Spring has sprung...dandelions are decorating the lawn, the trees have green leaves now, our garden was in the ground early and my perennials are green and bushy. A few iris have bloomed but they were dwarfs this year due to the extremely dry conditions. Our lilacs have yet to bloom and may not because of a heavy frost we had two weeks ago and there is not enough moisture to coax the garden seeds out of the ground. Some farmers have already ploughed up the spring seeded crops and replanted in the hopes of harvesting them this fall. We need rain!
Twenty years ago we planted spruce seedlings that were just 6 inches above the soil and I asked the farmer and our son ( both well over 6 feet tall) to pose in front of them to show how much the trees have grown. My petunias were a Mother's day gift from my son and the lupins will be blooming before too long. Otherwise all the perennials are waiting for rain.
My daughter was recently in Palm Springs and loves vintage shops so bought a vintage hand rolled scarf for my Mother's day gift. It appears to be brand new and I imagine it may have rested for many years in a scarf drawer. She also gave me a lovely new necklace from Astoria, Washington. I snapped a picture of it resting on a beautiful dresser scarf she brought back for me from Bangalore, India. I really treasure the special things she has given me over the years.
A few weeks ago there was an evacuation of people who lived about an hour north of here because a forest fire threatened their homes and community. I belong to a group that makes and donates quilts to people in need and though we don't meet through the summer we had stockpiled about 60 quilts to be given away through the summer. I went with the president of our group to get these quilts and she donated 64 quilts to one of the evacuation centers. Luckily the fire was contained and no one lost their homes. We decided to have a 4 day quilting blitz last week and we were pleased to look at the stacks of quilts we had created at the end of the blitz. Co-operation, fun, and friendship are in evidence every day as we quilt and one day we were surprised by one quilter's brother and sister in law who arrived to make us delicious soup and biscuits for lunch. Our group will be celebrating 10 years of quilt making in the fall. We think it's time to invite our community to our quilting party.
Hope that the sun is shining in your part of the world and that gentle rains fall to coax your growing things in this season if new growth. Sunshine Always, Sheila
