Delicate

Mother's Day

A few beautiful images for Mother's Day...

 Personally, I think that there's nothing greater than being a mother. I'm always busy and it seems that I'm always tired- but at the end of each day I'm smothered with little hugs and kisses, and that feeling is incomparable. 

~Happy Mother's Day~

One of my Mother's day surprises. 

Signs of Spring

Spring has officially begun and even if it arrived with cold temperatures and rain, it's a welcome sight after a long winter.  And, although the calendar tells us it's spring I still love to rely on nature's cues. I love all of the spring flowers and blossoming trees. I try to get outside as much as possible to take in the awakening of my surroundings. 

Here are a few photos that I've taken recently that capture some signs of spring...

Tiny daisies blanket the landscape at a park...

These are my zoumboulies. They smell amazing!

Almond blossoms 

Almond tree

 Apricot blossoms

And finally, my littlest blossom loves to pick spring flowers for me. 

***

Happy Spring! 

Flamouri Harvest

Flamouri Flowers 

The flamouri (φλαμούρι) trees have blossomed and are passed their peak. For nearly two weeks we've enjoyed the sweet and  light floral fragrance breezing through the air. The scent of our trees was enjoyed throughout the property as well as inside our home, given that we've had our windows open for nearly a month now. I anticipate the blooming of these trees and this year they were just a little late due to cooler temperatures and a string of  rainy days.

 One day last week I was talking to myself, which is fairly normal. I mentioned that I didn't know when I would have time to harvest any given the horrible weather and our social commitments. Funny enough, Izabella was actually listening. When she came home from school the next day she went to outside to play with Foti and  a while later they came in and asked for two large bowls. I asked them what their intent was...how what they needed them for and they told me that I've been so busy that they would help me pick flamouri. I melted...just melted. Does this mean my children are finally old enough to really help me outside? And on their own? I see things getting a bit easier around the garden. 

So, they set out to pick the flowers. When I went out to show them how they should be picked I was pleasantly surprised that Izabella remembered from last year. See? They're getting so self sufficient! 

Izabella removes the larger leaves not used for making tea. 

Alexandra concentrates on her task. 

Foti presenting me with  his bowl of flowers & leaves. I was on the balcony lifted it up for me to see. Nice work! 

~

Flamouri tea is also known as Tilio ( Τίλιο )

in Greek and Linden in English.  Flamouri tea has many health benefits and has been used as an herbal remedy for centuries. 

Some of the common uses for flamouri tea include treating a cold or a cough and other related symptoms.  I find it helpful because it helps clear up my nasal passages whenever I have a stuffy nose and provides relief when I have a sore throat. The tea has a calming effect and it is often suggested that one should drink a cup to relieve any stress & anxiety that's affecting the body. 

The fragrance is so light and floral, it's also used in making soaps or used in skin care. Last weekend I gifted some of the tea to friends that were visiting from the U.S. and they were impressed by the fragrance that permeated the plastic bag I had packed it in. I'm sure the inside of their luggage probably smelled pleasant once they were home. 

I've been suffering from a sore throat for a few days and I boiled some of my already dried flamouri. It's always so comforting. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend  that you do and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I do. 

Dried flamouri, just about ready for storage. 

~

References:  About.com: Greek Food - Linden Tea

Health Benefits of Linden Flowers and Linden Flower Tea 

Spring...My Favorite Season

Spring is my absolute favorite season. It means that my birthday is near, days will be longer, the weather is getting warmer, I spend more time outside and I can start planting my garden. Most of all,  I love how colors- greens, yellows, purples and pinks emerge from beneath the brown and grey hues of winter. 

Even flowers that some may consider weeds are beautiful and vibrant. 

Our property turns into a spring wonderland that our children love exploring. Butterflies, hawk-moths and tadpoles keep them intrigued as they spend hours outside looking for them. 

Even cold, cloud covered days offer rich green views. 

The children love their independence- free of the cold, damp winter and not having to bundle up every day. 

As I look up through the blossoming trees the sky seems much brighter and  a bit more blue. 

Purple is my favorite color...

especially when it blankets the fields near our home. 

Wishing everyone in the northern hemisphere a beautiful Spring! 

Almond Blossoms II

Almond blossom, sent to teach us

  That the spring days soon will reach us.

      ~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Almond Blossoms I

Blossom of the almond trees, 

April's gift to April's bees. 

~ Sir Edwin Arnold~

Have a nice weekend...

Winter Colors

As most of you know, one of my favorite things to do is to take photos of my flowers and other things that I have growing and/or bringing color around my house and it's been a while since I've actually posted any that I've taken. In fact, one of the last posts that features anything growing around here is "Green" which was posted on November 3, 2009. Although it's winter and  it's finally cold enough to actually "feel" winter (current temp 0 C/32 F)  things are green and growing and there's a lot of color throughout the season.  

Geraniums. I love that this climate allows geraniums to flourish year round as it's one of my favorite flowers. It's too bad Tarzan has eaten most of them, planters included. I took this photo yesterday and the only  reason that  it's survived Tarzan is because it's in a huge, cement planter that even I can't move.

 Lemons. Our lemon tree has produced hundreds of lemons this season. The second shot is from my balcony,   just outside of my kitchen. I can walk out and grab a lemon fresh from the tree whenever I need one. I love it.

Unfortunately, we've  lost a little more than half of the tree earlier this season due to a combination of the weight of the lemons and high winds. We have given bags and bags and crates away, just from this one tree and it's still full.

These little orange flowers are hardy and abundant. I  received the plants from my neighbors last winter and transplanted several throughout the property and they spread like wildfire.  Unfortuately, I forget what they're called. If anyone can tell me the name of this flower I would appreciate it. I did try looking it up but haven't had any luck. Also, according to my neighbor this flower has medicinal uses. It's pretty and strong and adds a lot of color to the yard throughout winter as well as most of the year.

Here's a photo of Tarzan's nose just near the flowers. He's always interested in what I'm doing so when I was  on the ground snapping photos of flowers he thought he'd supervise.

Peppers. These peppers belong to my neighbor. He's drying them for seed. I have a few left on some plants that I've neglected but his look so much better, especially for photos.  I love their redness and they definitely add color to my day.

Siberian squill ( Scilla Siberica). These are abundant along my front walkway. They've just started to bloom this week. The fragrance of these little flowers is absolutely delicious. I love walking by when these are in season.

We've had a few roses here and there but unfortunately, not this week. I hope that you've enjoyed a little splash of winter color from my corner of Greece.

Heavenly Flamouri

Summer is almost here and that means that it's time to pick my flamouri blossoms(aka "linden" or "tilio") for tea . I've been keeping a close watch on the trees and their blossoms, listening for the low hum of the bees busily buzzing around them. I recall the previous owner of this property telling us that the trees usually started to blossom around the fourth of June each year. Like clockwork, they did. So, for the last two weeks I've been enjoying the sweet fragrance of our two flamouri trees.
Both of the trees are near the house so the light, warm breezes carry the fragrance of the flamouri to wherever I seem to find myself. As I sit here and type this post, the cool night breeze delivers a light floral scent throughout the house. Dreamy.

One of the trees is right near the balcony of my bedroom, which is wonderful as I wake up to the heavenly scent as well.

I've harvested some of the blossoms but not quite as many as I'd have liked to by now. The problem is that our trees were pruned a bit too high last year and even with a ladder, it's difficult to reach most of the flowers. What works the best for me is when I arm myself with kitchen shears and a bucket so that I'm not wobbling too much while on the ladder. It's a simple thing to do and the reward is priceless. Three years ago I couldn't have imagined that I'd be doing something so simple and rewarding...and loving every minute of it.

Related Links:

Flamouri

About.com:Greek food-Greek tea photos

Health Benefits of Linden Flowers and Linden Flower Tea

Tea Benefits.com-Linden Tea Benefits

Since I've been extremely busy, I've decided to do a quick post to let all of you in on why I haven't posted in a while. It was my second week home and I'm back into the swing of things.
Here's a little of what's been going on around here.





We began our week with Kosta appearing TV early Sunday morning. It was a lot of fun to watch, his sense of humor is amazing. I did record it, however, not all of it. I missed the last half of the interview because I ran out of tape. Yes, I have an analog video camera so I'm still doing things the old fashioned way. You can hear Gigi barking and the kids whispering, it's classic.





As soon as he returned home that morning, we set off for a picnic. The weather was gorgeous, the kids played games and we enjoyed live music. Beautiful day.







Within the week, we explored in our yard. The weather has been so beautiful, we've already started to eat outside.









We celebrated Foti's fifth birthday. He brought his favorite lemon cake to school to share with friends and we had another waiting for him at home. I love that he wanted me to bake his cake!

I've noticed that the figs have already started to grow.

Our lilacs are in full bloom.

Asproula is happy here. We are keeping her. Kosta was out shopping one day and he came home with a collar. She's ours. She loves it here and we love her. The nicest part of this whole story is that she chose us. We're lucky.

The kithonia(quince) trees have blossomed. Out of all of the fruit trees that we have, these are my favorite blossoms.

We've had a few visitors and have seen a lot of our neighbors, especially since the weather has been so nice. We've been lucky enough to receive a lot of gifts this week. What gifts?

Well, when you live here it's typical to give and receive on a regular basis. For instance, if a neighbor has extra eggs from their chickens, they usually share them. I like to give my lemons to the neighbors and friends since none of them have their own lemon trees. In Milwaukee I have excellent neighbors that share as well, it's just that none on them have chickens! I'm so thankful for all of the generosity that we're surrounded with. Here's what we've received this week...

4 loaves of tsoureki

30 eggs

5 heads of marouli (romaine lettuce)

tangerines in syrup

a bottle of homemade white wine

How's that for genorosity? All of this came from 5 different families.

Since tomorrow is Easter, my in-laws are going to be arriving with even more goodies. I'm sure that there's another tsoureki on its way and hopefully, a karythopita!

Have a fantastic weekend and KALO PASCHA!!