June -- Where Did it Go?!?

 Three days left and in spite of my good intentions to get at least one top quilted this month, this is as far as I've gotten . . . . . and that just happened an hour ago!?!  This is (I think) my last unquilted sample from several years of teaching with Gai Perry's fabulous book, Color From The Heart.

As I was pin-basting it, I thought about how to quilt it and what color thread to use -- have some good ideas already and was primed to start right away.

But apparently the family genealogist is using that table to organize files . . . yea!?!

Time to retrench the goals for today!

I have been knitting most days this month -- one pair of socks is on it's way to my kid sister for her birthday and these two projects are around the halfway point -- one requires no concentration and the other has a detailed chart that demands my full attention.

June has been all about my garden!  

It didn't require all the time you might think, but it did require all the energy I could muster some days and a state of collapse - physical and mental - was a daily occurrence.  The month reinforced my understanding that one can't add something to one's life without letting something go -- time and energy are very finite commodities, aren't they?

The garden tour was yesterday!!

Sponsored by the Northern Ohio Perennial Society, I was intimidated by the specter of "master gardeners" leaving their immaculate turf and well-mulched beds to point out my faults.

Of course, it wasn't that way at all!!

No one chided me for my "messy" insect friendly turf or lack of sweeping vistas.  The most frequent comment I heard was "it's so tranquil".  YES!!!

If you've followed me for a while, you've seen lots of garden pics and while it's peak bloom is a week off yet, it does look good right now.

The new front yard veggie bed is coming around -- I still have the smallest kale in the world . . . 

. . . .but the tomatoes are blooming and the beans are growing steadily.

I've given up trying to figure out how to move this vigorous purple coneflower growing up through a crack in the brick side walk by my front steps and added pots to capitalize on it's beauty.

And if you notice in the back, I've cut back my blackspot infested rambler -- that was hard!

But I hope putting my energy into sterilizing the soil around it instead of trying to manage the leaf damage all summer (very depressing) will build it back up -- we'll see??

This bear's breeches finally bloomed this year -- it's been there for about 5 years and I may have threatened it with bodily harm last year if it didn't start to flower.

My native honeysuckle which seemed to be a lost cause last spring has come back much to my delight and surprise.  Last summer, the trellis was covered with blue morning glories and I've fully expected a few rouge seedlings to emerge but nothing so far.

And here's a couple glimpses of the "tranquil" piece!!  

Not much bloom color yet, but quite lush and I'm loving my new brick edging!!

I figure I can just enjoy my garden this week and have more sewing time (once I get that table cleared off) plus the house tidying has definitely suffered.   

Peas harvested, and tub replanted with a new variety of zucchini.

First cucumber has appeared!

The currants are ready to pick, too!!

Our food pantry garden is starting to thrive but the weed pressure requires intense attention!

Butterflies are not abundant here so far this summer -- even the #/*? cabbage whites are scarce.  But I did find this black swallowtail as a caterpillar on some parsley and fostered her up to adulthood safely. Isn't she a beauty -- must plant more parsley!!

And of course, all posts must end with cuteness!!  

This is from an attempt to get a group picture with the triplets at our birthday supper early in June -- there is a long series of photos and we never got the "pose" organized but we had fun!!

Can't wait to get all five of my grands together next month!!

Get out there and finish June strong!!

Mary

P.S.  I have continued the hand quilting journey on my big dodecagon -- was hoping to share it with you then end of June, but I am impressed that I'm 75% of the way along.

Maybe the end of July???