Orchids Inside

The house itself and the outdoor gardens at the Biltmore Estate are so enticing that people sometimes fail to visit the greenhouse bordering the walled gardens.  And they miss a wonderful sight.

The 7,500 square-foot greenhouse, with its forty-foot high glass ceilings is a sight to behold.  There are many varieties of exotic plants there, but we were particularly interested in seeing the orchids.  The initial order for orchids in 1895 was for 800.  Today the greenhouse is home to far more than that, each one more lovely than the one before.  I did not write the names of any of the orchids, simply admired them and grabbed a quick photograph of a few.

 The ferns, palms, and other exotic plants making up the very first order for the greenhouse cost $1,600.00, quite a fortune in 1895.

 The 12,000 square-foot basement underneath houses the heating system for maintaining the tropical warmth of the greenhouse.  The boiler fed heating system originally used coal and was manned round the clock to hand stoke the furnaces.  The system now uses natural gas.

 The greenhouse is a perfect winter respite when the weather is cold and dreary.  It is pleasant in summer as well albeit a bit humid as one might expect.

 This orchid blossoms into insect-appearing blooms.  Fascinating. (You may want to click to enlarge)

 And what could make a visit in the greenhouse with these showy plants appear even more lovely?  A soloist playing beautiful music.  Her wonderful performance echoed throughout the greenhouse.  What a treat.

We Love Lucy

We love to spend time in our  front yard.  Because it is well buffered from the street with plants and boulders, Lucy can be off lead and explore the smells.  Our Ellie loved to pose for photographs, but Lucy does not like to sit still in the yard.  So she always looks a bit disgusted as if we have interfered with her fun.

The plant on the left is a cultivated type of laurel.
Shorter but fuller than the native laurel

 Sitting on this bench is no fun at all.

 Nope.  They are not going to make me smile.

It is fitting that our quote for the week comes from Maya Angelou who left this earthly life a few days ago.  I haven't the words to eloquently express how much this fine woman meant to so many people.  I will leave that to others.  Fortunately, Maya Angelou will continue to live on in her writings.  I'm glad that future generations will understand a bit more about the segregated south and Jim Crow by reading her remarkable words.  They will know that "still we rise" and they will be motivated and inspired by this courageous woman.

Read some of Maya Angelou's books or poetry this weekend.  You will find them fascinating.  You can read and listen to one of my favorites;  her "On the Pulse of Morning" which she composed and read at Clinton's inauguration in 1992.   (here) 
[NOTE:  Click on the cassette player below the photograph if you simply want to listen and not download.]

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

Roses Everywhere

Roses in full bloom.  Last week we went to the Biltmore Estate specifically to see the rose gardens.  It was the weekend for the International Rose Trials.  And we were not disappointed.  The day was quite hot, overcast, and humid.  For the first time in my memory there was not even a small breeze.  But we were not there for the weather.  We were there for the roses.

Kahlil Gibran said,
The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns,
The pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the roses.

We were not oblivious to the roses.  And since one is obviously forbidden to touch them, we didn't even think about thorns.  In the age of digital photography, one cannot stop taking pictures.  Far too many to share, so I will show you a sampling of the gardens.

One single beautiful rose

 I especially love the "old world roses."  The roses in this part of the garden are from centuries-old stock.

  

 Lots of climbing roses, displayed in beautiful forms

Roses

Roses everywhere

Of all sizes and colors

And each one lovely

 We wandered above the rose garden and found more beautiful flowers.

 I especially loved the pansies.  Such sweet little flowers

A person could spend hours admiring the gardens

Despite the oppressive weather, we had a great time.  And the weather made the ice cream all the more delicious.  After all, what's a visit to the Biltmore Estate without a stop at the dairy bar?

Pausing to Reflect

They are dead

But they live in each Patriot's breast,

And their names are engraven

On honor's bright crest.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We Love Lucy

Our Lucy has always been a very active dog.  A little "high strung" she is not as mellow as our Ellie was.  Yet she is pure Golden Retriever through and through.

Even after taking a long walk with my husband, she speeds down the driveway to greet me if I am outside.

There's Mom!  Gotta run, gotta run to meet her.

 And she often selects rather unusual places to rest.  Here is one of her favorite resting places, chin on a chair rung under the kitchen table.

 Seems uncomfortable, but she is fast asleep

The White Squirrel Festival has nearly eclipsed the meaning of Memorial Day Weekend here in Brevard.  I suspect that if you ask the average person in the streets what is special about this weekend, they would be much more likely to say, "The White Squirrel Festival" than "Memorial Day Weekend."

Tomorrow morning there will be rather limited attendance at our small Memorial Day Parade and the placing of the memorial wreaths in front of the monuments on the Courthouse Square.  But the streets of Brevard will be closed and jam-packed with people for the two-day Festival.  Music, food, entertainment, craft vendors, contests, and the White Squirrel Derby (soapbox style) will attract the crowds.  I wonder how many people will pause in front of the monuments and wreaths to remember exactly why we have Memorial Day?

Rather than a quote this week, I will share part of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Your silent tents of snow
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.

The memory is indeed ours.  I hope all of us will set aside some time this weekend to ponder how many brave men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice to this country.  And to thank them silently.

HAVE A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!  STAY SAFE

 

Keeping Up With Common Usage

Tweep, Yooper, fangirl, freegan, gamification.  These are a few of the 150 words added to the 2014 editions of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.  Many of the new words are related to electronic communications.

This is the first year that "selfie" was added even though it was the word of the year for Oxford Dictionary in 2013.  The editors explained that they prefer to wait until it is certain the word will be used for the long term.  They don't like removing words from the dictionary.

In keeping with the times; hashtag, selfie, social networking, unfriend, tweep, catfish, are among the new words.

hashtag - a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text

selfie - an image of oneself taken using a digital camera, especially for posting on social networks

social networking - the creation and  maintenance of personal and business relationships, especially Online

unfriend - to remove (someone) from a list of designated friends on one's social networking Web site

tweep - a person who uses the Twitter online message service to send and receive tweets

catfish - a person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes

The new dictionary

 Words, words, words

So what on earth is a Yooper?  It's a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, used as a nickname.  "Freegan" is an activist who scavenges for free food (as in waste receptacles at stores and restaurants) as a means of reducing consumption of resources.  And "gamification" is the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation.  [personal note:  We did this in the 80s calling it teambuilding.]

Other interesting words that caught my eye were:

crowdfunding - the practice of soliciting financial contributions from a large number of people, especially the online community

fangirl - a girl or woman who is an extremely or overly enthusiastic fan of someone or something  [personal note:  I think this one is sexist.]

turducken - a boneless chicken stuffed into a boneless duck and stuffed into a boneless turkey  [personal note:  this one surprises me because we ordered turducken fifteen years ago from Grasch's Market in WI.]

One change that I really don't like is the second use of the word "literally."  For years I have hated the use of the word when "literal" is far from the real meaning (I literally died laughing.)  Now the editors of Miriam-Webset have listed a second use for the word "literally."  It now means, "in effect, virtually."  And the example given is; <literally
turn the world upside down to combat cruelty or injustice---Norman Cousins>;  [personal note to Miriam-Webster:  long-term use of the wrong word doesn't make it right.]

While the new Miriam Webster includes "dubstep" (a type of electronic dance music having prominent base lines and syncopated drum patterns) it seems to have excluded the word Miley made famous, "twerking."  Perhaps next year.

Azalea Gardens

We visit the Biltmore Estate in nearby Asheville frequently.  Typically we go to see one certain area and spend a couple of hours enjoying the magnificent gardens.  The focus of this trip last May was the azalea gardens.

They were spectacular

 Many varieties and colors

 I especially loved this one

 Oh, and there were a few tulips as well

We'll be heading back to the Biltmore on Thursday specifically to see the rose garden.  Friday and Saturday the Biltmore hosts the International Rose Trials so we expect the roses to be in full bloom.  The weather is supposed to be unseasonably warm (as opposed to our unseasonably cool weekend) and sunny.  I can't wait.