Surprise Iris

 

This pretty iris appeared today.  Sarah said she planted it last year, beside the front porch so I could easily water it.  She said it needs a lot of water.

In fact it has received next to none.  It's surrounded by day lilies, which get minimal water from me.  I'll be more diligent going forward.  It's such a lovely flower on a long stalk.

The small local nursery has no milkweed.  The nice man sitting in a chair just outside the door said he had tried three or four suppliers without any luck.  He said that seems to happen every three or four years.

There has been gentle thunder rumbling for the past hour.  Somewhere, it is raining, just not here.

False Indigo

 

Joanne mentioned the plant false indigo in a reent post.  She inspsired me to admire mine, very big this year.  You can see both leaves and seed pods.

Sometimes called baptisia, these plants are drought tolerant, good pollenators, and (drum roll) deer resistant.  And, they're pretty.

Because I'd read that they are self seeding I tried to start my own from seeds in the refrigerator rolled up in a damp paper towel.  It didn't work.

Misfits

 When I finished piecing the Moda blocks earlier this spring,  three misfit blocks were left over - and one block was keft to do.  The one on the lower left.

In the interest of really finishing, and in getting the three misfit  blocks off the table, I pieced that fourth block and stitched the bocks together.

The blocks still look like misfits, but with some quilting they will make a pretty enough Christmas table topper.

When I was telling you about that lower left block, I was reminded about how long it took me as a child to learn right from left.  (That, and tying my shoes.  My mother dispaired.)  I'm pretty sure I was the last in my class to learn both

I remember sitting in the second grade classroom trying to puzzle out right vs. left, a concept that made no sense.  It was a combination second and third grade classroom and I'm sure I was supposed to be doing something else, but I was easily distracted.

I finally learned by looking to see on which hand women wore their wedding rings and translating that to other situations.  

To this day, I'm always happy for a work-around.  I think it's related to math appreciation.  There are different paths to the right answer.

Morning Glory and Unrelated Stupidity

 The back posch morning glories reseeded themselves, and - bonus - they are flowering much earlier than last year.  Their brightness cheers up each morning.

Now for the stupidity - A few weeeks ago I had my sewing machine serviced, and I'd used it a few times since then.  All was good, until I got really stupid.  I realized I hadn't engaged the dual feed foot and promptly did that.

The backstory is that that feature hooks up to only one of the many feet that come with the machine.  And I chose the wrong one.

I should have looked at the manual, just to be sure I had everything right.  But I didn't because I'd done it many times before.  And then I felt so, so stupid when I went to the dealer because things weren't working.

All the more so because I was an educator for that dealer for many years.

Catch Up - Plant Shopping

As a delayed Mother's Day gift, Sarah and Winnie and the dogs took me plant shopping at the huge nursery north of Cincinnati.

II'm easily impressed - they had complementary icy bottles of cold water.

It's the kind of place where customers stroll around just looking at plants of all kinds, knowledgable employees stroll around asking if they can help, and dog biscuits appear out of employee smock pockets.

I picked out this red cone flower and a bluebeard cryopteris.  I really wanted a milkweek plant but those were very picked over.  I guess that other people want a zoo certified pollenator garden.

Luckily, Winnie located a smaller nursery on the way to the brewery.  That nursery had lots of pollinator plants, inclluding a selection of milkweed - I may have to go back.

Catch Up - Birthday

The day after Aaron's high school graduation came Sarah's birthday.  We celebrated twice, but the celebration on her actual birthday was at MadTree Brewing.

We love the huge outdoor patio there.  Usually on a Saturday afternoon you'll find grown ups, small children, and dogs.  The rain held off on that rainy weekend and we had a good time.

Note that sitting beside me is Nora.  She turned 21 in December and  she joined the fun.

Who knew - for many years Nora had the long straight hair favored by the high school crowd.  Starting about a year ago she started getting it cut, a little shorter each time.  With the weight gone, her hair turned curly and then added layers meant added curls.

- Catch Up =Graduation

 It's June.  Graduation has come and gone.  I have no grands in high school.

Since the class was large, graduation was held in a college arena.  Even with all those graduates, each had a few moments on the jumbo tron   Parents were given a seating chart so they could spot their grad.

Once everyone had diplomas and tassels had been turned, the audotorium darkened and camera flashlights flickered on the floor and in the upper arena, like a field of fireflies.

Then the lights turned back on and confetti was showered over the graduates.  It was a moment.

Most touching for me was when band graduates joined the symphonic band for one more time.  One last song.