Wordless Weekend: Take Time for Tea

In the Garden

I've been learning all about dry country gardening since my family moved here a year and a half ago. It's certainly different from where I grew up in Japan, which is semi-tropical!

In Japan, the perfect, balanced garden has three elements. Trees of the evergreen variety, rocks, and water. Flowering perennials and annuals are traditionally found only in vegetable gardens, although most Japanese homes will have several pots of bright blooms on their front stoop. Still, Japanese homes and yards are not designed to accommodate flower beds and so, I always had to follow the rest of the population and limit myself to what could be grown in a few containers.

Though American life has been full of challenges for me, one thing I'm liking very much indeed is that there is space for a few garden beds. Figuring out when it's safe to plant things has been tricky...to the point that the sweet peas I planted are just now beginning to bloom.

Oops.

They are the flower of the month of April, after all. Next year, I'll plant my seeds earlier. Thankfully, it has been cool enough that they are doing quite well, and I have a sweet little bouquet in my room, just freshly picked after dinner.

Kindred Spirits

I had the chance to meet the lovely Laura from Quietude and the lovely Cheri from A Joyful Handmaiden this week. Laura's fiancé was gracious enough to let us borrow Laura for a couple hours to go fabric shopping! Mind you, three days earlier, before I had any idea I'd be meeting people at the fabric store, I had no intention to buy any more fabric. I've been trying to be on a fabric buying (and vintage pattern buying!) fast. But...I fell under irresistible temptation, and bought some anyway.

It was so much fun to meet some more lovely ladies from the internet. I've met quite a few now, and it's always been a lovely experience. Lord willing, I will see these ladies again sometime!

Past and present, cars and memories

My parents are leaving at zero dark thirty (as they say in the military) tomorrow morning to drive to Omaha for my mom's 40th high school reunion. They are, in fact, driving my dad's mint condition 1962 Chevy, which will make its debut as a parade car in the 4th of July parade in Omaha. The Chevy just turned over 300,000 miles a couple weeks ago, which, in car years, I suppose is rather like a very important birthday, and so it had to have its picture taken.

Because of the upcoming reunion, my mom dug her high school yearbooks out of the garage to carry along on their trip. I was browsing through them, giggling at the big hair and bobby socks, and noticed that nearly every friend note scrawled in the front mentioned "Those great water balloon fights!" When I asked my mom about that, she broke into a riot of laughter, explaining that over the summers she would go out with her friends in her car (a convertible, no less...oh the jealousy...), and have water balloon fights with other high school friends in their cars. Car water balloon fights! Can you imagine?