gardens galore

Summer is officially here and so are all the beautiful flowers...one of my favorite things to photograph.  This means I've been slacking in the reading area, but I think I will make up for it this week because I'll be traveling up to Massachusetts for my cousin's wedding.  It's nice to pass the 7 hour drive with a book or two.  I started a new book recommended by Oprah (I love her) and it's over 600 pages so I don't think I will finish it, but just in case, I am bringing another one. 
I finished a humorous gardening book which I picked out of the pile just because of its name, "Beds I Have Known."  It might not seem possible to have a book that involves flowers and comic relief, but here it is.  I really enjoyed this one because the author talks about how she is a novice gardener and loves to get tips and watch those who have been gardening for their whole life.  This sounds like me.  I go to Garden Club once a month and hang out with all those gardening fanatics.  I am the youngest person there by at least 25 years but I love it.  As we visit different gardens and go on bus tours I take the pictures.  It's one of those simple pleasures in life.  Admiring the beauty of our world. 
Tonight, I went over to a neighbors garden and had my own photography shoot (see link at bottom of post).  It amazes me to see such a variety of plants together and complimenting each other.  I could never accomplish creating and maintaining a garden like that, but I can still love it and appreciate it in my own way.  You plant and I will photograph.

gardens galore photos 

rest in peace

My grandfather passed away this week.  It was expected to happen, but not as quickly as it did.  My parents were on their way up to see him and he died one hour before they arrived.  Mick, G, and I drove up Tuesday afternoon.  I was able to finish "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath.  In fact, it was the only book I brought which made me mad that I would go a few days without reading, it was difficult.  There was a lot going on around me with family and visiting and the funeral, so I thought I wouldn't need to take another book. 
Anyway, this book was not what I expected at all.  Starts out pretty normal and then turns all wacky.  Kind of like a "The Catcher In the Rye" meets "Clockwork Orange" only a girl version.  And to make it more depressing, I read that Plath committed suicide a month after this book was published.  This book is like the movie "Selena" because it makes you bummed out for no reason.

name dropping

Alright, if I had to be a teacher (which I am 90% sure would be a bad idea since I am not especially gifted in the area of patience) and could choose what my course would be, I would base it solely on "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" by Gertrude Stein.  This book mainly takes place between 1907 and 1932.  I don't usually like history and how it is hard to relate to, but the way that this book was written made the dates secondary and the experiences were ones I would love to know.  There were a few things that reminded me of my modern day (cars & electricity) but the majority of the book was all about relationships with artists and their work and living with what they were able to.  

Appreciating the simple things in life, saying what one means and mean what one says, doing what your heart tells you to, and being confident in yourself.  These are some things Ms. Toklas learned as she spent her time with Gertrude Stein.  It inspires me to want to learn more about the people she associated herself with: Picasso, Matisse, and Hemingway; just to name a few.  The way they built each other up and saw life as an artist possible.  

It's a book that I have given five stars to, which is rare.  I am going to buy it and a few other books of Stein's and make a nice place for them on top of my library shelf which is strictly reserved for books I have read and will read again and recommend.  I started to take notes of things mentioned in the book that I want to research more of, but it started to get out of control and I was writing more than reading so I decided to stop jotting things down and come back through it once I had a one-down of the whole thing.