Flower Petals

I had a blue hydrangea under the north-facing kitchen window of my first home with Marshal. I loved the shades of blue, green, purple, and I was delighted to have success with drying and preserving the blooms for continuing seasons. Marshal heard my wish to plant a hydrangea on the north side of our new home, so he surprised me with this one for Mother's day. We planted it on the north wall at the top of the newly landscaped stairs, a pleasing vision fulfilled. And another hope fulfilled - notice the blur of new green grass behind.

This bowl of blossoms has two unexpected discomforts connected to it, but isn't the final outcome quite delightful? Gabe and Lydia entertained themselves while Marshal and I were at the garden centers of Lowes and Fred Meyers. After enduring their quota of boredom, they began this treasure hunt of broken and dropped off blooms. The fuscia blossom was dubbed "the princess" by Lydia. The first discomfort was when the nursery caretaker at the second stop worked herself into a state of tight-lipped outrage, that had gone unnoticed until she nearly exploded a the children to stop picking the flowers! Gabe quickly told her that they were off the floor, he as surprised that she would think he was picking the blooms as she was taken aback that she had "possibly" wrongly assumed and been so upset for naught. She seemed to remain skeptical. The second discomfort was the physical reaction to the blooms on the way home. Both children's eyes began to tear and itch profusely. Gabe kept rubbing his eyes with his dirty hands until one eye threatened to swell shut if he continued. We forbid them to touch their eyes until we could get them home. I hadn't thought of all the chemicals they could have picked up from crawling around the nursery floors. Lydia, the literalist, says they weren't crawling. Anyway, hand and face washing, homeopathic eye drops, and homeopathic apis granules fixed the eyes. So I thought it a very creative way for the kids to make the most of a trying situation (following Mom's slow and tedious progress through a garden center), but for unforeseen consequences it can not be recommended!

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