Indulge the Birdy's penchant for photos lately -- the springtime blooms and more hospitable weather is inspiring to my shutterbug tendencies.  I know it sounds silly, but I consider the camellia plants in the backyard my Miracle Plants. I put them in YEARS ago, and they have been overdue to bloom, but thankfully over the last couple of years, we've been getting a steady and growing number of flowers. I can see the bright blooms from our bedroom window, it's so very nice, and I like to celebrate that. 

Gather ye flowers, while ye may... I remember when we first bought our house and the yard was a huge canvas full of possibilities. I wanted to fill it with every possible plant, and there have been as many failures as there have successes in terms of my Green Thumb. It's taken many years, and I don't always baby the yard with the attention it needs, but I'm thankful so many plants have accepted my Neglectful Gardening method and continue to flourish from year to year.

This Birdy has finally "got it" when it comes to the power of flowers. I always loved fresh-cut blooms and bouquets but they were never a thing I sought out, as they felt like such a short-lived gift. Flowers fade, the blooms wilt, and you're left with something that needs to be cleaned up and swept away. But over the last few years, I finally appreciate the gift that fresh flowers bring to a household. It's a bit of colorful light and life that suddenly makes a room pleasant, and it's definitely a gift worth giving to others, as it's the thing we so rarely treat ourselves with.

Hear that sound? I think that was perhaps the door closing as Winter finally left the room.  I may have just jinxed us for a springtime freeze or a freak snowstorm to roll in, during the middle of April, but as I've been noticing on the rare sunny walks, it truly feels like Spring is, at last, in bloom.  

greenful

I'm creating a new word. It's called Greenful. It's the feeling you get, returning to the land of Evergreen after being in a super-hot, arid desert for a few days, hopping from one temperature controlled building to another, to escape the 100+ degree temperature. I just got back from a short but fun trip to Nevada, meeting up with family and seeing one of my very best friends for a few days. And while I will miss seeing all those lovely familiar faces, I do not miss the desert heat, so Greenful I am.

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday dear Maggie-Pie... Happy ALMOST Birthday to Me. Let's just call it my Birthday Week, as it's not important what day I turn the dial on another year come and gone.  

Valentine's Day is upon us! This Bird isn't much of a stickler for the hearts n' flowers stuff -- truthfully, I have a hard time taking a greeting card-invented holiday all that seriously, but I do appreciate the sentiment. It's a good idea to recognize a special someone in our life. But what's with the red rose fever?? It's the one day of the year that the price of roses triples, and as beautiful as they are, there are so many other gorgeous flowers out there that still say "I love and appreciate you," all the same. 

I had to show off one of my favorite photos I took on a recent visit to Maui. Orchids are incredible flowers, no? Difficult to grow in colder climates, true, but what a showstopper. I haven't had the best of luck keeping these delicate beauties alive, but I do love them for their color, exotic and fluttery shape, and frankly, they give any ol' rose a run for its money! So as you're considering heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and wondering if that bouquet of roses is worth the holiday upcharge, take a stroll outside the Valentine's Day box and consider a living plant, something a recipient can enjoy and care for, much like a beloved relationship. 

The Birdy wishes you all a very happy Valentine's Day -- you don't need a sweetheart to feel loved and appreciated, and don't be shy about letting someone else know they are loved and appreciated.    


Jaunty Fine Print: Photo by Denise Sakaki

It's been a record chill factor this April, meaning the annual Tulip Festival up north, in the Skagit County area, has been a little slow to get moving, but as they say -- better late than never! This Bird was able to J'adore the tulips on the second to last weekend of the official festival, so I snapped a few pics of the rows full of bright colors. Even more impressive were the entire fields of a single flower, like the daffodils, which just appear like a giant block of bright yellow from a distance. It's like nothing you've ever seen and it amazes you every time.

I was able to take a few bright bulbs home in the form of a pretty bouquet, thanks to a good friend who took me out there on a blustery Sunday morning. The grey skies were no match for the pretty flowers, though. Even with the cold, how can the world be wrong when you've got fields and fields of tulips before you?

Jaunty Fine Print:  photos by Denise Sakaki

 

Aloha to you -- this Bird has a childhood J'adore of old myths, and a recent trip to the tropical wonderland of Hawaii provided the opportunity to hear more Native Hawaiian stories that are associated with everything around the islands, especially the flowers that grow everywhere. Walk along the rocky shores and you'll find a waxy-leaved plant that grows among the cracks of the lava rock calld Naupaka Kahakai, meaning Naupaka by the sea. If you look closely, there are several tiny white, pinkish-purple blooms dotted all over the plants, but you'll also notice the flowers are unusually-shaped. Instead of a perfect symmetrical round bloom, these are distinctly half-moon shaped, as though someone cut each flower in half. Go higher into the mountains, and you'll find another type of Naupaka, looking nearly identical, except for the blooms, which also have the half-shape, but the direction of the petals take up the opposite side of the Naupaka that grows by the ocean.

There are scientific explanations of this, but I like the legend, which tells of two devoted lovers who arose the jealousy of the goddess Pele, whose fiery passions live within the volcano Kilauea. She became enraptured by the handsomeness of the young man, but he would not leave his lover, even at the risk angering such a tempestuous goddess. Pele was enraged at such a rebuff, so she cast her fury at the lovers, hurling molten hot lava at both, separating them and chasing the man into the mountains and the woman towards the sea. Pele's sisters watched this jealous rage and did not approve, wishing to rescue the lovers in the only way they could -- they saved the man by changing him into the mountain Naupaka, and transformed the woman into the Naupaka that grows by the sea. The lovers were saved from Pele's fire, but their beautiful flowers were only half, as each lover could not be truly complete without the other. The Naupaka grows in the mountains as well as by the sea, blooming only half-flowers, but the day the flower becomes whole is the day these lost lovers will be reunited.

Sad story, yes, but a bittersweet reminder to keep your loved ones close, cherish them dearly, and keep beauty in your heart for all days.



Jaunty Fine Print:  photographs by Denise Sakaki

 

If we find ourselves buried in a late winter snowstorm, in the middle of March or April, blame the Magpie. Seeing our garden bulbs starting to sprout up and the early blooms being sold at the florist shops, it put this Birdie in a Mood of, yippee -- Spring is in the air! And again, apologies in advance when the wicked snowstorm shows up and totally ices-out this whole Mood.

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!

- Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"


Jaunty Fine Print:  photograph by Denise Sakaki

 

Admittedly, summertime dressing hasn't always been one of this Bird's strong suit. Cooler weather clothing that offers more layering is more my Jaunty cup of tea. But the Magpie managed to put together a pleasant warm weather outfit Inspired by a mix of natural patterns and textures. Thoughts of pearly swirls from seashell strolls and the floral hues of a freshly-picked bouquet were bouncing around in the ol' Bird-brain when pulling some items from the Jaunty Wardrobe. A pretty mix of a hand-sewn topper with a breathable, light blouse and skirt, plus near-flat bright yellow wedges and a bubblegum pink clutch makes for a summertime look that's sunny weather functional and doesn't make you look like you're in a t-shirt and cutoffs better suited for washing the car. Just because it's hot outside, doesn't mean you have to look a hot mess.

Pulled from the Jaunty Wardrobe: sequin-adorned blouse from The Limited, a neutral pinstripe pencil skirt from Macys, floral ruffle jacket is hand-sewn by the Magpie herself, yellow buckle flat/wedges are from Go Jane, the wood/shell ring and pink clutch were gifts, and the ivory flower earrings are vintage.


Jaunty Fine Print: photos by Denise Sakaki

 

What? No pretty summer dresses and sparkly sandals?! This Bird's wardrobe has been relegated to gardening gloves and dirt-smudged workpants of late, digging around in soil beds and pulling the occasional weed. What can I say? It's quite the rage, dusting dirt from one's hair and tromping around in workboots through the mud. OK, maybe not so much, but it yields such pretty results in the garden. The last of the spring bulbs are in bloom and while they weren't in the Jaunty garden, I plucked handfuls of wild roses from Mother Nature's garden to collect the fragrant petals for making herbal tea. Sometimes finding the true Jaunty Life is walking one's own path and getting dirt under the nails now and then.

To share the Jardin J'adore, here are some thoughts to go along with summertime blooms:

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into
- Henry Beecher

Earth laughs in flowers
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck
- Emma Goldman

Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul
- The Koran

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other
- Chinese Proverb


Jaunty Fine Print: photos by Denise Sakaki