Tulips and the sailor that had onions for breakfast

I'm in disbelief that its the end of September and it is the fall already! We have been so focused on cleaning house and getting ready for the next school year. The following pictures belong to the spring time, but I want to show them to encourage you to plant bulbs. The fall is the time to plant them.

After the gardens get boring with the yellow from the daffodils, come the tulips.




There is history in this flower, that originated in Persia and Turkey.

It is believed that in this culture people wore it on one's turban and Europeans mistakenly gave tulips their name, which comes from the Persian word meaning turban.




The flower's popularity spread quickly, particularly in the Netherlands where a phenomenon dubbed tulip mania set in at one point during the 17th century. Tulips became so highly-prized that prices were sent soaring and markets crashing.







There is a story of a sailor who came to a rich merchant's home to announce the arrival of an important consignment of goods. To reward the sailor for bringing him the good news, the merchant offered him anything he wanted for breakfast. All the sailor wanted was this peculiar looking onion (a tulip bulb) that he unwittingly grabbed from the merchant's counter. As the sailor was cutting trough the last bit of the "onion," the panic stricken merchant fell upon him, screaming how the sailor ate his treasure, worth 3000 florins, or 280 pound sterling silver. The sailor was sent to many months of jail for having onions for breakfast and the merchant not only suffered the injury of losing an expensive piece of property, but also the insult of having his prized possession perish in such an undignified manner-through someones digestive system.




This make me think about all the time and money the we spend in things that some years later are not important. When I read about it, it reminded me about when the children of Israel complained to God. Some of the things they missed from Egypt were garlic and onions, I know, many people can't stand the smell of them, but in those times they were a cool thing to eat.
(Numbers 11:4-6 ...and the children of Israel also wept again and said, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all besides this manna before our eyes.")






I was getting ready to post this back in the spring, I really wanted to show off my flowers, but there were some things not done around the house and with my children, The Lord showed me how I was wasting my time blogging instead of doing my motherly duties. So what if I not do the not important things, but I should try to do the things God has put in my heart, and it shall happen that some years later nobody will miss my blog of flowers, but the kids will remember that I took care of them. Of course, I only do what I can and there are things that are not done the way they are supposed be done, but for that there is always grace, and this time, it didn't feel right to not listen to Him.