I am away from the internet, so this will be brief.
Mr. Flower was glad to find a beer with a Volkswagen on it.
When my garden is a mess, I feel like a mess, too.
I have been too busy to take care of myself or my garden this summer.
I am glad the weather is getting cooler.
Maybe things will slow down, so I can catch up.
It’s time to get home and garden.
Flower needs to get back to her flowers.
Love it!
FLOWER
I searched for my old “Climbing okra” seeds to grow some again for one of my readers.
It has many other names such as Chinese okra, Egyptian cucumber and Vietnamese luffa.
Its scientific name is Luffa acutangula.
Yesterday evening, I noticed the blooms.
They do almost glow in the dark.
Bumble bees were busy zooming from bloom to bloom.
They were moving so fast that I could barely get a photo.
There are some tiny fruits, too.
I need to wait outside at dusk and see if the moths come like last time.
Thank you, Curtis Wilkinson, for prompting me to grow these again.
I am not sure how long these old seeds would have stayed viable.
I mailed out some seeds to other readers. I hope that yours have grown as well.
Hopefully these little okra/luffas will produce some more seeds for me.
FLOWER
Earlier this week, I spent hours walking the streets of Lynchburg, Virginia
and taking hundreds of photographs of historic houses, churches and gardens.
I was stopped in my tracks by this particular house.
What made me pause and put down my camera?
Why did I feel the need to sit down and then circle this property?
Did it remind me of someone’s home in my childhood years?
Was there some architectural aspect that seemed familiar?
Its facade does vaguely resemble the Moses Cone Manor in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Did it remind me of another mansion or plantation that I have previously photographed?
I tried to recall, but nothing came to me.
Still. Here I was standing here. Stalking an empty house in a strange city.
A middle-aged woman in sensible shoes and flowered pants lugging a camera.
(I was trending, not blending.)
This has happened before. I refer to it as a presence.
The air is thicker, everything slows, there is a peaceful pause in time.
Was it the spirit of one of the Langhornes?
Something pulled me and held me there.
I wanted to stay, but a dog barked and broke the spell.
I moved on to wander and wonder.
FLOW on the GO
I have spent some time out of my comfort zone this week.
FLOW has been schooled, but not fooled.
I have tried numerous times to share a bit of information
that may be of use to the USA.
Like a good citizen.
These exchanges could have been mutually beneficial, but weren’t.
The first young woman kept sending me in circles and telling me to do things that I had all ready tried.
Tell me Melish, was it my age or my accent that lead you to believe that I could not use the internet as well as you?
I finally had to inform Melish that the office she kept recommending had been closed since February of 2015.
Then there was Jo. I guess I had consumed more coffee than she yesterday morning.
She interrupted me to let me know that I did not have to spell everything for her.
I was not using the NATO Phonetic Spelling just the regular alphabet.
What a Charlie Foxtrot!
I think it would be more likely to get help from an alien force.
If you comment on this post, do not expect a quick response.
I will be outside building a signal fire and arranging glow in the dark rocks to spell out
Sierra Oscar Sierra
FLOWWAITINGFORHELPFROMUFO
I have seen too much in the past days.
My thoughts are swirling.
I peeked out from behind my veil of privilege, isolation and ignorance
to see things strange, foreign and other-worldly in my midst.
I am baffled by my blindness.
I do not know where this will take me,
but I will go.
I must.
FLOW
I have been fortunate to spend the past few days in the midst of magic.
I was in the presence of the work of two creative minds in the same location
on the night of a full moon.
I am amazed that both my head and heart did not explode from the beauty and joy.
I was on the grounds of Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
This is the castle created by George Vanderbilt.
On display throughout the grounds and inside the palace
were the dazzling glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly.
Their magical spirits created mind-boggling beauty.
I am so grateful when mortals are given a glimmer of higher power
to share with the rest of us,
as Prometheus shared the flame
to enlighten and inspire
a mere mortal like me.
FLOWER
I work very hard to be a good vine parent.
I plant them in good soil. I put them in the proper amount of light.
I feed them. I water them. I support them.
I guide their growth.
But I cannot grow for them.
The reason I love vines is their optimism.
They reach up and out and grow with faith.
I envy that.
But sometimes they take a wrong turn.
They grow in the wrong direction. Somewhere the sun can’t find them.
I try to guide them back. But sometimes it can’t be done. They are too high, too far gone.
This creeping fig has grown around and around under this stoneshroom cap.
At first it was cute. I let things progress.
But now it is too late to change its path.
It is clinging to it and will have to be ripped off to get out unless…
I remove the cap and let it cling to this old wrong turn as it reaches up unhindered.
My daughter is a vine.
God bless us both.
MAMA FLOW
Why wait to get just the right garden accessory when a piece of trash will do the trick?
I feel sorry for folks who have HOA’s (Home Owner Associations) dictating what is allowed in their yard.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, we can slap up any implement in our yards.
I feel sorry for folks of suburbia, all stifled by rules of respectability and what-not.
I love my ghetto garden. Anything goes.
Reuse and recycle. Go Ghetto! (No offense.)
Go with the FLOW
floweralley 