Blue

May is the month when we expect

sunny skies, warm weather, and colorful spring flowers.

And yet, there are parts of the country looking at snowfall today

and temperatures only in the 30s. 

It's cool here in the Shire, but not cold

and recent days have begun cloudy and ended sunny 

with bright blue skies.

And a blue sky is always good news.

So today, I thought I'd share some of my favorite 

May blues in this photo gallery:

May is the month for bachelor's buttons,

also called cornflowers:

fennelandfern.co.uk

And morning glories make an appearance in fields:

morguefile.com

Along the highways and byways, the soft blue of chicory pops up:

morguefile.com

Can't forget blue jays:

morguefile.com

And I love a blue butterfly:

morguefile.com

When summer takes a little longer to get started,

we can find solace in blue.

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Lily-of-the-Valley

Lily-of-the-Valley, the Sweetest Flower

The Sensitive Plant-Part I

And the Naiad-like lily of the vale,

Whom youth makes so fair, and passion so pale,

That the light of its tremulous bells is seen, 

Through their pavilions of tender green.

                                                 --Shelley

morguefile.com

My sister gave me a framed paper collage of

the most charming lily-of-the-valley she had made. 

Besides the fact that it's beautiful, 

when I look at it it, it reminds me of so many happy times.

Time spent with her, my other sister, niece, and mom on my recent visit.

Lily-of-the-valley is the flower for the month of May,

so it has always reminded me of  my mom's birthday, which is this month.

If I could gather the tiny white blossoms into a bouquet,

I would give them to her. 

morguefile.com

And lilies-of-the-valley also remind me of my husband's mother,

who had a profusion of lilies-of-the-valley growing behind her house.

Until I saw hers, I had never seen masses of lilies-of-the-valleys except in photos.

photo from easytogrowblog.com

I tried to grow a few starts of my mother-in-law's 

since lilies-of-the-valley are supposed to be hardy in many climates,

and are said to do particularly well in woods under large trees.

Mine only lived one season though, and I'm not sure why.

morguefile.com

But for that one season, their tiny white bell-shaped flowers

and bright green, sword-shaped leaves were beautiful.

Kind of like this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay:

My candle burns at both ends.

It will not last the night.

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends,

it gives a lovely light.

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May Baskets and May Wine

The celebration of May Day, May 1st, has been going on for centuries,

but I never really understood its significance 

beyond helping my mom fashion May baskets 

out of construction paper some Springs.

photo from craftskaboose.com

We would fill them with fresh flowers 

and then deliver them to a few elderly widows around town. 

My mom never failed to remember those who might be alone or in need.

Even so, I was her delivery girl,

and I was always reluctant to make the long walk up to the houses to deliver the baskets.

I did like seeing the expression on the old ladies' faces 

when they saw the flowers and waved to my  mom to say thanks.

It meant so much to them.

So that memory is really  the only reason I remember May Day.

But a gentle holiday devoted to the delights of flowers, friends, and warm summer days

possesses a certain charm.

photo from mayday2013.com

And every year, I make plans to celebrate May Day and my German heritage

not by delivering May baskets, 

but by making some May Wine from sweet woodruff and strawberries.

I do now have sweet woodruff that has survived the winter,

but this May Day is dark and rainy,

and I don't feel  much like celebrating this as the traditional first day of summer.

photo from weblogs.baltimoresun.com

(That May Day, also called Beltane, was the first day of summer in the pre-Christian era,

I didn't know. But according to an unverified source in Wikipedia, 

the first day of Spring was February 1st, 

the first day of Summer May 1st, and June 21st was called Mid-Summer.

I don't know about Spring being February 1st in the old days,

but I've seen more than a couple of sources saying May 1st was celebrated

as the beginning of summer--which sounds good to me.)

photo from loricurie.wordpress.com

If making May baskets isn't your cup of tea either 

perhaps a different kind of cup is in order.

Here's an easy  recipe for May Wine,

but there are many others on the internet, each different:

1 bottle of Riesling

1 bottle of champagne or sparkling wine

1 cup of fresh sweet woodruff leaves 

sliced strawberries

Some recipes recommend first lightly warming the sweet woodruff 

in a 275-degree oven just long enough for the scent to rise.

Place the leaves in the wine overnight to as long as 3 days - 7 days.

Add sliced strawberries before serving.

photo from chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com

Happy May Day!

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