Early June Delights on a Friday

 

Early June. These first days have been warm and sunny and the garden is flourishing. The peonies are glorious, with roses coming up a close second. Lavender buds are barely opening. I've had a busier than normal week with this and that, and it feels good. I was beginning to get a bit bored with this retirement thing. There's always something to do, but no urgency to do it, and I think I do better with a few fixed points in my weekly schedule. 

One of the delights of retirement is slower mornings. I get up with Tim, but I don't like eating breakfast right away, so I putter in the kitchen and we chat while he eats. I get his lunch ready, unload the dishwasher, or start some food prep for later in the day. After he leaves I make my tea and get some breakfast. This week I've enjoyed eating out on the patio being serenaded by the birds. 

While unloading groceries from the car I noticed a pretty ladybug perched on a lavender stalk beside the driveway. I wondered if she would stay there while I went inside for my camera. She cooperated nicely, and flew off shortly afterwards. 

Do you remember the nursery rhyme, "Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home, Your house is on fire and your children will burn"? I read that it's in reference to burning the fields after harvest in the old days. Some of those old nursery rhymes have rather gruesome histories to them, don't they?

Someone is turning two soon and her Nana made her a birthday crown. We spent the day together yesterday and I gave it to her then. She was so pleased and preened in front of the mirror, turning this way and that to admire herself. Iris' fascination with hats and headgear goes back many months. 

We went out to the garden just to pick and eat strawberries. She knew just what to do after watching me, and was soon bending down and choosing the berries on her own. 

I picked the first bouquet of roses - Boscobel, Falstaff, Winchester Cathedral, Bolero, and Gertrude Jekyll. They mix well together and I'm enjoying their fragrance in the house. 

Tonight is a birthday party for Iris and Sadie, whose birthdays fall one day after the other (in different years). The weather is turning cooler and rain is in the forecast for the weekend, so, since we are over the limit for indoor gatherings, the party will be held outside and tonight's weather seems the best. We're hosting more individual families indoors over the next few days. 

Today I'll wrap some gifts, make a salad to share, do a little stitching, and the moments will fly by. I'll be sure to smell the roses along the way. I hope you take the time to enjoy the beauty in your world today.