Not quite lavender...

I love the smell of fresh lavender. It's relaxing and makes a room feel fresh. There happens to be a lavender farm close to where I live. You pick your own lavender and the owners make all sorts of lavender products, including soaps, potpourri, bath oils and lavender lemonade. There are mazes and gardens and fountains...going to the lavender farm can be quite the event. If we had been married in June I would have wanted to be married there.

This is my field and mountain

 The problem is...they are only open for about five weeks every year. The last couple years I've intended to go, but the season comes and goes so quickly I haven't made it up the mountain. This year I'm not going to miss it. I've told Jake that he needs to take me. I have their brochure on my fridge. I have the dates set on an alarm in my phone calendar. I'm NOT going to miss the lavender farm this year.

A few weeks ago Jake and I were driving up to Oregon and saw on lavender on the side of the freeway. I made the comment that if he ever found any on the side of a road somewhere that he should feel free to bring me some home.

Fast forward to two days ago: Headed home from fishing Jake noticed some lovely purple flowering bushes on the side of the road. Remembering his wife's love for lavender he pulled over and cut a few handfuls for me. He came inside proudly displaying his prize. "They're beautiful," I explained, as he plopped them in my arms. "What are they?"

"Why, they're lavender, my love."

"Um...no they're not."

"Yes they are my dear. Just for you."

"They're really lovely, but they aren't lavender."

After a few minutes of google sleuthing, we discovered that they are actually lupine wild flowers.

The mighty wild lupine

They're beautiful, and they smell nice too, but he hasn't gotten out of spending some time at the lavender farm this summer. :)

Flowers for my table