I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Saturday, April 16, 2011

Ranunculus and Pink Narcissus

Hi! Forget the rain and fog---I just had to show you all my spring flowers! Earlier this week before the rains started I received a Trader Joe's (grocery) flier in the mail....


and it said that the Ranunculus were in!

web photo, via Google
So I hustled over to get some, just can't resist them.


I guess no one else can either because there was only one bunch left! White, hmmm. Usually I buy the pink or orange but white is nice. And there were pink!!! narcissus from Ireland, only 1.49 a dozen.


"Pink" daffodils aren't very pink, of course. They are creamy white with peachy centers. But they are a favorite of mine too.(You get it, right? Lizzy loves flowers, lol!)



Sarah, who writes one of my fave blogs, A Beach Cottage, is always writing about "foofing about with flowers"...she is English-Australian  and has a real way with words!



So this is me foofing with my ranunculus and daffodils......



My small white hearts look cute tied on the pitcher, don't they. This one was too prim, the old quilt bit just too, well, old (grungy) to offer for sale...so I kept it.


Love the putty suspender button!


Does anyone remember a fun little toy, from years ago...Chinese or Japanese tissue paper flowers that came in teeny tiny clamshells, sealed shut with the tiniest bit of Chinese newsprint tape? You put them in water and..
Oh...

so...

slowly...

a flower appeared!

Magic!



My mother always brought them home from New York or San Francisco Chinatowns, along with those crepe paper balls, like rag balls, filled with charms, trinkets, and a fortune. And tiny wooden nodder dolls? Oh I loved all that stuff! They'd be in my Easter basket some years too.

Anyway, ranunculus [-es? ranunculae?) look just like those tiny water flowers.


And they are one of the few flowers that even in this modern 24/7/365 world, are only available for a few short days in April.


Well worth a trip over the bridge and 4 dollars!

BTW, those little flower toys do not seem to exist anymore. But a similar craft and magical transformation can be found in "Blooming Teas" .


The flowers are, I think, real tea leaves though? Very pretty if somewhat unusable unless you have glass teacups or mugs? Fun for Mothers Day brunch?
Have a good weekend!

love

          lizzy

                        

.......gone to the beach