flowerful friday

This week flew by, and Friday is here already and I have another bouquet - straight from the garden - for you! You'll find it full of colorful blooms to brighten your day. Hope you enjoy!

freshly cut 

aren't these colors so cheerful?

Happy Friday!

spring bulbs ordered!

One of the many joys of having ones own garden is the planning aka dreaming process. Gardening requires thinking ahead, imaging what the garden will hold in store in a month, in a few seasons, to several years down the road. I received the assortment of bulb catalogs and placed my order this year with Colorblends. They are much less inexpensive than other bulb companies I've used, and they have a wonderful selection. They can be found at www.colorblends.com. Here's what I picked out for my ever-expanding garden:

Daffodil, "Barrett Browning"

Snowflake

Daffodil, "Cheerfulness" 

Tulip, El Nino

Hyacinth, Etoufee

Alium, Globemaster 

I can't wait to receive the order, get these bulbs planted, and then fast forward to spring, see these flowers bloom!

handsome little fellow

For those who read the blog fairly often, you'll know about my handsome ginger tom kitty, Nino. He brings us so much happiness with his funny ways. The fact that he actually poses when there's a camera out, always puts a smile on my face. This cat loves to have his photo taken! 

Next week we'll be celebrating the 5th anniversary of his adoption. Stay tuned for more on this subject!

pensive

playful

one handsome little fellow!

caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes

What better way to enjoy 2 incredible heirloom tomatoes - grown a little less than 20 feet away from our kitchen table - than with a beautiful Caprese Salad? Slicing both a Ponderosa and Thessaloniki tomato and then topping each slice with gorgeous and creamy fresh mozzarella, basil (also from the garden), a pinch of sea salt, and a drizzle of EVOO and balsamic vinegar results in one of life's most simple yet amazingly delicious salads. This is reason enough to grow one's own tomatoes!

the slightly larger slices are the mild Ponderosa
and the slightly smaller are the more
robust Thessaloniki - both are
incredibly juicy

yum!

a lovely retreat

A leisurely afternoon spent in a park in Chicago, the city I used to call home, was a great way to enjoy the long weekend of the Labor Day holiday. We sat on a park bench, sipping our ginger ales and watched the fountain and its continuous  rhythm while passersby and pigeons alike criss-crossed through the tree-filled space. Especially in urban settings, a simple park, is a lovely retreat.

Washington Square Park,
Chicago's oldest park dates back to the mid-1800s

goldfinches and coneflowers

Isn't this little goldfinch in his bright yellow coat a handsome little fellow? He and his friends love to frequent the purple coneflowers we have growing in our front yard. They make for excellent bird watching, and they'll be visiting the coneflowers for their seeds long after the blooms have completely faded.  

American Goldfinch -
male in breeding plumage

light and reflections

There's nothing like a sunset at the Memorial Union here in Madison.

flowerful friday

Here's a bouquet from my garden, picked just for you. It's filled with pansies, phlox, geraniums, zinnias, veronicas, and coneflowers. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Friday!

a little about september

Since today is the first day of September, I thought what better day to learn more about this 9th month of the year. For those with a little romance language background (high school French, par example) you might think back to your knowledge of numbers and know that 7 in French is sept. In Spanish, 7 is seite.  In Italian, 7 is sette. In Latin, 7 is septem. You get the idea. So how did the 9th month of the year end up with the Latin root for 7? 

Interestingly enough, September used to be the 7th month of the Roman calendar until 153 BC when the 1st day of the year was changed from March 1st to January 1st. Who knew?!

September - part of the French
illuminated manuscript series entitled,
"Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" -
it dates back to the 1400s
and September's illustration
 depicts the grape harvest

Want to learn more about the Roman calendar? Check out this link from the University of Chicago: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/romancalendar.html.

august's end

There's something about the last day of August that makes me feel nostalgic, sure there will be more warm weathered mornings, more sun filled afternoons & more nights with crickets singing - but the end of August, to me, signals a change. Greens will be turning golden soon, so let's enjoy these verdant days while they last!

me & my favorite straw hat
surrounded by summer's greens

still life: the geranium, 1906

Henri Matisse's, "The Geranium" uses brilliant colors and brush strokes and captures the warm weather plant we all know so well. Matisse's oil on canvas painting hangs in the Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago.

aren't the colors stunning?

I happen to adore this painting for its bright and cheery hues and for the floral subject matter. Here is what the Art Institute says about "The Geranium" - "This work is one of a number of early still-life paintings in which Henri Matisse incorporated his own figurative sculptures. The Geranium also demonstrates the artist's interest in merging traditional themes with avant-garde practices..." 

summertime scene

A butterfly resting on a wildflower, set against the afternoon sky...what could be make for a more beautiful summer day?

my lucky stars

2 years ago today my husband and I walked down the aisle. What a joyous occasion - marrying the most wonderful man, being surrounded by family and friends, and celebrating our love. I thank my lucky stars for that day. I will never forget it. 

on our wedding day

the love birds 2 years later

light and reflections

An amazing sight - waterlilies in a pool and clouds reflecting on the water, but doesn't it look like the waterlilies are floating amongst the clouds in the sky?