This Week's Flowers & Musings on Trips Past & Future

Toby went by Central Market yesterday to pick up a few things, including flowers, but Campanulas were no where to be found; nor were the little daisies I like with the green centers. So, he picked up these pretty things, but I cannot find names for them anywhere. The tags just said "Texas Garden Flowers." I did a google image search and could find nothing initially for the green ones except maybe algae. I searched "green fillers for bouquets" and came right up with the name: Dianthus Green Trick. I tried the same searches for the purple flowers and just could not find a name for them until Toby said they looked like the Bishop's Lace we see in fields of wildflowers here in Texas. I searched white and purple Bishop's Lace and found it: False Queen Anne's Lace. Anyway, they are neat! 




I like the variety of purple and white and how spindly those are. Toby really liked the stems which were intertwined. The green ones remind me a bit of that light green moss that is small and fuzzy and delicate. I love moss. Toby and I have discussed trying to grow mosses and ferns under our very large red oak tree since it provides abundant shade and we could keep that area quite wet. Maybe in the future we can have a moss and fern garden back there. These made a beautiful, unique, and fun arrangement for our dinner table. 

At my desk this week are Wax Flowers. I love those as well. I do have a thing for white flowers, even if I like other colors as well. There's something very neutral about white and green - and very soothing and peaceful. These for some reason make me think of the woods and mountains. The small vase to the right is one we purchased last summer in Breckenridge, Colorado, while on vacation. It's small, but heavy and fits very nicely on my desk. I like the green, stone material it's made of as well. It's just very natural and evokes the nature that I love so much. The other small green vase is from a flower shop in the area and is of recycled glass. I'm quite partial to green glass vases for flowers. They are very versatile. 


Also pictured here is my coffee cup. I go through periods of using a particular mug every morning. Then one day I'll just switch it up and use a different one for a time. We've collected a number from our travels and it's nice when they survive our tile floors and collective propensity to drop them. The flip side is that there's almost always room for more. 

This one is from Chateau on the Lake, a resort Toby and I stayed at last summer about this time for our second honeymoon in Branson. It was such a sweet trip and we both have fond memories of it and would like to go back with our family, especially in the fall. We were able to take in a magic show which was spectacular. 

But our fondest memory of that trip - and Toby tells me is the fondest memory he has of anything we've ever experienced as a couple - was an evening we spent at Top of the Rock at the Buffalo Bar being serenaded by a pianist/blogger Toby had befriended as they share an interest in Halloween, Michael Cathcart. We scored the table closet to him (which really was a gift as it's first-come-first-serve there) and got to chat all evening with him between songs, as we sipped our drinks and had dinner there. (I discovered the Canonball, their signature drink, and for months that was my go-to. Toby was able to recreate it here.)




Michael is such a talented, kind person. The Buffalo Bar opens up to the patio outside and as the sun goes down, there is a bagpipe ceremony. It was just gorgeous. Toby intends to blog sometime about this trip and post his beautiful pictures there. When he does, I'll update this post to link to them. 

(As an aside: While my pictures are not always that great anyway, they are made vastly worse by what Blogger does when you upload them, I have learned. I may have to get a Flickr page of my own to maintain the integrity of them - at least keep them clear and true to how I took them - for this blog. Or I may need to move this blog elsewhere. I've not decided what to do just yet.) 

We've had occasion to go to the Ozarks twice in the last couple of years after having never been before (I went once when I was about 5 years old). They are not the Rockies, but they are far more accessible from Dallas making shorter, less expensive trips more doable. I'd like to get to the mountains somewhere at least every six months and just be there and the Ozarks make that more feasible.  

On our first trip to the Ozarks, we stayed at Buffalo Outdoor Center in Ponca, Arkansas, in a quaint cabin that was fairly secluded. We were there a bit too early for the fall foliage, but it was still a nice weekend getaway for us. We are still hoping to time it just right one autumn and see peak fall leaves which we've intended to do since we first became a couple in 1995. 

We will soon have occasion to see some mountains in California when Toby and I head out there in July and then in Colorado when we take our family trip out west in August. I am very much looking forward to all of that and cannot wait to experience it and then share it here. Of course, the very good pics will be on Toby's blog or Flickr page. 

I have a shirt that quotes John Muir, the great conservationist especially of Yosemite, which says, 

"The mountains are calling and I must go...." 

Of course, he meant much more than that, but it captures the essence of what I feel. I am so happy in the mountains and just want to be in that nature. We have discussed moving but we are pretty settled here in Texas and need to be closer to our parents as they age. I'm also not certain how well we'd fare in those very long, dark, cold winters. Nevertheless, perhaps our lives will allow us more frequent trips in the future and that will be enough. 

Thanks for reading! 

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