Time is such a funny thing; one minute it’s forever and the next, it’s gone.
Susan Branch
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Hello Friend,
I’m looking forward to our midsummer visit today. After all the rains, the sun is shining, and every kind of flora and vegetation is flourishing. By this time of day, the front veranda is in shade so we’ll sit out there in the breezy warmth. The rain is supposed to come back soon so let’s enjoy this while we can.
The rhubarb has erupted in big bushes – I’ve frozen some and baked with some. Today I made a rhubarb coffee cake. It’s a family favourite and I hope you’ll like it too.
I have coffee, hot or iced, on offer today. The Cowboy and I have taken to enjoying an iced coffee with a flavoured coffee enhancer in the hot afternoons. It’s so refreshing. Which would you prefer? As always, cream and sugar are there on the little table.
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I had a birthday this week, and I decided to celebrate all week long. Every day, I did something to observe the occasion. From drinking Dr. Pepper out of a crystal goblet, to getting a pedicure. It was soul refreshing to do something a little extravagant every day; to be aware of things I love to do or see or hear, and make them happen. For someone who has spent most of her life catering to others, it was a blossoming exercise, and I highly recommend it.
Today
A little bit of this and a little bit of that …
I am wearing …
An orange sundress with white polka dots.
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You can’t have a bad day in polka dots.
Anna Kendrick
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Outside my window …
Pale blue skies, dark green evergreens, trembling aspens whispering to each other. The wheat field across the road is in the middle of its transformation from pale green to feathery blonde, a lush backdrop to the vibrant magenta petunias mushrooming out of my big pots on the corner of our property.
In the garden …
The Cowboy’s Grandma’s Hollyhocks are spreading. In a few years they should fill that flowerbed, just like they did at Grandma’s.
In the vegetable patch, I’ve pulled out all the overgrown radishes. They were bountiful and bushy. And tasty! But now they’ve become overgrown and not good for eating. For me, radishes are a vanity vegetable because they sprout quickly and always grow, in all conditions. They make you feel that you are a wonderful gardener. So I always make sure radishes are among the seeds I sow in the spring. They give me a boost when those little sprouts shoot up before anything else.
Birthday delights …
My birthday week began with a book in the mail from a dear reading and writing buddy. In A Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill tells a behind the scenes story of one classical piece of music each day. And you can find a soundtrack online to go with it. If you know me at all you know I love classical music, and I’m learning something new every day.
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Music, which extends across cultures and boundaries, which requires no translation to be understood, is the most uniting language we have.
Clemency Burton-Hill
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Mom made me something new for every day of my birthday week: quilted fabric baskets in lemony gingham, raspberry jam, crocheted potholders and a dishcloth in rainbow cotton. The amazing thing is that each thing she gave me, she had made that day!
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And of course, all the other birthday greetings were really lovely. From poetry shared by text to the Happy Birthday song sung over the phone, I felt special all week.
In progress …
Writing – A guest blog post on the topic Seasons of Life is in the works. So many ideas have been jotted down. So many ways this could go. I’m also working on a short story for an anthology: a grandma, a little girl, and a three-legged dog. It may or may not be ready to enter into a writing contest this month. And of course, I’m always working on Mom’s story, even if only in my head.
Quilting – I’m working on a new quilt that I chose because I think it’s pretty. It’s full of colourful butterflies on a background of white. I don’t know if it’s for me or someone else, but it doesn’t matter because the reason I quilt is for the joy of sewing and creating. Of course, like any serious quilter, there are a few others on the back burner…
Meanwhile, to switch things up, I’m attempting to make a handbag. We’ll see if I have any talent for this, but it will be fun to find out.
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Summer reading …
There is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just between laziness and labor, that summer reading belongs.
Henry Ward Beecher
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I would recommend any one of these books, but I’ll highlight only a couple.
I spent a long time reading The Mitfords. These are actual letters exchanged between six sisters born between 1904 and 1920. They were prominent members of British society in the 1930’s and 40’s. Their lives are so interesting because the paths they took couldn’t be more polarizing, and I found myself wondering how these astoundingly unique personalities could have been raised in the same family. Among them are a lifelong fascist, a communist who became an American, a friend of Hitler and who moved in his closest circles, a successful author with a biting tongue. The least prominent sister became a farm manager; the youngest became the Duchess of Devonshire (she lived until 2014). The fascist and the communist didn’t speak or write to one another for over 30 years, but the others’ letters show a warmth for each other despite their radically individual views and life paths.
There are many documentaries on the sisters that you can find online, and BritBox just released a new series on the Mitfords entitled Outrageous. But I like this book because the letters are unfiltered and real, a glimpse into the authentic Mitford sisters.
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Of course, Hilary Mantel will always be one of my favourite writers, for her seemingly effortless ability for clear and beautiful writing. This book was published posthumously, and it’s a collection of some of her essays, articles, and lectures written throughout her life. “Compelling, often very funny, always luminous, it is essential reading from one of our greatest writers.”
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Ink is a generative fluid. If you don’t mean your words to breed consequences, don’t write at all.
Hilary Mantel
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I’m listening to …
The Year of Wonder soundtrack quite a lot over the last week.
But today I’m listening to a jazz playlist, and this. This! Is the epitome of summertime. Turn up the sound to hear all of the instruments clearly. And … is that someone humming in the background?
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Closing thoughts …
Here in Canada we have just come through a long weekend. The holiday Monday is called different things in different provinces. In Alberta it’s Heritage Day, but I think most Canadians just refer to it as August Long and look forward to the extra day off work. The Cowboy and I went to the parade in the little village near us, and from home we could hear the nightly performances taking place all weekend at the Music Festival there.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the coffee and the cake, and the rather long and lazy visit. Do come back soon. Stay safe out there, and see you next time.
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Feature image by Jill Wellington on Pixabay.
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©Joy Bailey scrapsofjoy.com
