"It always seemed to me that the herbaceous peony is
the very epitome of June . . . and when it finally
drops from the vase, it sheds its petticoats with a bump
on the table, all in an intact heap, much as a rose
will suddenly fall, making us look up from our book
or conversation, to notice for one moment . . .".
VITA SACKVILLE-WEST
quote found on AZ Quotes
We woke to a summer morning that you want to hold onto forever. It was practically perfect in every way: warm enough for sleeveless but not sweltering; gentle breezes, not the hard cold winds we've endured of late; rains that finally came and made everything green, green, green and helped with those early spring wildfires in the region. Birds twittered - robins are more scarce now but the wrens and chickadees were whistling and chuckling. And baby magpies squawked as they hopped around.
I admit not wanting to be indoors this morning, even though I'm sitting in my favourite room with the window overlooking the back garden. But I had to check in with you, dear readers, as it's been a while. Today will be short(er) and hopefully sweet, as you don't want to have your eyes fixed on a screen on such a luminous summer day. Here are five quick things that caught my attention over the last little while. Happy Friday!
One
Oh, the joy of finding a whole pot of self seeded johnny-jump-ups.
All I did was water when they first sprouted.
I love their cheeky resilience and persistence—
I could learn a lesson or two from them.
Two
We have a small flock of pelicans on our nearby pond. What a
thrill to see this one so close up feeding along the water's edge.
Three
An open-faced sandwich photo I found on Mediterranean
Tasty Recipes (Facebook) that looks so appealing to me:
Toasted sourdough bread spread with
cottage cheese
a layer of sliced ripe tomatoes
a drizzle of olive oil
a spritz of balsamic vinegar, and
a finger sprinkle of sea salt.
I would add some fresh basil leaves.
Four
Words that I had to write down for the light in their message:
❧
"I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And I gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning
and sang."
MARY OLIVER
❧
"May all that has been reduced to noise
in you, become music again."
ATTRIBUTED TO DAVID TEEMS
❧
"Joy doesn't cancel out the heavy things
but gives you little pockets of
strength to carry on."
from SHARECARE, on Facebook
❧
"I will not allow my life's light to be
determined by the darkness around me."
SOJOURNER TRUTH (1787 - 1883)
Five
Recently finished and enjoyed reading the following:
While Still We Live
by Helen MacInnes
(historical novel, 1944)
Unfinished Portrait
by Mary Westmacott aka Agatha Christie
(fiction, 1934)
Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
(children's historical fiction, 1933)
The Correspondent
by Virginia Evans (epistolary novel, 2025)
Chocolat
by Joanne Harris
(novel 1999 - library book)
Dumb Witness
by Agatha Christie
(Poirot mystery, 1937)
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
(classic fiction, 1925)
Summer reading pile:
Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman
by Lucy Worsley
(biography, 2022)
Ordinary Grace
by William Kent Krueger
(novel, 2013)
Orwell's Roses
by Rebecca Solnit
(biography/nature, 2021)
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
(historical novel, 2015)
The Story She Left Behind
by Patti Callahan Henry
(novel, 2025)
❦
On that note, I'm wishing you a beautiful weekend,
Brenda
Photo credits:
Feature photo, Photos One, Two, Four
by Brenda Leyland @ It's A Beautiful Life
Photo Three - found on Mediterranean Tasty Recipes
Photo Five - Image by Marketing BS from Pixabay
