Letter from the Northwest: July 2012

Saturday, July 28, 2012

I bought a Turkey

Whilst shopping at the Friday garage sales, yesterday, with my friend, Mary of The Thrill of the Hunt, I found this turkey platter:
I thought, "Oh, what a lovely platter for serving our Thanksgiving Turkey next November." I thought it was a good buy at $2. But wait - let me get a better look...

So I looked again.
Oh, my, only one drum stick. Oh well, what with the lovely brown, roasted bird sitting on top of the picture, maybe no one will notice.

Just call me "Hobble Gobble"

Then I looked closer and saw that the turkey had noticed!

"Oh Dear!"

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Lavender

This afternoon, Polly and I drove out to the lavender festival in the country near my house. It is always a joy to drive up there and pick baskets of lavender. Enough for the whole year. This year we chose a bunch of white blossoms as well as the more usual lavender ones. The bees were quite busy, but didn't seem to mind us. Here is last year's outing.
I've included a sweet poem by Edward Riles:

July

Glance lightly now and captivate
a scene that only you could paint
of grasses standing very tall
like the purple stems of cat’s-tail.

The silver-gray hair-grass sway
on moors hazy blue of day
shimmering seed-heads in the sun
dappled daisy and velvet bent.

Lavender scent beneath the tree
where butterflies flutter lazily
painted lady and meadow brown
the humming of the bumble bee.

July linger, we beg you stay
for soon the August baking sun
will cast the meadow silky-brown
in shades of gold with falling seed
in jaunty wind on summer’s day.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Lilies

This morning my Madonna Lily bloomed. The fragrance is perfuming the whole room. It is very late blooming, this year, because of the lovely cool spring we had. Now that the Summer heat has arrived, it finally decided to bloom.

My Lily

There is so much history, facts, and folk lore associated with this lily. I thought it would be fun to add some of the more interesting ones.

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Order : Liliales
Family : Liliaceae
Genus : Lilium
Species : Lilium Candidum
Range : S.W.Asia. Naturalized in Europe
Habitat : Rocky slopes and in scrub to 600 meters
Epithets: Candidum~very white

Liliaceae, the lily family has approximately 294 genera with 4500 species, and every member of every genus produces flowers consisting of six segments or petals and six stamens, which are the male reproductive structure of the flower. Three of the six petals often are referred to as sepals-the outer covering of the flower that protects its reproductive structures.
The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are polluted by bees.
It produces stiff, erect stems, 3 to 5 feet high, clothed with lance-shaped leaves. The flowers appear in June, flowering into July and has a strong sweet penetrating perfume.

The English translation of Fleur des lis, sometimes spelled "Fleur de lys" is flower of the lily.

Standard heraldic histories claim it originated in the 10th century as a symbol of sovereignty. It is believed to take the shape of a lily and to symbolize Mary and the Holy Trinity among other things.

Fleur de lis' origins with the French monarchs stems from the baptismal lily used in the crowning of King Clovis I. A legend claims that an angel presented Clovis the Merovignian King of the Franks with a Golden lily as a symbol of his purification upon his conversion to Christianity. Others claim that Clovis adopted the symbol when water lilies showed him how to safetly cross a river and thus succeed in battle.

Ecce Ancilla Domini, Dante Gabriel Rosseti. 1850

Artists for centuries have pictured the angel Gabriel coming to the Virgin Mary with a spray of lilies in his hand, to announce that she is to be the mother of the Christ child.
Jesus used "the lilies of the field" as the object of one of his better known lessons. ( Matthew 6:28 , Luke 12:27)
Its white color symbolizing the purity of the Savior and the joy of the resurrection while its trumpet shape suggests the angel Gabriel"s trumpet call to Rebirth and resurrection.
Of all the flowers mentioned in the Bible, lilies are mentioned most. In the Old Testament There is mention of lilies being used as decorative carvings on pillars in palaces and temples. But most of all they are mentioned in Solomon's Song of Songs.

"I am the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys." Songs of Solomon, 2:1
"As the lily among thorns, so is my love among daughters." Songs of Solomon, 2:2
"My beloved is mine and I am his; he feedeth among the lilies. Songs of Solomon, 16
" And its rim was like the rim of the cup, like a lily blossom." King I, 7:26
"I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily." Hosea 14:5