Summer feels compressed this year. Spring was late, and
all my flowers seem to bloom two weeks past their usual time.
Already people are talking about autumn.
Already people are talking about autumn.
Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago that I was photographing peony buds?
Summer evenings are a joy, reading on the porch, watching robins and rabbits
through twilight, the sounds of neighborhood children playing outside after dinner.
My flower bed has gone from being calm and distinct
to a weedy tangle, and somehow I missed the transition.
It's been many years since I've done much gardening.
When my children were young and my life overfull,
tending a garden went from pleasure to chore.
tending a garden went from pleasure to chore.
But now it's becoming pleasure again, in small bits.
For one thing, I've been weeding in the evening.
Many people do their gardening in the early morning,
but I am not a morning person, and if I try to force it, well, it becomes a chore again.
But my evenings are mostly my own, and these days I spend them reading.
So I take a break from my books and weed for a while.
It's quiet and shady and sometimes even meditative.
Best of all though, are the wildflowers in the country.
They don't need weeding,
and their petite charms are beyond anything I could cultivate.
I hope that you are enjoying summer (or winter if you are on the other side of the globe).
I hope that you are enjoying summer (or winter if you are on the other side of the globe).
xo, Jen
Hi Jen. This reminds me of my mother and how one year she brought home some wildflowers from beside the highway and planted them in her yard. Next thing she knew the yard was covered in beautiful yellow wildflowers. I thought it was pretty cool myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the morning thing. :)
Hi Rubye Jack, fellow night owl--I like your mother's philosophy!
ReplyDeleteI've worked in a flower shop for many years but still think the prettiest flowers are the wild ones. I got married in Oct. and my flowers were foraged from yards, allies and the side of the road.
ReplyDeleteThe evenings have been nice here as well. I can feel a slight change in the air. I love that time, in between seasons when you can read your book outside under a blanket. xo
Your image of outside under a blanket reading makes me so happy!
DeleteLove the story of your wedding flowers--sounds perfect.
I know what you are referring to about the weeds, all of a sudden poof, poof...or maybe not. And it does feel like fall, I was driving to work on Monday and leaves were coming down, not a lot but just enough to give it that feeling, and it's been downright chilly in the evenings. hmpf, strange.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it just last week that we were saying winter would never end?
DeleteLove the first photo. What are those large yellow flowers?
ReplyDeleteKaren--it's a coneflower. Tall and easy to grow.
Deletesummer went by in a heartbeat, didn't it. lovely pics :)
ReplyDeleteYes, though there's a bit left…
DeleteYour posts always make me smile. We are having a rough time at home, my husband and I we are both unemployed.
ReplyDeleteOh Alicia, I'm sorry. I know how troubled the economy is in Spain. I hope things turn around for you soon. xo
DeleteHello dear Jen,
ReplyDeleteI love to come to your blog. Somehow I feel serene when reading your lovely posts.
I presume, you are still in the Catskills!! Your garden is doing so well.. even wild flowers are beautiful.
Here we have 38ºC.. and its so hot. My poor garden needs so much attention, and especially rain...we have not had rain since May.
Enjoy your weekend and your reading on the porch..
I am a morning person, but do like to light a candle in the evening on the patio now and again.
val xx
Thank you for your lovely words Val. You seem to have real weather extremes--floods and droughts. That's so hard. But I know you are taking good care of your flowers and horses and everyone else in your life.
DeleteQuiet and shady evening weeding... I feel peaceful just thinking of it.
ReplyDelete