bindweed. I could wax poetic about these pests all day but we're off to zumba momentito.

And I couldn't resist this shot.  Does anyone remember we have the roommate? Sweetest guy but with serious stacking issues.  Round ball in square hole issues.  I always tell my workmates when he unloads the dishwasher it looks a scene from a Dr. Seuss book. They think I exaggerate.

Never.  Here's a picture of some of his food stacked up in the pantry.

You can't make this kind of stuff up;-)

May I hear from the rest of your gardeners?  How do your weeds grow?

And your comestibles stack?

The Winds Are In From Africa

The 30 mile an hour winds are whipping through the house and thrusting me out into the garden to begin the weeding of the back yard berm and  beds.  They are in shameful condition.  No pictures will be taken.

Here goes my right shoulder.  Expect mention of a massage or chiropractor in days to come.

While GG and I were enjoying a sodium filled Easter lunch with friends and their family, our family was meeting with a visiting member.

Emil's great grandmother is visiting from India.  Apparently it was mutual love at first sight.

Guess we'll have to wait till Wednesday night so he can tell us all about it:-)

(Sorry Nirmal for using a picture of you but at least it isn't poster sized)

(PPS GG sorry about the baptisia, but you know I weed like Shiva.I'm sure it will be back next year)