Smell the Roses

One thing that always comes to mind when people talk about flower gardens is a beautiful bush full of blooming roses. You know girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes and shakespeare sonnets and yada yada yada yada.

 

Many years ago, I planted my first rose bush. It died. Then I planted my second. That one died too. See a pattern here?

I got distracted by many shiny things, but the rosy happiness always was in the back of my mind. You know, like at number #782 of the list "Things To Do: URGENT!!!!"

Last year my heart started beating excitedly when I saw a rosebush for cheap at the grocery store. This time I would be successful. This time I would grow such beautiful roses. I would be the envy of all my friends for my superb roses!

Guess what? The rose seemed to do just fine till winter arrived. And it went dormant. Very dormant. As in never woke up again dormant...

 

I cried for many nights about my poor roses, but perked up when I saw more roses for sale, yes at the local supermarket again. So much cheaper than at the nursery. (I wonder why it's so much cheaper...) As one who suffers from eternal optimism, I got the cheap rose again. And the bit more expensive one, but still very cheap one two weeks later which said 'subzero rose'.

They both are growing just fine and one of them even is blooming! Victory! Not only did it bloom but the roses smelled really sweet and rosy. I am not going to really celebrate till I see whether these roses survive the winter, but I will get my girls' white dresses out, just in case.

Birthday Pictures

Fun presents.

 

Great family.

 

Delicious cake.

 

Lang zal ze leven!

 

Candles that were really hard to extinguish. They kept relighting themself.

 

Hummingbird

In the Netherlands we didn't have hummingbirds, so when I moved here I was thrilled to discover that they are quite common here.

 

We usually get a hummingbird feeder during the summer, but even without that, you see them around, drinking nectar from flowers. The biggest problem is taking a good picture of them. They usually fly away long before I get the camera out and ready.

 

One of my summer goals is to get a good picture, but for now these ones will have to do ^^

Eighteen Pony Tails

This is what Erik used to look like. Gorgeous curls. To the utter dismay of my girls who all have totally straight hair.

 

He donated to Locks of Love once before and wanted to do it again. With the summer and swimming lessons coming up, it seemed perfect timing.

 

Off to the hair dresser we went. They had to divide his hair in eighteen pony tails and had two people work on him.

 

Time to cut!

 

He already looks quite different.

 

This is all the hair he lost.

 

A different boy!

 

 

Random Pictures

Sugar snap peas are starting to bloom. I can't wait for them to actually turn into peas!

 

We are now the proud owners of a venus fly trap. It is a very fascinating plants, leading to hours of entertainment. You didn't know that fly traps are more interesting than television, did you?

 

Some art work the kids got to take home from school.

 

 

 

 

A goldfinch at the feeder. I guess I need to wash my windows. Some day. Maybe.

 

First Day of Vacation!

It was so nice not to have to get up early this morning. Of course we were out all day anyway, but no school made our day so much more relaxed.

 

I am celebrating by posting some spring pictures that never made it to the blog since school commitments were crazy. This was before the grass grew three feet high, so must be like a few weeks ago.

 

Today was a sunny day, perfect for First Day of Vacation. As we speak, three of my kids are at the pool, and one is working, so the house is quite quiet.

 

These days make me nostalgic about homeschooling. Life was so much more relaxed in a way, even if public school has many advantages too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dairy Day

Every year our local Coop holds a Dairy Day. It involves lots of free samples, and hayrides and a storyteller and such.

 

Sylvia was all set on the hayride, it was the very first thing she wanted to do.

 

We passed some frogs...

 

And of course she had to say hello to the horses.

 

 

Meanwhile Jane was part of the The Sound of Music crew. She is participating this summer and they sang some songs here to advertize for the summer show. Jane is a nun-in-training (quite a change after last play in which she was a witch)

 

 

We met some good friends and Sylvia got to go on another hay ride with them. A perfect day!