Being the mother of an 18 yo old son is not without it’s surprises and lighter moments. Especially when that son is Colin! Cut from a different cloth, (so to speak) he has always been a mixture of tenderness and surprise; yet the next minute grossly exhibiting body functions like none other can, or would!

Wednesday was no exception to an ordinary day in the life of Colin. He anxiously rushed in the door after his Math class at TSTC and needed a dish and shovel to dig up a beautiful round clump of purple flowers on the roadside down by the bridge about 1/4 mile from the house.

Now, how many 18 year old guys would have even NOTICED a clump of purple flowers by the roadside, much less want to go dig them up and bring them home for mama? (I don’t think many, but I could be wrong)

Not to mention that he wanted to put them in my fine crystal bowl no less! “This is perfect”, he said with delight, and yes it is I agree.

Funny thing though, on Monday I had been downtown and saw bunches of these lovely blossoms in a yard out front of the business I was at, had stopped to admire them, and even contemplated trying to ‘dig some up’ so I could find out what they are.

It appears to have an onion/garlic odor, it is not a fragrant floral essence at all, and they do appear to be some kind of wild or ornamental onion or garlic because they do have tiny little bulbs like an onion. But upon further investigation they do not taste at all like an onion nor a garlic really so I’m not quite sure.

They will undoubtedly disappear in a week or so and be gone until next Spring. But for now they look lovely on my kitchen counter where we can marvel at God’s handiwork, even for a brief moment. I have loved perennials since I went wildflower picking with my mother one Spring many years ago. We brought home such a lovely colorful bouquet. We didn’t have to till the soil, water or feed and tend them or anything. We just brought them home from the ditches and fence rows in the country, a wonderful gift from the Lord and we enjoyed admiring their beauty and intricacies.

I have a lovely, hand carved flower press purchased twenty years ago at Homestead Heritage, and we will press some of these lovely blooms before they become overly mature.  That way, we can keep a small memento of this day.

I hope you and your family are enjoying this wonderful change of seasons, time marches ever onward.  But, take a few minutes to enjoy the wonders of the country road, you’ll be glad you did!

Blessings on your day!

Katherine

Last fall we decided to purchase a Colorado home so that, as our family begins to enter the years of adult children and begins to expand, we would have a lovely place to come together for family vacations.   Timing seemed to be favorable to enter the market for a second home to get the most for your $$$.    We found a great place perched on the side of Animas Mountain just outside of Durango Co.

I remember a particular conversation with the perky young real estate agent at closing that took place because it was snowing heavily outside and she was remarking about how unusual this was because it happened to be October 28th.  We were in the midst of the EARLIEST snowfall on record.  Not to mention that before it was all over they had nearly a foot of snow by the end of the day.  She also was relating that Durango proper really didn’t get that much snow but that the ski areas about 20 minutes away was where most of the snow usually accumulated.

R-E-A-L-L-Y???

I told her that our first winter in Waco they had a record 8″ snowfall one Tuesday in December and that she’d better get her snow boots ready!

Well here you go, Durango has had more snow so far this winter than ever before and it ain’t over yet!

In all fairness, being up on the mountain as we are, the snow doesn’t melt as quickly as it does in town and half of this came from having to have the THREE FEET of snow shoveled from the roof to prevent damage to the home from the weight.  Even several commercial structures in town have had roof collapses due to the excessive weight of all the snow.

The snow removal folks, contracted by the development, knocked off the transformer cover at the end of the driveway for our meter and with the thawing and re-freezing ice and water blew up the transformer cutting off power to our home causing a pipe to freeze behind the washer and leaking down through the wall to the bedroom below.  So a bit of unexpected remodeling is in order:

Thankfully most of the damage was confined to that one bedroom, but the entire hand finished wood floor in the lower level will have to be refinished once the new wood is in place.

It’s been an interesting adventure for this ‘flat lander’.  I can’t wait for Spring!  I don’t know, but I think it’d be an awesome place for a STAMPIN’ UP! retreat!  Maybe?

Anyway, as you can see repairs are quickly underway and hopefully we’ll get the family up there sometime soon!  It’s really no fun going solo!

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend and many thanks for stopping by!

Katherine