Flowers in the House

The garden is a joy this summer - if only I had time to enjoy it!

 

A mix from the cutting garden - the last of the glads ( which like everything else have bloomed way too early.  They are reliable for July 4th, but this year are nearly gone now.)

 

An interesting group of callas.  These lilies all came from the same three bulbs more than 12 years ago.  I have divided the clumps and moved them several times and now what started as a medium pink is mostly pale pink with the occasional very dark blossom.  None of them are the original color.  Who knows?

And, the first of the garden phlox.  The spicy scent is everywhere - divine. 

Thanks to Jane for making me pick up my keyboard again.  Lots of excuses, not any good reasons.  Sometimes you just need a break!

Hop over to Jane's house to visit with all the others who are sharing today.

Dept. of Shameless Commerce ...

.... or, The Baby is Born at Last!

"What's the difference between baking powder and baking soda?"

A benign question.  Or, so I thought fifteen years ago when my then colleague paused in my doorway.  The bachelor father of three girls, I thought maybe he was trying to  fancy-up his cooking.

Wrong.  He was trying to bake his own healthy snack bar.  One of the healthy exercisers, he was famous (perhaps infamous) at work for watching every bite he put in his mouth, and only eating things that are "good for you".

Flash forward fifteen years.  We still work together, altho today he is my boss and one of three partners in the company.  Actually, now, two companies.  We had to launch a new company a few months ago to handle the production of ... [here comes the Shameless Commerce part] ... triYUM Bars.

That's right.  I work for a person who has actually developed a new food product.  After 15 years of talking about it.  Hundreds of recipes.  Thousands of taste-tests.  We have actually manufactured and are putting on the market [today!] a new healthy snack.

For years it was like playing.  We learned about buying ingredients in bulk - "Did you want a ton? or a train-load, sir?" - and packaging - "Our minimum order is 500,000 wrappers.  Do you  need more than that?" - bar codes, semi-trailers - refrigerated, of course - getting an honest-to-goodness trademark, and marketing.  It has been a roller coaster for me.  I cannot imagine what it has been like for my boss.  Well, I suspect like birthing a baby, about which I also know nothing, Miss Scarlett.

You won't see them on shelves at your super market.  At least not yet.  We are working on that!  But, if you happen to be interested, you can find them online at www.triYumBar.com. And, that's the last we will say about that!

PS:  Do not send complaints to Customer Service!  Someone you know has to respond to those!  Just sayin' ....

Thanks, Mom!

While I have been way too busy at work - and putting in way too many hours - Mother Nature has been alive and well in the garden.  April-like rain in May has made everyone happy!

 "Water" iris are nearly taking over the pond - fine with me.  Hope the fish don't mind.

 For one who is not thrilled with yellow flowers, I seem to have let them in with abandon!

 Hemerocallis Daylily 'Black Friar' - got it from Andre Viette.  Healthy, happy and apparently spreading.  A great contrast with all that yellow!

 Callas are not hardy here.  Don't tell these plants.  They have lasted 12 years.  Not as pink as originally, but still lovely  - in the garden and in the vase.

 Even the blueberries have thrived in benign neglect.  Should have two handfuls this year .... maybe three!

And, this lovely.  Failed to write down what it is.  Actually, it came up as a surprise.  I have no idea what it is or where it came from!  Looks a bit like 'Stargazer' but I think it is not dark enough.  Faintly scented, but easily 7 inches across.  Now sitting on the coffee table so that I can keep an eye on 'her".

Now, back to the salt mines.  Hope you have a good week.

A Rite ... that feels so wrong!

First word ... "bubble".  I don't remember why.

First "high heeled" shoes .... 7th grade.  We did things later then than today!

First kiss ...  the goofy guy down the street.  I thought he was wonderful.  He moved away that summer.

First summer job .... working for a neighbor in his office..

First car .... a pale blue Corvair.  "Always wear your seatbelt!"

Pierced ears?  "Not while you live under my roof."  So I got them my first year in grad school... done by a doctor!

First apartment ... a two-bedroom townhouse with two friends.  My share was $50 a month.

First car purchase .... $1,872 for a navy Volkswagon beetle. Wouldn't we love to buy a car for that today.

First real job ...  working in a private high school in Knoxville, Tennessee.

First home purchase ... a two-bedroom townhouse for $26,000.  Today it probably sells for half a mil!

First [and last] marriage ... May, many years ago.

I just realized how all those things happened in the first half of my life and how long it has been since a real rite of passage has occurred.  Perhaps that it why I am not ready for this one.

The birthday that accompanies this hasn't really bothered me, but somehow possessing the card does!