Old Friends Bloom Again

Iris week is winding down, but we were heartened this past week when the lovely white-and-blue iris that we received from Norm's mom bloomed underneath our lilac. This variety made the journey from western Kansas to our old house, and then to this one, and still delights us.

This pale lavender beauty is a charmer that we treasure each year, also. It's in a bed with day lilies and we aren't sure that we remember its origins with us. Both varieties are tall, and we need to stake them before it rains or they will be horizontal.

The hostas and the little violas continue to grow and fill the planters in the new wall. Norm mulched the plants with spent oak flowers that fell in such amounts that they otherwise would have suffocated the yard.

Our lawnmower died a couple of weeks ago, and our neighbor Barb has mowed our grass twice since then. Today she proposed that we just share her mower instead of buying a new one. It makes ecological sense and we'll split the cost of gas and upkeep with her, and take turns mowing when Norm's allergies let up.

Good news: little Sarah got to go home from the hospital yesterday, after 40 days. We are concerned for Heather, whose doctors decided to induce labor today. We hope and pray that she and the baby will both be well, and that Sandy and Mike will hold up to the stress of travel and sleeping in strange places.

Norm and I drove to Dexter, Mo. (for a Disciples Women's conference I was attending and presenting a session for) on Friday and back home on Saturday, about a 3-hour drive each way. He was able to drive longer than he has in several years, with improved vision after his cataract surgery last year. It was kind of a test run for our trek to Texas and Oklahoma in a couple of weeks. Sib reunion, here we come!