Despite a hefty backlog of projects awaiting their time to shine on the blog, I think we should pause and look at some pretty pictures of flowers. How can we say good-bye to spring without doing that? Here are some photos of the outside in May and June.
May
Looking at these from the end of June makes me realize how much changes from the beginning of May until now. May is a flower explosion around here, which is very welcome after the long, grey winter.
June
June had some surprises in store. Look what I found in our fenced-in garden.
I must have walked by their little nest for a week or two before even realizing they were there!
They were probably only four inches long with little inch-tall ears. The cuteness was extreme, and I really wanted to hold one, but of course, I didn’t. I gave them their space. And one day, they all managed to find their way out of the garden and into the big, wide world.
Hi, everyone! It’s warming up here, and the flowers are really out, so this edition of “Outside in May” is, unsurprisingly, mostly flowers! I’m so happy to see them coming back. Sit back and enjoy some pictures of the great outdoors.
This picture of a robin’s nest is by a guest photographer! (my husband)
Can you spot what I missed when I went to smell these flowers?
Look closer… This moth is so well-camouflaged! It didn’t seem to mind that I was smelling the flowers it was sitting on. Black Locust Tree flowers smell AMAZING.
Spring moves pretty slowly in New England, but it really is here, and with it comes the flowers. Blue skies may be fickle and fleeting, but you can tell everything is coming back to life. It’s so exciting. This month, I went on a field trip (two, actually) to Tip Top Tulips in Ipswich, MA, a place where you can ‘tip-toe through the tulips’ and pick your own bouquet!
I was pretty excited to discover this place. Tip Top Tulips is new this year and has two fields. There is a small field with no entry fee where tulips are $1 a stem. You can keep the bulbs if they come up when you pick the flowers or not–your choice. They may not grow next year, but I kept ours. We’ll put them in the garden in the fall and see what happens.
The small tulip field just after it opened.
My kids and I checked this out last week. It was a fun way to pick a bouquet. I gave each of them a budget and turned them loose. The farmers were very helpful and friendly, and we had a great time.
There is also a large tulip field in a different part of Ipswich where admission is $10. Tickets can be purchased on their website. Tulips are also $1 per stem here and you can keep the bulbs if you like.
On Thursday, I went back with a friend to check out the large field. We spent over an hour walking through trying to pick out our favorite flowers.
Thanks to the cloudy day, we had the whole field to ourselves a good part of the time. The misty skies were really beautiful.
My plans to only pick five dissolved and I came away with twice as many.
I even wore the wooden shoes my parents got me on a visit to the Netherlands when I was a child. They were awesome and still fit! My feet stayed dry and they were easy to walk around the field in.
There were some really interesting tulip varieties.
My friend and I had a great time. We sort of forgot to catch up because we spent all of our time exclaiming over the tulips. It was such a nice pick-me-up during COVID, you know? I’m not sure how long they will be open, but if you are near Ipswich and you like tulips, it’s a fun outdoor activity, whether you choose the large or small field.
Sounds like there are plans for a sunflower field in August and a dahlia field in the fall. Fun!
I hope you’re ready for another mostly flower-filled post! May is so beautiful around here–all the plants are waking up and it’s not usually super cold any more. It’s interesting to me to look back and see the flowers I photographed at the beginning of the month, which are gone now, replaced by new and different blooms. Enjoy!
It’s time for a spring flower edition of the Outside series. My family members and I have been trying to spot as many different flowers as possible on our walks and I’ve been taking pictures of them.
Before we get started, though, I wanted to say that I have noticed a shift in my sewing and blogging since the summer. The schedule change and vacation time this past summer changed how I was sewing from a pretty regular practice to one that now happens in small and large blocks of time. In short, I’m not sewing quite as much, and I find that my mindset has shifted from using the blog to record my projects and add to the online sewing community with pattern reviews, etc. to making sure I have blog material. I think that’s backwards. The point of my blog, and the point of my blog being intentionally a hobby activity (rather than trying to monetize it) is that it is in service to my sewing and not the other way around. So, I still plan to blog my projects, but I’ll post if I have a project done and photographed. There may be a few missed weeks, but that will give me the flexibility to take a little longer on regular projects and sew projects I don’t bring to the blog, like undergarments. I’m sure most people don’t notice that I always publish a post at 8:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on Fridays, so I’m writing this more for myself than anyone else. I need to loosen up the routine I’ve created in order to give myself a little more creative freedom. I’ve resisted doing that for fear I’ll let the blog slide, but I think it’s what is right for my sewing practice. Anyway…now that I have that off my chest, let’s get on to some spring pictures of flowers. We can all use a little beauty in our lives, right?
Looking down at these grape hyacinths from above, I noticed that their little flowers create a sort of spiral!
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I would love to see (or wear) a dress inspired by these cherry blossoms.
It feels like the sun, colors, and flowers all finally and truly came out yesterday. So today’s Outside post is all about flowers and growing things. Finally!
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And now for several pictures of the same tree…because it’s just so beautiful.
My family and I did a lot of different things in July and August, which lends a nice variety to some of these pictures. I hope you enjoy looking at some of my favorite outside pictures from these two months.
Winter has just held on in New England this year, but I think spring is finally breaking through. I’ve got some inside pictures from a trip to a large greenhouse and some outdoor hints of spring for you. I hope you enjoy them!
Inside
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Outside
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It still feels surprising to see the sun or any colors other than gray, brown, and white. One thing I can say for winter holding on to the last gasp is that I am REALLY thankful for spring!
Pattern and Branch 