The hydrangeas are blooming, huge fluffy clouds of blue and white back on the azalea path. (Well, it used to be the azalea path- now it is seriously overgrown. Yet another project!) The hydrangeas bloomed like this the first year I lived here- the summer Mother came to visit (I was late picking her up at the airport, causing stress- I am forever sorry for that...) and we picked them for the pitcher on the mantel. Their blue matches the shirt in Jack's portrait, and the glaze on the top of the pitcher (a relic from Gordon's store. The handle broke long ago, which is why I have it, but I love it none the less....and while we are talking, the Jack-dancer figure was a gift from Aunt Gladys, the sun face on it part of an astronomical matryoshka doll that was old...all that is left is half of the sun, and the moon, which sits on the tan vase to one side in the photo). The hydrangeas in our yarden are the beautiful sky blue color, mixed with creamy white- last year they never quite made it to a true blue, staying more greenish-purplish. Sammy's (next door) are an amazing deep royal blue....before he renovated that house and moved in I used to sneak over there and pick them. It was abandoned so no one cared- now though, I respect that it is Sammy's. (Sammy and the manz had a conversation this weekend- ends up that Sammy knows several members of the family, expressed regrets at not visiting us earlier- we live in what was his Mother's house- but is afraid of doggs. Sammy is also apparently quite religious and invited us to church, which was politely declined. He is a nice guy, a bit odd- which fits right in on our road. Road should be renamed "road of slightly strange people and mysterious farm with invisible horses".)
Sill and all, the weekend was quite nice for me. I had plans with Grendel for Monday- movies etc- but that is postponed until next Saturday due to lack of gas/funds and just pure laziness. Instead I took multiple naps (of course), went for a long walk, painted in the sketchbook and tentatively explored ideas for new big paintings, did a wee bit of school work and some writing, managed laundry but not cleaning, sat and watched shows with the manz, including '30 Days' which sparked some really good conversation about religion, church, beliefs and experiences. The manz is very open minded/ tolerant of everything- which is a good thing. I admit being narrow minded about narrow minds, an irony that is not lost on me.
This morning is very still- the crickets and frogs loud, the air heavy. Tropical storm is to come in tonight, bringing wind and rain- the second of the year, storm season unusually early and storms forming close to shore. There is a tension in the air that hopefully won't set the kids over the edge today, it is the first day of exams (Hooray!) and I am excited about getting to school, getting the room cleaned up, beginning the end. I like beginnings, and things to do, and being busy- that moves me along from my natural state of inertia. I think I will be off to school early this morning so I can get started, I'm in the mood so it is time to capitalize on that.
By-the-way, I did learn that in order to dry hydrangeas and keep their color, cut them and put them in water. Let the water evaporate naturally and the hydrangeas will slowly dry out- they will fade a bit to a dusty denim blue, but that is a lovely color as well. If you don't put them in water the color is deeper but the flowers get wilted and 'mushy'- they don't stay all puffy, even if you hang them upside down. If you cut them to late off the bush they just turn brown... I have the new ones on the mantel and the old dry ones from last summer in the cauldron below, lovely just.
No comments:
Post a Comment