Gratitude

The summer solstice arrives in a matter of hours here on the Pacific Coast, allowing for more daylight hours in the garden. I stepped out earlier this morning to take a few photos while the light was just so. I enjoyed the quiet, for the most part, but a male hummingbird took offense at my presence and kept flying so close to my ear that I could feel and hear his vibrating wings. He eventually tired of his warning flights and settled in at the feeder that Mike lovingly attends.

A hummingbird perched on a red feeder, sipping nectar from a flower-shaped opening.

These sunflowers are filling the corner vacated last year when we removed the invasive wisteria. The transplanted succulents are doing well there, though one of them got a bit scorched in the last heatwave. Deeply scented gardenias are flourishing, apparently enjoying the additional filtered light. It’s emerging as a lovely corner in the front garden.

Bright perennials fill the garden’s center by June, with most of the spring bulbs and annuals past their prime. Pink gladioli are fanning out from places I’m sure I didn’t plant, creating a hodgepodge of pink throughout the garden. I don’t mind a bit.

The Russian sage needs a good dressing of worm castings to improve the soil, but it’s a pretty purple nonetheless.

Close-up view of vibrant purple flowers with fuzzy textures, surrounded by green foliage.

I had a surreptitious visit with my secret strawberry patch. I haven’t deliberately planted them for a few years, as they rarely do well. Last year, a plant appeared in the front garden under a sage shrub. Over the winter, it sent out a runner, and now we have two plants.

We shared one strawberry in May, didn’t get to the second or third berry before an unknown critter, and we have a chance at one more today. Oh my goodness, it’s the little things that make me smile.

In the “be careful what you wish for” category, we’ve harvested pounds of apricots from our grafted tree, so laden with fruit this year that I had to support one of the limbs with a garden trellis. I’ll write more about the tree soon.

As the seasons change on both sides of the world, I hope you’re finding ways to enjoy the outdoors or to pursue a craft. Immersive reading is a great escape as well. We enjoy Netflix in the evening, laughing at an hour of standup comedy or diving in to a great mystery or of late, The Other Bennet Sister from the BBC.

Here’s one more garden gallery:

Teal postage stamps die-cut into a heart

Kate, as you know has a heart of teal.

Through her blog, Tall Tales From Chiconia, Kate unites bloggers around the world. She is also a champion for Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Kate designs teal quilts with a clever, tongue-in-cheek theme. My current favorite is Signed, Tealed and Delivered, a quilt featuring postage stamps, envelopes, letters, and notes, all cleverly sewn into quilting squares by talented artisans and crafters around the world. Kate gathers, assembles and then quilts the final product. The quilts are auctioned, with the proceeds benefiting Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Kate also co-hosts monthly scrap-happy posts where bloggers share what they’ve created that month made entirely of scraps. I frequently take part and really enjoy seeing the creativity of others.

I’ve wanted to make a card of appreciation for Kate for some time, but it took surgery to slow me down and reset a few priorities. Kate’s away on a long holiday, so I won’t publish this post until she returns and receives her card in person. It’s a paper quilt of sorts, using teal postage stamps, die-cut into a heart and placed on an embossed background. Teal stamps are not easy to come by. I found the Vintage Postage Shop on Etsy and asked her to send a packet of teal or close to teal, stamps. I added one from my Dad’s collection, the 1946 Ceylon stamp at the bottom of the heart. The stamps represent travel, gardening, flowers and, stating the obvious, teal.

Narrow heart border inside the card

I’m a wannabe quilter. I know how to sew, but I lack the precision and the patience to make a quilt. I’m a huge admirer though, of all that goes into making one and I thoroughly enjoy watching the process unfold. I’m impressed by the generosity and the talent of all of the women involved.

Thank you, Kate.

Floral-embossed teal background

T.E.A.L.® stands for both Tell Every Amazing Lady About Ovarian Cancer Louisa M. McGregor Ovarian Cancer Foundation and for Teal, the color that symbolizes ovarian cancer. Founded in 2009 by two sisters from Brooklyn, NY to draw attention to ovarian cancer, T.E.A.L.® has grown to become a national movement. Our goal is to decrease mortality rates by helping women identify signs and symptoms and urging them to seek medical help at the earliest possible stages. We believe that by equipping women with knowledge about the disease and its signs and encouraging them to listen to their bodies, we can save lives.

Note: Kate’s card had an interesting journey thanks to an outdated address (my bad) and the uncertainly in the time of Covid-19. She’s written a post about the card and about letter-writing in general and it’s resonation with a lot of her readers. You can read it in full here.: Neither Snow Nor Rain