Happy Birthday Emily !

21 years ago today my baby girl was born ! Emily Sexton DePhillips. I am so lucky to have two terrific children. One never can predict what life will bring you, but one thing I know for sure is I was meant to be mom to my two glorious children. I may not have a statue built for me in a park or fancy plaques on the wall but I honestly have the best legacy anyone could ask for in Justin and Emily. So Emily, what a joyous 21 years it has been. (thought I'd post a few baby pics) Happy Birthday !!!!

Christiana Hospital - 1 day old !!!!

Holly Ball Hotel DuPont

                                         

White Coat Ceremony

South University

School of Pharmacy - June 2010

Water Lilies at Longwood Gardens

I spent a few hours this morning with my daughter Emily and her friend Brian wandering through Longwood Gardens. It really is a wonderful time of year for a stroll there. The boxwood topiaries are at their bushy best, the late summer temperatures cooled by the many fountain displays, the beautiful Italian Water Garden, the tree houses and of course the conservatory. This month they are featuring fragrance and many fragrant specimens were there for the touch and smell from tuberoses to geraniums to lavender. As we wondered through the conservatory past the Rose room, the Orchid room and the Tropical room there was an opportunity to stroll to a small patio which featured one of my favorites - the water lily. 

The water lily is a floating six-leaved aquatic perennial herb that grows in silty sedimental water up to six feet deep. They can be found in slow streams and ponds and are native to the eastern North Americas and southern Canada. After a water lily has finished flowering the stalk/fruit is drawn below the water and forms a seed pod containing lots of seed for new plants.
Once when I was working at Wild Thyme, a local flower shop, we provided flowers for a party at Archmere Academy and among the flowers we provided were a dozen or so water lilies to float in the fountains for the evenings event. It was magnificent. 
So enjoy the pics from today and if you get a chance stop and look at water lilies at your garden store (you can even grow one during the summer in a deep pot on your own patio) or take a trip to Longwood Gardens.

SIW

I have a little secret. SIW Vegetables ! I have a share in a CSA, that means Community Supported Agriculture. Basically it means for those of us unable to grow and tend a large garden , we can buy a share and reap the bounty of a fabulous farm garden. H. G. Haskell has run SIW for years, it's a terrific farm stand that sells all local produce including fabulous gems from his family's own Hill Girt Farm. The last two years, instead of buying spur of the moment, I have bought a share in his CSA, which provides me a boatload of fruits and veggies each week from mid-June through Halloween. As a sample this week I am in store for 8 ears of corn, a pound each of tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, doc. martin lima beans, squash, 2 onions, a head of garlic, a cucumber,1 pint of cherry tomatoes, basil,1 pint edamame, a bunch of flowers, 2 onions, a bell pepper, a hot pepper, 1/2 pound of eggplant, a canteloupe, a watermelon and half a pint of raspberries. Unbelievable right, all fresh picked and delicious. The stand also has bakery items from Le Bus bakery, DiBruno brothers fresh made mozzerella for your caprese salad and lots of olive oil and homemade tomato sauce if you don't already make your own. I've included a picture of one of the early weeks of the summer just so you can see how gorgeous the fresh picked produce looks ! Do a drive by, you'll be glad that you did ! SIW Vegetables is located at 4317 Creek Road. (And don't forget SIW for your Halloween pumpkins and gourds, they're the best)