Tiny Orange Tulips

Tulip in Stripes

These sweet tulips pop out of the ground near my front door every May, but I have no recollection of planting tulip bulbs there nor do I have any idea what kind of tulips they might be.

Tiny Tulips

They are only about 6 inches high and the tulip bloom itself is only about 1 inch in diameter. I love how the orange is fringed with the green. They are a dynamite garden addition in a rather small package.

Bright Blue Globes

Bright Blue - Self-Portrait

A visit to the local garden center this weekend provided me with a two hour photo shoot. I pretty much emptied my wallet to do some replacement purchasing for foundation plantings for my home – six bushes and a European Filbert Tree that I was told was native to Wisconsin. (Go figure!) It looks like a giant corkscrew.  So, as a result of my contribution to their economy, I felt it only right and proper that I get some photo subjects out of the deal.

The colors were wonderful wherever I looked. And after I became completely color blinded by at least a thousand kinds of flowers, I went over to the flower pots. I wasn’t disappointed there, either.

Even got a self-portrait in this photo, but you have to look carefully – or blow the photo to poster size. 🙂

Only Two Ways

Double Dahlia II

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
~ Albert Einstein

Oscar Mayer Weinermobile

Weiner-Mobile

I am not posting this because it is a good photograph, but because it is the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. How many of you have seen this big guy up close? I’ve always thought it might be fun to ride way up there, surveying Madison from the top of a hot dog, but this is as close as I’ve gotten. I occasionally see the hot dog car cruising the streets of Madison – Madison, WI is the home of Oscar Mayer.

The Weinermobile was the brainchild of Oscar Mayer’s nephew, Carl G. Mayer, and first made its appearance driving the streets of Chicago in 1936. The sixth generation of Weinermobiles was built in 2004 and are equipped with voice activated GPS, an audio system with a wireless microphone and a horn that the Oscar Mayer Theme Song in 21 genres, from Cajun to Bossa Nova, Classical to Rap. It also has a ceiling painted sky blue with floating, fluffy clouds. There are currently 6 of these Weinermobiles in existence, and they travel the US from coast to coast 365 days a year.

Drivers of the Wienermobiles often hand out Wienerwhistles, little toy replicas of the Wienermobile that double as whistles. I, as a proud mother of 3, have probably collected a dozen or so of these screech-y things over the years. I wonder how much monetary value is attached to a 25 year old Weinerwhistle?

If you want to see a video of the very newest Weinermobile, ABC News covered the big story Weinermobile Goes Mini Cooper in March of this year. It takes a moment to pop the story, but its fun to see the new mini-weiner. (though you’ll have to spend 30 seconds watching a coffee commercial before the featured film – sorry)

A Bluebell Walk in the Woods

Ephemeral Wildflowers by Woodland Path

This path is lined with masses of Virginia Bluebells, and provides a spectacular show when in full bloom. This is especially true in the Midwest where the plant seems happiest, even though it bears the name of Virginia.

It grows in moist and nutrient rich hardwood forests, not only in Wisconsin, but in the northern and eastern quarter of the United States and in southern Ontario.

Virginia Bluebells in Wisconsin

Virginia Bluebells are fairly large, tall plants that bear clusters of showy, trumpet flower clusters. The flower buds begin tinted a delicate pale pink and then deepen to a medium blue when in full flower. They aren’t as ephemeral as the earlier woodland wildflowers, and stay in bloom several weeks. The entire plant does disappear from the forest floor, though, by mid summer.

This species of bluebell was used medicinally by Native American cultures, usually made into a strong tea for the treatment of consumption and whooping cough, and was also used as a general tonic.