Goodbye July.

It was a great month! A little too hot at the end.

But lots of amazing moments and good memories.

~ Chy

Downton Abbey.

We finally have committed to watching this amazing

series. During Covid, we tried but I think our minds

were too busy with all the "what ifs" and we couldn't

concentrate. Now we can and it's been worth the wait!

~ Chy

Right Here. Right Now.

What I'm wearing .... ripped jeans, bare feet and my favorite purple t. When we're working on the stone pathway, I have my garden boots on. 

What I'm reading .... "The Last Bookshop in London." Two more chapters and then I'm all done. I did spend some time today online ordering from our local bookshop. I was able to snap up 6 books for $46. If I had bought them at the big box store, the total would have been over $138. Happy to shop local AND save $92!

What's happening in my kitchen .... it's quiet in the moment but dinner will be starting soon. Smokies on the bbq and Caesar salad. 

What's outside my window .... rain, sun, wind, stillness ~ we've had everything today except snow! But we are thankful for the rain as there are forest fires around our Province. It's scary to think our little forest could burn.

What I'm thankful for .... the rain, good health, my sweet family and our tiny cottage in the big woods.

What I'm smelling .... the blossoms from our gardens.

What I'm hearing .... the neighbor is doing some digging. Thankful the trees between all the houses down the lane make the noise a distant hum.

What I'm crafting .... curtains for our bedroom to keep the light out. Living so far north, we have sun until almost 11 each night in the Summer. 

What's on my mind .... all the wonderful things I'd like to do this week and all the items on the task list dh created so we get a few things crossed off.

Words to live by .... see the quote above. Love it!

Having an amazing week!

~ Chy

Garden Loves.

We have this week off from work and our

plan in the moment is to create a tiny stone

walkway from our front door to our gravel

driveway. The stones we will be laying are

the same ones we used last year for the stone

patio we created in the back off our big deck. 

On top of the stone patio, my other current

love is the sweet meadow that has slowly

grown in the back. We have purple vetch,

chamomile, yellow blossoms and a little

bit of red that we don't know what it is. I

am not a fan of red but will leave it for

now as it's only a bit here and there. Love

that every year, the meadow grows in size.

It's raining now but we hope that as much

as we need the rain, it will stop soon so we

can get back to working on the stone path.

A big project for this long week off work.

~ Chy

My Hydrangea's.

We planted this Hydrangea about

4 years ago. And each year, we do

get blooms that start out white, then

green, then a pale pink. I cut them

and let them dry in a vase and in

time, the blooms turn a light brown.

This year, we added in this larger version

that is off to the side in front of the garage.

I'm excited to see what these blooms will

look like in time. And how big it will get.

The tag says it could get as high as 5 feet

and as round as 6ish. I'm sure that growth

will take some time. Happy we found this,

especially on a 40% off sale at the nursery.

~ Chy

Cool Eating.

Like everywhere around the World, it

is hot, hot, hot here! Eating is now a

challenge as who wants to cook when

it's this muggy. So "cool eating" it is!

My favorite this past week was a lovely

berry salad from the store. And then we

were in town, so we headed to Costco

for our favorite ice cream. There were

no waffle cones due to a "shortage" so

we had cups and those worked well. A

waffle cone wouldn't have held the ice

cream as it melted in the heat. Yummy!

How are you handling the heat?

Are you practicing "cool" eating?

~ Chy

Sweet Baby.

We love having wildlife all around us. And the sweet

deer will always be my very favorite. This baby has

been hanging out behind our cottage and he/she also

wanders around the corner and down the lane. So cute!

~ Chy

We grew Roses!

We planted 2 different rose bushes a couple of years

ago. At our other house, we had tried once to grow a

rose bush but had no success. I was told then by the

greenhouse that roses are not easy to grow and it takes

commitment. So it was a gamble to try again. And

the interesting thing is, we planted the bushes on the

same day, have provided some fertilizer and lots of

water but really haven't done anything different than

all of our plants. I'm loving that we've produced a

couple of roses each year BUT this year, we have

an over abundance of blooms. A warning: you may

see a few photos of roses over the next few weeks!

Do you have roses in your garden?

If so, have they been easy to grow?

~ Chy