Flower Friday : : Dutch Iris

Flowers seem to work well in portrait mode so I have used it once again for one of the row of Irises blooming next to the stairs.

Woke this morning to a dispiriting drizzle. Spike apparently felt the same way for he sat on the porch  rather than go out with John to fetch the newspaper, definitely letting down the Spaniel side. He was happy to jump into the car to go to Trail House. I don't know how he does that. Left to his own devices he has a tendency to jump into the side frame of the hatch so we stand in front of it to center him better, but thus guided, he hits the mark flawlessly every time. 

We opened the place up this morning. Only Maggie eventually arrived to join us so we had her to ourselves to hear about her trip to Bali,  complete with lots of pictures on her phone. This threw me into a wash of nostalgia for the time I spent in this very special part of the world. The Balinese have a beautiful culture, full of color, flower offerings, cooperation and acceptance. I could go on and on about the ceremonies and their general outlook on life, but I will confine myself to the charming 'touching the ground' ceremony. Balinese babies are carried everywhere for the first three months of their lives as they are still considered to be connected to the gods. When they are three months old the family has a very sweet ceremony in which the baby's feet are literally touched to the ground and they begin their sojourn on earth. It is the celebration of a birth somewhat akin to christening, although the intent strikes me as the opposite. It could almost be where the saying 'coming down to earth' comes from.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on flowers of an entirely different kind...stylized and cheerful ones for Anne's quilt. I've put one block in extras...definitely a work in progress.