Maybe it’s having grown up in San Diego, but oh, how happy I am when the warmth and light return each year to the Northwest. And baby blossoms popping out everywhere mean the light is coming!!!
I spotted these yesterday and they made me smile bigly…
And then there is always THIS good sign that Spring has finally arrived.
Hmmm. Is it called “re-blogging” when you copy and paste from an old post, but then edit it like crazy for the current post??
Cee, at https://ceenphotography.com/2020/02/02/fotd-february-3-2020-primrose/ challenges us this week to have faith that Spring is actually on its way. It’s been a long, dark winter for me this year. I’ve been wondering if it would EVER get light and bright again.
But yesterday was one of those winter days in the Pacific Northwest that some of us selfishly keep secret from the rest of the country.
If people knew how absolutely gorgeous it can be up here, and how worth all the gray it is, we might be over-run with tourists, or experience even more of the population explosion inspired by Starbucks, Amazon and Microsoft!
At this time of year, when it’s only light out for 7 hours or so, I can’t think of anything more optimistic than a Primrose! They show up in the dead of winter. They are relentlessly cheerful! And they presumptuously assume they will be back again next year!
I first learned about them from my best friend’s mother, Lucille, who each year would fill her front door area with these welcoming little splashes of color. When she could no longer make it out to plant, one of us would do it for her…right up until her final year.
I watch for the first batch to show up every year, in my yard…
But I also watch at my grocery store (I know, I know) and this year, they are already here!
10 for $10.00!! Pretty cheap so I always load up. You’d think because they are a perennial I wouldn’t need to replenish my own garden each year. I don’t, but still, I can’t resist. there’s always some little spot for another one. Some of mine are 6 and 7 years old!
One year I had an idea.
I live on a long, very unusual, dead end street that’s a country-like oasis in the middle of a ritzy city. (When I moved here over 45 years ago, there were only 3 other houses and we all had horse acreage! Now there are 25 homes!)
Though our peaceful country lane has built up over the years, we have scored big-time in wonderful neighbors. Most everyone knows everyone and we all watch out for each other.
On that one year, we had just lost one of our earliest residents, a dear, sweet gentleman. He had an unexpected heart attack. In my search for something supportive to do in his honor on this somber occasion, I kept thinking of the story of Johnny Appleseed.
I headed for the grocery store…and then late that night, the houses on the lane gone quiet, I sneaked out to plant a Primrose in every single yard, in honor of our sweet neighbor. Almost everyone figured out I was the Primrose Fairy, because they knew how obsessed I was with these hearty little flowers, but I don’t care. I kinda like my reputation of being the oldest (and maybe strangest) neighbor on our street.
And to this day, each year, when the first Primroses show up, to honor the memory of Arul, always a smile and kind word for his neighbors, I take one down the lane to his widow. He was truly a Peach of a guy!
I have also made a habit of welcoming the new neighbors to our street by leaving them a surprise Primrose to plant or just enjoy for a while. I just left two more this morning. Now that I’ve been here the longest, I like sharing the history of our street with the newcomers.
So now, I give you the Primrose (and remind you of the story of Johnny Appleseed).
Thanks for reading and please comment if you like.
I have not looked through all the former “pull up a seat” photos posted so maybe this “seat” has been done before. (By the way, THIS seat was just photographed two days ago, in the dead of winter here in the Northwest!! My Primroses think it’s SPRING!!!)
Anyway, here’s my story!
Many years ago, we had to replace a broken toilet. In the 3 days time this old “throne” sat hidden (we thought) out by the side of the house, waiting to be taken to the dump, our only mean neighbor reported us to the City for having an unsightly yard. (I was not her first “target”. Several others had been on the receiving end of her ire before.)
It’s not like we live in a gated community with a HOA (Home Owners Association) or anything. Our street was still in the country, with horse ranches until not that long ago. And, you had to come all the way onto my property to even see the toilet.
Anyway, the city launched a “public nuisance” charge against me, gave me three days to remove it, and threatened a $500 a day penalty if I did not.
Well, that just pissed me right off.
SO I researched, found some Architectural Digests and various landscaping design articles using old claw-footed bathtubs, and yes, toilets, as Yard Art.
I planted the bowl and tank of the former throne with lovely, long-stemmed flowers, alive with color, and placed the toilet prominently in my front yard for all to now see.
I put a bathroom reading style magazine rack right next to it with all the articles demonstrating clever uses for old toilets.
The City was stumped and the neighbor was furious.
IÂ left it there for 3 whole weeks, just for good measure, and only removed it out of respect for all my other neighbors who now had to see it every day.
Hey, I am a proud Child of the Sixties. Do I know how to protest and rebel or what?
For your listening pleasure but be warned, this video has harsh images from the times back then…(only one I could find)
Photo Challenge of places we sit…or might sit…or art about sitting
My poor Primroses are so confused…
All I can think of is the old Woody Allen movie “Everything you Always Wanted to Know about Sex”, where Woody, standing at the front of the line of about to “escape” sperm, shouts a warning to all the others,
“Go back, go back! It’s just a hand job!” Or something like that.
It’s late November and 30 degrees here!!!!
“Go back, go back, my Sweet Primroses!! It’s a Weather TRICK!! It’s not even close to Spring yet!!!”
Here are TEN of my favorite flower photos…
OK, I lied. ELEVEN shots…
OK, OK, then I mean to say THIRTEEN photos…
I have no self control.
https://citysonnet.wordpress.com/2018/10/01/october-photo-a-day-challenge/
I officiated yesterday at a lovely outdoor wedding, with beautiful Mount Si as the back drop.
These shots are all before the real “action” for the day started.
First, there was the worrisome action in the sky, but the potential rain bearing clouds politely passed over before most of the guests arrived.
Then, while waiting for the ceremony to start, came the delightful, energy-releasing actions of these impatient flower girls.
But I can almost guarantee the action (though invisible) in this last photo is much more chaotic than the clouds or the dancing in the above photos, as this Groom awaits the beginning of his wedding.
