summer

Last Days of Summer

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blue bachelor's buttons flowers

I can’t believe that it’s already the last day of August..where did the summer go? I had so many projects I wanted to complete over the warm months, but between the humidity and the heat waves, that didn’t go exactly as planned. (I am working on a furniture refinishing project and have been getting up early in the morning to go and work on it outside before the sun heats up too much!)

We’re currently in one last, well, I hope it’s the last, burst of high temperatures. I am hopeful that when we turn the page to September, the weather will cool off a bit. It’s already starting to feel like the end of summer though; the sun sets earlier, the nights are chilly, the flowers are fading and we’re harvesting vegetables from the garden. There truly is a change in the air and the sunlight that signals the changing of the seasons…and I love it!

Here are some of the flowers from the month of August before it’s time to enjoy the fall leaves.

hydrangea flower blooms

bumblebee in a hollyhock flower

There were so many bumblebees on the hollyhock blooms, but as soon as I tried to take a picture of them, they all left, so this is the best I got. They must be camera shy!

pink hollyhock blooms with light striping

My mom grew so many lilies and they all had such abundant blooms this year!

light pink asiatic lily

orange tiger lily and white asiatic lily

broken heart double asiatic lily

orange and yellow sunflower and burgandy and orange daylily

white yarrow and pink blooming sedum

blue sea holly

blue and burgundy purple bachelors buttons blooms

Social Saturday | July 2 (More Flowers!)

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pink and orange lily blooms

And some more flowers today…the garden is in gorgeous colour right now. This is the first year that the plants are really starting to fill in and my mom has done a lovely job of staggered bloom times, so we’ve got even more flowers coming soon. We’ve also had a lovely summer so far with rain and sun, but not too hot, so the plants (and me!) are very happy.

And… that’s all I have to share for today, I hope you have a lovely weekend!

pink roses

pink roses with yellow flowers in the background

fuchsia rose bloom

white mock orange bloom with pink roses in the background

dark pink painted daisy

multi coloured pansies and white yarrow

purple blue siberian iris

After the Rain

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pink ruffled flowers with raindrops on them

We’ve had such a hot, dry summer with heat wave after heat wave. I don’t love hot weather, so I was very happy when we had a nice cloudy day recently with a good rain. Unfortunately, it’s been so dry that the rain didn’t make much of a difference to the water table, and we really could do with several days in a row of a steady, soaking rain…but at least we had that small reprieve. And when it had finished raining and the clouds had passed, there were millions of diamonds left behind frosting each and every petal.

dark purple blue pansy covered in rain drops

astilbe and a burgundy daylily

Astilbe and a Burgundy Daylily

rose mallow with rain drops on the petals

Pink Mallow or Lavatera

rose mallow and german statice flowers in the garden

Mallow and German Statice

pale periwinkle blue delphinium flower

Delphinium

sedum and daylily covered in rain droplets

Sedum and Orange and Yellow Daylily

pink climbing rose

John Cabot climbing rose

Social Saturday | July 3

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Siberian Irises

Lately…

Reading- Just finished Pat of Silver Bush by LM Montgomery. I enjoyed it, but it’s definitely not one of my favourites of hers. It had a rather slow start, and took a while to get into the story. But, I did request the second one in the series from my library, so I’ll see if I like it better.

two pink peonies

Loving- Taking photos of all the flowers in my mom’s garden. So many beautiful blooms, and the camera really doesn’t do justice to them!

Watching- The Closet Historian channel on YouTube- mostly her tutorials! I especially enjoyed Bianca’s Victorian bonnet video, and am planning on seeing if I can use some of her techniques to mash up a few hats for myself.

pink daisy and white yarrow
Making- A crazy patchwork purse in a 1970’s style. It’s going to be quite wonky by the time it’s done, with nary a straight seam to be seen, but that will add “character” right?

Eating- Lemon Almond Crinkle Cookies from The Iron You blog. Just rediscovered his recipes lately, and have been saving almost every single one!

pink rose

Thankful For- Cool summer days. We’ve been going through an extreme heat wave (a “heat dome”) in Western Canada lately, and that makes me appreciate the mild summer days all the more. After a week of extremely hot temperatures, we finally have one in the mid twenties today, and are all breathing a sigh of relief!

purple and yellow violas

pink rose and white peony

pale pink peony bloom

What are some fun things you’ve been doing lately, dear Reader? I hope you have a wonderful weekend, however you spend it!

dark pink japanese peony

A Summery Garden Tea Party

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a table set for tea

Come with me into the garden; it’s time for a tea party.

a table set on the lawn for a tea party

We’ll sit on the lawn, in the dappled shade of the trees.

a bouquet of lilacs and teacups on a table with a white tablecloth

I’ve got the table ready and have picked a bouquet of lilacs. Even though the blooms were not as showy this year, they will still add a lovely touch to the table setting!

stack of teacups on a white tablecloth

Pulling out our favourite tea cups; which cup will you choose?

pouring a cup of earl grey into a teacup

I’ve made a pot of earl grey tea… which kind of tea is your favourite?

pouring milk into a cup of tea

Would you like some milk or sugar?

snickerdoodle cookies on a fancy plate

a bite taken out of a cookie on the saucer of a teacup

This time I made some snickerdoodles for us to enjoy (with this recipe). Help yourself to one…or two.

a pitcher of pink raspberry lemonade on a table beside a bouquet of lilacs

If the sun gets warm, some raspberry lemonade will be just the thing.

teacups on the top of a table in the garden

Enjoying good conversation and food in the outdoors; what a lovely way to celebrate the beginning of summer!

Do you enjoy tea parties? I try to have them often; there’s something nice about setting a proper tea table, isn’t there?

teacup with a cookie sitting on the saucer

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