Hi Friends!
Ahhhh, the lovely soundtracks of Summer days…
Summer songs are all around us.
Can you hear them, too?
Each morning, as I step outside and stroll through the arbor into the backyard, I feel so grateful for all of the rainy days we have had this summer. The pitter patter of raindrops has been one of our most popular Summer songs! Over the past few weeks, we have had another 7 inches (17 cm) of rain.
In fact, our garden hose is still tucked away in the garage. Mother Nature has been watering for me all Summer long! 🙂 She even refills our bee baths and birdbath. I’ve been helping a tiny bit, using a vintage watering can to water the containers on the front porch.
Our perennial, cottage garden is quite lush and the weeds are most definitely thriving, too! The clematis blossoms that adorned the top of the arbor have been artfully rearranged by a frisky squirrel. I’ve been watching him climb up and down the arbor as if he were climbing a ladder. Although concerned at first, now I’m just tickled by the way the squirrel has arranged the pale purple clematis vines!
The garden has also been filled with a symphony of delightful birdsong this Summer! Our feathered friends made themselves right ‘at home’ in the birdhouses throughout the garden and built a nest under the eaves. Their sweet songs always entertain me while I am busy gardenkeeping. My favorite garden task this month has been cutting bouquets of blossoms to fill stoneware crocks and Mason jars on the front porch. 🙂 What a peaceful way to begin each day!
Pops of color from the Asiatic lilies and wide drifts of orange and yellow daylilies in full bloom have been just lovely. This week, as I cut down millions hundreds of spent daylily stems, my heart smiled with gratitude for their glorious show during the past few weeks! An abundance of Annabelle hydrangeas allows me to cut armfuls of the huge, white blossoms to add cozy, old-fashioned charm to our front porch and dining room. It’s fun to send visitors home with a bouquet, too!
Now in the mid-afternoon, we can hear the cicadas tuning up. Their loud, boisterous chorus continues until evening, when the daylight fades and the fireflies entertain us while we relax on the front porch.
The buzzing of the bees as they work to pollinate the garden is one of my very favorite Summer songs. When the bees are happy, the gardener is happy!
This month, the bees are also creating quite a buzz in my Self-Care bullet journal…
I played with a hexagon stencil and Distress Ink as I set up my July pages.
Each morning, I graph the number of hours I slept.
Every evening, I jot down things that I was grateful for that day.
My Gratitude page fills up very quickly each month.
It is always the most important page in my Self-Care journal. ♥
Each day, I track my workouts,
the glasses of water I drink,
and my number of steps.
There is no mention of food
in my Self-Care journal.
(It’s so easy to track my healthy meals each day in the Weight Watchers app.) 🙂
This special journal highlights all of the other things
that make my life a healthy, happy one! ♥
My sweet husband and I each wrote
‘Six-Word Love Stories’ about our marriage
and I added those heartfelt words recently.
The final July page in my journal holds a few heartwarming quotations.
Although it takes many hours to create my journal pages,
it only takes 10 minutes each evening to fill them in.
This reflective time always feels like
a special, little gift to me! ♥
I’m already thinking about an August theme
for my bullet journal.
Hmmm, perhaps… sunflowers!
There is still one more favorite Summer song…
Every year, one song becomes a celebration of my Summer days.
It’s been that way ever since my high school days. 🙂
My ‘Summer song’ seems to choose me,
very much like my ‘word’ for the year does.
This song has been following me
everywhere I go ~
whether I’m driving
or creating in my little
Paper Garden studio downstairs.
I’m always singing along!
♥ ♥ ♥
♫ ♬ This is my wish for all of you!
(With huge thanks to Jason Mraz for his wonderful lyrics!) 🙂
I’m so grateful that you stopped to visit today!
What kinds of Summer songs are making you smile this year?
Hope you’ll share with all of us…
Just keep singing!
♡ Dawn
Petals. Paper. Simple Thymes 