Fête de Fraise

Strawberry  Celebration

at my house over fresh-picked strawberries.

It's strawberry season!

Nothing tastes as wonderful as freshly picked fruits and vegetables.

Gnismer Farms is a family-run produce farm in 

the heart of Arlington, Texas

where families come to 

"pick-your-own."

Sunday afternoon I joined the fun and picked fresh strawberries.

Most pickers had their children with them.

Mom: "There's a nice red one."

Son: "I see it."

Mom: "Was it sweet?"

Son: "um-hu"

Bursting with flavor...

I didn't find any really big strawberries because 

I arrived late afternoon just before closing.

Families had been picking this field all week-end.

But the smaller berries are packed with concentrated flavor...

Reminds me of French strawberries...

Small, sweet, bursting flavor in your mouth...

The last time I was in France I had to mail home some packages.

Of course I did, too many purchases to fit into the suitcase.

That's when I saw this beautiful Fête du timbre, 

the 2011 Collection Historique du Timbre-Poste Français

honoring strawberries.

Of course, I had to make a few more purchases

right there in the La Poste (post office).

Let's see, the actual strawberry stamp and 

the collector's edition large folded card

on heavy white cardstock.

They don't weigh much, and they will fit 

in my suitcase.

Oh, so beautiful.  Soft full color drawings on front and back of the card...

The individual stamp is part of a larger piece of paper with a

botanical line drawing of a strawberry plant on the front.

But wait, turn over the stamp.  

On the back of the actual stamp is a sliced strawberry.

Now, who's going to see that when the letter is mailed?

Only the French would include such a 

delicious detail.

I wonder if the stamp glue tastes like strawberries?

I'll never know; I'm not licking my souvenir stamp.

But, I am licking my fingers as I put the strawberries on this birdie bowl.

Sweet juices from ripe strawberries at their peak...

This little vignette will not last long.  

The strawberries will be gone in a flash.

And so will Gnismer Farms...  

The owners told me this is their last year at this site.

They are moving to a new place about two hours south.

Bittersweet weekend...

Savoring the scrum-dilly-umptious hand-picked berries,

but sad to know there will be none next year.

I will save the cardboard strawberry picking box

as a reminder of good times, 

of a little bit of France right here at home, and

of the end of an era.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please join me at these inspiring linking parties...

the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Texas Bluebonnets

Texas 

Bluebonnets

are wild lupines.
The state flower of Texas is the species
Lupinus texensis.

Bluebonnets are native to Texas and grow wild 

across plains, along the roadsides, in ditches,

in pastures, under mesquite trees...

Texans rejoice each spring when 

the fields of bluebonnets appear.

The Texas highway department, local governments, businesses, and
landowners plant bluebonnet seeds to supplement nature's wild sowing.
All during the year, we talk about how the bluebonnets are progressing.

We track the sightings of blooms with several state websites.
Towns hold festivals and fairs.

Parents plan outings for photos of children and 

dogs in the bluebonnets.

Newspapers and websites post the most beautiful photos

of fields of bluebonnets 

and bluebonnets with children and dogs.

We pick them and put them in vases, fruit jars, crocks, metal buckets,...

We gather seeds to plant in the fall.

As annuals, each year's crop depends on the germination of seeds
the previous fall and on rainfall at crucial times during fall and winter.
Bluebonnets bloom for about three weeks in the spring.
See the bright magenta centers on some blooms?
And bright white centers on other blooms?
Why the difference?

Blooms are fertile about six days.
The center of the bloom changes from white to magenta
when the bloom is no longer fertile.

I love bluebonnets.
They are one of the highlights of my life every year.

Right up there with my love for Paris
and all things blue...

The hot dry Texas summers sizzle.
Flowers stop blooming, grass turns brown, and trees are dusty grey-green.

But in mid-March to mid-April each year,
bluebonnets are lush,
giving joy to all who see them,
filling acres and acres with their beauty.

Every spring, the Great Spirit remembers my sacrifice 

and covers Texas with the beautiful blue flowers. 

The flowers are called bluebonnets.

quote from

The Legend of the Bluebonnet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm joining these inspiring linking parties...
the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch
 Wow us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home @The Charm of Home
Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally
Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

Vintage Park Bench

Benches line the parks and boulevards of

Paris.

This vintage park bench sits in my backyard under a pear tree.

Sitting on the bench transports me to Paris.

Remembering beautiful historic parks tucked into the neighborhoods...

Parisians reading a book or newspaper,

Meeting friends for a leisurely conversation... 

My backyard becomes my own private Parisian park filled 

with birdsongs,

with leaves rustling in the breeze,

and with memories of a time and place faraway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm joining these inspiring linking parties...
the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home

Blue and White Dishes

Blue and white

Bleu et blanc

dishes have called my name

over and over again...

Beginning more than forty years ago...

How can it be so many years?

Though I have no Blue Willow pieces,

I remember dining on Blue Willow as a child.

The scene on the bridge with the three people chasing each other

is still a vivd memory.

Why were they chasing each other?

The blue I'm drawn to is medium blue,

mostly periwinkle blues.

Scallop edges, floral patterns, butterflies, bees, 

dragonflies, birds, nests...

One of the first blue and white sets of dishes came from France,

via the island of Cyprus!

As a young Navy wife, I joined my husband on Cyprus

 on an unaccompanied tour of duty.

Meaning...pay your own way and very little goods were shipped.

We had to buy inexpensive dishes on Cyprus.

Most of these pieces were sold years ago in a garage sale,

but I did keep some deep serving/mixing bowls.

I know, what was I thinking?

Most of these I use everyday.

 Many have chips and/or crazing.

The dark blue banded cup with the gold rim is

Renaissance Lapis by Fitz and Floyd and

is the only set not used for everyday.

The seashell pattern is Nobilis by Fitz and Floyd.

I bought sets of twelve, plus various serving pieces,

in both Renaissance Lapis and Nobilis

at a Fitz and Floyd warehouse sale in Dallas years ago.

Botanic Blue by Portmeirion is one of my favorites.

Most of the pieces have a surprise someplace.  

See the butterfly inside the mug?

The pattern is discontinued, but I can find a few pieces once in a while.

After looking at the dishes in these photos again,

I realize that all of the patterns are discontinued.

The white sheer fabric the dishes are lying on

is a length of fabric I use as a table covering.

The pattern is white on white of bulbs,

some of which have roots.

My eyes never grow weary of looking at
beautiful blue and white botanical dishes,
even when I am washing them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm joining these inspiring linking parties...
the Scoop @ Cedar Hill Ranch
Savvy Southern Style
Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home @The Charm of Home
Blue Monday @ Smiling Sally

Featured at
Anything Blue Friday @ The Dedicated House

A Shade-Speckled Afternoon

The Monday Book Club read

The Immortal Life of

Henrietta Lacks
for the month of April.

Ten of the twelve members met
under a pear tree for lunch and a lively discussion
of Henrietta's contributions to modern gene research.

We discussed Henrietta's immortal cancer cells
the day after Easter when the immortal life of Christ
is celebrated with various symbols, images, and traditions.

The book club garden party tables beckoned us outside
with glimpses through the breakfast room's windows.

April 1st had a cloudless sky of vibrant blue.
The grass and newly leaf-clothed trees sparkled in the sunlight
with leaves exuberant with new life.

Inspired by Cedar Hill Ranch's post last year about
a Pasture Party in a field of bluebonnets, I gathered
old tables, various chairs, dishes, and tablecloths
to create a setting for moments of pure, perfect joy.

...a shade-speckled afternoon
of garden friends,
sweet breezes, and practically 
nothing to do...
(Marjolein Bastin)

To create a day we will remember repeatedly
as we reminisce in the days to come...

Bright green, verdant green,
pale green, medium green, celery green,... so many shades of green
will be a distant memory in the dead heat of summer
when all the leaves will be a dull green from lack of rain.

But today, with tables set in the dappled sunlight, we laughed, talked, ate, drank,
discussed, pondered, and enjoyed the new green life
under the pear tree.

We marveled at how Henrietta's cancerous cervical cells
have been used in research to create advances in medicine...
how zero gravity affects human cells in space,
the polio vaccine, chemotherapy,
cloning, gene mapping,
in vitro fertilization, herpes, leukemia,
influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson's disease... ... ...

Scientists continue to use Henrietta's cells
sixty-two years after first collecting them
in the weeks and days before her death.
Her cells were the first ones researchers found to continue
to replicate endlessly in cultures outside the body
as long as the cells have nutrients.

All without Henrietta's consent or
knowledge that her cells were being harvested!

This is what we pondered most of all
in the shade of the pear tree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm joining these inspiring linking parties...
the Scoop
Savvy Southern Style
Jennifer Rizzo
French Country Cottage
The Charm of Home