flower girl

cosmos and random blooms picked from our front gardens

Cosmos is a particular favourite flower of mine - high up there on my list, keeping company with sweet peas, zinnias, poppies, morning glory and nasturtiums. With the lobelia, forget-me-nots, the Shasta and painted daisy's, and the allium, the tulips and daffodils in spring. The mock orange and the lilacs ...

It's funny how often I post images of flowers on this blog because I don't really consider myself a gardener although I do sometimes think I could be if I lived somewhere with a smaller more manageable plot. Each early spring I have great hopes of taming, even just some small section of, this huge property but by mid June everything that happily grows here just seems to just go poof as if over night a giant growth spurt occurred and suddenly it becomes choked and tangled, lush and overgrown. Green, green, green and more green. Climbing, creeping, thriving expanding green with occasional pops of colour poking through, perennial flowers trying to hang on to their places amongst the invasive choking greenness. I throw in my garden gloves with dismay, the gloves I've probably already left somewhere in my ever haphazard travels around this kingdom. Laying on the ground somewhere, damp, the glove's fingers becoming perfect cozy little tunnel dens for earwigs (who I happen, thankfully, to have an affection for - a much maligned little insect, persecuted mostly because of their kinda creepy looks). Sigh.

I put my bathing suit on for the first time yesterday, sprayed my fair and freckled body down with SPF 30+ and Miss D, Deb, Maggy Sue (Winnie's golden retriever best girlfriend) and I all went to the beach. Down the bunny trail to the back, back shore where we swam and threw sticks into the water for fetching, we sat on our big rock, we talked and laughed and smiled until our cheeks hurt. Winnie sure loves their company, as does her Mama.

I picked up local peas, baby carrots and small new potatoes from the grocery store and last night I stood at my kitchen island eating raw peas from the shell. There's nothing better. I do love my peas.

I've had the fan on in my bedroom, our bedroom, at night because it's been stinkin' hot this entire week, nothin' but sunshine, blue skies, high humidity and summer's full on here in this little seaside village. Although it's grey today - hooray !

My nephew Michael called in the afternoon busting with good news. I so love that he still wants to call his old Auntie. He's in the midst of a business/marketing degree and he's just found out that his Sept work term has been finalized and he was feeling happy with where he'd end up working come fall and (drum roll) he's been accepted to study in Malaysia the following term. He'll spend next winter not in St. John's (a tres cool city but infamous for it's dreadful winters - cold, wet with mountains of snow) but in the tropical island lands of Malaysia. I'm thrilled for him.

Busyness at the teak topped desk today - I've fallen a bit behind. High school is out for the summer so I haven't been helping with the high school art class - hopefully I'll pick that up again in September. 12 year old yard boys have expectantly fallen by the wayside but ... Dennis, my man Dennis, comes faithfully to mow my lawn. Hallelujah. He doesn't even mow all my lawn. He just mows the section that I hated to mow ?? I still mow the back and one side, the section of my lawn that is so intermixed with ground cover that you only need to mow it every 2 weeks or so. Dennis mows the fast growing, thick, exposed to the public part - I always felt like I was pushing La Beast Rouge around on a noisy, sweaty stage for all to see which I hated and he mows a small section of our expansive fenced in dog yard - which Miss D barely uses anymore.

goodness I'm a bit chatty this morning ...
off to the lands of bubbles & scent