June for all

Summer is upon us and the sun and heat is in full swing just in time for strawberry season.  And not a moment too soon as I opened the final jar of last summer's jam today for Seth's lunch.  I'd like to think I planned it that way, but all I did was hope we'd make it through until this month's harvest.  I also hope to replenish my raspberry sauce supply since it is so delicious over waffles and pancakes and fancy angel food cake.  Mashing and straining the seeds out is certainly no picnic but to see those little jars filled with the precious flavors does somehow make all the effort worthwhile.

The only food item being eaten from my garden is lettuce but the promise of tomatoes no longer seems so distant as the the tiny fruits swell in the sun.  Waiting for flowers on the cucumbers, beans and peas is a lesson in the school of patience.  But what rewards these lessons bring!

We have enjoyed celebrating birthdays and such, but the quieter routine is back and I am thankful to have some time to think and read and think some more.

I have been casting a purging eye on any drawer or closet or shelf that wanders into view and what relief it is to unload our little house of some of its burden.  There is so much we can let go of and do without, and I am in constant marvel at how all this stuff finds its way into our lives.   Every now and again I think, oh perhaps I should have kept such-and-such.  But I seem to manage anyway and mostly remember that I am the better without it.

I have a fresh supply of books to read ranging from theology to history to biography to children's stories.  I welcome the list even though I sometimes feel the pressure of its titles mocking me.  But as in many other areas, I persist and am rewarded.

Seth put together this flower arrangement from some wild flowers he found and a few picked from my garden.  Oh yes, I am certainly rewarded.