a beautiful start to june

Happy June! We are having the most glorious weather here in northern Illinois. After a very rainy May, we've had nothing but sunshine and pleasant temps (OK, except for 90 degrees this past weekend) for well over a week. And this week looks to be the same up until the weekend, when again, temps are expected to be in the low 90's. Too soon for that kind of heat. Anyway, I've been spending a lot of time outdoors: Planting more flowers, weeding, trimming bushes, and finally enjoying the patio.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Susan Branch - artist and author in the field of Home Arts. I have her small calendar hanging on my bulletin board and love turning the page to a new month just to see the pretty artwork.

 

Columbine thrives in the low humidity and gentle warmth. It's the first thing to bloom in my butterfly garden. Once the heat kicks up, this beautiful plant fades away.

We have a surprise amongst the lilies in the front ditch: Daisy Fleabane. I didn't know what it was until I happened to see it on Claudia's blog. It's a wildflower - most likely seeded by birds. Isn't it pretty?

A few weeks ago when we planted this poppy plant (front), we forgot to take into consideration that the Joe Pye Weed (foreground) grows like crazy and spreads. This is just the start to its growth - it gets over three feet tall. I'm going to have to dig some of this up and replant it elsewhere before it overtakes the poppy plant!

A recent visit to one of my favorite garden centers...

I came home with a candy corn vine and more flowers for one last large planter. I was really excited about the candy corn vine, as I was looking for a vine that would grow in partial sun for a trellis we have in front of the house. Plus, you can bring it indoors and over-winter it. I planted it in a pot in front of the trellis, so I can do just that once the cold weather arrives again.

I cleaned off the patio yesterday, washed the table and got it set up with the seating. It'll be so nice to have meals al fresco once again.

Indoors...

My sister gave me a huge jade plant. I looked all over for a large indoor plant pot that didn't weigh a ton and was halfway attractive. I finally found this pot at Walmart. It's resin, so lightweight. I have the plant in front of a south-facing window in the spare bedroom, so I hope it does well.

Lastly, I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of my fur babies. Monkey (top) and Clementine look so peaceful sleeping in their cat tree, don't they? Monkey is such a big kitty (not fat - just tall and long) that he barely fits in his bed. He always has a leg or two hanging out. Clementine - my sweet little girl - is Monkey's mama. :-)

And speaking of sleeping kitties, where did I find Zippo the other night? Sleeping on the kitchen counter! He's never done that before, so I don't know why he chose that spot, all of a sudden. Oh well, at his age - 18 - I suppose it's easy to fall asleep just about anywhere.

Hope you have a beautiful week, filled with sunshine, flowers and just possibly, a cat nap or two. 

on the homefront ~ from morning 'til evening

The past couple of days here have been picture-perfect. Temps are in the 70's, the humidity is low and sunshine abounds.

 It's delightful to turn off the AC and open the windows to feel the fresh air. The kitties concur.

 My front door, which faces east, opens right into the living room so there's always always a nice sun puddle on the floor in the morning. With the cool breeze coming in through the front door, too ~ just heavenly.

When you walk in the front door into the living room, there's a little foyer-like area. I got a new console table from Target a few weeks ago. The original console table we had there was dark brown - and now that's in our bedroom with a TV on top of it. Then, I was using my grandma's antique secretary desk, but it didn't really fit the space. It was too tall and not wide enough. This new table fits the space perfectly, brightens up the area, and I like the empty space underneath (the original dark brown console table had shelving underneath). Our leather ottomans - which open for storage - fit perfectly underneath this table.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, things are a bit more chaotic. When the husband works an overnight shift and thus is sleeping during the day, I lose the use of our bed as my spot for folding laundry. So, the kitchen table does double-duty as a folding spot. Oops, I see a kitty tail underneath one of the kitchen chairs! Somehow, a cat always makes it into most of my photos. Good thing I only have three. I met a lady in my yoga class last week who has 11. Not going there so don't even say it. ;-)

And now with Tim being home, it seems like there's three extra people in the house instead of just one. I think I got too used to be an empty nester after three years. I'm back to making big batches of food to keep in the fridge for hungry men. With the cooler weather, yesterday was a perfect time to make a pot of veggie-beef soup. I don't follow a recipe ~ I just make things up as I go along. I started out by lightly sauteeing chopped up onion, carrots, celery and garlic - just enough to bring out the flavors. Then I added a pound of organic, grass-fed ground beef. Browned that up with the veggies, drained the grease, then added four cups of organic beef broth, two cups of organic vegetable broth, and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes.  Let that simmer for a few minutes, then in went the diced zucchini, green beans, and frozen corn. Spices were next - some Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Blend, freshly ground pepper, and Italian seasoning. Brought this up to a boil and added 1/2 cup ditalini pasta. Let simmer for eight minutes - and done!

Today I made a batch of corn muffins. A perfect accompaniment to the soup.

With so much cooking going on (Tim does a lot of his own, too), the dishwasher usually goes twice a day now. I relish the times the kitchen is finally clean ~ which doesn't last long ~ and the table is clear of laundry. ;-)

I always love to have fresh flowers around the house and my gardens have been supplying most of them, but when I saw a bunch of chamomile flowers at Trader Joe's, I couldn't resist. They look like miniature daisies, don't they?

The thing is, these cut flowers don't last very long. Interestingly enough, at the beginning of summer I had a pot of chamomile flowers growing and the entire plant died off within less than two months. I'm assuming it's just a delicate plant. 

The sun is setting noticeably earlier these days - about 7:40. 

This late summer sun casts the most beautiful glow down the patio on onto the Joe Pye Weed...

which the bees love.

Savoring every moment of these last summer days and nights.

Have a beautiful week!

on the brink of summer ~ lush and green

The beauty and lushness of the Midwest really shines in mid-June. Between lots of sunshine, warm temps and scattered thunderstorms, nature explodes. This past weekend, I went to Ginger Blossom ~ a place that carries fair trade ethnic rugs, furniture, clothing, textiles, crafts and antiques from all around the world. I've featured this business on my blog before, so it might look familiar to some of you. This is a privately-owned business and is on the expansive grounds of the owner. I always enjoy walking around taking photographs  of these peaceful grounds. Little cottages are filled with ethnic goods and the property is filled with gorgeous perennials, flowers and statuary.

This barn is filled to the rafters with furniture and art objects from all over the world.  

I found this beautiful glassware from Mexico in the barn. These glasses are thick and sturdy (I hate flimsy drinking glasses!) and I love the vibrant colors. I only bought two for now; at $6 each I wanted to make sure we really liked them before I bought a complete set. I can always go back and buy more.

Because it was the art and music weekend at Ginger Blossom, a singer with a gorgeous voice serenaded the visitors all day.

This lady, Angie is the main reason I love going to the art and music weekends at Ginger Blossom. She comes to these special weekends to sell different varieties of abergele cheese (which is a specialty cheese from Wisconsin - a tribute to Abergele, North Wales, UK), raw honey, organic maple syrup, handmade soaps, homegrown veggies, homemade healthy dips, and delicious homemade baked goods. I don't eat much cheese, but I cannot resist the garam masala abergele cheese. It's very creamy and rich, with the spicy Indian flavors on the outside of the cheese. One small slice is perfectly satisfying.

Speaking of lush and green, I'll show you a little of what's going on back at my home...

 I'm still working on the patio area. I bought two hanging solar lanterns at IKEA and hung them from the trees that overhang the patio. They're charging right now...I can't wait to see how they look at night! 

Here's the problem on the patio right now. Mulberries. I cannot tell you how much I loathe these things! They fall from our neighbor's tree every year. We had her tree trimmed back a couple of years ago to her property line. Last year, we were relatively berry-free, but this year they've come back with a vengeance. This tree isn't even hanging over the patio again...I guess the growth is just enough where they are managing to find our patio once more. If these things aren't swept up every day, they attract flies and ants. Not to mention you can't walk on the patio without the berries squishing under your shoes!

My basil is prolific right now. I really need to start harvesting it and making some pesto.

When I was at Ginger Blossom, I also bought a red sorrel plant from Angie. She said it was a slow-growing perennial and I thought it was pretty with the red veins in the green leaves. I can harvest the leaves and use them in salads.

One of my favorite perennials that burst into bloom just this past weekend: tickseed. I don't do anything to it except deadhead when the flowers dry up. I never even water or fertilize this plant. Comes back bigger every year and I love it. Great cutting flowers for small vases, too.

I was so worried about my clematis. It wasn't doing well for awhile and all the leaves were drying up. Hubby fertilized it again and it came back to life. You can see the new tendrils growing up the arbor and even new buds on the vines. Hooray!

The tomato plants are growing nicely and have the telltale yellow flowers on them that will soon be fruit.

The Phlox, Butterfly Bush, Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan in the butterfly garden are really taking off, but nothing in bloom yet - except for the columbine in the back. That's always the first to bloom.

Joe Pye Weed is really taking off, too. This was two small plants just a few years ago. By August, it'll be much taller and have beautiful blooms on it, which the bees love. That smaller groundcover next to the Joe Pye Weed is goutweed - a very invasive plant that appeared "out of nowhere" a couple of years ago. At first I thought it was kind of pretty...but when they say it's invasive, that's putting it mildly. I'm always pulling clumps of it out of the ground to keep it away from the other plants. I'm going to have to Google how to get rid of it for good (without using pesticides). 

One spring annual that I'm surprised is still thriving despite several days in the 90's is these little violas. They seem to love being in the birdcage and are starting to grow right through the top! I suppose it's because this birdcage is hanging from a plant hook in an area that's mostly shady.

Talk to you all soon...I'm off now to sweep up mulberries. ;-)

Sharing with At Home with Jemma - Thoughts of Home on Thursday.