the swing of summer

Hello, friends! This is the longest I've gone without blogging. Two months. It's been a busy summer and I've chosen to take a step back and just live in the moments. The past couple of weeks I've felt a post calling me again, but it was hard to know where to start.

Of course, all my gardens and pots of flowers are now in full swing. One of my simple pleasures is to walk around the yard most every day, checking on all the plants and flowers, seeing if anything new has bloomed, perhaps taking a few cuttings to bring in the house.

Last year, I had a pot of black and blue salvia on my front porch, which was not only striking in its color, but attracted hummingbirds. I couldn't find any of that salvia this year, but found this red variety. I've only seen one hummingbird, so far.

Another garden center had this unusual variety of salvia. Can't remember the name of it, but the plant stalk is sturdy and thick and the plant grows several feet tall. You can see it's just now blooming, so time will tell if this salvia will attract the hummingbirds.

Cosmos are one of my favorite flowers. Not only are they beautiful and daisy-like; they're so easy to take care of because they basically survive on neglect. Sow the seeds or plant the established annuals in full sun. They only need watering during drought conditions. They make for beautiful cut flowers in arrangements, too.

They're even beautiful on their own in a little bottle.

Any of you long-time readers of my blog will know about our ongoing annual saga of our neighbor's overhanging mulberry tree. This year was no different. We knew this was the year we'd have to hire tree trimmers again because the mulberry tree was not only dropping berries and destroying our patio and surrounding plants, but it was hanging over the roof, dropping berries there and into the gutter.

We were also dealing with the neighbor's invasive buckthorn overhanging our property and patio. It provided needed shade, but it was out of control and ugly.

Here's some mulberry photos for you, so you can see how bad it got!

We obviously had to move all our patio furniture into the backyard so it wouldn't get ruined.

I'd sweep up these dang mulberries every day (they fermented, stunk, and attracted flies!) into a dust pan and then dump the berries over the fence into the neighbor's yard. They're hers - she can have them back! 

You can see how the berries stained our patio.

After we had the trees trimmed. Much better!

Brian got to work power-washing the patio. You can see the clean difference around the perimeter of the patio. He also had to get up on a ladder and clean all the mulberries out of the gutter. 

Our patio furniture is now back in place where it belongs! I love being able to sit out here again. We now have no shade in this area, so we're looking for one of those free-standing umbrellas with the heavy base. 

Other than the home and garden update, my days and evenings have been filled with vet appointments (Clementine is still doing well with her kidney disease and subcutaneous fluid treatment), PT appointments for myself (my back again), and summer fun: get-togethers with friends and family, BBQs, day trips, an outdoor vintage pop-up sale, walks to the lake, and attending my friend's son's baseball games. 

Hope you're having an enjoyable, fun, and safe summer!

late july gardens

Hello friends! Summer is in full swing here in Illinois and I wish it would never end. It's such a short season here. I love the sunshine, all the flowers and the green lushness of the landscape. I don't like the humidity, but it sure beats our loong, gray, bitterly cold winters.

On July 20th, we moved into this house 30 years ago. Hard to believe we've been here this long. Will we stay here "forever"? Hard to say.

As always with being a home owner, there's projects to be done. Yesterday, Brian worked on putting in edging on the new front sidewalk, while supervised by Clementine.

The dreaded mulberries have finally stopped falling, for the most part. We can once again use our patio. And walk on the walkway without stepping on mulberries and smelling rotting ones and having buzzing, nasty flies all over the place.

 

But now the patio is stained and filthy from all the berries, so Brian will have to power-wash it. The projects just never end!

One new thing we just bought for the patio is this Suncast deck box. It holds all the patio seating cushions and pillows. Every time we'd have a threat of rain, we'd have to remove all the cushions and pillows and bring them into the garage...then haul them back out again. Not only a pain, but we also didn't have room in the garage to store them. They were thrown willy-nilly in the garage, piled on top of whatever we could find.

Now all we need is another cushion to put on top of the deck box, so that we have extra seating. I'm waiting until next month when outdoor items go on clearance.

My butterfly garden is in full bloom now and brings so much color and beauty to the back yard. It attracts more bees than butterflies, but that's OK ~ we certainly need the bees, too.

Our back yard may be small, but it's peaceful and mostly private, so it's our little slice of heaven. Brian and our oldest son planted these arborvitae trees about 17 years ago, when they were only three feet high. They're the perfect natural privacy fence.

Our cherry tomato plants really took off this year. They're over six feet tall! I've been picking lots of tomatoes every day. We've had caprese salad twice already, so now I'm going to cook down the tomatoes with onions and garlic and use it as a sauce over grilled chicken.

We are so pleased with how the coleus filled out on the north side of the house in-between the hostas and ferns, except...

some varieties grew much bigger than others. Here we thought we were doing so well back in the spring when we planted coleus, by leaving plenty of room for each plant. Little did we know that some spread and overtake other plants and some grow tall and don't spread much.

And then another variety barely grew at all! (The one to the right.) Now I know why some gardeners keep notebooks on what worked for them and what didn't. I'd never remember any of this next year. Guess next spring I'll be referring back to my blog!

We have a new cardinal family right outside our kitchen window. I watched Mama build her next in three days, then saw her sitting in her nest for what seemed like a couple of weeks, and now...babies! There's only two of them. It's fascinating to watch both Mama and Daddy Cardinal feed the babies multiple times a day. Daddy Cardinal tends to feed quickly and not stick around; Mama Cardinal takes longer with the feedings and then hangs around and fluffs in her nest and fusses over the babies. I talk to her out the window and tell her she's such a good mama. 🐦

I hope you are having a good summer and are healthy and staying safe.
💓

for today ~ june edition

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window ~

I have a beautiful view of clematis out my bedroom window.

I am thinking ~

about Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Chester Bennington ~ and several people I personally knew who took their own lives. Depression is a horrible mental and systemic disease. PLEASE - if you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to Speaking of Suicide - Resources for more resources.

I am thankful ~

for my yoga instructor and the class itself. After my meniscus surgery last year, I couldn't fully do yoga for a long time because of the limitations on my knee. Once my knee healed, I started going to a class in a wellness center right up the road from my house. But the instructor was just not a good fit for me. So, a couple of months ago, I tried a couple of classes at a yoga studio in a neighboring town. I loved the instructor and the vibe of the studio, so I bought a 10-class package so that I would stay committed. I go every Wednesday morning and I am hooked! I look so forward to this class every week. It's a gentle class with a lot of stretching and strengthening exercises. The instructor is friendly, compassionate, professional, knows how to teach and accommodate those poses where one might need a block or strap, has that beautiful, mellow "yoga voice", and incorporates different breathing techniques and some meditation into the class, too. In just four weeks, my chronic lower back pain is so much better.

One of my favorite things ~

fresh flowers to grace the kitchen table.

I am creating ~

pretty garden spaces.

I am wearing ~

a lime green (but not bright) cotton top and Levis capris.

I am reading ~

I'm a big fan of Ruth Reichl, the food writer. Two of her novels, Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me With Apples, were two of my favorite reads. Garlic and Sapphires is a little disappointing. I get that she uses disguises to get herself into restaurants so that no one recognizes her, but you can only read so much about this until it gets boring. She gives little hints about her husband and son that make the reader want more of that personal touch.

I'm also a huge fan of Susan Branch ~ her writings and illustrations are cheerful, homey, and comforting. Martha's Vineyard - Isle of Dreams is an illustrated memoir. It's actually part of a trilogy, with The Fairy Tale Girl being the first book, this one - Martha's Vineyard being the second, and A Fine Romance: Falling in Love with the English Countryside being the third. However, they don't have to be read in order - or even as a trilogy. I read A Fine Romance last year. I just happened to come across Martha's Vineyard in my library. I'll be starting this book as soon as I'm done with Ruth Reichl's book.

From amazon:

  I"n the winter of 1982, long before she became the watercolor artist and author we know today, Susan Branch, 34-years-old and heartbroken from the sudden and unexpected end of her marriage in California, "ran away from home" to the Island of Martha's Vineyard hoping to gain perspective.

    

      Based on the diaries she has kept all her life, Susan Branch relates her inspirational tale of lost love and self discovery, her search for roots, purpose, and destiny with laugh-out-loud honesty. A road map for overcoming loss, following your heart, and making dreams come true, charmingly hand-lettered and watercolored in Susan's inimitable style, there are diary excerpts, recipes, and hundreds of photographs."

I am listening to ~

Coming Home by Leon Bridges

I am hoping ~

for a lot of things...that Brian's leg injury heals in good time with PT; for the roofing fix to go smoothly (still waiting on two more bids); for my father-in-law to receive good care in the nursing home he was placed in; for my friend's healing from breast cancer surgery. And on and on...

In my kitchen ~

garlic naan bread pizzas with fresh mozzarella last night for dinner; chicken fajitas with homemade guacamole for tonight's dinner; gluten-free pasta salad with tons of cut up veggies and diced, cooked chicken kept in the fridge for lunches. This weekend I'm making a favorite vegetarian dish - Golden Red Lentil Dal with Cilantro Rice.

Post Script ~
(Add a favorite link that you would like to pass along. It can be someone else's website, etsy shop, Instagram feed, Facebook link, OR it can be your own.)

My new go-to potato salad that I actually like even better than traditional mayo-laden potato salad. I first had this potato salad at my aunt's house and knew it had to be in my repertoire. Just make sure whenever you buy potatoes, to buy organic. Conventional potatoes are sprayed with 37 different pesticides (see here for a good article on this subject - you can find out much more by a simple Google search). Needless to say, potatoes are also on the Dirty Dozen Produce List.

Shared quote ~

"We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more are we capable of seeing.
(Maria Mitchell - 1878)

A moment from my day ~

making guacamole.

If you're interested in doing a post for The Simple Woman's Daybook, see the guidelines here.

garden stroll ~ late may

Good thing we got a lot of gardening work done this week and that I took photos then, because now the rain (and heat and humidity) are here. 

This is the south side of my house with the path that leads to the patio. It's mostly shady due to the neighbor's overhanging trees, so perennials such as hostas, pachysandra and lilies do wonderfully as ground cover in this area with minimal work. We've never had to purchase hostas. They've all been divided transplants from neighbors and friends. I haven't spruced up the patio area yet except for some new cushions, so I'm not going to show you this area yet. I still need to re-spray paint the ottoman and side table and plant some more annuals in pots for the baker's rack.

Privacy fences are boring and ugly and I'm a bit limited in what I can do since it's our neighbor's fence, but I've hung a few things for visual interest. I found this planter at Home Depot and filled it with petunias, dianthus and ivy.

Parsley graces a tin butterfly planter.

On the north side of the house...remember this plain area that I was determined to spruce up this year? This is where Brian put a trellis and planted clematis for me for Mother's Day. Since this area gets a lot of sun, we decided to plant tomatoes and zinnias here, too. 

Brian dug out a rectangular area, we planted the tomatoes and zinnias, and then mulched. We obviously still have to add some kind of border. See the planter on the left with the bamboo in it? It's growing like a weed. I've read that people plant it as a "living fence" since it grows quickly and tall, but it's terribly invasive. It can take over an entire backyard! I'm glad we dug it out of the butterfly garden and put it in a container.

These weigela bushes have been on the north side of our house since we moved in 26 years ago - planted by the previous owners. They had a lot of dead area this spring so they needed pruning. Hopefully, they'll fill back in with new growth later this season. In the meantime, I'm loving the beautiful spring flowers on these bushes ~ and so are the bees! 

The flowers usually attract hummingbirds too, but I haven't seen any so far this spring.

Pots o' color in different areas around the yard...

I just made this planter yesterday. The big plant is a citronella plant, which is in the geranium family. I originally thought that it would help deter mosquitoes, but from what I've read, the plant itself does not deter the mosquitoes. You have to take some of the leaf, crush it and rub it on your skin. That's the deterrent. Oh well, I'm willing to try this because I don't want to use DEET on my skin unless absolutely necessary. (I've made homemade mosquitoes sprays from natural ingredients in the past and they haven't worked well.) Also, from reading about this plant, some web sites say it's a perennial and you can put it in the ground so that it will come back every year, and other places say you have to dig it up and bring it indoors for the winter. Maybe it matters what variety it is? Sheesh. I'll have to do more reading later.

I have my herbs in various places...

Basil - including a purple variety - went into this planter.

I'm keeping the salad greens, dill and cilantro in a more shady area on my front porch, though the heat is already taking a toll on the poor greens on the left.

A little herb garden in the back of the house has mint, lemon balm, chives, thyme and newly-planted tarragon.

Also, in the backyard, my lilac bush blooms are already dried up. They sure don't last long!

The only thing blooming in my butterfly garden right now is Columbine...

After last night's storm, the sun broke out for a few minutes and I immediately said to Brian, "I bet there's a rainbow." I went outside and sure enough, there it was. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! 

For those of us in the US, it's Memorial Day weekend, with Monday being the actual holiday. We remember those men and women who died in active military service.