Purple Lupine

After Aunt J's baby shower yesterday, we (sisters-in-law and cousins) stopped by the cemetery to visit grandma's grave. Lou loves going to grandma's grave. She's always the first to run for flowers. Often times she collects silk flowers petals tumbleweeding by, most likely blown from other arrangements. She places these on the stone and pulls a few weeds. Yesterday the most beautiful Purple Lupines were blooming in the back field, so off she went to collect a couple. First she brought back two and meticulously placed them on the stone trying to get it just right. And if two are good, then more can only be better. She was off collecting fist fulls of Lupine and decorating grandma's grave. She misses grandma, although she's never met her, and talked about grandma all evening. Then she insisted on me showing her the necklaces from grandma's jewelry collection and we decided that Lou and Grace can wear one of the necklaces next week to church. We'll have to get two shorter chains this week to be ready. Grace made sure to write down chanes (her spelling) on the shopping list.

While reading Maureen Wittmann's article, I discovered many suggested reading lists to peruse. I came across a book which happened to fit in so well with our little run in with Lupine and it was a complete coincidence. Today Grace read Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney to me while I started my bread machine with foccacia bread dough. How excited we were to find out that this book is about a lady who is supposed to make the world a prettier place. And she does it by sowing Lupine seeds on every hillside and in every prairie. Later I'll have to read this to Lou as well, she'll just love the message of the story, which happens to be: do something nice for others and you will feel better yourself.