Good morning, my friends. Thank goodness it's Sewturday. We had a wonderful dinner with the kids last night...good weather...good company...good food. Good all around. We've planned another get-together for Mother's Day with Erik and Mae next weekend. On Monday, Matthew and I have a date to find Virgil Earp's grave at a local cemetery. I know...I'm weird that way, but I really want to find it and see it. I wrote about this a while back. You can read my reason for wanting to visit right here, and scroll down.
It was a busy day yesterday, and so it was an NSD (no sewing day). It's the second one this week. I'm checking my temperature as I write to see if I might be sick or something. During a break in my getting-ready activities, I took a walk around the garden. The azaleas are really the stars of the garden right now. Their colors are so bright, I have to turn down the intensity of the saturation in Photoshop.
It's probably the last gasp of a bloom for this next white one. Pretty much the whole shrub is dead except for a few green leaves and flowers around the lower edge. It's been struggling like that for several years, and we've given up thinking it might make a comeback. It won't. We're (that would be the singular "we") taking it out this year.
The rhododendrons are doing their best to keep up with the azaleas. And, by the way, while working my crossword puzzles this morning, I learned rhododendrons and azaleas are related. The Google tells me that both belong to the genus Rhododendron. Azaleas are a specific type of rhododendron, meaning all azaleas are rhododendrons, but not all rhododendrons are azaleas. The key difference lies in their size and flower shape, with azaleas generally being smaller and having tubular or funnel-shaped flowers, while rhododendrons are often larger and have bell-shaped flowers.
This one below is my favorite among the rhodies. It looks like an orchid to me.
Our apple tree is blooming. This poor little tree has never thrived, and we rarely get more than a few apples from it. The deer enjoy them, though, and so we allow it to live on.
You might recall I worried our replacement bleeding heart might not have done well this winter, but it is blooming to beat the band. I think it likes its new home.
We replaced a tree we took out in this spot some years back with a dappled willow. I'd seen the dappled willows around town, and I really liked how they put out a spray of new growth at the top that reminded me of bursting fireworks. Here's an image I found online.
This is our dappled willow tree. Ours has never really done that. Mike did some work pruning and shaping it last year, so I'm hoping we might see more from it this year. It's too early to tell, but I noticed the beginnings of the new growth yesterday. It isn't a blooming tree. Instead, it's "bloom" comes from it's new spring growth.
It was lovely yesterday...sunny and warm, but not too hot. Smitty enjoyed the afternoon from his catio. He likes to sit there and exchange insults with the squirrels.
Okay, and I thought you might enjoy seeing this. There's a shop hop going on at Alaska quilt shops right now. This was posted in one of the Alaska travel Facebook groups that I follow. It's a handy guide for some Alaska quilt shop names and locations.
Yeah, I tucked that away in a safe place for future reference. The blocks for this quilt are very cute. I've never actually participated in a shop hop before, and I'm wondering if the blocks can be obtained without actually visiting the shop. Maybe one of you knows. Okay...well I answered my own question just now.
It turns out they are "kits," and they are very expensive. I'm afraid I'll have to pass.
Okay, so I reserved the day for NBS (nothing but sewing). I'm ready for a day off. How about you?
7 comments:
Cats are the slipperiest of domestic animals. Thousands of years of genetic coding has taught them to melt into azaleas, lie motionless behind garden gnomes, glide along fence tops, and slink under benches. ~ Caroline Paul
That dappled willow is so pretty! I hope yours does the same as the one in the photo. I would love to walk around your garden and see all the color!
Riverside Cemetery has some great maps. Just ask at reception for the one with Wyatt. Enjoy discovering!
Your azaleas and Rhodies are beautiful. I have one lonely white rhodie that needs to be protected by fencing from the deer. I've given up planting either one because of the deer and the soil not being acid enough. And, generally, you do need to visit the shops on a hop to get each block, although sometimes they will sell them after the hop if they have any left. Shop hops are fun, but it gets expensive if, like me, you feel you have to buy something at each shop. There are those who just grab the free block, sign up for the grand prize and don't buy anything.
Pat
Your flowers are all so lovely. The bees must love your house! Grad Girls kitty has been enjoying the cooler spring temps on the apartment balcony, it will soon be too hot there to let a black cat out in the sun. I did the last block hop, but only to see the shops. I didn't want to add another quilt to my list. Hope you got in lots of stitching time yesterday.
l'm sorry that I read your entire blog today as I love those Alaska shop hop blocks but, yes, they are very expensive! If they are all around $50 each, that adds up to a lot! Maybe the shop hop shops will be giving out just the pattern for free when visiting so you could do "some" of them with your own fabric. Hope so!
Dappled willow - thank you! I've seen a few of those around town and didn't know what they were. Interesting to note that azaleas are thododendrons at heart.
I love those amazing Alaskan patterns but certainly not for that price!
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