Eclipse? Nah...a halo is even better.

There sure was a lot of hub bub about the eclipse on Sunday.
I was vaguely waiting for evening when it would begin, but hadn't made plans to view it personally (with proper eye protection etc.)
But Ha HA!
I happened to look up around 3 pm and there was a 22 degree halo around the sun.

I've blogged about these halos before.
They circle the sun whereas rainbows are in the opposite direction of the sun. 

Apparently they form in the sky on the average of every third day, where ever there is sunshine.
For something that happens nearly twice a week, people sure miss seeing them a lot.
Lots of people have seen a halo around the moon; how do they miss the halo around the sun then?

Well, come on in.
We got a new screen door last Monday, replacing the original wood framed three paned glass storm door.  The cats are LOVING this screen door thing!
The screen can be popped out and a glass pane inserted for winter.  I feel like I have another window put into my living room now.

The violas are blooming in the front yard. 

And a beautiful crop of mushrooms have poked up in the mulchy areas.
(No, I don't know if they are eatable, so we just admire them as they stand.) 

Around on the side of the house the iris are glorying.

 

 

 

 

In the back garden the coral bells are blooming nicely already.

They seem to get along quite well with the bleeding hearts.

Several kinds of columbine are in bloom beneath our sequoia.

 

Yes, these are also columbine.

 

 

The white is lovely, but I really am all about the sweet blue columbine.

The nettle, lobelia, hostas, columbine, Japanese maple, bleeding heart, toad flax, crocus leaves and ivy play well together in the shade beneath our 80ft. tall sequoia.
I do know how big sequoia get...like you can drive a car through the trunk big.  We shake our head at whomever thought it would be great to plant one...fifty plus years ago. Or maybe it is native.
Who knows.

I just planted three Japanese Painted Ferns this year.
Doesn't that center look like a shadow?
It isn't...it is just the color pattern of the fern.

Our shade garden is really working for us. 
We keep finding interesting colorful plants to plant in the shade; I almost could skip having a sun garden now.

Gardening in the shade is sure a lot cooler temperature wise.

We do have a sunny flower bed too.
The dahlia likes it there.

This year we've added two patio sized rose trees...a small yellow blossomed rose named "Lemon Drop" looks like drops of sunshine each morning.

Very soon Lemon Drop will be surrounded by bright tomato orange colored Oriental poppies.
Each morning I look out hoping they are "popping"; so far not yet, although I did see one true orange California poppy blossom in bloom.

At the foot of the deck stairs we are now placing potted Japanese maples.
This one is Autumn Moon.

This one is called "Ookie-go-mo" (or at least that is how the Japanese sounds.)
"Floating Clouds" in English

"Sister Ghost"

We actually own 32 Japanese maples now; some are the size of a cat, others human sized.
Each one is unique and uniquely named.
I just can't remember all their names, but for Mother's Day I received a variety named "Fairy Hair".
It does look just like it sounds...lime green and very, very fine slim leaves draping down.

The colorful leaf options and names of Coral Bells...or Heuchera...or Heucherella (which keeps leaves during winter) make me keep an eye out for more and more to add to the garden.

I sort of wish I had kept the labels so would know the names of each of them now.

I think this one is named after some wine.

The yellow one is probably Key Lime, and the Carmel one might be either Caramel or Creme Bruele. 

Going to be cheating here a bit.
The next few irises are blooming at our son's house.

We don't mind missing seeing the grand baby every day, but knowing a new iris is blooming almost every day makes us want to drop by frequently.
Isn't this one amazing? 

He really has collected some doozies.

My current favorite.
It has a really cute name...why can't I remember it?
Aagghhh!

Maybe I'll remember the name tonight. 

Purple Japanese maples blooming next to Autumn Moon Japanese maple:  Eye popping!

Every color of Iris is blooming right now.

He keeps his iris controlled...as specimens.
They don't hog the garden at all.

Normally I would say those colors don't work together.
But...they do in Iris!

And would you believe (back in my garden now) that I still have tulips blooming?

I am so tickled by these late comers.

 

These are blooming out front by the fence that hides the garbage cans.
I am finding reasons to take out trash a lot right now.
Thanks for strolling along with me through the garden.
Always something new to see each day.
And it is even better when seeing the garden with a friend.

Start 'em young.

And speaking of hats...

 

I think men and boys of all ages look wonderful wearing a hat and our one month old Master Luke is no exception
(As do women and girls too...especially in the case of the lovely bonneted Miss Josie McP.  )

HFP: Hat Friendly Profile

I met Karen at a Bible Study I've been attending.
We hit it off.
One day she tried on one of the hats I was wearing and I quickly realized that she had a HFP.
HFP= Hat Friendly Profile.

The two very minor downsides of owning a lot of hats are:

1. Not having enough time/places to wear them.
2. Not getting to see how they look on other people.

So I invited Karen to come over and try on some of my hats for fun.

I asked her if she would be willing to let me photograph my hats on her when she came over; she agreed.
I suggested wearing a simple solid color top...she chose a black tank top.
You tell me...what hat doesn't work with a simple black top?
Black slacks or a skirt, or another basic color combo works
with wearing a hat.
No fuss...no muss!

She's got a couple of kids in college/grad school.
And no, she didn't have her kids as a teen!
Funny how people say only the very young look good in hats.

Young at heart...yes...the young at heart DO look good in hats!

She probably tried on thirty plus hats; only one decidedly didn't flatter her.
(A fact that earned her immediate HFP status!)
Isn't that turban cool???
We discussed Dolly Madison's turban preference, and the time periods when they were popular.
Making a well draped turban takes considerable skills. 
No wonder the rich and famous were the ones to sport the look.

 

This is a more daring hat, by modern views.
Karen rocked the look without a single moment of hesitation.

Dang...she wears that hat SO much better than I ever have.

We are both chatter boxes about history and faith and politics.
This woman knows her stuff!

And yet look how elegant she looks...

The lace on this hat is from the 1800's.

I used a Frank Olive straw hat that had no trim and beaded it, added the vintage lace, then added fine black veiling under the brim.

We both agreed...black top, skirt, jeans and off  you go to do your errands.
No biggie.
(I have worn this hat grocery shopping. The only downside was getting stopped in each aisle by people wanting to discuss my hat.)

This hat belonged originally to my "Belle of Memphis" grandmother, a society lady who probably had a lovely navy suit to match.

Basically it is a beret, kicked up a notch.

An Italian straw that I shaped and trimmed and never have worn as it is too small for my head.
I imagined only a very young girl, school age, could make it work.

Guess I don't know everything.
Cute, huh?
Can totally picture it with a pink sundress.

We discussed what made a hat a fascinator vs. a "hat".
(Fascinators are one size fits all...hats have to fit one's head size, the same way shoes have to fit your feet size.)

One of the very first hats I ever made...back when I really didn't know what I was doing.
I made it to match a suit.
It is a blocked buckram shape covered with a silk, then trimmed.

With the exception of the turban and my grandmother's navy hat, each of the hats are ones that I personally made or trimmed.
Karen...she made them all look wonderful.

Iris

Iris...that's the name of the Goddess of the Rainbow.
She is also the Goddess of the Sea and the Sky; she is both a messenger and a virgin.
If I was inclined to worship Greek Gods, (which I am definitely NOT!)  I am pretty sure I'd be worshipping Iris. 
She seems like one of the nicer Greek goddesses.

My mom had an Aunt Iris.
Funny, I haven't heard of any girl being named Iris in my whole life, except the my great Aunt.
Such a beautiful flower you'd think mom's would pick that name more often.

 My Dad, my Mother-in-law, our son and we are all avid iris collectors.
This time of year a peek in the garden is a daily treat as new iris flags unfurl each day.

Those of us in SLC are blessed to have an Iris Society that  holds sales of iris each summer.
They sell their extra iris at a bargain rate.
Even so...since we are greedy and can't seem to say "no" to any new variety offered, we tend to spend more than we think we will when the iris purchase is rung up. 

Still...I can't help but think that if there had never been an iris before and suddenly someone managed to create one, the price would be astronomical.
Is there any man made sculpture than can even begin to compete with this sort of beauty? 

Iris..so named because it is a flower that comes in all the colors of the rainbow.

So I pose a question to you: 

Can anyone have too many rainbows in their life? 

For me...the answer is no.
This year we will go to the iris sale again and collect still more and plant them against the fence at the bottom of our garden, where they will amaze us again and again.
And provide us with earth bound rainbows anew each spring.

Random Catching up.

Did I make the Jr. High School Peanut Chew bars that I blogged about earlier this week?
You bet your bippy I did!
(Remember when everyone used to go around betting their bippy?  What exactly was a bippy anyway?)

The recipe proved itself.
The bars were exactly as I remember them tasting back when I was about 14 years old.
If only my metabolism was the same as a 14 year old was.
I had to slice up the jelly roll pan full and tuck most of the bars away in the freezer and made plans to foist them off on family and friends.
Otherwise I would have probably eaten the entire pan in a day or two.
My "bippy" would likely have enlarged itself tremendously!

So let's talk about smaller.
As in tiny dish gardens, which to me are even more exciting than tiny doll houses.
Isn't this one adorable?

The moss "lawn"...the one tiny succulent used as a bush.
Ahhh.
Adorable!

One of our non-chain garden centers has staff that create dish gardens to die for.
If I had to live in a place without a garden I would snap up these dish gardens to sooth my garden loving soul.

The white pine planted desert scene was pretty big...it would almost cover the top of a card table.
I would of added a small ceramic jack rabbit to the scene. 

Check out the pine cones!
So cute...unlike the pine cones that our 40 foot tall pine tree rains down on us by the bushel full each year.

The weather has been just perfect this week.
Just a tad brisk in the morning; just a tad warm by late afternoon.
I have made it a point to go walking in the morning while it is still cool and the sun is just rising above the snow jeweled mountains. 

Flowering shrubs abound in the neighborhood. 

I watch for nests; this nest being the same one that I photographed in the snow on April 1st. 

So pleasant to see snowballs that are fragrant.

That bush towers over head and creates a dazzling display against the rich blue morning sky.
The bird song fills my ears as I walk and I once again am thankful for the beauty that surround me here in Utah.

Forty years later....

Oh. My. GOODNESS!!!
Last week one of my High School Facebook buddies tipped me off about the La Jolla Triva facebook page, and the La Jolla High School face book page.
The sites have gone viral in the past two weeks: what began as about thirty folks reading and commenting has swollen to around 900. The things I have learned about what went on at my High School and Junior High School has been simply astonishing.

(Eyes crossing here...smiling...and some frowns too...)

But the craziest fun was seeing this recipe posted by the younger sister of one of my classmates. 

First I have to tell you that EVERYONE eagerly awaited Peanut Chew Tuesdays at Muirlands Junior High School.   To arrive at school without the cash (like 50 cents?) needed to purchase the bars on Tuesday was a terrible thing. 

To be delayed in getting to the cafeteria and discovering the peanut chews were all sold out...a disaster!

Now my friend was from an extremely gregarious family.  They were high energy and would talk to anyone and made friends everywhere they went.  I was jaw dropped to see that D. had the smarts to just go ASK the cafeteria ladies for a copy of the Peanut Chews recipe.

As a seventh or eight grader no less!  I personally would never have dreamed of doing such a thing...

Anyhoo...for forty plus years I have from time to time recalled the chewy sweet peanut bars that were sold in squares and the wax paper that stained from the oil oozing and icing on the bar. 

Never would I have ever imagined that my friend had a handwritten, straight from the horses mouth copy of that very recipe!

She posted a picture of her original handwritten recipe on Sunday; today, Tuesday, something like 48 comments have arrived:

Her mom (who is still a best buddy of my own mom) added the words jelly roll to indicate a jelly roll pan was an option.
The icing...just milk and powder sugar mix. Not worth giving directions for that!

As it stands right now as I write at least one person has whipped up a batch and said it was just as she remembered it to be.
I so want to make a batch myself...and probably will soon...calories be darned...

And as my friend said in the FB posting...she will NOT be held accountable for her spelling!