Mums (293/366)

“A chrysanthemum by any other name would be a lot easier to spell.”

― Robert C. Savage

TIME:  6:08 PM
PLACE:  Grade school
SUBJECT:  Mums at the Fall Festival

We had our Fall Festival at school this evening.  There were several games for the kids, a bounce house and inflatible obstical course, face painting and hair coloring stations.  To eat there was cotton candy, chili/hot dogs/hamburgers and for dessert, a bake sale.  The kids where able to redeem the tickets the won at the games for prizes.    HandsomeHusband donated the chrysanthemums and hay bales we used for decorations.

Yet Another Fall Vignette (315/365)

“The problem with taking the easy way out is that the enemy has already mined it.”

Murphy’s Military Law

TIME:  4:29 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Fall planter

First, a big thank you to all the veterans and their families for their service and whose sacrifices keep this country safe.  We are forever in your debt.
~*~*~
I was thinking about taking a photo at 11:11:11am since today is 11-11-11, but I was at work and when I looked at the clock it was too late. Doh!  So you all get yet another fall vignette.  What can I say…some days I take the easy way out.

Mum’s The Word (314/365)

“Why don't you get a haircut? You look like a chrysanthemum.”

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (English humorist, 1881–1975)

TIME:  4:19 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Chrysanthemums

I bought this large white chrysanthemum just before DramaQueen’s party a couple of weeks ago.  It’s sitting on my shabby chair right by my front door.  On a sunny day like today, In the late afternoon, the lighting is perfect for a photo.  That makes me happy.  I needed that because earlier today, I paid our real estate taxes.  Ugh.

Mother’s Day Project (128/365)

“To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.”

Bhagavad Gītā (Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, Kannada: ಭಗವದ್ಗೀತೆ, IPA: [ˈbʱəɡəʋəd̪ ɡiːˈt̪aː], Song of God). Also more simply known as Gita, is a Sanatana Dharma or Hindu scripture produced from the colloquy given by Sri Krishna to Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War.

TIME:  7:42 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Terracing

This is a project I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time – terracing around the Capital Pear tree in the front yard.  I even had my dad roped talked into helping out once I purchases the materials.  But - lucky him! – after my Mother’s Day breakfast, and the receiving of gifts from the children (earrings from DQ, a coupon book from MB and a 1st grade mother’s cookbook from SD) I mentioned to HH that I would like to do this and he agreed to help me build it today.  We went to a landscaping material and supply company and picked up the retaining blocks that matched the pavers I have around the front flower beds.  On the way home, we stopped my Mom’s grave and left a green hummingbird garden stake for Mother’s Day.  After we arrived home, it only took about 3 hours to build and, I am proud to say, HH and I did it without bickering…a first for us!  I’m loving how it turned out…HH does too.  Now I need to buy some annuals to plant in it next to the mum.

Sun Flower (288/365)

 
“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, with the help of their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.”

Pablo Picasso (Spanish Artist and Painter. 1881-1973)

TIME:  3:38 PM
PLACE:  Front porch
SUBJECT:  Chrysanthemum

The gigantic mum that I purchased a few weeks ago and placed in the planter on the front porch is now covered in blooms.  The color spectrum on the flowers from rust to yellow is simply amazing.  It has such happy colors; every time I look at it, I can’t help but smile.

Bud (270/365)

 
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

Anaïs Nin (French author, famous for her published journals and erotica. 1903-1977)

TIME:  6:21 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Chrysanthemum bud

One of the things I love about fall is how the buds of mums look like little tightly clenched fists before they blossom.

Picture of Helen (301/365)

 
I opened up that old book
Photographs took me back
To your room
To your room
Pale green eyes
Strong and kind
I looked at a picture of Helen
I woke up in your room
Photographs took me back
To your room
To your room

I heard it in your voice
In a place so close

Walter Salas-Humara, “Picture of Helen”, The Silos, The One With the Bird On the Cover. Voltone Music, BMI and MCA Music, BMI, 1990

TIME:  4:18 PM
PLACE:  Front yard
SUBJECT:  Chrysanthemum 'Helen'

Every fall, I purchase some Helen garden mums.   There is a reason for that.  We purchased our home from a sweet older lady whose name was Helen.  In fact, I lived in the house next door for six years with Helen as my neighbor.  She and her husband moved into the house around 1934 when they married.  They had one daughter.  When I met her, she was in her mid-seventies and had been a widow for over 30 years.   Her daughter had moved out of state.  I loved visiting and speaking with Helen.  She would tell me stories of her life and listen to my tales of work and social life.  She was a guest at my wedding to HH.  “I wouldn’t have missed seeing you as a bride for the world, Susan.”  she said.  She also always told me that I looked like Princess Diana.  She rejoiced in my first two pregnancies and sent over casseroles to help out after DQ and MB were born.  All too soon she grew unable to manage on her own and moved in with her daughter.  We purchased the house from her and I still sometimes refer to it as “Helen’s house.”  She is still living down in Tennessee with her daughter.  The mums I plant are a tribute to her.