lavender

My lavender started blooming a week or so ago, which is a great reminder of the Lavender in the Village Festival in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.. Well, actually it was my neighbor who reminded me, and we planned a neighborly outing to the festival yesterday. Sure it was blazing hot, and the shuttles didn't have air conditioning, but as one of us commented, the good thing about going to a lavender festival is that although so many people were sweaty and crowded on a bus, it still smelled nice.

Because it is so easy for me (like many others) to buy something in any festival  due to the excitement, my pre-trip mantra was "I'm not going to buy anything, I'm not going to buy anything, I'm not going to buy anything." So of course, the first thing I do is buy something. My neighbor started out by buying a slice of lavender-lemon cake, which was very lemony and not very lavender, but very yummy. Then it all went to hell.  Each of the four of us had packages within 15 minutes. I'd never been to the farmer's market, which was great to see.

Tons of lavender everywhere, but it was curious that almost all of the lavender sold there was 'Grosso' and a bit of 'Provence' in both cut stems and plants. I expected to see High Country Gardens there selling a dozen different types of lavender, but no. There were no booths describing the various species and hybrids, and the many, many cultivars.

Los Poblanos had a ton of lavender related products, including a hand salve which one neighbor had us all try - and got us all zoned out.

Wildlife rescue was there, with some incredibly gorgeous birds such as this American kestral.

And this red hawk.

Of course I had to appreciate the surrounding flora.

Then off to Casa Rodena for some relaxation, although there was such a mob that we ended up sitting on the lawn to eat our pizzas...one of which wasn't the kind we ordered. Oh well.