Midsummer greetings!

We've been doing an inventory of the animals we've been seeing or hearing around the neighborhood lately. It's apparently the time of year for new babies:

• Every night for a couple of weeks now we hear two baby Barred Owls calling to their parents for food. It's a thin, high-pitched screech. We've seen the babies a few times, too. Power lines across the street from our house (close to a streetlight) are favored perching spots. 
• Yesterday I spotted two baby deer standing in a neighbor's back yard. The property is bounded on the back side by a small, wooded lot, so I'm guessing they stay in there during the day. They're beautiful little creatures! My neighbor, Heather, saw one of the fawns along with its mother in her yard one evening last week. 
• Bluebirds have another nest in our box right now, and from the frantic sounds of the babies inside, it won't be long before they fledge. There was an earlier brood nesting in there last month, but of course we have no idea if it's the same parent pair or not. There are lots of bluebirds around here.
• Thanks to all the rain we've had over the last week, the nearby creek is alive with a frog chorus at night. 

Marco on the porch during a rainstorm.

My garden is really coming along. It's awfully late this year, but I'm hoping my patience is about to be rewarded. We have loads of green tomatoes, small peppers, and cucumbers. Another couple of weeks and we should have more produce than we know what to do with. Here's hoping, anyway! :)  I'm planning to make pickles and salsas and hot sauce with any extras.

And I just love all the flowers!

Two bees share a single blossom of Bee Balm.

Another baby: a tiny grasshopper on a marigold.

The latest zinnia...

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone!

Solstice garden update

 Happy Solstice, everyone! There's been a short spell of fabulous weather here, with lower temperatures and much lower humidity that has everyone saying, "If only it could be this way all summer!" Today is the last day before another run of record-breaking heat begins, so we'd best enjoy it while we can.

I'm feeling 100% better. I had a follow up with the doctor yesterday morning and my lungs were clear. I have a new medication I'm trying for allergies/asthma while I wait for a call from the allergist to set up a consultation. Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes and kindness! Here's hoping I'm done with being sick for a good long time.

My garden is looking great! I've been out there working on it as much as possible. There's always something to do, and I've found that the key to success (besides the stuff that's just dumb luck, like weather conditions) is spending some time every single day seeing to it. Timely watering, pruning for air flow, tying up drooping vines, looking for the first signs of pests or disease to address any problems early--this kind of careful attention pays dividends. Of course, I still have a lot to learn about gardening, but that's one of the joys of it all. Being out there working in the dirt and sunshine is like meditation for me!

As you can see, we really need to weed around the raised bed and cut the grass. Look how tall the banana plants (on the left) are, though!

The cucumber plants are looking good so far.

We'll have peppers very soon.

Now if the tomatoes would just start to ripen!

Just before I snapped this last picture, I watched the dragonfly devour a tiny white moth-looking insect. Dragonflies are friendly little garden buddies--to humans, anyway.

Solstice

I thought that in honor of the solstice today I would share some favorite flower photos I've taken over the years.

Happy Summer Solstice to all!

Summer Solstice

Summer, then, is something earthy, in no sense celestial, and the occasion we call the summer solstice is one of those astronomical incidents that have no effect whatever on the growth of a corn crop or a carrot in the kitchen garden....So a passing wave to the summer solstice while we go about our summer business, as we have been doing almost a month now.
Hal Borland


Happy Summer Solstice to all! We've definitely been about the business of summer for awhile now at my house!  It's been a cool, rainy one this year, although in the past week it's suddenly turned hotter and there has been no rain for over a week now. Still, everything is unusually fresh and green and growing for this point in the year, and I am grateful for the outstanding weather we've had so far. It still hasn't turned unbearably hot or dry.

Several of the young trees in our yard are growing fast and absolutely flourishing this year. Our blueberries are fatter than usual and juicy.The lavender and rosemary plants have turned into small hedges, and I have fat buds forming on my stargazer lilies. The grass in my (barely cared for) backyard is lush and soft from all the rain, perfect for walking around barefoot.  Young fledgling birds crowd the feeders each day, and a big resident squirrel family crowd around underneath, and keep one eye peeled for Ginger. One of her biggest joys in life is charging out of the garage and sending all the squirrels racing up trees and fences in a big frantic burst! Of course, they stay nearby and wait for her to disappear back into her lair. Then they're right back to their constant grazing. We have the fattest squirrels in the neighborhood!

It's a good point in time on the great wheel of the year.  I'm loving every minute of it.