Lupines: books, seedlings, blossoms.

As well as the drawing books, we also took two picture books about lupines with us to read together on our excursion into the burnt woods the other day:  Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney (a favorite, and better known around here as The Lupine Lady) and The Legend of the Bluebonnet, by Tomie dePaolo.  These books were given to us by C's dad's wife (one of the boys' three grandmas) who is an elementary school teacher.   We have read these two books countless times over the past few years or so and almost each time there is something new to notice and more to discuss.

Last month, just before Mother's Day, we read Miss Rumphius and then planted some lupine seeds that my mom had brought back to us from Norway.  (I don't think that they're any different than the seeds you can get here.)  Then, we picked out a few of the shells that the boys had found on the beach during a daytrip to Bainbridge Island outside Seattle with my parents this Spring.  R wrote out the phrase from the Miss Rumphius book, "You will always remain in my heart"  on the big shells and E drew on some of the smaller shells.  I tried putting a water-based coat of finish over the shells but the colors of the washable markers ran and blurred.  Finally just the other day, we picked up a pack of multicolored, permanent Sharpie markers and redid them.  My mom already took hers home with her during her recent visit.  These were supposed to be Mother's Day presents for all of the three grandmas.  I guess we'll send them off with Father's Day presents this week.

The single, blue lupine is "The Governor" that I planted from seed three years ago and is blooming this year for the first time.  The bouquet is of wild, Silky Lupines are ones we brought home from the woods the other day.

Comments

[Jan]

Miss Rumphius is one of my all-time favorite children's books. I still have our copy which I read many, many times when Molly was little. I love everything about it...the illustrations, the sentiment and, of course, Miss Rumphius. Thanks for the memory and for introducing this book to others who may not be familiar with it.
(And, as usual, lovely photo montage!)

[Suzanne]

I, too, love Miss Rumphius. When I was helping out in my son's 3rd grade class (many years ago!)the teacher read the book. Then the kids did paintings of lupines----lovely! I still have my son's.....the kids wrote to the author and she sent a charming, warm letter back. Thanks for bringing up a wonderful memory for me.

[Lone Knitter]

I love bluebonnets. I grew up in Texas, where bluebonnets are the state flower. Each spring they sprout for a month or so. I've missed them so much, so I really enjoyed your photos!

[Michelle]

I've got to check out those books from our library.

Great posts btw.

[The Purloined Letter]

Oh, I love Miss Rumphius so much. Every winter we wander around the local conservatory and dream of warmth, thinking of her. Off to go find the book on our mess of shelves....

[peg]

I bought Miss Rumphius a few years ago for myself, as I grew up in NS, Canada, and we have lupines along the side of the road in spring and I love them too! They are now growing on the roadsides here in BC. Such a simple flower and so easy to care for! I love how the leaves catch 'dew' drops in the centre after a shower!

[Shelly]

Found your blog by chance and just wanted to tell you I love all the socks you've made. Have you ever used the Crazy-Heels-And-Toes method? You can find it by doing a search or if you email me I'll give you the link. I'm not advertising for her, and get no kick back, I'm just curious what method you use.

Shelly
tink1944@comcast.net

[jean]

Two of my favorite books! Barbara Cooney lived not too far from where I live. She donated quite a large sum of money as a Christmas gift to her local library in Damariscotta, where she lived. Her family owns a nice bookstore in the town. A great place to spend the day. And, today I saw a truck in Portland that was very Siri! It was a Chevy from the 30's (?), robin's egg blue. It had the greatest fan on the dash. I CANNOT believe I had no camera with me at the time. I'll keep my eyes out for it.

[Kristin Nicholas]

That's one of our favorite books here! I have lupines in my garden but they just don't thrive like in Maine. We used to visit your state in June every year and looked forward to seeing them. We'll be back sometime soon, I hope.

I love all the Barbara Cooney books - do you know the one about Emily Dickinson who lived close to us in Amherst? It also is nice. But Miss Rumphius is MAGIC, isn't it?

Thanks for a lovely read,

Kristin