June Dreams

 Dear Friends,

One of my routines that I love the most is to gather up all my "Victoria" magazines from whichever month is coming up, and then spend the month re-visiting them all. Although I love that Victoria is back, there was a special, feminine spirit to the issues from the 1980s-1990s that I especially love. They make me want to stop and savor the simple things in life, like a special tea cup or a flower blooming in the garden. It may be years and years before my home resembles the lovely photo shoots in Victoria's glossy pages, with little ones around, but I can borrow little ideas here and there and share their inspiration with those little ones as I read.

The other day I found four L.M. Montgomery books that I've been wanting to own for a long time, but had not yet, plus an extra copy of "Stepping Heavenward"(my all-time favorite Christian book) to share with my girls. These books, like Victoria Magazine, make me want to be sweeter and more feminine. I especially love how Nature is such a big part of the lives of the "Anne" characters, and Elizabeth Prentiss' as well. June is the perfect time to slow down, make a cool drink, and enjoy a bit of inspiring reading!

( Becky loves the girls on the covers of my new books, and has been carrying them around organizing them in different piles. She looks sad in this picture because she's waiting while they have their picture taken before she can have them back.)

 Speaking of Nature, we are so grateful that our Scarlet Runner Beans have finally begun "running" up our clothesline post, and they're even producing a few pods. Two of the plants are up to the top already, so we may have to give up some of our clothes-drying space by the end of the summer!

Our front-door robin actually hatched out a couple of sweet little babies (we wondered if she could, since she flies away every time we go outside). It will be fun watching them grow~

I spent about an hour clearing the grape vines off of our rough-leaved dogwood in the backyard, and have been rewarded with its lovely white blossoms that resemble elder flowers~

The oh-so-naughty Japanese honeysuckle (which is taking over the woods around Kansas City) has been providing us with lots of blooms to dry for cooling tea, and to tincture for Lyme disease prevention and sore throats~ they are an amazing antibiotic, and quite strong, so we only use them in low dosages~
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We missed a few radishes when we harvested our fall crop last year, and they re-grew and gave us lots of pretty purple blossoms, which will soon be followed by the edible and delicious seed pods, which are lovely in salads or pickled.

 The radishes are growing right next to our Telephone Peas, who also have the loveliest blossoms, and look like we planted them together on purpose. I love discovering little surprises like these, don't you?

Our broad beans we planted in April are finally fruiting, and I have yet to taste a single bean, since Rebecca has discovered them and helps herself first. :) They must be tasty!

We bought this cute little wren house at our local farmer's market yesterday, and have hung it on a post near our back garden, hoping that the wrens will move in and help with natural pest control. It pays to pamper the birds, they eat so many caterpillars and other baddies!

 

 On a final note, we failed to mention before that we are expecting a new member of our family at the end of October, which is keeping us busy resting up and dreaming of tiny fingers and toes. This summer will also find us finding lots of creative ways of keeping cool! May your June dreams be dear ones, and may they all come true.

Love,

Marqueta