Man, did we get a lot done today. Went to Amsterdam Nurseries and got some Broom (ground cover) for the nightmarish hill in our backyard. Also got four really nice rhodos for the terraced area.

Cut the grass...blah blah. The yard is shaping up nicely though, so it should be pretty gorgeous by the time we're done.

Earl grew about half an inch today, the little dickens!

Here is is, my baby luffa. (or Luffa aegyptiaca) for all you latin requiring plant-heads out there. Isn't he cute? (Actually, these plants are both "he" and "she", so I've got some pollinating in my future). I think I'll call him Earl.

I'm feeling *quite* lazy today, did my shipping and shopping, and damn, it's hot out there. Not that I'm complaining.

So I started some fairly weird seeds a couple of weeks ago.....I really dig weird plants. (Get it??) But seriously, if I see a plant in a store that looks as though it came from Mars or something, I have to buy it. It drives David a bit crazy, so that's an added benefit.

Anyway. I started seeds for a Luffa. You know the luffas that you buy to use in the shower? Yep, it's a plant, a kind of gourd. It looks spectacularly hideous when mature, so it's basically right up my alley, plant-wise. I'll come back in a little bit with a picture of the baby plant. It's still in the cute stage. A scary thought.....when I'm away teaching, I'll have to leave it in David's care. Yikes.

Lilacs are almost blooming!

It's raining for the fifth day in a row, but it's supposed to be nice for the weekend...how very "un-Vancouverish"!

About my lilacs, when we moved to this house there was this scrubby shrub in the back yard that was not particularly lovely, in fact I almost yanked it out; but decided to wait until the following spring to see if it did anything interesting. So last spring, it gave me a lilac....one single lilac. Which bloomed while I was in Italy, so I missed it.

This year, it's got about 40 flower heads, and they're just starting to open, with that fantastic perfume that's my favorite flower smell........far better than roses, even. I'll take a picture within a day or two.

Lilacs always make me think of "Marjorie Morningstar", and the kiss she didn't get from Wally ...the poor sap. Have a good one, it's off to the beadatorium for moi!

Okay....it's been a long time since I've updated. Sorry 'bout that. So it's May in British Columbia....my lilacs are almost blooming...and I'm going to attempt to post every day. The operative word being "attempt".

I'm flying out on the 24th to teach a five day class at Red Deer College Summer School of the Arts, so I'm pretty pumped about that! I usually teach two-day classes, which are great, but sometimes I feel rushed, simply because I've added so many techniques to my original agenda that I now feel as though I have to drop some things. There is only so much time, you know? So five days is just heaven.