I’ve been having trouble thinking of something I want to blog about, I’ve started and put down various books all week (To the North by Elizabeth Bowen and The Brontes Went to Woolworths by Rachel Ferguson being the best among them, which I will probably finish at some point. I also flirted with The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley, which seems a sort of WW2 soap opera…)
Finally after lounging around today, eating hot dogs and lying on the grass staring up at the spring green on the trees, I saw a lilac tree with just budding flowers. Which reminded me that I collect poems about lilacs and now is a perfect time to start sharing them.
Out Of May’s Shows Selected
Apple orchards, the trees all cover’d with blossoms;
Wheat fields carpeted far and near in vital emerald green;
The eternal, exhaustless freshness of each early morning;
The yellow, golden, transparent haze of the warm afternoon sun;
The aspiring lilac bushes with profuse purple or white flowers.
Also, I’ve signed up for a Cranford read-along in June, hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey, come join me if you’re interested!
(The photo is of my wedding bouquet, from just over two years ago. I love purple, as you can see!)
a few of my favourite books 
Your bouquet is just gorgeous. I love the line ‘aspiring lilac bushes’.
Thank you! It had lilacs, anemones and tulips. Whitman’s actually written several poems with references to lilacs (including one about the death of Abraham Lincoln, called When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d), so likely I will post more of them.
Eating hot dogs and lying on the grass…sounds wonderful (and delicious). I love the Whitman quote. I wonder if he ever wrote about hot dogs…
I love cooking hot dogs over a fire in the summer, although I sort of cheated yesterday and bought them from a cute little shop called Le Chien Chaud.
Allen Ginsberg did write a poem called Walt Whitman in the Supermarket, although sadly there is no mention of hot dogs!
I think I will join you in the Cranford read-along, as I’ve been meaning to get around to reading this in full.
Thanks for pointint it out! 🙂
Good! I’ve been meaning to read more Elizabeth Gaskell ever since I read North & South years ago, so it’s always nice to have a motivation and a group to do it with.
What a beautiful bouquet! We have some lilac trees at work right by our office and they are blooming as well. I love the smell when I go in!
I’m glad you are joining. The only other Gaskell I have read is North and South, and I love the BBC adaptation of it as well. I hope Cranford is just as wonderful!
Thanks, Allie. I love the smell of lilacs too, it reminds me of the lilac bushes that grew on our farm when I was growing up.
I started a few chapters of Cranford the other night (I just recently got a copy too, so this is good) but will try to wait for June. I watched the beginning of the miniseries of Cranford, but not all of it. It’s nice to be able to picture the characters but not know everything that happens.