For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
"


Thursday, May 3, 2018

Wicked Tulips


 Yesterday, I did something I've never done before.


I went to a tulip farm with my two daughters.


We drove to Johnston, RI to

Tickets are needed in order to enter.  They can be purchased on
their website, but the tickets sell out pretty fast - especially for weekend days.


There were two areas on the farm.  
One field was just for "show".  
Tulips were labeled and planted in groupings.
No picking was allowed here.


The rest of the farm was open for picking
with a charge of $1 per stem.


It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm with a gentle breeze.
There were many colors and varieties of tulips to choose from.






We spent over an hour at the farm, picking flowers and taking pictures.







Before checking out,  we went to a wrapping station to bundle
and count our stems.










After stopping at a store to get a few buckets and some water to help our 
$40 worth of tulips survive the heat, we stopped for dinner 
at Cindy's Diner in North Scituate, RI.





Chocolate milk shakes, grilled cheese, french fries, hamburger -  everything
was soooo good!  And it was a very friendly atmosphere too!



When I got home,  I made two beautiful arrangements!
Putting them in ice water revived the drooping tulips.


I'm so happy that both of my girls live close enough
for us to be able to do things together. 
It was a very simple day,
but a very good day!


                   *****************************************************************************
Do your tulips droop when you put them in a vase?

 Try this.

The reason they droop is that the stems are hollow and
as they attempt to soak up the water, they get air bubbles
that can't escape inside the stem.  The air bubble prevents
water from going up to the flower.

If you poke a hole in the stem right below the flower
with a pin or toothpick, the stem will remain straight
and won't droop!  Try it!

(I hear this also works for other hollow-stemmed flowers
such as Gerbera Daisies.)