Oh, you make me so happy

The peony is named after Paeon (also spelled Paean), a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower.
(from Wikipedia)

I wait for this all winter long- the first blooms from my sweet little peony bush. I take daily walks (sometimes multiple times a day, much to the annoyance of my husband:)) by my little plant starting in the early spring, eagerly monitoring it's growth. My heart fills with joy at the first sign of the light pink, almost white, buds that slowly emerge. It takes all of the determination and sanity that I can muster to not jump up and down, while clicking my feet together in the air and singing a song of happiness when I see that first floppy mophead (my willpower is not quite strong enough to prevent a little twirling dance, but these things happen). And yes, selfish as it may be, I just cannot leave them outside. So, I clip the delicate little mopheads and place them in a sweet little vase so that I can enjoy them inside. And when I'm inside, I carry them around, room to room, so that I can smell their loveliness whenever I please.

 

And speaking of mopheads, here is our other little mophead, loving herself up some sun. My dad would say that she's 'posing for animal crackers' and I would have to agree :).

 

Thank you all for your sweet and thoughtful notes on my last post. I feel so lucky to have found you in this little blogworld and look forward to sharing our stories of summer.....

xoxo