Monday, June 1, 2009

Love Flowers

T'was a busy weekend for the Bag Lady and the Rancher. Friday night they went to a friend's place to help move some furniture. The mosquitoes have hatched and were out in full force. Friday had been a very warm day with no breeze, and the mosquitoes were swarming.

Saturday, the Rancher and the Bag Lady went to a birthday party for a friend. The plan was to enjoy an evening outside, sitting around their backyard firepit. Unfortunately, the wind had started to blow, and was blowing so hard it made it too dangerous to have a fire. It is quite dry in this area, and they didn't want to take a chance of any errant sparks getting away on them. The only good thing about the cool wind was that the mosquitoes were blown away! The wind did eventually die down, so they lit a small fire (and yes, the mosquitoes came back!). All in all, it was a lovely weekend. Good food and good company.

The Bag Lady needs to get some yardwork done. If she had any ambition, she could supply half the county with dandelion wine, made completely with the dandelions in her lawn! She does not like to use chemicals on the ranch, so puts up with the yellow flowers that a friend once told her are "love" flowers. When she asked why her friend called them that, she was told it's because they are the first flowers a child gives to his or her mother....

The Bag Lady has a lot of love flowers.

25 comments:

MizFit said...

ok, Im in (were you joking?) so people really DO make dandelion wine??
Its a real thing?

I need to google it. (is it easy? would I like it?:) I DO have me lots of dandelions as well...)

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

"Love flowers" is a perfect name for dandelions! :)

I've had dandelion wine once, many years ago. Are you really thinking of making some? Or was that just a hypothetical idea?

Crabby McSlacker said...

Wasn't there a Ray Bradbury story with Dandelion Wine in the title?

Anyway, as I recall Merry Sunshine said dandelions are really good for you and they can help one lose weight--so bring on the dandelion wine export business, I'm ready to place an order!

Leah J. Utas said...

I've made dandelion syrup or somesuch. It was adequate. I have dried the root for use as a diuretic. Roasted it is a coffee substitute thought I haven't done that yet. Haven't made wine yet, either. Sounds exciting.

Penny said...

I can never imagine what dandelion wine would taste like. Spiky and yellow?

TA x

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - my MIL made some years ago and apparently it was quite good. I have been thinking seriously about doing it.... I have never tasted it, so I don't know if you'd like it.

kcinnova - I just might try it to see what it's like! My last attempt (crabapple wine) was a spectacular failure.

Crabby - yes - it was some sort of semi-autobiographical story, I think. I don't know about dandelion wine helping with weight loss, but it's worth a try! If nothing else, perhaps it can help me forget about my weight, if only for an evening! :)

dfLeah - the lowly dandelion actually has quite a variety of uses.... notice how the first one that pops into MY head involves alcohol? :)

TA - Now I AM going to have to try making it, if only to answer the question of whether it tastes spiky and yellow!

Tom Rooney said...

I remember as kids we used to pull a dandelion and hold it under the chin of another. If you got a yellow reflection that person was a butter lover. I don't know why that came to mind, but hey you brought up dandelions. :)

the Bag Lady said...

Tom - we used to do that, too!! It is a small world at times, isn't it?
:)

Geosomin said...

Heh...our back yard is full of love at the moment...
I've had dandelion wine jelly - it's good on roast chicken and pork.
Dandelion wine is surprisingly good actually.

Terrie Farley Moran said...

df Bag Lady,

Love Flowers! What a great name and what a sweet reason.

Thanks for letting us know about Love Flowers.

Terrie

JavaChick said...

I don't like using pesticides, and for the first few years we were in our house we didn't. However, we live in a subdivision and everyone around us had these lovely, weed free lawns and I felt really bad about our dandelions spreading seeds to other lawns all around us. I wanted to go with organic weed control but Husband and our lawn care provider feel that it doesn't really work very well and I'm not sure I have the time to weed our lawn by hand. I may have to give it a try though. It's a real pain in the butt keeping the cats inside for 24 hours after they treat the lawn.

Hilary said...

I'm in for a bottle if you're making some.

I find it horribly cruel that you've gone from snow to mosquitoes in just a few blog posts.

the Bag Lady said...

Geo - ooohhh - dandelion wine jelly!! Sounds good - I might have to make extra wine so I can make some jelly, too!

dfTerrie - you're welcome! That little idea always made me smile, and view dandelions in a different light.

JavaChick - I, too, hate the idea of using chemicals - my dog has a tendency to eat quack grass, so I don't want to spray it. It is getting a little out of hand, though. Sigh.

Hilary - there are really only 3 seasons here - winter, mud, and mosquito season. :)

Reb said...

Love flowers, that's a good name for them. The city has done all of it's spraying, so we don't have many of the little flying blood suckers right now.

the Bag Lady said...

Well, the little flying blood suckers are thick around here, even considering that it's quite dry. There's still enough standing water around for the little buggers to reproduce!

Scrumpy said...

We used to make chains out of the dandelion stems. Good memories. :)

the Bag Lady said...

Scrumpy - we did that, too! Made necklaces out of them and hung them around our necks, all sticky from the inside of the stems!

Sagan said...

PLEASE MAKE DANDELION WINE!!!

That is so cute about them being love flowers. I like that.

It's freakin' cold here. But, it IS awfully nice to not have mosquitoes because of it!

Redbush said...

My recollection about dandelion wine was when I was a kid. My mom and sister wandered across the road because the neighbors had invited them over for a glass. After a glass and a half they ended up staggering home hardly knowing who they were. That homemade brew is deadly! Hehe! I remember the yellow flowers being given to my teacher as a gift, and also remember the yellow under the chin story. Oh, if you need a few more barrel-fulls, let me know. I can bring loads over! I say forget about using the greens in a salad, bring on the wine!

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - your wish is my command. I picked the dandelions this morning and am setting them to soak! :)

Redbush - I'm pretty good for dandelions, I think..... if I need any, I'll let you know! (Hahahahaha)

Levi said...

I have nothing to add about dandelions. When I was young I was afraid of snap dragons. Do you have any of those?

the Bag Lady said...

POD - nope, no snapdragons. Was it the snap part or the dragon part you were afraid of?

David Cranmer said...

You shot a memory back. My grandfather who passed away in 1991 at the ripe old age of eighty-nine use to make dandelion wine each summer. I picked the dandelions for him but never got a chance to try the good stuff. Maybe some day I will.

the Bag Lady said...

Well, David - it's dandelion season, and there are tons of recipes on the internet for dandelion wine - go ahead and give it a go! If it doesn't turn out, you can pour it on next years' dandelions as weed killer! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, its my first visit but I feel I'm home. I live in Calgary. We used to live in the foothills where my dad was the foreman on one of the oilmen's play ranches.
You know the kind...no freaking clue but wants a weekend place he can come out to play at being a rancher. Dad did all the real work...

We didn't name many of the calves but did have a few memorable characters. Unfortunately I was allergic to dandelions but was thrilled earlier this week when my 7 yr old grandson proudly brought me my first dandelion bouquet. Love flowers indeed!

It was sad I couldn't even touch it. But it was a great allergy to get me out of a lot of yard work as a kid. I'd much rather be out riding. Leave the weeding for my siblings.

I loved reading your blog. I'll be back...
Lil' Nana

P.S. I now run a cleaning company and have great ideas about products (chemicals)and supplies to make cleaning waaaaay easier. I supply my employees with a mop so great we call it The Coffee Maker since it does everything except make a good cup of coffee.

Can I pm you? I don't sell the stuff, just sourced it out for my people.
LN