Bon Jour, Y’all’s. I have been away from EveryDayBloom for so long, it is a little weird coming back. What will I find here? I have ghost town anxieties, dust bunny fears. Before I left a couple of weeks ago, I felt connected, part of a widespread (and amorphous) yet friendly community. Which connections require conversation—but for days and days, I have been silent. I’ve both missed the connection…and worried that I’d lose it. I could have returned a few days earlier, some filial and parental responsibilities having met their expiration dates last week. But (maybe procrastinating a bit?) I chose to catch up with my gardens this weekend instead of rummaging through hundreds of digital photos (each worth a thousand words) and the still tingling memories of my daughter’s departure. Gardening means sanctuary to me, among many other things. [continue reading…]

May Flowers: Rough Winds Do Shake The Darling Buds of May…

But the Point Here Is That May Flowers On Anyway.

The school year is ending, with its mad rush of concerts, field trips, plays. It’s dance recital season for Nora. Crazy busy times, sweet memories.

And the window for prime garden planting is almost closed (at least, I’m always afraid it is, this time of May); I delayed planting until last week.  Still a little breathless from catching up, and grateful for the recent rain (something about rain…seeds germinate best after a good rain).  I still need to plant more: tomato and pepper plants,  herbs, a few more zucchini. [continue reading…]

Does That Date Me? Kodak Moments? Does Anyone Else Say That Anymore?

Wanting to write about growing lavender, I spent the last couple of hours looking for relevant photos on my laptop. Which connects to our home network, which is huge and powerful and sort of mysterious–(my brilliant, techy husband designed it). Among many other things, The Net houses digital copies of most of our Kodak moments. And I get lost in it. At least as lost as I would in actual boxes of old photos. Which (getting lost in boxes) was part and parcel of the whole Kodak Moment thing, as I remember it. [continue reading…]

Of Sketching, Gardening, and Painting

My painting has been sporadic these last couple of years, while I’ve gardened intensely at our new home (intensity is a necessity on a half acre of dirt). I’ve wanted to correct that (both the dirt, and the infrequent painting). Steadiness in character is a good thing, I’m told. So.  Just as spring began in earnest this year, I promised myself that I would paint steadily again. One day every week. Spring does that for me; it suggests bright plans, makes grand adventures feel attainable. Plus there’s something about gardening (of course gardening! it’s spring!) that energizes the painter in me. Gardening and painting are a blessed convergence. And I while I believe that I can do this, paint once a week…I haven’t yet. I think I’ve painted two days in the last four (or five?) weeks. Still, two painting days in a month are better than no days at all! [continue reading…]

Mothers And Daughters

Happy Mother’s Day!  I know it’s late.  And I don’t usually post on Sunday.  But I had to pay tribute.

When I was five, my mother went into labor early and delivered her first son prematurely.  He died three hours later.  These days, chances are he would have lived.  By current preemie standards, he would have been robust.   She was very young; 26 (yes, girls, 26 is quite young). When she speaks of it now, pain is still present.  At that time, her devastation must have felt infinite.  I imagine her holding him those three hours, and saying goodbye, and it is too much for me.  The people in her small university community were very kind to her, bringing food and treats and helping with her three little girls. Helping with the funeral. [continue reading…]

A Pobble Has Toes, As Everyone Knows

Hi there.  Sorry I’m late again!  Any idea what a Pobble is?  On a whim, with faint remembrances of a childhood rhyme, I Googled Pobble.  Yahoo answered.  Doesn’t that sound deliciously credible? Yes,  Yahoo answered my Pobble Google (via a contributor named Ray G, who’s been augmenting Yahoo’s credibility since 2008 and has more than 114,000 points, making him a level 7, whatever that means.). [continue reading…]

Late Date…But Wait!  Refashioning to Dye For

(I’ll get to the refashioning bit by the end of the third paragraph…hang in there).  Last week saw the longest empty stretch on this blog since…hmm.  Novemberish?  Octoberish.   Ah, Every Day Bloom… for days, you were often on my mind, but too far from my fingertips (sheer crazymaking, if you ask me).  Last week, I had to breathe deep and let go.   Of all the things I wanted to do, but couldn’t quite.  Mostly because my legs are approximately three and a half inches too short.  But also because the options of what I could or might do arise exponentially from the few joyous necessities. [continue reading…]