Sometimes when you least expect it....and peonies

I wanted to blog about two things today - hence the odd title. I'm starting with the peonies. This is part of my learning crusade. So - did you know that peonies can be yellow! I did not. I thought they only came in shades of white and the pink family. They are name for Paeon, who was a student of the Greek god of medicine, who became jealous of Paeon and turned him into a flower! The peony is a traditional symbol in China and is the state flower of Indiana. Peonies are fragrant and attract ants because of the nectar on the outside of the blooms. Peonies are creatures of habit - good for a CT girl like me. (CT is the land of steady habits and that fits me to a T.) They do not like to be moved and may not bloom for several years if you move them, but once comfortable with their new surroundings, they will bloom every year. The blooms are heavy for the stalk, so they need support. And after the blooms die, you do have a nice shrubby looking plant for the balance of the year. In the language of flowers, peonies have the meaning of shame or bashfulness. That's because nymphs are alleged to have hidden in the many folds of the blossom. I have several peony plants in my garden. Some were planted by previous owners along the neighbors fence. I planted some in our garden the year we moved in. I've been surprised this spring by the plants that are popping up! I had quite given up on some of them, but it now looks like I have 4 or 5 in my garden!

So - the other topic. Sometimes when you least expect it, something comes up and bites you in the butt. This morning, on facebook, one of my friends sent me Happy Mother's Day wishes. Yup. to me. the infertile. the barren one. I'm pretty sure she knows that A & I don't have kids. Her husband is also in R-1. We've been at plenty of functions together - most notably the Christmas Party, where we clearly did not have children. So, I don't know why she sent it. Maybe she just sent it to everyone on her friends list. Nice way to start the day. I blocked the application so that no one else can unwittingly do the same thing.

To end on a good note, a friend of mine who struggled to conceive is happily pregnant and recently found out the sex of her little one. I have been waiting anxiously to hear, so that I could go buy some yarn for the gift I want to knit for her. I was hoping for for it to go a certain way, because there are a couple of colors I have just fallen in love with - and I got my way! Now if only A's fellow firefighter and his wife would have their twins so that I know what colors to go with for them. I have such ideas!