OK, don't get all excited. They're not Manola Blahnik's, but I like them.
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Purple Crocs!!
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What's not to like?
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They're PURPLE!!
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We were in Killarney on Saturday, doing our duty by donating a bunch of stuff to St Vincent de Paul's, and we stopped in at the outlet center for coffee...well, coffee for Peter. In the outlet center is a Low Alpine store. These stores sell a lot of hiking, biking and camping gear. And they just got in a new shipment of Crocs. I saw the purple ones from outside the shop, halfway across the center! They've always sold lavender, but this is the first time I've ever seen the dark purple ones. I already have a pair of orange Crocs, and dad sent a pair of chefs Crocs in black a while back. So, now I have THREE pairs of Crocs. One day I'll have a rainbow collection of the bloody things! ;-)
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I'm feeling very girly at the moment. This time last year, I had three pairs of shoes...Reeboks, dress shoes and mountain boots. Now, I practically need a separate room for my shoes!
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Speaking of shoes...my husband travels a few times of year for work. He's recently traveled into Germany, France and England, but most recently he went to Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I never get to go with him, but he's a real sweetheart and always brings me something to make up for me having to stay home alone.
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I made a joke when he was leaving this time that I wanted a pair of clogs, since he was going to Holland...technically North Holland. And when he came back he brought me a clog alright!
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In Holland, souvenir shops sell ceramic clog planting pots that are filled with seasonal bulbs. They're health
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In my case, tulips are out of season now, but my clog was full of Gladiolus's. I wish our shed was in now so I could plant the glad's around it. They grow up to about four feet in height and would make a great statement against the side of the shed. What I'll end up doing it putting them into a big pot, then next season I'll transfer the bulbs into the ground.
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And since I'm talking about plants...again...I have to share this picture.
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This time last year dad and his lady friend visited us again. When they went home, I sent them with a couple clippings from our blackcurrant bushes.
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When we bought our house in 2001 we took a walk around our property. I found a great tree with these amazing leaves on it. I thought they'd look very pretty in a vase of water in the house so I snipped a few. About a week later, the cuttings had sprouted roots. I eventually planted them in pots, the into the ground. Then they started to bloom and fruit. I took a clipping to our favorite garden center, Griffin's Garden Centre, and was told it was indeed a blackcurrant and not a tree. Cool!
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Getting back to "the folks," last year they took a couple clippings home. They were literally just a couple sticks wrapped in damp papertowels and protected in a ZipLock bag. Once home, they put the clippings into a vase of water and waited for them to sprout. Tah-dah! They now have a plant that's about four feet tall, as you can see here.
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And I'm embarrassed to admit that their plant looks healthier than ours do! But we have more fruit :-) BUT, their bush is only a year old, so it has time to mature and really get its fruit on!
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"The folks" love the stories they bring back with them from Ireland. After their first trip, when they brought back a few rocks and some daffodil bulbs, and now this trip with their blackcurrants, they have loads to talk about with their friends. Each rock and the daffodils have their own stories, and now the blackcurrants with theirs.
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In the case with the blackcurrants, the original bush at the back of our property was actually part of an old garden! Our property from was originally part of a much larger piece of land owned by a local family and dates back many, many decades. The blackcurrant was the last of the plants in the original garden. Between the blackcurrants in the garden and the wild blackberries, the family had gallons of berries for preserves. We collected twelve pounds of blackberries two years ago and made jam and we're STILL going through it.
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Watch for a post on making blackberry jam at the end of September!
