Sunday, April 17, 2011

Lilac Wine


The crazy weather moved through yesterday, and this morning I awoke to lush green and the glow of bright sunshine streaming through my windows.




Even the dogs sensed after yesterday's storms, which left a tree down on one of our roads, that today would be special and they promptly woke us up at the crack of dawn.




The other day while I was at my grandparent's little farm, I picked these lilac blossoms from a bush in the front yard.  My grandmother loved lilacs and also had a bush right near her back door.  The violets from my last post also came from her yard by the back door, I guess my Nana liked to walk in and out of her home and smell lovely things.




I'm descended from a long line of flower loving women I think.  And I never tire of smelling, picking, or having fresh flowers in my home.




I adore lilacs, but my sister K is the true lover of these multifaceted flowers.  Growing up, her room was across the hall from mine and it was purple from head to toe.  A lovely shade of lilac as a matter of fact.  Unlike me, she kept her room immaculate, and at 6 years younger than her, I used to love to wander in and check out all of her grown up stuff.  One of my favorite things was a lilac topped container.  I think it held powder, or maybe perfume and the top of it was adorned with faux lilac blooms.  I think they may have been made of plastic, but I loved them none the less.


 

My grandmother had an English lilac bush and a French lilac bush, and I can never remember which was which.  Sadly the bush in the back yard was overtaken by a wild rose and is no longer there.  Either way, these are lovely and full of wonderful fragrance.




The bush where these came from is old and needs some TLC, it barely had any blooms on it, and I almost didn't pick them.  At the last minute I decided to grab the 4 blooms it had, and after yesterday's violent winds and rains I'm so happy I did!

Today is too beautiful to spend inside on a computer, so I'm off to face the day and soak up some sunshine.  But when I come home at the end of the day, I will soak up some lilac wine and think of my grandmother!

If you are thinking to yourself...sheesh what is with all of the flower pictures...well it's spring here, and I love flowers, so I hope you love seeing flowers as much as I love photographing them!

I have decided it's a go with the Spread The Love meme party idea and will be back with more info soon.

My daughter posted this song on her blog recently and I hadn't heard it before.  I think this video is truly a work of art, and I love the lyrics, here is an excerpt...


I lost myself on a cool damp night
I gave myself in that misty light 
Was hypnotized by a strange delight
Under a lilac tree
I made wine from the lilac tree
Put my heart in its recipe
It makes me see what I want to see 
and be what I want to be
I think more than I want to think
I do things I never should do
I drink much more than I ought to drink
Because it brings me back you...

Happy Sunday everyone!


24 comments:

  1. I love lilacs too... This Old House has five ancient lilacs.

    What a moving song! Hadn't heard it before...

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  2. This blows my mind,
    as we don't get lilacs
    In my neck of the woods
    until late MAY. Gorgeous
    and I can almost smell
    the fragrance through
    the screen : ). Love the
    song.....beautiful and a
    great way to start my
    Sunday. Sending you
    warm hugs from Texas,
    Where my Mom and I
    are enjoying a long b-day
    weekend!
    xx Suzanne

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  3. This is lovely. I am planning to plant a lilac bush near our bedroom window. I had one at my old house and I already miss the beautiful fragrant smell it produced. Love the video too. Love the post otday. Thanks for sharing Anne

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  4. In a few weeks, let's take cuttings of your grandmother's lilac and we'll see if we can get them to root so you can have a copy of it in your garden.

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  5. I love lilacs! They always remind me of my childhood - we grew up with lilac bushes lining the sides of our backyard - whenever the lilac bushes sprouted their blossoms, we knew it was officially spring! Thanks for sharing...Linda Lan

    (I've added you to my new blog's blog list, too!) :o)

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  6. I don't have a lilac bush, but my neighbors do and I'm going to walk over and borrow a few blossoms today. :-)

    Loved the video. So relaxing and really a work of art!

    Di

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  7. Everyone knows the smell of spring lilacs. Beautiful photos.

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  8. My lilac bush is quite old and 2 years ago, a tree came down on it, splitting it in half. There are some blooms but none of them are ready just yet. Love yours.
    And that video is quite unique ~

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  9. I absolutely adore lilacs. We have two bushes next to our front porch ~ I love to sit and just enjoy the beautiful aroma on a spring day ;-)

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  10. Awe...Beautiful! I can't savor their aroma all the way here Kat!
    Thank you for sharing. Your photos are as fresh as the lilacs. And the fifth photo is breathtaking!
    Blessings for a fabulous day. I am out to enjoy our burst of spring as well. It sounds as if we have experienced the same weather patterns although we are miles apart. From PDX to you...BLESSINGS!
    Lisa~
    LeafandInk
    ps: Hopefully our comments issue will be fixed later today :-)

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  11. These are really beautiful - I'm glad you picked them!

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  12. Great photos. Can't wait for mine to bloom. I never tire of their lovely fragrance :)

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  13. I love flower photos. And, I also spent the weekend photographing lilacs. My neighbor has a big bush on our property line so I get to enjoy them too. I'm always over there sticking my nose in them.

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  14. Ooh, I love lilacs and the fragrance is so wonderful. My Mom grew lilac bushes all around her house and I always think of her when I see them. Lovely photos.

    hugs
    sissie

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  15. My grandmother had 2 large lilac trees next to her house-one white and the other purple. They were just gorgeous and I used to love the scent of the lilac drifting in her house! Thanks for bringing back lovely memories of my grandmother!

    That video of Lilac Wine was just beautiful! That was all done with a calligraphy pen, just amazing. Thanks for sharing that with us!

    I hope you are going to make some of those lilace photos into notecards! They are so gorgeous!

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  16. Beautiful pictures Kat!! I love lilacs and their intoxicating scent! I can't wait until they start blooming here and although I don't have any in my yard, when I drive to my in-laws there is a HUGE row of huge bushes that as you drive by you can smell them like you are standing next to them.
    I hope you enjoyed the sunshine and are enjoying some lilac wine tonight. :)

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  17. Gorgeous pics of the flowers. You and me both must have inherited those flower genes!
    Brenda

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  18. Sooo pretty! That camera must be tons of fun!
    :) Lara

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  19. You lilac photos are great. I love the close ups; you can almost smell them. Ours have already bloomed and gone here in TN, but they were so fragrant. We are remodeling, so I haven't had many spring days outside, it's tearing me up! We did outside work today after church, and just loved being out to see what was blooming. Thanks for sharing, carrell

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  20. Beautiful photos! I love lilacs! We're originally from Rochester, NY where they have the big annual Lilac Festival in May. Can't wait for it to be warm enough for our lilacs to perfume the walkway up to the house. Thanks for sharing.

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  21. So lovely, now just waiting for ours sometime in JUNE! Sad about the pale colored one getting overtaken, but glad you rescued the blooms from the storm. What a beautiful melancholy song. xo ~Lili

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  22. Gorgeous photos! I adore lilacs. Lillie's nickname is Lillabel which means "beautiful lilac" (I wanted that to be her real name but couldn't win my husband over to it so we named her Lillian Annabel so I could at least nickname her Lillabel).

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  23. Jaw dropping gorgeous! I love our lilacs- the bushes are drooping over with blooms. I have a lovely white lilac that is so fragrant. What a beautiful, beautiful post Kat!
    Vicki

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