Friday | How Summer Flies

On Wednesday I said that I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole; I still feel like everything is just floating past me and I can’t get a grip on where I am in the space/time continuum. The first week of July is nearly in the books! Matthew’s vacation week is winding down and the first week of our third year of Blackberry Bluff School will be upon us in no time. What? How?! I’m thankful for these Friday posts – they remind me to look for the joy in every moment, take stock of what’s happening right now, and give me a little snapshot to look back on when things get tough. This week was especially beautiful so it’s going to be a great reminder of some good times.

We’ve had another week of perfect weather. It was a bit muggy last Saturday, but leveled out Sunday and the rest of the week has been so comfortable. We even had a rainy day on Tuesday, but I don’t remember humidity being a problem. And it gave us an opportunity to knock off a few inside projects that have been bugging me, so it worked in my favor. I’ve spent a ton of time in the garden this week and feel good about the amount of weeds removed from my front herb and vegetable beds. They are nowhere near perfect and this year’s goal of having “beautifully tended gardens” has totally gone out the window. Maybe next year?

I love this stage of the bergamot – the little dumplings open up and then the strangest petals start crawling out. They won’t look this spindly for long and I’ll share pictures once they’re fully bloomed because they’re quite pretty in their full glory. The bees and hummingbirds love the flowers, which is the whole reason we planted the bergamot 3-4 years ago. We’ve found that it spreads like crazy and now we have little bergamot patches all over the yard. Totally fine with us and we’re relieved that we don’t live in an area with a homeowner’s association. We’d never survive such a thing.

The yard has become a toad haven. I think a nest must have hatched somewhere because we are absolutely crawling with baby toads about the size of my pinkie nail. We keep catching them and putting them in the garden because I’m obsessed with a toad garden. I adore toads and am pleased that Bryce seems to enjoy them as much as I do. He doesn’t hesitate to scoop up a frog or toad of any size.

I have been knitting! My notebook tells me that I haven’t worked on this sweater since mid-May. Yikes! It makes sense though – my knitting time has been eaten up by gardening time, which is just fine, but I have missed sitting with my needles. I realized last week that summer was going to fly by and I really want a new sweater to slip on when the mornings and evenings start cooling down. I’d love to be able to throw on this DRK Everyday Sweater that’s being knit up in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. It will be super cute under the overalls that I bought last summer. I don’t know how often I’ll be able to work on it in the next month or so, but I’ll make progress even if I knit just a couple of days a week. I was very thankful that I decided to check off steps on the pattern as I completed them… that’s not something I typically do and always end up getting totally lost when I return to a project after a while.

Other things that have brought me joy:

• I finished watching the last two episodes of Stranger Things that were released on July 1st. Friends. The show is incredible. I cannot wait until the fifth and final season is released sometime in mid-2024.
• I had a very quiet Fourth of July. Matthew took Bryce and Bronwyn out for fireworks (and of course I was nervous about their safety after the news of the day), while Colton and I stayed home. Colton doesn’t like waiting, crowds, loud noises, or bright lights so a fireworks show is totally not his jam. I sorta feel the same way so was very happy to stay home. After he went up for bed, I made some popcorn and settled in on the couch with my knitting and Atlantic Crossing.
• And my five year notebook tells me that I stayed home with Colton last year too, and settled in with knitting and World on Fire. I am so predictable. And both Fourth of Julys were lovely.
• Did you see that Anne Bogel shared a way to identify plants and flowers with just your iphone? I have been using this feature like crazy since I discovered it last Friday and have found it to be fairly accurate. Not perfect, but good enough. How fun!

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Before I turned to today’s post, I saw that former Prime Minister Abe was shot. Now I see that he has died. I don’t know enough about Japanese politics to have an educated opinion about him, but I am feeling downtrodden by the news. And the news of all the gun violence in the last few days, weeks, months, years, decades.

Writing these posts are hard because I don’t want to ignore all of the hurt and sadness that’s happening constantly around the world. And yet – I feel certain that solemnly finding joy in the midst of All Of This is… dare I say it? The purpose of our lives? To have a spirit full of happiness and gratitude despite what is happening around us? I know it is easy for me to say – I live a relatively privileged, healthy, and full life. I’m thinking of Brené Brown’s research right now – how people who are the most resilient are those who live wholeheartedly — which includes allowing ourselves to experience joy despite what’s being thrown at us.

So I hope that, despite it all, you’re able to find a little beauty and joy this weekend. I am hoping to capitalize on Matthew’s last few days of vacation and dig into the garden some more. I’m also hoping for some time with my knitting needles, earbuds full of audiobooks, and a little bit more Atlantic Crossing. I hope this weekend is exactly what you need.