June Blooms

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

Bee-Utiful Day

The Bee

His labor is a chant,
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for the bee’s experience
Of clovers and of noon!
~Emily Dickinson

Sailors Delight

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning”

The Bluebirds nested and laid their eggs in the barn wood box.
The squirrels stole them, not once but twice. I've decided to move the box elsewhere.

The Canna Lilies are in bloom, the Japanese Beetles seem to enjoy them as much as we do, it's a constant struggle to gain control.

Friendship

Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Simple Pleasures

click to enlarge

Oftentimes, it pays to wait.
The sweetest of the season are now ripe for the picking ........
June strawberries.

Respite From The Heat

We had rain today, a gentle-falling rain, the kind where you can use an umbrella without fear of it being turned inside out.
If you listened carefully you could hear the trees and flowers, heaving a big sigh of relief, their roots and foliage drinking in every last drop of moisture.

The temperatures fell, and for the first time in several weeks we enjoyed a tolerable 72 degrees.
Oh, how I love days such as this.

"Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain."
~Author Unknown

Rain Dancing

We had rainfall late last night.
An ever so small rainfall, but we'll take what we can get after days of blistering heat and humidity.
I'm hoping we will get another late evening thunderstorm, the skies surely promise one.

The First Sergeant worked unfazed in the heat, dividing Iris and planting shrubs.
He deserves a medal, another one !
There are several more flowers in bloom, as others fade, the cycle of growing continues.


Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were -- Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.
They lived with their Mother in a sand-bank, underneath the root of a very big tree.
Beatrix Potter ~ The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Wild Queen Anne's Lace


Jacob's Ladder

Balloon Flower


Asta

June Blooms

We're just a few days into the month of June, and yet the weather is as hot as the month of July.
Very little rain, and so the flowers are being watered every day.
I'm busy doing a rain dance, would you care to join ?

What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.

~Jane Austen

Knee Deep In June

"Tell you what I like the best --
'Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strawberries melts
On the vine, -- some afternoon
Like to jes' git out and rest,
And not work at nothin' else!"

~ James Witcomb Riley : Knee Deep in June

Home Tweet Home

The little Carolina Wren is busy gathering food to feed her babies.
There seems to be four of them, I'm afraid if I get much closer they will panic, and fledge the nest before their time.


When they hear moma bird approaching, four little yellow beaks are all you can see.
I can't for the life of me figure out how she knows which one has been fed and which one is next.

Rain Stops Play

Landscaping on hold:
Yep...it's raining !

Only Mad Dogs And Englishmen

There's an expression :
"Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun."

Guess what is taking place in the mid day sun around our house........landscaping !
I know, I know, worst time of the year to start planting new shrubs, especially since we now have to water them all summer long.
Bad planning.

We dug up the old shrubs and left the mulch in place, thinking we would have plenty of time in the early spring.
Well time got away from us, and now the First Sergeant has decided to plant.
It's been in the mid nineties for the past two weeks, the cicadas are still buzzing at the top of their lungs, and there's no rain in sight.
Keep us in your thoughts :)

Wandering Path

On top of the earth
where green touches the hills ~
in spring, in summer, with daffodils,
with dandelions scattered through untilled fields,
with waterfalls and ferny fronds
companioning winding creeks; and
grassy knolls surrounding sunlit ponds...

That is where my heart thrives ~
among dahlias, lilacs, and rosy thorns
scenting life with fragrant morns,
and gentle nights of rounded moons,
inhaling reminiscent blooms
of many lost, yet, joyful Junes...

Warming seasons created to
make lips smile, hearts leap,
feet dance to earthy song;
and earth's turning, ever-moving
>old winter right along...

'Til spring emerges, and summer follows
into every nook, into every hollow,
with greening leaf and budding flower
bestowed by Mother Nature's power..

An overwhelming gift of rarest beauty,
a rejuvenation, a resurrection of life ~
when earth renews, when earth revives...
Yes, that is when my heart truly thrives.

~ Hazelmarie Elliott