Macro

This beautiful bouquet of flowers grown by Laotian women was an early Mother's Day gift from my husband.

I love the soft yellow of this Iris growing in our back yard.

Blue Iris

I love to take pictures. But just taking pictures is not good enough anymore. I want to learn how to be at least a decent photographer. Today I squeezed off a few shots in the back yard, using the macro setting on my camera. It's a beginning.

Earth's Bounty

Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits.

We couldn't resist one of these!

These large brown eggs are said to be double yolkers.

Carolina's Medical Center and the new Levine Children's Hospital can be seen just beyond the farmer's market at the bottom of our street.

Laotian women offer beautiful fresh flowers they've grown themselves.

We'll buy our tomatoes and other veggies here until ours come in.

There has been a farmer's market at the bottom of our street - just seven houses away - since the 1940's. It was originally open just for Christmas trees, then for Halloween pumpkins. Several years ago the market added veggies and fruits, home baked items and eggs, even fresh shrimp from the Carolina coast. Shopping there is such an enriching experience, as it attracts people from all cultures and walks of life -old Charlotte to new South - chefs to young mothers.

It is a small, family-run and owned business which gives work to many. We are so glad it's there!

Keep Your Eye on the Prize, Hold On

We voted early and were told ballots cast at EACH polling place were running 300-400 a day. That's an astounding figure for early voting in North Carolina.

This Democratic household publicly makes an endorsement.

Our candidate.

In a country overflowing with serious problems, I am amazed at how easily voters' attention can be diverted by non-issues. Do the spin-meisters actually believe whether or not one wears an American flag pin should be at the top of the agenda? To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, "I dream of a nation where one day a man will be characterized by the content of his character and the things he believes rather than his wardrobe and accessories."

Adding to the Perennial Garden

This lovely rose appears apricot while in bud form. When open, only a tinge of that color remains. Roses with these flat blossoms always remind me of the wild roses which grow along country roads in Illinois.

Each year I find cranesbill geranium (gernium maculatum) growing in new places. A self-seeder, it spreads quickly, making it a nice 'filler' plant. As an aside: geranium is a Greek word for crane, as the unopened seedhead looks like a crane's bill.

Purple trillium (trillium erectum) is one of the late bloomers in our wildflower garden.

It is a beautiful day here - perfect for working in the garden. We're trying to attract more butterflies, so are establishing an area with plants they love - purple and white coneflower as well as a raspberry colored bee balm. Beautiful blue lobelia and white euphorbia, a dainty plant new to me, were planted along the front border. We'll scatter a bit of fertilizer in the beds, as rain is in our forecast.

Above are some of the plants I photographed this morning. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be fast enough to get a shot of the gorgeous butterfly I saw resting on the mayapple.

One Year and More

My one-year blogging anniversary came and went on April 27. I was so distracted I failed to make note of it in any way. During that time I've had nearly 8750 visitors and written nearly 350 entries. I'll have to plan something special for my 10,000th visitor.

What began as an art and quilting blog has on occasion veered off into other directions. I've pondered a name change to Sentimental Journey, as I often write about childhood memories and my family, the most important thing in the world to me.

Another anniversary of note: we celebrated 37 years of marriage today. Since we'd already had enough excitement this week, we had a rather lazy day, dressing in jeans and revisiting a great pizza parlor the kids had introduced us to. We were home early and settled in our jammies to watch the conclusion of the fabulous PBS series Carrier.

The 10-episodes documented the lives of sailors and marines on a six-month deployment aboard the USS Nimitz. We were hooked from episode one, developing a strong affinity for many of the personnel. It was an awesome and humbling show. Hope you got to see it.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.

Photo: Wikipedia

A Shared Garden

Many of the plants in our garden were gifts from friends. I love walking our little winding path and remembering those who were so sharing. Yesterday Suzie, Bill and I dug hosta, canna lily, lilies of the valley, bleeding heart and cranesbill geranium for the kids' garden in Greensboro. To that mix we added a white mandevilla, a BD gift to Suzie, and a couple of extra herbs.

Matthew's Honda is filled with plants from our perennial garden.

Matthew shoots a close-up of the hosta leaves while Suzie looks on.

The kids share a laugh with Bill before heading out.

Matthew and Suzie say bye to Numa, their beloved Lab who's staying with us temporarily. She misses them and they miss her right back.

Going home. It's going to be lonely at our house.

Having Faith

Solid as a rock, Matthew and his bride Suzie wait for his pre-cath x-rays.

Yesterday our son Matthew underwent his annual heart catheterization. Although he has undergone more than 20 of these procedures since his heart transplant 15+ years ago, I still get butterflies in my stomach each time. I keep repeating to myself, "Have faith."

We arrived at Carolinas Medical Center very early so that paperwork, labs and x-rays could be completed prior to the actual cath. Dr. Ted Frank, Matthew's primary cardiologist, spoke with all of us in the cath holding area. Dr. Larry Watts who performed Matthew's bypass five years ago, also stopped by to say hello. We are so very fortunate to have such a great heart center and such wonderful, caring doctors just a block and a half from our house!

Dr. Sanjeev Gulati performed the actual procedure, in which the coronary arteries of the heart are examined. A scope is threaded through a catheter which has been inserted into the femoral artery. Injected dye allows the arteries to be seen. Everything went very well. The arteries are basically unchanged from a year ago, which is very good, and the graph from the bypass is clean as a whistle.

Matthew also had an extensive echocardiogram - an untrasound of the heart - which measures actual heart function. The 62 images were then examined by doctors who specialize in reading echos. We were elated to learn Matthew's heart function has improved significantly from last year. Hallelujah!

After four hours of lying flat to allow the artery to clot and prevent bleeding, Matthew was able to come home. He took a nap on the couch, Suzie and I fell asleep on the deck and Bill prepared a vegetarian birthday dinner for Suzie. We had whole grain peach and strawberry Savannah bars complete with a candle, for dessert. It was the perfect ending to a very good day.

I took this shot of Matthew having his palm scanned just as my husband and a receptionist

said simultaneously, "You can't take pictures in here!"

A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

Newlyweds Erin and Frank with Suzie and Matthew.

Best friends from college.

Matthew and Suzie drove down from Greensboro late Monday. We all joined their friends from college, Frank and Erin, for a delightful dinner at a great Vietnamese restaurant. Frank then ran next door to buy a round of sinfully divine pistachio Baklava for all of us! Yum!

Frank will always have a special place in our hearts as he once saved Matthew's life. When the kids were in college, he drove over an hour to Charlotte every night and then back home again, helping Matthew get through the excruciating 6-hour chemo infusions he had to undergo. Frank never left his side, encouraging him and feeding him ice chips when his father and I just could not bear it. Someone who has that kind of strength to do something so difficult and selfless is my version of a true hero. We'll never forget it.

An Early Birthday Celebration

Our wonderful daughter-in-law Suzie climbed the ornamental cherry tree
in the back yard for this shot.

I drove to Greensboro Saturday for the day. Since my DIL's birthday is the same day as my son's upcoming cath, the kids celebrated early with a cookout for family and friends. It was a beautiful day filled with great people, great food and fun.

Matthew grilled burgers and dogs for the crowd - with the help of good friend Dave.

Suzie loves babies. Here she holds Riley, son of Dave and Rachel.

Matthew and Suzie pose in the dappled shade. Their great Dane Darby
is shown in the background.

A New Venture: Art for Sale

I will now be offering some of my quilts, whimsies and small works of art for sale. Check the link under Ellen's Art for Sale in the right-hand sidebar to see what's available.

Fire Pink

Fire Pink - a member of the Pink family
Silene Virginica
Photo credit: Illinois Wildflowers Site

Hidden in the midst of Myers Park, one of Charlotte's oldest and most beautiful neighborhoods, sits Wing Haven. The four-acre garden and bird sanctuary was begun in 1927 by Elizabeth Clarkson. More than eight decades later, the garden is an inspiration - a secret garden - almost invisible from the street. For a glimpse, go to:
http://www.winghavengardens.com/

Gardeners in search of rare and unusual plants flock to Wing Haven's plant sale each spring. My DH, the early bird, was there when the gates opened while I waited until early this afternoon. List in hand, I had my heart set on finding a wildflower named Fire Pink. No - it was not to be found. Many of the expert helpers admitted they were not familiar with it.

A Google search was enlightening. The plant is rare and endangered, found only in central to southern Illinois and parts of Nebraska. No wonder I was drawn to the photo I'd seen in an old wildflower book. I must have seen it at one time as Illinois is where I was born and my grandparents once lived in Nebraska!

For more information on this stunning wildflower, go to:

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/firepink.htm

Photo credit:

The Written Word

I spent most of this afternoon writing letters and notes. Not on the computer, but by hand. Such a satisfying thing, to convey thought using paper and pen. Today was my day to send birthday congratulations or thanks or express hopes and prayers to those who are ill.

The computer is a marvelous tool. But so many emails are read quickly and then deleted. Some of the most precious things I have are cards, poems and drawings done by my son Matthew from the time he was little. I have a special box which holds these along with letters and cards from my parents and other loved ones. I've read them so many times over the years. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me remember.