Full of Joy Friday | It’s Summer!

The opening picture is of a chive flower. It’s from 2020 but our current chives are full of blooms right now as well. We are still nursing seedlings in the garden and keeping them safe, and I’m looking forward to the moment when they start to bloom like these chives!

I feel like I can finally say it’s summer! This week has been humid and we’ve gotten lots of overnight rain, including a thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon. Those storms make me so happy – so you know they made my list of joyful things today! Keep reading to see what else I’ve been enjoying.

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Feeling Put-Together

Friends, I have been working hard to respond to emails and blog comments in a timely manner. Have you noticed how quickly I’m replying lately?? I have set a daily goal to start the day with an Inbox Zero and have managed to stay successful for the last couple of weeks. I love seeing that “no new mail” message everyday!

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Reading

Once again, reading has brought me a lot of joy in the last week. Here are the books I’ve finished since we chatted last Friday:

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
“That night I made another grave error of judgment. I tried to save a girl who had drowned some years ago, bladderwrack tangled in her hair. She drowned before you were born, seconds before you were born, as she brought you into this world. The birds stopped singing for her. But they will sing again. They are birds, and all this love, it has to go somewhere. It can neither be created nor destroyed, only changed from one form to another. That girl, you’d have liked her, but I left her for dead. Had to. This was a woman’s job.”

This was a beautiful book on the difficulties of motherhood and claiming our own identities when so much is pulling at us all at once. I could not stop reading it and ended up finishing it in a single day, which almost never happens to my (anymore). I highly recommend it and it’s my current pick for the Women’s Prize!

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
“We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs.”

This was an amazing fantasy book. It’s about a pair of young women who are destined to save the world as an evil being wakes from a thousand year sleep. They live in warring countries and must overcome generations of hatred to trust each other and work together to finally put The Nameless One to sleep for good.

This book is beautifully written and completely captivating. It’s a big one, but a very good choice if you’d like to dip your toes into the world of fantasy!

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Did I Mention The Rain?

This was the radar leading up to last night’s storm. I’m always so nervous because it seems like storms always fall apart before they make to us but this one held together. I love the rain! Not only because of how cozy I feel, but because of how it nourishes our gardens. And having a rain barrel for watering our flowers on days when it doesn’t rain feels so economical and climate-minded. I’m trying to soak up all these rainy day vibes because I’m sure things will dry up as the summer goes on!

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This was a good week to enjoy simple things. It’s such a busy time of year and we’ve had some extra stress behind the scenes over the last few weeks, so it’s been nice to make an effort to notice the small bursts of joy around me. I hope you’ve also had the opportunity to notice what’s brought you joy lately!

This weekend will include working at the library and in the garden. I am hoping for a chance to slip away and read! I hope your weekend is full of exactly what you need – take good care.