Memorial Day Rhododendrons

The Rhododendrons decided to make their grand entrance this Memorial Day and since I had already prepared a Memorial Day entry, I decided to save them for the next entry.

Enjoy!

The Moment of Remembrance

Memorial Day has lost much of it relevance since 1971 when the date was changed to the last Monday in the month of May to accommodate a three day weekend for people to celebrate rather than a date in history where one pauses to reflect and remember those who have given their lives in the service of this nation.

Originally, the day was called Decoration Day though changed along the way to Memorial Day. Many cities and towns lay claim to being the birthplace of this national holiday and organized women's groups were decorating the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers after the war. No one really knows where it started but in 1966 then President Lyndon Johnson officially declared the birth place of Memorial Day to be Waterloo, New York.

Originally proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic as a day of remembrance, the first observed day was May 30, 1868. Flowers were placed on both union & confederate grave sites in Arlington National Cemetery and the first state to recognize Memorial Day was New York in 1873. by 1890, Memorial Day was recognized by all the Northern states but the South chose to honor their solders on a different day and continued to do so until after World War I when the day was changed from only honoring Civil War Veterans who had died to all soldiers who gave up their lives during war.

John McCrae wrote the famous poem, " In Flanders Field" in 1915.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields."

Moina Michael added her own poem to this one with:

"We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies."

Ms. Michael was the first to start wearing the poppy flower on Memorial Day. Madam Guerin, visiting from France took that idea back to France and came up with the artificial red poppy one sees today being handed out for donations for disabled veterans. Her charity gave away the artificial poppy to help collect donations for the orphans and widows, and this spread to England and eventually to the United States where we see them being handed out on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.

Let us pause in our holiday weekend festivities, no matter what one's feeling is on war, and remember those who gave of their lives for their fellow man and their nation in a moment of remembrance.

The Hawthorne Trees are in Bloom

I took this first picture through the solarium Plexiglas window because I was unable to get into a better position outside to take it. Notice the wee red blossoms that look like miniature roses to me.



I used my cane to pull down a branch so I could photograph the flowers from it and not get pricked by the very long and well hidden thorns.



Another view with a different camera setting and the help of my cane to bring the branch closer. I should introduce you to my cane, his name is Abel. ;-)

The Hawthorne's from a distance.

I am constantly being surprised by the different flowers that are growing out of this flower box this year. I haven't a clue what any of these little white flowers are mixed among the Bluebells and Tulips.


Here is our mystery plant in full bloom. Who knows, perhaps, someone will stop by and glance upon it and tell us what it is.


I don't know about you, but I can see a wee face looking back at me in the middle of this flower. I have never seen it until this year. I know I didn't plant it.

Here it is from a different and lower angle.

Then there were these that are new this year out of the same flower box. This has been an interesting year for surprises.

I held the camera underneath the flower and took this photo.

This last one is of the flowering bloom from the Hawthorne Trees.

Lilacs are in bloom

These blossoms are still in the process of opening and their smell is wonderful. I look forward every Spring to their blossoms and smells. Kindly, click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Yesterday, I had opened the garage door getting ready to bring out the lawn mower when this wonderful smell wafted its way into the garage. It became so strong I looked out to see our Lilac bush blooming with flowers. I had expected this to happen sometime during the next week. Our recent very warm weather coaxed them out and they are scenting the neighborhood with wonderful fragrance.



Here are some Blue Bells that were planted some years ago near the Magnolia tree in the island between the driveway and the front lawn.

Again, from another angle are the Blue Bells.

Here's another bed of them near the garage entrance by the Rhododendron's. I'll add to this entry as things progress. I hope you're experiencing beautiful weather this weekend where ever you may live.

Yes, We Are Finally In Spring. (some additional plant pictures for you)

Greg: Thanks for reminding me to get back out there and take some more pictures of this plant whilst it is blooming. Here is the underside of the leaf. The leaf is not as strong as an Holly leaf but a wee bit thicker than normal plant leaves. I would say that it isn't a succulent type of leaf.



In this picture I was trying to give you a lateral view of the leaf for thickness.



I'm holding the flower for a side view. The flowers were so tiny they would go out of focus even with the flower setting on the camera when I brought the camera too close.



Here's a wider angle picture of the urn with these mystery plants.




Here's a front view of the flower. Apologies for not being able to bring the camera any closer. I took two sets of films previous to these and they were all out of focus.






More pictures of the plant in general and the last additional pictures. What do you think, Greg?




Here are some additional pictures to add to the collection of Spring photos. I do not have a clue what this plant is that I planted a few years ago in this urn. It sends out beautiful vines or shoots, if you will, down the side of the urn.




These are the Hawthorne trees directly south of the solarium at the back of our home and you can see the wee "fairie-hill" near the fence. ;-)





Here is another photo taken recently of those same trees with the leaves growing. The flowers will be making their entrance soon.





Here are those Bleeding Hearts (the North Western variety ) Many thanks to Greg of Midnight Gardens for letting me know what they are.





These have been growing for around five years now inside the solarium. Their name escapes me at the moment. There is another variety at the very right of this picture in green.




Our ficus tree has been moved to this corner and loves the change.





This "Mother-in-Law's Tongue was taken from my mother's plant nearly forty years ago and we had it shipped from Chicago when we moved out west this last time approximately 18 years ago. It is ready to be transplanted into a larger urn as soon as I pick one up. I was at Costco today and saw that they have some beautiful Vietnamese glazed urns there for sale.





This picture was taken a few weeks ago I wanted but you can see those plants in the urn out on the patio before they really opened up and started blooming in the next picture. You can see the shoots starting off the left side of the urn and the little shoots with red flowers coming up from the centre of the plant's leaves.




That's all I have for now. Our Maple trees in front and back have opened their leaves and look beautiful. I'll add some more pictures with them included in the near future.

The Great Selkie of Sule Skerrie

I watched The Secret of Roan Inish a few nights past filmed in 1993. It took place on an Irish Island in this movie called Roan Inish, which was shared by the seals and the islanders.

In the legends from Ireland, Iceland and Scotland there is a mythological creature that can transform itself from a seal into a human. They can be of either sex though the selkie in this movie was female. If one can find the selkie's seal skin when they are in the human form, they will be at your mercy. If the selkie finds its own seal skin, it will immediately put it on and return to the sea. The stories say they have married humans and have had offspring from these marriages. There actually, are some families that have traced their lineage to include the selkie!The legend is said to have originated on the Orkney Islands, a part of Scotland in the north. Selch or selkie are the Scots words for seal. Wikipedia mentions that seal comes from the Old English word of seolh. The other spellings of selkie are silkie or selchie.

One knows that having such an interesting legendary creature as part of Irish, Scottish or Icelandic mythological history,would make for an interesting ballad. There happens to be one written about this creature and I located it among the Child Ballads. It is listed as number 113, which is entitled: The Great Selkie of Sule Skerrie.
One more note, a skerrie is a small island usually composed of lumps of rocks or boulders that are present during low tide and generally disappear during high tides. At low tide one can see or hear the seals resting on them. There actually is a skerrie some distance northwest of the Orkney Islands that is called Sule Skerrie!

Here is the ballad telling the story of the Great Selkie of Sule Skerrie.

1.An earthly nourris sits and sings,

And aye, she sings, by lily wean!

Little ken I my bairn's father,

Far less the land where he dwells in.

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2.Then he arose at her bed-feet,

And a grumbly guest, I'm sure was he:

"Here am I, thy bairns father,

Although I be not comelie."

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3."I am a man upon the land,

I am a Selkie in the sea;

And when I'm far and far frae land,

My dwelling is in Sule Skerrie."

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4."It was na weel," quo the maiden fair.

"It was na weel, indeed," quo she,

"That the Great Selkie of Sule Skerrie

Suld hae come and aught a bairn to me."

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5.Now he has taen a purse of gold,

And he has pat it upon her knee,

Sayin, "Gie to me my little young son,

And tak thee up thy nourris-fee."

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6.Ane it shall come to pass on a simmer's day,

When the sin shines het on evera stane,

That I will tak my wee young son,

And teach him for to swim the faem.

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7.And thou shall marry a proud gunner,

And a proud gunner I'm sure he'll be,

And the very first shot that ere he shoots,

He'll shoot baith my young son and me.

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