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johnny jump ups

The other day I noticed a random pot bursting with colorful blooms in the wasteland of our backyard. I didn’t plant these sweet little violas here, they somehow, magically, grew without my help (which is probably why they look so good!).

These little flowers are pretty special to me. They remind me of my Grandpa, my dad’s father, who always had them growing in his flowerbeds. He called them Johnny Jump Ups, so that is what I’ve always referred to them by.

Apparently, viola tricolor is a European wildflower and also known as  heartsease, heart’s ease, heart’s delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, or love-in-idleness. Americans bestowed the Johnny Jump Up title and refer to it as a wild pansy.

Whatever you want to call it, I know that the sight of one of these darling little blooms always makes me smile. Not only because of the bold, bright colors, but because it reminds me so of my Grandpa.

She Who is Feeling Nostalgic Today

mayday

Happy May Day!

Captain Cavedweller and I were just discussing May Day and memories we have (him not so much as me, but I think the holiday tends to capture the interest of little girls much more than little boys).

May Day is  a spring celebration that falls exactly half a year from November 1. It’s related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic Festival of Walpurgis Night. As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious foundations and morphed into the popular secular celebration.The celebration in America is best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and baskets of flowers left on doorsteps as a surprise gift.
I remember one year at school we had a maypole using one of the pieces of playground equipment. Someone climbed to the top and fastened crepe paper streamers and then some of the students got to weave the streamers in and out in the traditional dance. I thought it was awesome. CC remembered doing something similar at his school using the tetherball pole.I also remember making May baskets and leaving them on a neighbor’s doorstep. My mom was also the recipient of some of my early May Day basket efforts which no doubt involved dandelions shoved into a canning jar.Wherever or however you celebrate this welcoming of spring, I hope you have a beautiful day!She Who Should Make a May Basket or Two

The Tulips

 

 

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I’ve blogged about these beauties before, but I love these tulips.

The deep magenta and the soft pink tones speak to my heart and make me smile.

tulip center

The original bulbs came from Captain Cavedwellers great-grandmother. We got our starts from CC’s grandma. Where we have them planted they are always the last tulips to bloom, usually after the threat of frost has gone and spring has truly arrived.

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I can see them from my kitchen window and all it takes is a glance at their vibrant blooms to make me smile.

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The other day the sun was shining just right to take a few fun shots of the tulips (and the bugs hiding on the petals).

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The blooms were absolutely gorgeous.

tulips 4Rich and colorful.

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And the sky was a fantastic shade of blue.

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That made me really glad I took a few minutes to stop and enjoy my tulips.

She Who Loves Spring Flowers

 

American football.

Sometimes I just can’t quite help myself.

I try to be a good wife. Honest, I do.

But then something begins to percolate and bubble and works its way into my thoughts and soon I’m saying something that throws Captain Cavedweller for a loop.

The other day he was completely engrossed in watching the NFL Draft. In our house, it is somewhat akin to a national holiday. Having been married for nineteen years, I know the routine:

• Do not walk, stand or breathe in front of the television.

• Only speak on commercial breaks if absolutely necessary.

• Do not, under any circumstances, ask any questions or initiate any conversation unless it is directly related to something that just happened in the draft process.

Having holed myself up in my office for the evening, I came out and sat down to watch a few minutes of the draft with him. From out of nowhere, I hear words flying out of my mouth that had absolutely nothing to do with football.

“Do you remember our wedding song?”

CC looked at me like I’d sprouted horns and rattled off a song and an artist. While he had the artist correct, he had the song wrong. The song he referred to was “our” song while we were dating, but not the wedding song.

Our wedding song was a brand new single that came out just a week or so before our wedding. I heard it on the radio and knew it had to be part of  our wedding. After much pleading and begging, the local radio station agreed to give us a copy of the song because there wasn’t anywhere local carrying the single yet.  It was “I Swear” by John Michael Montgomery.

So when I raised an eyebrow and shook my head at CC, his eyes grew wide and a look of terror crossed his face, knowing he was in the hot seat.

“I know it was John Michael Montgomery,” he said, on the defense.

“Yes, it was,” I said, picking up a magazine and starting to thumb through it.

“Well,” he said, staring at me, waiting for me to end the misery.

“You’ll figure it out,” I said, getting up from my chair and leaving the room.

I felt bad, momentarily, at having disturbed his intense concentration of the draft. Then I felt a little annoyed that he couldn’t remember our wedding song. It’s the only wedding he was actively involved in. How hard can it be to remember one song?

Getting ready for bed, I sat reading a book when he wandered in looking rather sheepish.

“Just tell me,” he said, now consumed with the need to know what he shouldn’t have forgotten.

“Nope,” I said, pretending to be absorbed in the book.

I heard the shower running and a short while later the shower door slammed and CC charged out of the bathroom.

I Swear,” he said, smugly, waggling his index finger at me with a triumphant grin while he dripped water all over the bedroom carpet. “The song was I Swear.”

“Right you are,” I said and gave him a pleased smile as he returned to the shower.

Although football is a sacred thing to him, CC abandoned watching the draft and kept digging through his memory until he came up with the song.

Despite the fact I know better than to throw left-field questions like that at him, especially when his thoughts are focused on football, he generally takes them in stride.

And that is reason #393 I love him so.

She Who Is a Little Sappy Today