Friday, May 30, 2014

Flower Power..powerful memories.

From what I gather with that last post and all your comments on "Yes or No to hose" (and shorts)
It sounds like I am not alone in this rather tricky area!
In case you are wondering the black Capri's will stay for now...
I am so glad that I have a few skirts and dresses ready for summer wearing.

As I type this post it is hot outside and I am wearing a black bamboo dress by Gilmour which is very cool and offers enough coverage...

Can you imagine a world without garden flowers?
From a simple daisy to a heritage rose flowers add immense beauty to our day.
Whether you pick a bouquet and bring them inside arranged in a vase or tend a perennial garden like I do admiring them in place where they grow...

I don't know when I decided that I loved gardening but have a hunch it was when I was a young girl of about 6 years old. I used to spend lots of time with my grandmother and would often spend the weekend with her.
We'd do all kinds of fun things, regular domestic chores, but for me they were extra special because I shared them with her. We would bake pies, make jam and bread. Her house always smelled wonderful!

I remember that she had a Victory Garden and we'd go outside and pick our greens before supper.
If the vegetable on the menu were peas we'd sit on the back steps with bowls and shuck them...
I'd pop a few sweet peas in my mouth when she wasn't looking!

She let me help her plant vegetable seeds.
They were planted in wax coated milk cartons that she had cut in half. (waste not want not)
We filled them with fresh soil, popped in the tiny seeds and then gently watered them before placing them on the window sills of her Edwardian home.
Watering these daily and then seeing them sprout and grow was fascinating.
After they matured we moved them to her veggie patch in the back of her house.

One of the crops that I remember harvesting was watercress...we made sandwiches with her freshly baked bread, slathered them with salty butter and popped on a handful of the watercress. We ate these for lunch with a pot of freshly brewed tea. Gran Gran introduced me to tea and I have loved this daily ritual ever since.
The peppery flavour of watercress to this day transports me back to that wonderful time of my youth with my beloved Gran Gran. I think of her often and miss having her here in my life...thank goodness I that I was fortunate enough to have spent so many days with her and hold so many precious memories of her close to my heart.


The view from my laundry room looking out at The Humble Bungalow back garden.
Our Foxgloves and roses are blooming brightly.
I like to sit here and listen to the sounds of the birds and the bees as they flutter about in the garden.
The bees love flying deep into the foxglove trumpet flowers....
their buzzing takes on a vibrational sound when they are inside.


I like to take my lunch outside when I am gardening.
Egg salad and pea shoots on Silver Hills Little Big Bread with some carrots
(WW 1 point for two pieces of this fantastic sprouted grain bread)

I work up quite an appetite when I am outdoors pottering about among the beds!


I took this photo at Zanatta Winery when I was there a couple of weeks ago.
Planters are so great that you can place them in the perennial borders
 they can fill in those spots that need a shot of colour.


I'm about to start this novel...


after a long soak in the tub with Epsom's salts!

"For happiness one needs security, but joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair."

~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh ~

Enjoy the weekend!

19 comments:

LPC said...

Pea shoots are fab:).

Madame Là-bas said...

I bought an edible basket at Westham Island Herb Farm when I was there with Maman. I really enjoy Silver Hills bread. Do you buy yours at Costco? Do you think that Anne is right? She went through so much with the kidnapping, her husband's unpopular views and her own dementia. Maybe all we really have is ourselves and our personal strength. Have a good week-end.

Gauss said...

I'd be very curious to see what you think about "Almost English." I picked it up a few years ago, because the premise sounds so interesting and I spent some time living in Hungary, but… it was one of dullest books I've ever read.

Susan B said...

I agree, there's something so satisfying and gratifying about working in the garden. Wish I had more time to do it!

Jim & Sonya Guthrie said...

Your day sounds a bit like mine...a soak in the tub with orange blossom salts, listening to the birds chirping outside my window, and then heading to one of my girlfriend's house making flower baskets together. After we were done, we ate Magnum bars outside and caught up on life. Isn't it grand, being retired :)
PS: I love pea shoots too...did you grow them?

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Yummy!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I buy the bread at our local grocery Thrifty Foods...am not sure about Anne and her kidnapping? If it is in the novel I am not there yet!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Ahh maybe you mean the Lindbergh kidnapping and yes I do wonder!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I am only into the novel about 100 pages so I cannot comment...

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I so agree and I am retired...funny isn't it?

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I do not grow pea shoots but I do grow English peas!
What are Magnum bars?
Are they chocolate by any chance?
Two thumbs up for retirement :-))

Anonymous said...

Lovely post.
Linda C.

Jane and Lance Hattatt said...

Hello Leslie:

What wonderful memories of your formative garden years with your grandmother. And how delicious are those peas which are picked freshly from the garden making a travesty of the frozen ones which seem to be all these days which are readily available.

No longer having a garden we rather miss all that you describe and show here, particularly pottering about when the more serious work has been done. Your lunch looks very much of the kind we should much enjoy.

Madame Là-bas said...

I read a book by Reeve Lindbergh called No More Words that was about AML's last years. It was very interesting. During her earlier life, there was the kidnapping of the first child, the banishment from the US because of pro-Hitler sentiments and marital infidelity on both sides. what a strong lady! It is a wonderful experience to have a gardening granny. My own mum who no longer has a garden is a volunteer gardener
at the Sharing Farm where she works harvesting in the greenhouses.

Lynne said...

I loved reading your "remembering gran" . . . My mother planted her seeds in the milk

Lynne said...

Oops . . . My mother planted her seeds in milk cartons too . . . now I am remembering back.
Lovely garden Hostess . . . I liked seeing the pop up of Foxglove . . . containers set in the gardens are perfect for having color with the greens . . . I love best weathered urn like containers in the mix.

Your lunch looks scrumptious . . .

Jen Lawrence said...

Love the Anne Morrow Lindbergh quote. How true! Such a pretty garden.

Pondside said...

What sweet memories of time with your grandmother - precious. I believe you are creating similar memories with your two wee ones. Another good book tip - thank you!

Lorrie said...

Grandmother memories are some of the sweetest. I wonder sometimes what my grandchildren will say about me in later life. I'm hoping there will be some wonderful memories for them. We are enjoying such lovely weather just now. I wasn't on the computer all weekend and now I'm trying to catch up a little. Enjoy the week ahead.