~Summer Snapshots~

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. " ~Sam Keen

 

                                            Victoria magazine

Here we are knee deep into Summer,

and I thought I would share a few snippets of what Summer looks like

from my point of view

This is the Midwest  and though I don't live on a farm, I do live in a rural area
so summer means;

fields of corn rolling out into the distance for as far as the eye can see.

 with their little gold tassel hats dancing in the sun

which leads us to

roadside stands and Mom and Pop farms selling

the delicious results

The meaning of making hay while the sun shines :)
  Here the dinosaur sized bales are rolled up in preparation
for winter

I live in 'small town America'.  Very small town. And I love that.
 But even with that being said,
one still doesn't expect random horses and or mules in one's front yard.

Apparently they had escaped the confines of their situation and were now on a leisurely stroll through town. Here they stopped for a moment to visit with the horse in the field behind our house to discuss their adventure, and share any latest gossip.  In case you didn't know, horses are very 'gossispy'.

Warm weather always means lot of these:

Yippee !!!

Summer days roll along,

Then before you know it, fireworks stands are springing up overnight.

When Mr. Wonderful asked what this post was about
he said he had a great contribution;
He caught this little tree frog posing for his close up
uh........thank you, Honey??
note to self: no further contributions from Mr. Wonderful

As we settle into the HEAT of Summer
what could be better than lazy afternoons spent at the pool

with a good hat and a good book?

Lizzie agrees that Summer days are meant for swimming,
but she prefers the nearby creek.

 If it's Summer, then that means lots of stops at
'Andy's'
 for the very best frozen custard

Nothing left to see here folks.....move along

Here's the lovely vegetable garden,
that Mr. Wonderful coaxes and cajoles all season long

And then comes the payoff. After the soil has warmed in the June sun
we get to enjoy the bounty from the  Good Earth.

If you could pluck the word 'Summer' out of the dictionary and place it on your tongue
it would taste like
 vine ripened yellow tomatoes and  fresh basil from the garden
drizzled with a good  olive oil and a pinch of salt.
MMMMM.....

Another pure taste of Summer is

cucumbers and  red onions in a lovely vinaigrette

These are the flavors I  happily wait for all year long.
And before you know it, it's the end of July.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my little corner of the world....
and enjoy the rest of your summer

~Terri, Terri, quite contrary ~

Terri Terri Quite Contrary

How does your garden grow?

By leaps and bounds

and a profusion of blooms

and in a blink of an eye it's gone. 

 

Or at least that's how it seems to me,

as most perennials come to visit for such a short time.
Let's take a look around the garden and see what she has brought us this year

Step inside the garden gate.....

Mr. Wonderful still has to stain the fence 

(boy he loves to hear that)

We moved the arbor here just this Spring, so everything is still in it's infancy stage.

We still have a lot of work to do here. 
And when I say 'we'....I mean 'HIM'. ha ha

I planted the Pink Mandevilla

but the Morning Glory was a volunteer.

WHAT A HAPPY SURPRISE

'Geurnsey Cream ' Clematis

I even love this Clematis after the flowers are done blooming

These little whirly gigs, are so cute.

 Knockout Rose 'Sunny'

I'm lovin' it.

They burst on the scene in this gorgeous shade of yellow

and then fade to a creamy white

A plant will tell you when they are happy. 

My 'New Dawn' climbing rose was moved to this location 
after the end of her season last year.

She seems VERY happy in this sunny spot.

Here she is at the start of her show

This creamy pink blush color is to die for

 

'Johann Strauss ' Rose

I love the beautiful soft apricot color
But let me tell you, she's one finicky bush.

But when she's good, she's very very good.

 

Peonies.........one of my all time favs

I can never get enough of these big billowy blooms

 

All of my Peonies are heirlooms, transplanted from long abandoned farm houses

so I don't know their names

Crepe Myrtle 'Natchez'

 

with her flirty crepe paper blooms

Here we are in the third week of June,
but Spring started several weeks early for us due to the unseasonably warm temps.
So our season is actually much further along than the calender states. It's more like mid-July as far as the flowers are concerned.  Most of these beauties have been here, graced us with their charm and now they are gone.....except for a few

Window box of annuals

Aren't  the green edges on this petunia 'Pretty Much Picasso', pretty much adorable?

 

Hostas still thrive in mid summer

I love the southern saying

"A welcoming front porch is just good manners."

And St. Francis takes it upon himself to be part of the welcoming committee.

He does a fine job.

He and his rabbit warren of friends.

Hmm....I could have sworn I started out with only TWO rabbits..... oh well

My doorbell

'Bolivian Jew and Bacopa' in urns at the front door

Hope you enjoyed the little tour

So I say to my garden:

Thank you 

I am grateful for the show

I applauded every bloom

though your beauty was  fleeting

and ended all too soon.

See you next Spring