Knee-Deep in Flowers

Living in a temperate rainforest certainly has it's perks every now and then. Juneau would look much different without the lush green trees and vegetation that makes it shine like an emerald when the sun breaks through the clouds. The rain also helps the wildflowers grow, my favorite part of Summer.

Not long ago, Abigail and I donned our favorite dresses and hats and hiked down to the sea flats to our favorite meadow of flowers. We brought Greta and Lupin with us, along with Quinn who had vowed to keep any scary black bears away from us (though we weren't too worried). 

The fields were aglow with lupin, buttercups, marsh marigolds, and shooting stars. The colors were so vibrant against the tall green grasses - in which Greta and Lupin chased each other to hither and yon! 

Above us, the mountains towered tall, capped in snow and the edge of the Juneau Icefield. The constant snow-covered mountains is a reminder to enjoy the summer, for Winter is never too far away in Alaska. But of course Winter brings it's own fun in its season, but for now let's pick some flowers!

Though Lupin is named after the lovely flowers, she did not enjoy us sitting among the large bushes for so long. After a short while we discovered she could not be found! Oh dear, where would a cute puppy go? We left our baskets and searched carefully through the tall grasses, not finding her nor a trace of her anywhere. Shortly thereafter we would be informed that she had made her escape back up the trail to our house. She is not one for flower picking we surmised...

Greta on the other hand greatly enjoyed the flower picking and even more the searching for Lupin (for we were running about with such excitement she thought it a game, silly thing!). Thankfully, she has grown out of her habit of chewing on flowers in my basket, or even worse snatching them out of my hand as if they were a stick! Oh no, she has become quite the lady now that she is one and half years of age. She will sit properly next to me as I find the perfect stems. Perhaps she will be able to teach Lupin to be a lady, we shall see!

Lupin Ridge

By Peggy Simson Curry

Long after we are gone,
Summer will stroke this ridge in blue;
The hawk still flies above the flowers,
Thinking, perhaps, the sky has fallen
And back and forth forever he may trace
His shadow on its azure face.
Long after we are gone,
Evening wind will languish here
Between the lupine and the sage
To die a little death upon the earth,
As though over the sundown prairies fell
A requiem from a bronze-tongued bell.
Long after we are gone,
This ridge will shape the night,
Lifting the wine-streaked west,
Shouldering the stars.  And always here
Lovers will walk under the summer skies
Through flowers the color of your eyes.

Oh yes, a true Alaskan girl's outfit would simply not be complete without a pair of Xtratufs!

I love how the colors of the lupin go from purple to blue to violet, I dare say eagles soaring overhead may think the sky has fallen, just like in the poem above. You may also see that Abigail did not pick any chocolate lilies, though I did (you may remember the story about chocolate lilies from this post here, very stinky things!). I will have you know that I did come to regret that choice...my kitchen came to smell quite badly after awhile (oh well, they are lovely though!).

When we were finished we made our way back to the house to create some bouquets, but not before Quinn got this picture of the two of us together. A very sweet photo indeed I think:

In the backyard under the apple trees we set about organizing with creativity and inspiration, for such things are needed when working with flowers (as I'm sure you know). We both searched in our kitchens for the perfect vessels to hold such lovely flowers and came back with an interesting assortment...

 The red pitcher Abby brought makes for a striking contrast with the blues of the lupin, doesn't it? I grabbed our lemonade pitcher and a Brambly Hedge teapot from my collection, both rather plain so that the flowers might be the center piece.

What do you think, dear reader? Didn't they just turn out lovely? Oh how I love to have flowers in the house during the summer. It's so nice to see their cheery blooms when the rains come and keep us indoors. I do believe that flower picking is made all the better with a sister or friend at your side!