Friday Favourites: Parties, Flowers, and Tastes of Summer

 

For my mother's 90th birthday party, 60 of her friends and family gathered. We set the tables with china plates and teacups - hers, mine, my sister's and sister-in-law's. My sister and I bought various plates to make the three-tiered stands and Tim drilled the holes. The hardware is available online. They made the tables look very elegant when they were filled with all the party treats. 

After the party hullabaloo this has been a much more relaxed week at home. Beautiful warm temperatures. My roses are having another bloom of flowers although the foliage is looking a bit tired. Above is Boscobel, fragrant and pretty. 

I've been filling vases throughout the house with flowers from the garden. Such a delightful occupation in the cool mornings. I've also been walking before breakfast and enjoy seeing everyone's front gardens. Dahlias are having their moment - many of the plants are taller than I am with blooms of all shapes and colours. 

I'm always fascinated by the changes in hydrangea blooms. One bush has changed completely from deep blue to green. Still very pretty. Another is blue now and changing to pink. 

All summer I wait for the tomatoes to ripen. They are coming on fast now. One meal I enjoy is freshly baked focaccia bread with basil pesto and tomatoes. It's the perfect summer feast, simple and so tasty. I took this photo after the meal and only one teaspoon of pesto remained. A slice of fresh mozzarella cheese is also a nice addition. The tomatoes are so sweet and meaty. Yum! 

As the lowering sun shone through the window this evening, I caught it illuminating a bouquet of roses. The light is fading so much more quickly these days, and early mornings are darker longer. Our province has decided to no longer make the change in time, so we will be staying on Daylight Saving Time come autumn. We'll see what happens. Mornings will be dark for a long while. 

A rather quick post today. I wrote another post on Substack earlier this week entitled "Writing to Know What I Think," a more reflective piece. 

Wishing you a weekend filled with loveliness.