the blue muse

Dill is my favorite herb, and I let it grow wild everywhere in my garden. In summer, I put it almost everything I cook. (When I cook, which, I admit, isn’t often.) These stems are as tall as I am, like so many other plants in my garden. All the rain we’ve had has made everything twice as high as usual.

The kiss me over the garden gate is already above my head.

I spent yesterday weeding and mulching two more beds in the side garden, laughing at how far behind I am in my chores, but enjoying the process all the same. I usually aim to have all of this done by Father’s Day, but this year, I couldn’t make it happen. So now, I will putter my way through the beds all summer and tidy up as I go.

I also spent a lot of time reading this weekend, I’ve discovered a series by Nancy Turner and I am just loving these books. Last weekend I read These Is My Words, and this weekend, Sarah’s Quilt. There is one more in the series, The Star Garden, which I can’t wait to start. The books chronicle the story of a woman who traveled through Arizona and Texas as a child in the 1800s and settled there–they are very much like grown-up versions of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, and honestly, I couldn’t put either one down until I had finished. I know that I am going to miss Sarah Agnes Prine when I am done reading them all. Those are the best kind of books in my opinion, the ones you miss.

Reading these stories made me marvel at how easy we have life compared to the way people used to live. We take so much for granted, all the technology and conveniences we have that allow us to rise above simple survival mode. We grow food in our gardens because we choose to, not because we have to. We don’t have to boil water in cauldrons to do our laundry. We have air conditioning and indoor plumbing and electricity, and we only pay attention to them when they don’t work.

We tend to think about the “good old days” in terms of all the things we wish we still had and did, but we forget how hard it was just to get through life. Reading these books has certainly made me appreciate mine.

Life is good, even when it’s not easy and carefree.

That’s my lesson for the summer.

Savor the simple things.

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Wishing you a week filled with summer’s flavor.

Summer is just flying by, and I am squeezing as much living out of it as I can. Reading, enjoying sunsets, breathing in flowers, dining al fresco, watching thunderstorms roll by.

There is much to be done (as evidenced by the weeds crawling up through the daylilies) but I pull myself away from it all to enjoy these golden days as much as possible.

There will always be weeds. Floors will always need sweeping, jewelry needs making, wood needs repainting. It’s all there on my list, waiting for my attention.

But who can turn away from that light and that perfect sky and and these flowers that live so briefly?

And so I sit, watching, listening, absorbing, relaxing.

Basking.

Now there’s a word for you.

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Wishing you a weekend filled with time and light.

It’s all there, in one branch of a rose bush.

Thorn and beauty, bloom and wither, sunlight and shadow, flourish and food.

This is life.

I stand here, breathing it in.

All of it.

The smell of truth.

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long days and long sunsets
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color me gypsy

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time is always golden and stars are dipped in sugar

nights belong to heart and song

and morning smiles are dew-kissed and silent

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Wishing you a weekend filled with light

Green blue and purple, red white and blue.

There have been a lot of grey skies this year, lots of rain for the garden, the swamp down the road is filling back up. Every year, I am reminded of the cycles, the circles, the patterns, and yet, every year, I see something new.

Every year, we complain about the heat or the cold or the drought or the rain, because it’s human nature to complain about the weather.

My basement has been wet for a month, but my garden is a pastiche of color. Everything is twice as high as last year. It looks, and feels, like a jungle. So I ignore the mess and breathe in the flowers.

Perfection fell by the wayside a long time ago. (And I was happy to let it go.)

I live in a beautiful mess.

Life.

With flowers.

It’s hard to complain about that.

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Wishing you a lovely, lively Independence Day.

Well, not exactly, we have another rainy week in the forecast. But I am remembering the drought of last year, and trying not to complain. Everything is my garden is twice at high as last summer. Obviously, the plants aren’t complaining, either.

But the sun peeks out every so often, yesterday was beautiful and sunny and I spent the day outside, tidying up another section of the jungle. Once again, it has all gotten away from me, too much garden and not enough time. But it’s okay. I will just putter my way through the beds this summer, and it will be what it is.

My beautiful mess.

My husband and I sat outside last evening and laughed at the green herons with their funny sounds and goofy antics. My son was here for most of the weekend, and we all had a nice, quiet time. And even though I did some serious spring cleaning and some heavy duty gardening, I also did lots of reading, and it was relaxing.

Sometimes, it’s good to just use your hands, sweat a little, and whistle while you work.

Or sing, whichever the case may be.

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Wishing you a week filled with music and sunshine.

I have a weekend opening up to me, the first one in quite some time that doesn’t have “work” stamped across its forehead.

I have big plans to get lots of things accomplished in the catch-up department, house cleaning, gardening, jewelry planning, etc. But I also have a feeling that there will be some large chunks of reading time working their way in.

I’ve always refused to feel guilty about reading. I’m expanding my mind, right?

It’s supposed to be raining here (again), but either way, I am looking forward to curling up with a book. And to clearing away some of the clutter that has accumulated, both in my mind and in my house.

And I’m hoping for a few lazy hours to do nothing but be.

That’s no too much to ask, is it?

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Wishing you a weekend filled with time and sunshine.

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Life has been busy busy busy and I am making my way
through a long list of things that must be done.

Every so often, I have to stop and remind myself
to slow down, breathe, and enjoy the process.

It’s a journey, right?

And we can only move one step at a time.

Onward.

Or upward.

That works, too.

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It’s hard to believe that today marks the beginning of summer.

Because June has flown by in the blink of an eye, and because the last two nights have been chilly enough for socks and extra blankets.

My studio window has been my window to the world these past few weeks, and it is so nice to have that view filled with flowers. And birds and bees, butterflies and dragonflies, sunshine and blue skies.

Happy Solstice to you.