Spring Iris

Song - John Denver "Inch by Inch"

Our garden is a riot of color right now due to my obsession with Bearded Iris!  Well, that and roses and Spring bulbs and Lilac's and Wisteria and......well, you know how it can be.

My Grandpa Art got me started with roses.  He always had several roses in his front yard in Oakland with cuttings and onions underneath.

Grandma Sophie in the rose garden in Oakland

Grandpa Art with 3 of his 4 daughters in the rose garden.  My mom is on the far left.

Both of my parents are wonderful gardeners and their yard looks like a park.  They are in their mid-eighties (shhh...don't tell them I told you that!) and it wasn't until this year that they hired someone to "mow & blow" but all of the rest of the work, they do themselves.  They get great satisfaction from working in the soil and coaxing a plant along.

My parents at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco while they were dating.

My mom & her sister Marie in a garden

 

My Grandpa Art working in the rose garden while his four daughters pose for the camera.  L-R is my Aunt Bernadine, my mom, Aunt Alma and Aunt Marie.  Not sure who the little girl giggling on the steps is.




Now that all of the Spring blossoms have left the trees and the bulbs are withering and my roses are just about to burst into bloom, I have time to enjoy my Iris.

I hope you enjoy them too.....

 

 

Where I relax after gardening.  Ahhh......

Had to add a beautiful white Lilac!!!  Can't you just smell the lovely fragrance?

And some Peonies just about to bloom!!!  So exciting.....

Our Wisteria at the back gate.

You would not believe the iridescent colors on this Iris when the sun is shining.  Unfortunately it was a hazy day today.

Some white Clematis on our fence.

The entire fence is a beautiful creamy white.

A little American Goldfinch taking a sunbath on the birdbath.

 

PS - I picked my first bouquet of Sweet Pea's today and they smell glorious! 

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. " - Luther Burbank

Letting Go

Our Baird Family vacation home in Lake Tahoe went up for sale last week and .....it has sold.

Spring Creek Tract is at the base of Mt. Tallac

We have so many wonderful memories spending delicious time there. Some summers we would rent it for an entire month at a time but usually we were there for 2-3 weeks. There was time spent with our boys, their friends, our friends and family.  There was also time alone with Mr. B.  Occasionally he would travel back and forth to the Bay Area to work then come on up for long weekends to be with me and the boys.


Breakfast was served on the back deck in the sunshine with Spring Creek flowing just  past the cabin. The boys would shoot a BB gun at tin cans placed across the creek into a hillside.  We would lay in the hammock near the creek and read or sleep. Mr. B and the three little b's would tie fishing flies then head to a nearby river to fly fish for the afternoon.  There was beach time and hiking paths and simple moments. We would play Canasta endlessly, drink Margaritas and cook into the wee hours of the morning with our good friends. Ahhh....I can just feel the relaxing of our entire family there.



It was a good cabin...it had a "soul".












So why didn't we buy it? Well, it's painful and complicated.....

*I know I am kind of venting right now but this is so heartfelt.  I totally understand if you want to go to a funny blog....check this one out and I promise to have a "better attitude" next
post.....http://www.thebloggess.com/

Great Grandma Mary, the twelve cousins & Grandma Sophie - c.1960 (I am at the top of the rock, 3rd from L)

The cabin is on Forest Service land, which means it's reasonably priced but you don't really own it. The Forest Service dictates what you can and can not do there. Mostly what you cannot do! They lease the land out to you but change the rules at any time. If they decide they need that portion of the forest, you need to remove your cabin and bring the land back to a natural state (pronto!).

Grandma Sophie cooking

My grandparents built a cabin there in the Fifties with a 99 year lease, my Aunt now owns that cabin and the Forest Service decided to "drop" the lease to 20 years at a time. (which basically means they can change the rules of the game at any moment). Several years ago they decided to close the Tract during the winter months, so now you are limited to a few months of use and well, all of this was discouraging.  Mr. B decided years ago that although he has fallen in love with the area, dealing with the Forest Service was just too much!  I have to agree....only when I take my heart out of the equation. 

Cousin Billy and my brother David at Baldwin Beach with Mt. Tallac in the background

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray" -  Rumi

Family Ties

Great Grandma Mary, all twelve cousins and Grandma Sophie at Lake Tahoe

There is

nothing

like

a big

Italian Family!

We celebrate together

and

share difficult times

together.

We vacationed together

at Lake Tahoe

and

sat in our parent's backyards

together.

Laughing, crying,

talking, sharing,

and sometimes

getting into trouble

together.

Twelve cousins,

from four

sisters.

Three each.

Our Grandpa Arturo

was the

head of this big family

but it was

Grandma Sophie

who brought us all 

together

through her

cooking, (always cooking!)

stories, smiles, hugs

and

love.....

Times were tough

and

money was tight

but boy did we

enjoy the

simple

pleasures

in life

TOGETHER !

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.

~ Henry Ward Beecher