Me On A Monday - July 31st

Wishing Harry Potter a very happy 43rd birthday & post birthday wishes to Neville Longbottom who celebrated 43 yesterday.

Not a lot happening on or off the patio.  The garden continues to enjoy all the rain we are receiving. Regionally it has been a wet July. The garden will go into August not looking so strained & exhausted, as in previous years. 

Mushrooms growing in the grass - a lot of rain in July

My daylilies are still providing a riot of colour & the phlox is now coming into bloom along with the purple coneflowers.  

This year I tried growing in a pot, canna lilies & they have started to bloom.  I bought a variety package; so far, I have 1 peach, 2 red, 1 yellow in bloom & still 3 unknown colour spikes to bloom.  I am researching how to keep over the winter once I dig out of the pots.

Unknown Colour Spike (I think it will be yellow)

As for reading, I got a book from the library that Deb had recommended & once I started reading when I realized I had read before; The Night She Disappeared. Thankfully I have more of my Louise Penny books to read until the next few requests come through at the library.

Last week Mr Man had another eye surgery & it went well. Different eye as to the one in March.  We also had to go for follow up appts every day!  We don't know yet what the schedule is like for this week. 

At church we have been having some fun with colours.  Each week someone picks a colour for the next week for us all to wear that colour.  This Sunday it was blue which coordinated with The UN's Day Against People Trafficking colour choice. This coming Sunday (Aug 7th) we have the challenge of wearing polka dots. 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them.  

Wisdom

 

Words are like keys.  If you choose them right, they can open any heart & shut any mouth.

                ... The Internet

Me On A Monday - July 24th

 Greetings & Good Morning.  In this region the weekend was a perfect summer time, not too humid & just enough of a breeze to keep the insects at bay.  Late Sunday afternoon we did get a heavy downpour of rain, which I was grateful for ... I'm house/garden sitting for a friend & it makes life so much easier than having to lug watering cans about!!

The garden continues to astound me with the abundance of bloom.  My "Villa de Leon" clematis is coming into full glory. It's such an amazing colour.

We had a little adventure off the patio last week.  I was going through the SPSH list & thought we could find a few good examples in a town north of us.  It was a 40-minute drive & traffic wasn't too bad at all.  We had a wander through the community gardens & on to main street which led us back to the gardens.  There is a fair amount of ongoing prep for the upcoming Fergus Highland Games, a 3 day festival in August.  They claim to be the oldest festival of its kind in North America (according to their Wikipedia page).  We have tried for years to get tickets to the Friday tattoo - alas another year sold out before we could snag tickets.  Although there are still lots of other events with highland dancing, pipes & drums & all things plaid. 

I'll leave you this week with a request - does anyone have a good cold macaroni salad recipe they care to share with me? 

Happy week to all & to all a good summer's day ...  in 5 months it will be Christmas Eve!

Wisdom

 

The closest I get to a spa day is when the steam of the dishwasher smacks me in the face.

                ... Creative Child

Me On A Monday - What's in Bloom

 Good Morning Everyone.  

My garden is currently a riot of colour from the many varieties of cultivated daylilies that I have in the garden.  They are one of my most favourite flowers.  Roses may be known as the Queen of any flower bed & I've said my Tree Peony is the Duchess, so that must make my daylilies the Marchioness of the garden.

And just for some variety, this is one of my clematis vines, it is having a spectacular summer.

As I work or wander in my garden, I continue to marvel at nature's handiwork.  I know that I am very blessed to be living here & give thanks, daily, for my many blessings. I often wish for a longer growing season so I could enjoy more. While there is always something to do, some task that needs seeing to, I've been very deliberate this July to take more than a few moments to just sit in the garden. 

Wisdom

 

Easy to spot a yellow car when you are always thinking of a yellow car. 

Easy to spot opportunity when you are always thinking of opportunities. 

Easy to spot reasons to be mad when you are always thinking of being mad. 

You become what you constantly think about. Be careful with  your thoughts.

                            ...Unknown @Poetry Matters'

Me On A Monday With The First SPSH Link In

 

Welcome to the first link in of the 2023 Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt.📷  👀

Here's a list, in no particular order, or those indicating that they wanted to participate in the SPSH 2023.  If I have forgotten anyone, I apologize & please let me know in the comments & I'll add you to the list. 👧

Ruth At This West London Life

Eileen At A Bracelet of Days

Bless At My Two Cents 

Liz At Life At The Gables

Deb At Deb's World

Karen At 365 Photos

Leslie At Once Upon a Time Happily Everafter

Joy At Forty Three, The Final Front Door

Sharon At My New Uneventful Life

Karen at Random Reflections

... and now a few of my finds:

#1 A Plant/Tree With Thorns (one of my roses)

#2 A Wordless Directional Sign (newly installed in front of our home)

#7 Something That Dangles (birch tree seed pods)

#10 A White Flower (s) (roses from my garden)

there are about 6 of these "coming soon" signs all around our neighbourhood ... is there something they know that I don't?  It seems the coming soon sign starts the house for sale process, with the intention of getting potential buyers interested & ready to bid once the house is "for sale" turning the "sold" into a bigger profit.  

#13 A Sold or For Sale Sign (a state of inbetween)

Our next Link In will be Monday August 21st.

Wisdom

Let July be July

Let August be August.

And  Let Yourself 

Just Be, Even In Uncertainty.

You Don't Have To Fix Everything.

You Don't Have To Solve Everything.

And You Can Still Find Peace

And Grow In The Wild

Of Changing Things.

                   ... MHN

 

Me On A Monday - July 3rd

 

Good Morning, I hope everyone has had a good weekend doing things that fill up their cup of life.

Currently Reading:  Revelations by Mary Sharratt. It's a story of MargeryKempe, who, in 1413, has barely survived giving birth to her fourteenth child.  Fearing another pregnancy might kill her, she makes a vow of celibacy, but she cannot trust her husband to keep his end of the bargain. Desperate for counsel she visits the famous anchoress Dame Julian of Norwich.  Dame Julian is famous for her quote "and all shall be well & all manner of thing shall be well".  It is an interesting tale of how in that time period, woman were not allowed to read the bible, preach from the bible & definitely not allowed to administer the Eucharist.  Doing any of these things were invoke a death penalty of burning.  Oh how far we have come; at Sunday church service we had a guest woman minister & she did all of those things & no one was burnt!

Also reading, The Woman in the White Kimono, by Ana Johns. This was a book that Lady Ella had reviewed on her blog & the quote from the book, ""Sorrow and happiness do not pass. They burrow in deep and become our bones. We stand on their uneven legs, trying to keep balance when there is none.", had me intrigued to read.   It's interesting in one respect as one of my previous reads, The Hotel On the Corner of Sorrow & Delight, was told of a love story between Chinese American boy & a Japanese  American girl, living in America at the start of the Americans entering WWII, 1942.  The Woman is written from the perspective of a Japanese girl & a American solider living in Japan after the war, when America occupied Japan.  There are similarities between the stories, but enough differences that I am not reading the same story.

Currently Feeling: very over whelmed with the world of both the physical & emotional aspects.  I am often pulled into a rabbit hole of despair watching a particular online news channel of definite contentious opinions.  I've also seemly become addicted to YouTube videos on decluttering. There are SO many.  My challenge to myself this month is turn off my personal computer more often. 

Also feeling very fat & frumpy ... & yes there are lots of YouTube videos on how to over come both of these.  My take away so far this month is to stop gathering information on these & other topics & actually start on the work necessary for change.  You may see more Wisdom shared on this very topic (col).

And speaking of rabbit holes & such, do any of you start the morning of the first day of the new month, before you get out of bed with the quote of "rabbit rabbit" ?  It is suppose to bring luck for 30 days.  Some say white rabbit, white rabbit some say bunny bunny.

Don't forget next Monday is our first SPSH check in. Let's hope that my July 1st of saying "rabbit rabbit" will ensure luck with Blogger accepting the loading of photos!

Wishing you all a very lucky day, a lucky week.