Early Summer 2013

It's July and so much is/has been happening.  Steve and I are so good at occupying ourselves and finding projects we want to complete (much on this over the next month), we must really work to take time to be restful and allow time for physical rejuvenation.  Life is good though and it's our most favorite time of year.  July is my birthday month and I am most certainly a Cancer...I love water, heat, growing things.  Though I enjoy all months of the year, this is the month that I hold on to and remember when the grayness of February settles in a little too deeply.  Here's a snippet of our life of late. We continue on our path to work hard, make things, repurpose and reuse, make our home inspiring and welcoming for two-leggeds, four, six and eight-leggeds and, not to leave anything out, the no-leggeds and many-leggeds.

This June and start to July are defined by rain this year here in north-central Ohio.  We greatly welcome the reprieve from last year's drought.

The moisture lends itself to abundant growth....

truly incredible abundant growth.  This garden is 2-3 years old depending on the plants.  In a couple of weeks the flowers will be in full, beautiful bloom.

Steve's moved A LOT of stone this summer.  We have a gravel pit nearby so this is a natural, cheap material for us.  The stone pathways make the gardens visibly and physically accessible and are themselves easy to maintain.

The potting shed garden positively exploded this year.  We put in so many different native plants over the past few years and should have a great seed source this year to vegetate new areas as well as feed the wildlife.

This northern broken-dash skipper spent quite some time on the bergamot.

The butterflies are finally starting to show up in small numbers.  These winged-creatures are freakishly absent this summer. Duskywing on salvia...

Eastern Bluebirds easily find lots of insects to feed their babies thanks to all the native plants we've planted.  This is the second brood for this family this year.

The vegetable garden is providing us with loads of peas and greens and some early peppers, tomatoes, raspberries and many herbs.

Common milkweed grows everywhere on our property.  Some we've planted...

 and some plant themselves.  The onions don't mind sharing their space.

This sunflower self-seeded last year and already is enticing the goldfinches.  Its spectacular yellow makes us smile.  How can it not?

The three-sister's planting on the right like their salvaged wood tripods.  The beans are starting to twine around the wood and I rather like how they look.  After one of our crazy wind storms knocked a tripod over, I redug them in and they've held their own in all subsequent storms.  The blooming calendula is ready for harvesting for soap and salve once they dry out.

There really are two raised beds in here. The potatoes are out of control with their growth.

Bi-colored scarlet runner beans are starting to climb.  I am so excited for these to grow and be one big jumbled mess of color!

Remember that bit about relaxation?  This cat, Flora, has no problem finding much everyday.  The seed  basket is the new favored napping location.

We're finding some relaxation time too.  A perfect summer evening capped the last day of June and found us enjoying a fire, a pink sunset, calling frogs and fireflies to boot. Oh, and did I mention smores?