Can’t you see the arrow, Grandma?

Probably everyone knows this but me. Perhaps not.

The girls said over and over there is an arrow in FedEx. “See it, see it! Right there between the E and the x.” No, I did not see it, until Laura drew me a picture. And, there it is.

That is so neat; I looked it up at once. It’s a famous story, at least in the world of advertising. When the company was founded in the eighties, its name was Federal Express. My company used them; you could schedule a pick up almost any time of the day or night. I can remember saying goodbye to a marketing guy, waiting for Federal Express to pick up a prototype.

The company did such a good job its customers fondly referred to it as Fed Ex. The owner of the company decided to rebrand it as FedEx, and hired an advertising company whose owner was a bit on the edge. Actually, he was a big proponent of white space. 

There were hundreds of logo designs proposed, but the advertising company owner actually came up with the design. He tinkered with type fonts as well as white space, and made a winner when he stretched the E and the x to touch.

They showed the design and several others to FedEx’s global brand manager, who saw the arrow at once. He was sworn to secrecy until the FedEx executives saw the five finalist designs and picked one, and he still had to point it out after the design with the arrow was selected.

FedEx carries the brand, not the other way around. The arrow is a statement to find, or not. The story seems to be making the rounds again. And when Laura or Emily says, “It’s the arrow, Grandma,” I look around for a FedEx truck.

Pondering...

Laura needs a haircut (so does Emily)

Nasty ends are the price of all the lovely colors.

After her haircut, we went to the Peninsula Flea.

Linda likes to sell a few rugs for a nominal booth fee and overnight accommodations with good friends.

Found them, amidst a dozen booths. 

"Found us!"

I asked Laura to jump in, assuming she would stand behind.

Only skinny little girls can sit on the air between two people.

I love the children. He'll never be three again!

Neither will these two. This is a soap booth, and this particular bar is titled "Cereal Intervention".

I'm too old to follow that.

This fellow is too young to know everything that looks good isn't.

He's already shoved it in his mouth and got rid of it mighty fast.

Now he's checking to see if the texture may have changed from soap to cereal.

Back home, we're working on the problem I'm pondering.

Prom is next week, and Emily's crew is coming here for pictures, "because your garden looks so nice."

Oh, the faith. I already figured out how to get Emily home from school early enough one day next week for a prom hair cut.

Now I need to figure out how to make a garden a backdrop.

Well, the allisium will be in full bloom.

"Hi! Remember us? We're here to help!"

"I have no idea what you find so interesting out there!"

Planting milkweed.

Watering milkweek.

So, I'm thinking the prom crew can be on the sidewalk in front of the flower tower, and I photograph them from the real sidewalk, sitting in a chair to include what greenery I have in the front.

Pete Seeger is still doing well, but I haven't seen Rocky for the last week or so.

I think it's because I've had to leave the house at 7:15 these last many days, not 9 or 10 as usual.

Obviously we kept the same schedule.

I'll be back to it in a week or so.

Mandevillas and sandles

This morning Laura and I liberated these three mandevillas from the nursery.

We brought up the hanging basket frames from the laundry room, and got busy.

The white one.

The pink one.

Then we had to stop and sort out bird feeders, because the red mandevilla will go where the suet hung all winter.

Laura is in Becky Thatcher mode today.

A lot of red anemone on the red mandevilla end of the garden.

The female red bellied woodpecker landed on this pole, looking for her suet feeder.

She spotted it right across the stairwell, and flew right over.

Laura's sandles, as promised.

I understand Emily has an identical pair, but with green strapping.

As if all that criss-crossing was not enough,

there is a heel flap and really cool buckles.

I'm so pleased she is fourteen, and I'm not.

Presenting Emily's cinnamon rolls

The last week has been crazy busy. It's the end of the year for Emily and the end of middle school for Laura. Moving on, as they say.

Today was shopping for shoes and for an appropriate dress to wear under a white graduation gown. Tonight Emily's service learning class is hosting a movie night and holding a bake sale.

Emily's contribution is cinnamon rolls, which were accomplished in stages, between shopping. I was weaving all morning, and paid little attention to all the motion. First they made the dough, then went shopping for shoes.

Laura scored a pretty little pair of sandals,  which she modeled briefly between lunch, punching down the dough and leaving to shop for the dress. They swirled back in with Aunt Janice, made the dough into cinnamon buns and disappeared to laugh about shoes and dresses.  

A little later I followed the laughter to the studio, and found the conspirators laughing until the rolls cooled enough to be frosted. Having sampled a heel that would not go to the sale on my trip through the kitchen, I announced time, and went away.

Now supper is being prepared so we can eat and I can take Emily to the school by 5:30, to be picked up at (groan) ten. Suddenly Laura whirled into the room and announced the rolls should be on my blog.

Blurry, let me take another.

And there you have Emily's cinnamon rolls.

The height of spring

Another weekend, more plants at the greenhouse.

Pig gets his nasturtium.

Color to be determined.

Lamb gets a begonia taller than he is,

and some sort of daisy. 

Emily says it is not a gerbera.

Grandma's chives have been in this pot since 1990.

I believe they live on rain water, now.

Sedum are up, and so is a hosta.

The Solomon's Seal are about to bust their buttons,

and the allium right behind will soon be tallest of all.

That's the beginning of the new flower tower,

and one and one half inches of water in the rain gauge

turned into a rain barrel full to the top.

Color is the best part of spring!

 All my dad's colchium put up more and more leaves every spring.

The ground cover is curly thyme, and it has done an amazing job.

The new shipment comes to the nursery this week, and I'll buy as much as I can.

Anemones forever! 

And ever.

And ever.

This is a checkered lily my sister planted years and years ago. 

Although she planted it very near this spot,

we found it out in the lawn two years ago, 

when we were working on the lily of the valley bed.

She bought two. They never multiplied, 

and the other one made a chipmunk happy years ago.

The gold finches are gold.

This woodpecker is nesting in the woods behind the house.

She feeds at all the feeders, and regularly empties the suet feeder of the calcium enhanced suet in there.

If you made it this far, it's the end. 

On the way into the house.

If I can stop hanging over the rail.