May Day 2012...Blommor på första Maj

May Day is one of those days were I feel like indulging in femininity: floral dress, braided hair, picking flowers, nothing but girlish smiles. The day conjures up fantasies of some long-forgotten pagan tradition, and I can pretend that I'm one of those maidens with ribbons in her hair.

So this morning.... hair in a messy braid, and clad in a purple, floral dress (about as girly as it gets in my closet) I set off with my red, corduroy backpack, converse and a pair of kitchen scissors, in search of some beautiful May Day flowers. Yesterday I'd gone up Koko Crater again, and I noticed a decline in the yellow flowers that had previously covered the landscape. There were still a few, but the bougainvilleas had finally taken over, and now have a firm grasp on the mountain, just like last May.

Exploring a back path, I found the last yellow survivors, and some purple and white bells that were being swallowed and smothered by the now colossal grasses. I clipped some. It's May Day, no guilt to be felt. Flowers everywhere for everyone. Naturally they have been arranged in mason-jar bouquets and are smiling at the neighbors from my garden table. The bougainvilleas add a really springy (sakura-cherry blossom-wannabe) touch.

The big bouquet is for my Swedish friend, Hanna Eidenert, puss.

Hanna's Bouquet