Garden Update

Right now the stunners in the garden are my dahlias and morning glories. I love that morning glories only bloom for a few hours each day....their fleeting appearance makes them a little more special.

I did some rearranging in my garden this past week and it wasn't all successful. Some people like to rearrange their homes, I like to rearrange my garden, but the plants don't necessarily like it. There are several established plants that just aren't doing well this year...like my honeysuckle. It's dry despite regular watering. It almost appears diseased.

Also...my zucchini and squash plants are absolute jokes this year. I have no idea why they aren't growing.

This plant came up volunteer in my herb garden. I attempted to rip it out last year, but it came back in full force this year. It's pretty and smells nice, but was getting out of control so I moved it. It's not happy.

But if I cut some off and put it in water, it perks up.

and grows roots amazingly fast....

and then does pretty well when replanted outside!

Here are some other plants that are doing well...

I'm hoping the sunflowers start blooming soon!

I'm linking up with  {pretty, happy, funny, real},

Wednesday Around the World, Image-in-ing and Little Things Thursday 

Welcome August

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

{pretty}

{happy}

My girls have been planning a Water Wars party for at least 6 months, and it took place last week. Eight girls, lots of water and our backyard for 4 hours.

I had the opportunity to travel to Peru in 2010 and met some amazing people. One of them was Cecilia, and she was a fantastic (and fun) translator for our group. She happened to be passing through Portland this past week, and I was thrilled that we got to meet up for coffee on Sunday morning. 

{funny}

At one point during the water wars I went out to clean up a bit and found this clever way the kids came up with to identify which cup of jello was theirs...

I'm linking up with  {pretty, happy, funny, real},

Wednesday Around the World, Image-in-ing and Little Things Thursday 

Summertime

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

{pretty}

We had two wonderful day trips this week...the first was to the Johnston Ridge Observatory of the Mt. St. Helen's Volcanic Monument. In the seven years we've lived here, we'd never gone here and it was simply beautiful and amazing. The wildflowers were gorgeous along the Eruption Trail.

And our next day trip was actually just a short little morning hike to my favorite waterfall - Wachlella Falls. 

{happy}

 Summertime is for friends! I finally was able to meet Adrienne who blogs at My Memory Art. She was in Oregon and we managed to meet up at the airport for coffee before she flew back east. I love meeting people I "know" on social media in person, and this was so special because we've been trying to meet up for a couple years now.  What a joy!

And I got to see my friend, Marlennis, who lived here in OR for a couple years but then returned to her home country (the Dominican Republic) two years ago.  What a blessing to catch up with her again. 

And we finally started having our local friends over for tea parties in our backyard / garden.

{funny}

This chipmunk was more intent on eating the morsel of food it found than it was about me sticking my camera in its face!

Marlennis took a picture of me taking a picture of her through this hole.

And here's a peek at the waterfall through the same hole in the tree.

{real}

I'm taking big breaths and trying to fully enjoy summer. It's been crazy busy and I don't really know why. I start panicking a bit when I walk into stores and see all the back to school displays...I'm not even slightly ready to start thinking about school starting up again, but I know I have quite a bit of planning to do. So I'll do my best to find a balance between enjoying summer and planning for school during the month of August. 

I had the girls create some "bucket lists" for summer - must do / nice to do / rainy day activities and fun food. We'll choose a few to do, but I also want some lazy days at home. 

I'm linking up with  {pretty, happy, funny, real},

Wednesday Around the World, Image-in-ing and Little Things Thursday 

20 Years and Counting

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

{pretty}

my garden is still full of prettiness

{happy}

evening walks around the neighborhood

farmer's markets

lots of time to read

 

{real and super happy}

20 years of marriage seems like such a big milestone....we celebrated our 20th on the 20th! We have a big trip planned for just the two of us in September, but we went out for dinner on the actual day to celebrate. It was a little weird having a mid-week date, but nice to get away and reminisce. Oh how the years go by...

I'm linking up with  {pretty, happy, funny, real},

Wednesday Around the World, Image-in-ing and Little Things Thursday