Poetic Peonies

It's once again time for Vee's Note Card Party. This month I chose peonies - mostly from last year when I bought armfuls of them for Little Miss S's baby shower. I've included parts of a poem by Mary Oliver underneath each photo.

This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
   to break my heart
     as the sun rises,
        as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

 

and they open--
   pools of lace,
      white and pink--

 

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
   and tip their fragrance to the air,
     and rise,
       their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
    gladly and lightly,
      and there it is again--
        beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.

 

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
   and softly,
      and exclaiming of their dearness,
       fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
    their eagerness
      to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
        nothing, forever?

Vee's Note Card Party is always a fun event, and a great way to get to know some new bloggers. Thanks, Vee, for hosting. 

Do You Have $95 million to spare?

 Before I get to what this post has to do with the title I thought I'd show you a photo of Tim with our two granddaughters, each wearing a little dress made from one of his worn out shirts (The parts that wear out are the cuffs and collars, leaving lots of perfectly good fabric to work with.) This link will take you to the original post (but no tutorial.) We had a fun lunchtime barbecue with the family (minus two).

In the evening Tim and I went downtown to walk along the Inner Harbour. One of us loves looking at boats and the other one loves taking photos. A massive yacht was tied up to the dock. These masts rise nearly 200 feet into the air.
 

The boat is a mega yacht, the Athena. I looked it up via Google, and as of last summer, it was for sale for just $95 million. So if you have some spare cash lying around, this boat could be yours. Click on the link for more information, and to see some wonderful photos of the yacht under sail. At the time the article was written, the Athena was the largest sailing schooner in the world. Since then, other yachts have surpassed it in size. Now it's only the 4th largest.
 

After oohing and aahing at the boat and strolling along the water, we took a front row seat at a restaurant. It felt almost like being in Europe watching the tourists and locals alike pass by. Above was our view - the Inner Harbour with the Legislature behind it. It was a great way to spend Father's Day.

I don't have $95 million, but I'm blessed to have a wonderful husband and a wonderful father, and to see my daughters married to loving men, and my son following in his father's footsteps. It's not something I take for granted. Thanks be to God.

Now Come the Hydrangeas

  

The first few hydrangeas are in bloom on the bush beside the front entrance. At first creamy green, then palest blue, and finally a deep clear-day-sky-blue that stays for most of the summer. It's hard to choose a favorite flower - I think they are all my favorites - but hydrangeas give me great delight.

 

They provide constant color in my garden for several months, require almost no care at all, make great arrangements in the house, and in autumn, darken to rich shades perfect for drying. What's not to like? 

Linking to Mosaic Monday, hosted by Mary of the Little Red House.

 

Summerizing

Summers are short here on the west coast of Canada and we make the most of them. Today (Friday) Tim took a day off. He has a few yard projects he's working on, but this morning we power washed the deck and driveway. He didn't think I'd be able to hold the washer nozzle for long and he was right. But I had a few short stints at it and enjoyed watching the powerful stream of water blast the grime from the cement. Power washing sends up a lot of fine debris and I washed table chairs, plant pots, deck railing and more. 

Then we put down the outdoor rugs - so nice on our feet compared to the cement - I love going barefoot. We barbecued hamburgers and ate outside, soaking in the early evening sun. If you look closely, you'll see that dinner was nothing fancy - I even put the condiments on the table in their "straight-from-the-fridge" bottles.
 

Summer temperatures here are pleasant, rarely too hot, with no humidity and no mosquitoes. A light jacket is usually welcome in the evening. We took a few minutes during the afternoon to have a cold drink and a snack, seated here. Ah summer - so beautiful - and lots of work. Tomorrow, I think, we'll be mowing the lawn.



 

Rosy Days

When I leave the house during the day, whether through the front door or the back one, I stick my nose into a rose blossom. On the deck, a pot of Secret roses, seen above, blooms. The leaves are looking a little chewed up by insects and I'll have to tackle that. I grow my plants organically, and we are prone to black spot here, so I settle for less than perfect.
 

In the front yard, this nameless rose bush, present when we moved here 11 years ago, has survived a couple of transfers to new spots and continues to bloom prolifically. Fragrance is important to me when choosing roses. Their sweet scent delights me. 

E. B. White wrote, "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." 

Today's plans include a physio appointment, tutoring, and time with Little Miss A. There's definitely some enjoyment planned, and we'll see about the improvement. How are you spending this mid-June day?

Victoria

In the early 1990s I lived, with my family, in a small village on the edge of the Amazon jungle. My husband was the administrator of a small interdenominational mission hospital. I looked after my children, taught piano and art, worked with the Ecuadorian children in an after school club, and hosted a lot of guests from around the world. 

Our mission offered the service of collecting printed materials - books, magazine subscriptions - at the head office in the USA. Several times a year boxes were sent down in large shipments. You cannot imagine the joy it was to receive printed materials in English. I loved sorting through the boxes, placing each family's items in piles. 

I subscribed to Victoria magazine, among others. Victoria was my favorite. Several issues arrived at the same time, always several months behind. I hoarded them, allowing myself to read only one each month, knowing that if I devoured them all at once, I'd have to wait for another shipment to arrive.  

Magazines were shared with friends. Some of my friends couldn't understand the appeal that Victoria held for me. It didn't have many self-help articles, no diet advice, no exercise regimes, and few recipes. Instead, the pages were filled with beautiful photographs, inspiring quotes, and thoughtful essays. To me, Victoria represented the kind of life that I longed to live, one filled with books and flowers, comfort, beauty, and intentional living. 

What a treat it was for me to anticipate an afternoon hour with a cup of tea (in a china cup), curled up on my couch in my second floor living room which was shaded by a huge tree in which monkeys frequently sat and peered into our home. The world of Victoria was miles and cultures away, yet the magazine inspired me to see beauty in everyday life and to create a home that was beautiful for my family and guests. I didn't have access to the items shown on the pages, but the sentiments and intent resonated strongly with my emotions and thoughts.  

I saved the magazines to read and re-read, returning to this quotation or that illustration. When we shipped our belongings home, I knew I couldn't take my 10-year stash with me. I sorted out a few of my favorite issues and gave the rest away. Then I noticed the occasional issue in thrift stores and I began picking them up again. Friends heard about my collection and contributed to it. 

I have not spent as much time looking at my old issues of Victoria in the past few years. Lately, I've wondered if it was time to let them go. However, before doing so, I thought I'd page through them once more. And I find that, although they take up space on my bookshelves, they do no harm, and they continue to bring me pleasure. I think I'll keep them for awhile longer.

Brenda, from It's a Beautiful Life is holding a giveaway featuring a book written and illustrated by one of Victoria's artists. Pop on over, if you like, to see what it's all about. 

Small Summery Treats

"One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats."

Iris Murdoch

These are busy days. The end of school approaches and I am called in to teach more frequently. You would think the opposite; but no, I've been working more in June than I did in April. Classes end this week, so the end is in sight. 

The garden burgeons with life. Beautiful flowers, like the peonies seen above. Weeds grow, too and need yanking. Vegetables like their weekly dose of fish fertilizer.In the house, cooking takes a little more thought and planning as Casey and his wife are staying with us while he recuperates from his accident. 

When I find myself feeling overwhelmed by daily tasks, Iris Murdoch's words come to mind, and I make it a point to find the small treats in each day. Here's a short list of my summer treats. I'd love it if you added yours in the comments sections. What little things bring you happiness?

* a walk around my garden - smelling the roses, admiring the herbs, encouraging the vegetables to grow

* a cuddle with one of my darling granddaughters

* an evening walk with my husband

* savoring a square of dark chocolate

* arranging flowers in a vase

* reading a chapter in a good book

* a glass of cold water with lemon and mint

* going to the ocean and feeling the sand between my toes

Joining with Mary for Mosaic Monday. 

 

A Personal Photo Challenge

Each month, Donna from Cottage Days and Journeys posts a personal photo challenge. Since one of my goals for 2013 has been to improve my photography skills, I've joined in. 

For this first photo, I crouched down and took a photo of my herb garden. It's odd how the black water pipe crossing the path is so much more visible in a photo. In real life, I hardly notice it. 
 

This photo was taken looking down at the chive blossoms. There were so many bees - a very good sign for gardeners - but they move quickly and getting a clear shot was difficult.
 

For this last shot, I got below the level of the blossom to shoot it with some blue sky background.

All shots were taken with my Nikon Coolpix P7100, basically a point and shoot digital. I used the Scene mode, with the first two photos on Landscape and the last one on Closeup. Post shooting processing was a simple matter of deepening the shadows and adding a touch of highlight.

I'm looking forward to seeing more composition variations at Donna's A Personal Photochallenge site.

From Grandpa's Shirts

Two shirts with worn out cuffs. Two little Misses. Two sweet dresses. 

I've been puttering away at these for a couple of weeks. Wouldn't it be sweet if both little girls wore them on Father's Day and we took a photo with Grandpa and his altered shirts worn by his two little sweethearts?

There are tutorials in several places for dresses made from old shirts. I didn't follow any of them, but took inspiration from them and finished them in my own way. Such fun!

Learning Something New

I don't have Photoshop or any fancy-schmancy photo editing program. I rely on the basics of Picasa (downloaded) and Photoshop. But I've admired many bloggers who use "textures" to modify their photos. Today, Jen from Muddy Boot Dreams posted a tutorial on how to add texture to a photo in Picasa. I was so excited that I dashed off to create such an image before even commenting on her blog. 
 
I lightened the above image using the fill light feature on Picasa.
 

This is the second photo I used.
 

And there it is, my first photo with texture. I'm not entirely happy with it, but have some ideas as to how to proceed. I want to take a bunch of photos of just textures to add to my photos. 

Have you learned anything new recently, via the blogging world or otherwise? I'd love to know.

Now, click on over to Jen's blog and try it out yourself!

An Old Barn

 How ironic that my previous post, in which I lament the lack of an old barn, should be followed by this one, featuring an old barn (whose boards are intact and one from which I wouldn't dream of pillaging.) This barn is on the property of Woodwynn Farms, an intentional therapeutic community. We go out a couple of times a year to help out in various ways with our church. Yesterday Tim's team repaired the deer fence intended to protect the vegetable garden. My group weeded the herb garden, pulling up thistles and blackberries grown high over the winter and spring.

 

Blackberries are a scourge around here. We enjoy all the fresh berries and free fruit in late summer, but the brambles can quickly overtake untended land. 

I enjoyed photographing the textures of the wood, the mossy roof, and the weeds growing high around the barn while waiting for everyone to arrive. 

Joining with Mary for Mosaic Monday.