Azaleas

Here in glorious Mobile, Alabama, the Azalea City, we are smack in the middle of Azalea season. For most of the year the Azaleas are big, green, bushy plants. And in that big, bushy state they're pretty boring. But then, just at the right time every year...they bloom! Oh my goodness! Unless you live in Mobile or have ever been to Mobile when the Azaleas are in bloom you just simply cannot imagine the magnitude of Azalea season. There is nothing like taking a drive and seeing these beautiful, colorful flowers everywhere you look! Huge clusters of magenta, fuschia, sweet baby pink and white flowers! Simply breathtaking! Now, some people will try to shape them and manicure them but listen to me people! LEAVE THEM ALONE! A typical Mobile Azalea could be as big as a car! All that said, imagine my delight when thrifting recently at the Goodwill store and I ran across this:

It's a scarf that depicts all things for which Mobile is famous. It has the Senior Bowl, Bellingrath Gardens, Oakleigh, Mobile Bay, the U. S. S. Alabama, the Junior Miss program, Mardi Gras and of course the Azalea, and more. When I ran across this scarf it made my heart skip a beat! I knew instantly what I would do with it. I would save it until just at the right moment when the Azaleas bloomed and I would do this:

I paid $2.00 for the scarf. To me it's worth so much more. I found the grapevine candy dish yesterday at an antique consignment shop for $6.00. I could not pass it up! It perfectly matches my grapevine vase that was also thrifted. Here are a few close ups of the scenes:

So long for now!