Taking a Stroll - July 2017

July Harvest 2017

Rainbow-colored Swiss Chard stalks

Swiss Chard leaves ready for stir-fry

Stir-fries of all sorts are a near-daily staple in this season.

Four varieties of cucumbers - ready for taste-testing

Dad is growing amazing celery and parsley!

Some celery and parsley along with half an apple
were added to each batch of kale Dad and I juiced one day.

Our garden juice carried us through a shipping failure
of our usual green powder supplement.
The order reached a town 30 minutes from us but never arrived!

Huge heads of crispy lettuce

Add some homegrown cucumber, radishes, snap peas,
and green onion plus carrots and avocado from the store.

Delicious! Even without the taco-seasoned meat we sometimes add.

July Bouquets 2017

Why do I keep posting photos of our flowers and bouquets
month after month, summer after summer?

Cream and yellow lilies

Maybe they all begin to look the same to you.
But to me, they are individual gifts - new each day. 

Salmon-colored, ruffled day-lily

White lily, purple spikes of liatris, and several colors of echinacea

Seen from underneath, another kind of lily shows its shy but glowing face.

A little bouquet to send in the car with Mom and Dad on their anniversary trip

Some more bouquets came about as a result of replacing the cement in front of our house. (No more funneling heavy rains into an old well-pit in the basement!)

 

The liatris had to move to leave the workmen space. So we enjoyed their purple spikes indoors instead.

Looking closely, you can see that each flower spike is made up of countless tiny flowers.

Surprisingly, the buds open from top to bottom of each spike.

Compare these to last July's flowers:

July Garden Bouquets

July Garden Bouquets II

Still Enjoying Birthday Flowers

The hearty phalaenopsis orchid continues to bloom months after my May birthday. Only a couple blossoms have dropped so far.

While the more touchy oncidium lost it's dancing blossoms early on, I have managed to keep the plant alive and even rejoiced to see some new growth!

June Wedding

In June we gathered with dozens of relatives for the joyous wedding of my cousin. While I didn't take pictures at the event, we brought the camera along because of the location. 

On the way to the church 2+ hours from our home, we had the joy of traveling along the route that took us to a special family gathering every June for at least 10 years of my childhood. With vehicles and trailers covered in bikes, canoes, and one time even a sailboat, we always took a break at this rest stop.

This was our first taste (or smell) of vacation! The tangy sap of tall pine trees and drying needles underfoot are so foreign to our prairie home that they will likely remain most firmly linked in my memory to that state park.

On the way home from the wedding, we were treated to a complete arc of rainbow - double in places - as well as a gently glowing sunset.

Beautiful sights on a day of celebration!

Let it Lift!

Dear God,
let me soar in the face of the wind;
up --
up --
like the lark,
so poised and so sure,
through the cold
on the storm
with wings to endure.
Let the silver rain wash 
all the dust from my wings,
let me soar 
as he soars,
let me sing
as he sings,
let it lift me
all joyous 
and carefree
and swift,
let it buffet 
and drive me
but, God,
let it lift!

- Ruth Bell Graham
from Sitting by my laughing fire...

Today's Gifts - 8.3.17

Life currently isn't leaving much ability to blog about life. 

But today I am finding gifts to enjoy, such as...

Day-lilies

A freshly finished scrap-yarn afghan

The deliciously pungent scents of dill going in to fermenting pickles 
and lemon basil drying for tea

An echinacea bouquet with a couple cosmos

And a quiet corner of the deck to enjoy while I wait for more strength