Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Sweet, Sweet May and Sweet Sixteen


"Sweet May hath come to love us,
Flowers, Trees, their blossoms don;
And through the blue heavens above us
The very clouds move on"

- Heinrich Heine -


The Camassia is blooming. 

Camassia is a native wildflower with bulbs that were an important 
food source for native people's in the Pacific Northwest. 

The green bell flowers are wild 'fringe cup'. 
Buttercup blooms below. 


Salmon Berry blossoms and fruit. 
These grow along the edges of the lawn. 
The flowers are so pretty. 

The ripe berry is 'salmon' colored and edible, but bland.

Robins love these and I've watched them comically 
'hover' over them to retrieve the berries. 
The branches are too spindly to hold their weight. 


Red Elderberry blossoms and unripe fruit. 
The fruit will turn bright red and is toxic to humans, but
loved by birds, especially our beautiful Western Tanager.

We always have a nesting pair. 


Red Elderberry (15-20 ft. tall)
 are very pretty and graceful with their frothy 
white flowers and later, large clusters of bright red berries, 
growing along the edges of the forest. 

These are growing  'down back', not too far 
from the house. 



Thimble berry's beautiful 'wild rose' blooms, growing along the drive. 
The rose colored berries pull away from the core
forming a little 'thimble' when picked.


We recently took a beautiful May drive to celebrate a 'Sweet Sixteen'.






Our new Granddaughter, Samantha has reached that magical age.

We have been blessed with two new, beautiful granddaughter's
through the marriage of my daughter Jennie to their father, Steve,
last summer.




Do you remember that magical age?

Oh, to be sweet 16 once again.
Innocent, yet wise.
Not quite a child, not quite an adult.

Sometimes, it's not so sweet.
xoxo

At every age, life has its sweets and sorrows.

A wonderful opportunity to grow and learn.
No matter how 'old' we are.

16 year old me in my hand-sewn pantsuit :)

I think back on that magical age.

So long ago, yet, only yesterday.
My advice to my 16 year old self
would be to 'honor who you are - be true to yourself'.

"To thine own self be true"
-William Shakespeare -




So, my advice to all those 'Sweet 16's'
is to always, always listen to your inner guidance
and never doubt it.
Always be true to yourself.
xoxo

What would your advice be, Dear Friends?
xoxo

"I thought that spring must
last forevermore; For I was
young and loved, and it was May"
- Vera Brittain -

13 comments:

  1. A beautiful post and a lovely Sweet 16 birthday celebration. My advice is have no regrets, be bold, get out and see the big wide world, you will learn more about yourself from outside your comfort zone than in it!
    Happy belated Birthday Sam!
    Wren x

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  2. What a sweet "Sweet 16" party! I loved seeing you at 16, too! Seems like so long ago, yet only yesterday...

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  3. Everything is growing and blooming here as well. So colorful! At 16 I was wishing for boobs! Never had a party tho. Even when I married at 23 I was wishing for boobs! I looked 14! Ha ha!

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  4. How wonderful to have two new grown up granddaughters join in your family celebrations and giving you more reasons to get together. x

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  5. Happy 16th Birthday to beautiful Samantha! I think your advice is perfect and I was planning on writing that same exact advice to my grandson who will be graduating...Be true to who you are. xx

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  6. Hello Dear Karen! Finally getting time to catch up on your recent posts. Aahh - 16. What a sweet age. Happy birthday to Samantha! May God bless her year ahead 🙏 And May there is looking so lovely. Still not blooming here much (boo) And even some rain/SNOW - ugh mixture tonight.

    Send Spring our way please! Lol Blessings on your week ❤️ xoxo

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  7. Dear Karen .. Your May post is like an idyllic dream ... and I love the prose. It's such a lovelyt time to have a sweet sixteen birthday too... Have a Beautiful Week, Dear Lady ...HUGS

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  8. don't you just love the green and colorful flowers that fill the spring time! So nice after all that brown of winter.
    Neat to see your 16 picture, I would have to tell my 16 self that this guy you are dating is going to be your wonderful husband and you are going to be a very blessed woman!

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  9. May is a spectacular month.
    Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.
    Maria
    Divagar Sobre Tudo um Pouco

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  10. What a beautiful party!Happy Birthday to Samantha!Your photo is adorable too.Happy Mother's Day!

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  11. Happy May to you Karen. Love all the wonderful pictures. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

    Hugs Diane

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  12. What a fun sweet sixteen post! I love your advice to yourself. I think I would tell myself that you are smart and loved.

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  13. Lovely to see all of your photographs.
    Belated birthday wishes to the birthday girl.

    All the best Jan

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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