Monday, April 08, 2019

A Splash of This; A Splash of That






When in North Idaho in early April and it's raining and muddy and ya want to be outside smelling the flowers, you can do that. 

Just go visit an area nursery or two.

This type of therapeutic adventure began for me last spring on a rainy, ugly day. 

I got in the car, drove to the east end of Selle Road and turned into The Flower Farm.

As the rain continued outside, I strolled around inside, surveying the thousands of young plants, some blooming, some not. 

It's tender loving care and a lot of it that produces those starts for the spring, summer and fall flower shows. 

I left that day last spring, probably toting some pots of pansies and feeling revitalized.

To heck with the rain!

Same is true for yesterday.  In this case, I had two destinations in mind.  

Having seen that Moose Valley Farms, owned by my classmate Mary Lambert Kimball, is now open Sundays 10-4, I pointed the Subaru north and headed for Naples. 

Once there, I met Kevin, whom I've met before at another local nursery and later inside one of the greenhouses, tending to the baby plants, Marcia welcomed me. 

Marcia, who's been dealing with outdoor beauty since her days as a groundskeeper at NIC and I enjoyed a nice visit as I walked around snapping photos of flowers and the items of whimsy which accent Moose Valley.  

Later, I moved on to The Flower Farm and, as usual, enjoyed my annual conversation with owner Dennis. 

Dennis, his wife and their staff also produce and lovingly nurture an array of colorful beauties in their series of greenhouses. 

I picked up three pots of pansies for some starter color on the deck. 

And, then I inquired about the African daisies, which come in a variety of colors and bloom all summer long. 

Usually, I buy four packs of geranium seeds from Burpee, plant them and give away several. 

This year, I simply took starts from one remaining geranium from last year and decided that the money usually spent on seed would go to African daisies. 

Get here before Mother's Day, they told me. It's likely I'll do my best to beat that deadline cuz I sure do love those daisies. 

Anyway, a visit to any local nursery will take care of the worst case of rainy day blahs.  Heck, it looks like rain, so I may have to go back today to check on those daisies.   


























Meanwhile, off in Vietnam with Annie Love . . . .





Yesterday, or today, Annie took a shuttle to Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. 

She and her friend Deirdre then boarded a cruise ship, complete with accommodations to sail the bay on an overnighter.   

The bay, near the Chinese border, is a geologic wonder dotted with hundreds of limestone islets. 

As is customary with Annie, the "turists" on the boat know about the Seattle Sounders. 

When I first started this morning's blog, she sent me a photo of squid fishing, noting that the squid weren't biting on this round. 

Anywho, the fun goes on in Southeast Asia, and we feel fortunate to experience some of it from afar. 

Happy Monday on a big week:  Bill should be walking with both feet by week's end. 

Hallelujah! 









No comments: