Here comes summer . . .

 

“it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine ... it's summertime!” 
~Kenny Chesney

Oh how I love summer!  I know it's not officially summer yet, but . . . these late days of the Spring which is waning are allowing us a lovely taste of what the next few months ahead hold for us, with any luck!  I went out into the garden the other afternoon to take some photos of what's blooming in our garden.  This is something I regularly used to do when we lived down South . . . but I haven't done a lot of that since we moved back to Chester.  I'm not sure why.

Looking out our bedroom window last evening as we were getting ready for bed, Todd remarked on how lovely our garden was in comparison to everyone else's.  I think that's because we give it a lot of attention.   To us, it's like an extension of our home . . . albeit another room, except that it's outdoors.

 

 Tucked here and there amidst the bloom and blossom, you will find little secret delights . . . such as a fairy here or a fairy there.   They peer out at you as if to beckon you into a secret invisible world, or at least they do to me . . . gardens should delight the soul as well as the eye, don't you think???

I do so love pansies with their pretty little faces and ruffled dresses . . . it has been ever so.  I think the purple ones delight me most of all . . . but I am love with each of them, and the wild violets and viola's which grow in hidden and not so hidden spots . . .  

I know that they are considered to be an obnoxious weed, but even the Dents-De-Lion charms my heart.   They are so pretty when they are blooming brightly yellow . . . but they delight when they turn to fluff.  So much promise in that  . . . a hundred million wishes to be wished . . .  will they come true?

Only time will tell. 

   

These tender blooms are filled with promise too . . . the promise of Strawberry Short Cakes . . . and jams and pies.   Oh, I do so love strawberries.   As a girl I hated picking them.   We used to spend hours crouched down in the hot summer sun, our backs aching as we picked, and we picked,  and we picked . . . Of course the time would not have been as long had we not eaten as we picked, but . . . who can resist the odd bite or two or three???  Not I!!

I remember picking wild strawberries which grew along the railway tracks which ran along the back of one of my childhood homes.  So tiny, not a one any bigger than my baby finger nail, but oh so very sweet and filled with tons of flavor in that small red jewel.   We never got more than enough for a few small bowls to be enjoyed with a bit of cream and sugar.   Another summer's delight! 

  

The chives are going crazy at the moment.  I do love it when they blossom.  Chive flowers make a delightful addition to any summer salad.  My papa always had a pot of chives growing in the garden.  He really loves chives.   He also loved bologna sandwiches and often came to my home for lunch when we lived closer together.  I would make him a bologna and cheese toastie . . . with a few chives slipped in between the meat and the cheese.   Such warm memories . . .

I love it when nature has such things attached, such happy memories . . . don't you?  It makes what's beautiful . . . somehow,  even more beautiful! 

 

 As a child I would welcome these last days of spring . . . tempting and teasing us into summer . . . with open arms.   At school as the days came warmer and warmer often pencils and books would be discarded of an afternoon for a friendly game of baseball in the fields next to the school yard, boys against the girls, all in good fun, or even a game of dodge ball.    We didn't have a gymnasium attached to our grammar school . . . the world was our gym, and warm and sunny days the catalyst for some wonderful exercise in the great outdoors!

Such fun those days were . . . such fun . . .

It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a game of baseball, or dodge ball . . . or Red Rover, Red Rover . . . 

 

 Mitzie loves these warmer, drier days as well.   She is finally, after a long wet and muddy winter, given over to free rein in the garden, the gate between the patio and the grassed area finally  being left open so that she can freely romp amongst the greenery and flora, sniffing and snuffling to her hearts content!

Playing ball . . .

Chasing the neighborhood cats away, laying claim and stake to what's rightfully hers . . .

Sitting in the warming sun and surveying and keep watch over her domain . . .

Ahh . . . summer . . .

“Green was the silence, wet was the light,
the month of June trembled like a butterfly.” 
~Pablo Neruda 

  

Oh, I know summer officially has a few weeks before it begins in earnest, but it is hard not to feel it is already here when we are enjoying the weather we have been enjoying in these recent days! 

 

We watched a film last night that was horrifying, inspiring and totally compelling.  An award winning Docudrama based on the real life story of Alison Botha, who in 1994 was raped then stabbed more than 60 times. Left for dead, she somehow finds the will to survive and turns trauma into triumph. I highly recommend.  There is a bit of bad language at the beginning, but for the  most part this was, for me, a very inspiring story.  It is horrifying however to think that such evil exists  . . . and yet, we know it does.  

 I had some time yesterday to do some art. Friendship, its a beautiful thing. 

And with that I better leave you with a thought or today . . .


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•。★★ 。* 。
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˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.“Bees do have a smell, you know, 

and if they don't they should, 

for their feet are dusted with spices 

from a million flowers.” 
~Ray Bradbury    •。★★ 。* 。 

I am listening to: The Greatest Among You, Dieter F Uchtdorf 

 

Baking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cinnamon Cake.  Simple, delicious and smells fabulous when it is baking. This is a breakfast, brunch, coffee cake! 

Have a wonderful sabbath day!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!