Dandy Flowers

What is it they say?  "Out of the mouth of babes" or something like that?  Ever since I had my first child, I've often thought I should write down the things they say that make me smile or laugh because, in their sheer innocence, they've often come out with some real gems.  Yesterday was no exception. 

With the weather being so freaking Gorgeous over the past week, we've been doing quite a bit of work in the garden, getting it cleaned up, planting and such.  Out of the blue, my six-year-old blurts out "You know what we should get mom?"  Me:  "What?"  He:  "A Sunflower plant". 

Well, happy to oblige in giving him something that he wants that isn't a toy or video game and will help beautify our backyard, I stopped in to purchase one at the cute, little, florist shop near my house (they happened to have a display of them that I noticed as I walked by on my way to get groceries...probably more milk...we always need more darn milk...I'm thinking of buying a cow).  So there they were, the miniature kind, in these cute, little, bucket pots (which I, of course did not purchase for the extra 8 bucks!  Hey, he didn't want a pot, he wanted the plant, right?), and I thought, Perfect!  He's going to be so happy.  So, I get home, and tell him I got him a surprise, which of course results in him hopping up and down like a kangaroo on a fruit-loop high, squealing "What?  What?  What?  What?!!!!"  So I carefully extract this beautiful, bright and sunny plant from it's bag and hand it to him.  Instantly he stops bouncing and looks at it inquisitively.  "Wow, it's a really big one!" he says.  So, I kind of chuckle and tell him that it's actually only a small one, usually they're much bigger but I didn't think we had room for a big one (not to mention I can never get a big one to grow past a few feet high without it dying, breaking, or being eaten by a rabbit).  "Oh" he says "I was talking about the other kind of sunflower.  You know the little ones that I like to pick for you."

The kid meant dandelions.  He actually wanted me to buy a dandelion plant.  "Yeah, Dandyflowers.  I meant a Dandyflower plant so I can pick them for you." he says. 

"In that case, you're in luck."  I tell him. "We don't have to buy a dandyflower plant, they grow wild.  In fact, if you want to pick some, there's a bunch out on the neighbour's front lawn - you'll be doing them a favour (and me as well since I didn't want them to go to seed and take up residence in my lawn and garden).

So with that, he happily bounded outside to pick me a lovely bouquet of dandelions, which we put in a little espresso cup on the table.

He still likes the sunflower tho, and it will make a lovely addition to the garden.

I can see how he'd be confused, they're both such gorgeous shades of sunny yellow!  I love it.

Additionally, I came up with a use for my old fountain that is pretty much broken:

I'm filling it with the old shell collection that my mom had given me years ago that I didn't really know what to do with anymore, and found objects.  I need more tho as it's only partly filled.  But moving day is coming up here in Montreal, and if any of you don't know what that means, it means that over the next month or so, people will be cleaning out their stuff and throwing away things they don't want to pack.  This results in Huge piles of interesting things on the street, waiting to be picked up by the garbage trucks.  It's wonderful for finding old treasures.  I once saw a really great photo on Deviantart that showed an unused fountain filled with these old, worn, porcelain baby doll heads.  It was awesome!  But my husband says that's too creepy.  *sigh*  Maybe I can sneak a few in there and he won't notice...

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed my cheerful little story, and that it brought a smile to your face, as it did mine.

Stay tuned...