Widow's Endorphins: A Week in the Life

Widow's Endorphins: A Week in the Life: A week is a long time in politics.  It's a lifetime for a bouquet of tulips! From tender baby buds to the dried edges of a dying b...

A Week in the Life

A week is a long time in politics.  It's a lifetime for a bouquet of tulips! From tender baby buds to the dried edges of a dying blossom, there's beauty at every stage of a tulip's life.  How do you make them stay, as Jackson Browne would say, "just a little bit longer"?  

It starts when you chose the bouquet.  Tightly closed buds will begin to open overnight, and slowly unfurl in the days to come.  If you buy fully opened blossoms, they'll put on a great show for tonight's dinner party, and then take their bows. It's curtains for them.

Once home with your flower bundle, wash your vase, to prevent any bacteria from attacking the tulips.  Fill the clean vase with fresh, room temperature water.  Martha Stewart recommends placing tulips in shallow water, about one third full, however, everyone else fills vases three-quarters full.  If the florist or grocer has not provided a little packet of plant food to dissolve into the water, you can make your own.  One teaspoon of sugar and two drops of bleach in four litres (about a gallon) of water, will keep your bouquet fresher, longer.

Cut the tulip stems at a 45 degree angle, so that they will absorb water better.  Leaves will decompose in water, and contaminate it.  So, remove all low-growing leaves on the tulip stems.  Change the water every day or two.  Keep the tulip arrangement in a cool place, away from strong sunlight.

If you want the tulips to last a really long time - take a picture!  Maybe that's why politicians love those photo ops.

  

Photographs Copyright of: Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Happy Valentine's Day

Widow's Endorphins: Happy Valentine's Day: A big Mmmmwwaah from Moi! Photograph Copyright:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Happy Valentine's Day

A big Mmmmwwaah from Moi!

Photograph Copyright:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.

Widow's Endorphins: Year of the Red Fire Monkey

Widow's Endorphins: Year of the Red Fire Monkey: The Year of the Red Fire Monkey.  It sounds like the title of one of the Nancy Drew mystery novels that I read when I was a schoolgirl...

Year of the Red Fire Monkey

The Year of the Red Fire Monkey.  It sounds like the title of one of the Nancy Drew mystery novels that I read when I was a schoolgirl.  For my school friends and me, the Year of the Red Fire Monkey is one of those twice in a lifetime experiences. In Chinese astrology, a fire monkey comes 'round once every sixty years.  

So as not to sound egotistical, vain, arrogant or snobbish (which those born under the monkey sign are accused of being) the twice in a lifetime rule applies to everyone!  Chinese astrology is based on twelve animal signs, and five elements.  The animal signs are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.  The five elements are: fire, earth, metal, water and wood.  It takes twelve years to go through each animal sign, and sixty years for each animal sign to go through each element.  So, anyone born in 1956 - the last year of the Red Fire Monkey - it's your time again!

Quick witted and sociable, the little monkeys of the Chinese zodiac are natural entertainers.  Add the passion, creativity and joy of a fire year, and expect a great year for the entertainment industry, as the Fire Monkey energy shakes, rattles and rolls.  Sixty years ago, Elvis had one of his best years ever, with a string of hits, including Heartbreak Hotel, Don't be Cruel, Hound Dog and Love Me Tender. 

Even the Money Man appears to be pondering his financial future in this Fire Monkey year.  The fire element moves the stock market.  The previous Fire Monkey year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 500 points for the first time ever.  It is said that, in a Monkey Year, people have that monkey optimism and confidence.  Predictions are, it will be a great year for the stock market, finance, and entertainment, as well as transport, shipping and communication.

It is said to be a time when risks are rewarded.  So, take a monkey leap into something new. Do something creative and innovative.

Who doesn't love a monkey?  Birthrates in Asia go up in Monkey years.  They skyrocket in a Fire Monkey year, because the monkey is the "Academic Star" for Fire years, and babies due in 2016, are destined to have high intellect, and a passion for learning.

Those born in fire years are described as strong and dynamic, and able to overcome obstacles and illness. The heart, blood circulation, and inflammation are all health concerns in this fire year.      

When it comes to matters of the heart, Monkeys love romance!  So for all signs, this could be a romantic, passionate year. Or not.  Monkeys are also easily bored, impulsive and a little reckless. The year will be unpredictable.  In the words of another 1956 hit, Que Sera, Sera:

Que Sera, Sera

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que Sera, Sera

What will be, will be

It's now the year 4,714.  Happy New Year!

Photograph of Chinese Astrology Animals courtesy of Wiki Images
Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated 

Widow's Endorphins: I've Declared Spring

Widow's Endorphins: I've Declared Spring: It's Groundhog Day.  I don't care if Ontario's albino woodchuck, Wiarton Willie saw his shadow, and declared another six wee...

I've Declared Spring

It's Groundhog Day.  I don't care if Ontario's albino woodchuck, Wiarton Willie saw his shadow, and declared another six weeks of Winter.  I, along with the rest of Toronto have declared it Spring. There was a Robin in the garden last week.  We are enjoying the second warmest Winter in Toronto history.

Sunny yellow freesias are the perfect companion to the orange and creamy yellow tulips in this bouquet.  Freesias are native to Southeast Africa, from South Africa to Kenya.  They have a fresh, peppery, vanilla-citrus scent.  Tulips are one of only a handful of flowers which are scent-free.

Tulips were first cultivated in Persia in the 10th Century, however, it wasn't until the 1590's that they were imported to Northern Europe from Turkey.  An ambassador to Emporer Ferdinand I, Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq, is credited with sending bulbs from the Ottoman Empire to Vienna, Austria.

From the moment in 1594, when the first tulip bloomed in the Netherlands, the Dutch were wild about them.  Tulips were rare and expensive.  When the Mosaic Virus attacked the plant, it actually increased its value.  The virus created colourful flame-like markings on the tulip petals, making them all the more desirable.

The subject of many a Dutch still life painting, the tulip became so prized, that tulip bulbs were a form of currency.  Tulip traders were futures commodity traders of old.  They signed contracts before a Notary.  Everyone wanted in, and many sold land, their homes, and life savings to buy more bulbs. Prices were astronomical.  It was a time known as Tulip Mania. In March of 1637, the price of a single tulip bulb was ten times the annual earnings of a skilled craftsman.

Some decided to get out while the going was good.  That started a sell-off, and prices plummeted. The government offered to honour contracts at ten percent, but that only drove prices down even further...not unlike what happened during our Crazy Cauliflower season, when prices for a head of cauliflower reached eight dollars in some Toronto markets, before falling back to normal Winter prices.

While we're on the subject of pricey vegetables...I was reading today about the photograph of an Irish potato which celebrity photographer, Kevin Abosch recently sold to an unnamed client for one million Euros! That's right, Potato #345 is valued at 1.6 million dollars.

It's February.  Whether I've declared it Spring or not, tulips will not be blooming in Toronto for many weeks yet.  They are popping up in buckets outside of florist shops all over the city.  This weekend, pick up a bright bouquet of tulips, and bring Spring into your home!  You won't have to spend much, and you'll feel like a million bucks!  Serve up a bowl of mashed potatoes, and feel like 1.6!

Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.