Mid summer's day

Some gorgeous late July days- featuring blue skies, cool breezes and moderate temperatures in the high 80s! What a treat. 

Here are some photos from around the house, and the garden this week. 

Back patio garden, with rosemary, daisies, cucumbers, herbs and our Crepe Mertle. 

Lots of red is peeking out from the tomato cages. 

The nasturtiums, marigolds, banana peppers, and morning glories climbing the staircase once again. 

The sunflowers in the front yard. 

Flowers, fruits, and butterflies

Some of the flowers in June including yarrow, lillies and shasta daisies. 

Roma tomatoes, still green on the vine. 

While I was out of town for 10 days, my dill grew to about 3 feet tall! 

Next to it, you see bell pepper plants in the garden and genovese basil in containers. 

Some cuttings of basil, and Bibb lettuce for dinner. 

A visitor one morning, enjoying the flowers with me. 

The first fruits of our labors.

I've discovered the tiny peppers, tomatoes, and budding zucchini and cucumbers that herald a gourmet harvest is only a few weeks away! 

And the first of the edible flowers are blooming. 

Nasturtiums 

Marigolds, which provide nice color accents near the lettuces, chard, and mesclun greens but also keep pesky raiders like rabbits away. 

The glorious spring of 2013

The garden is just growing rampant with the frequent rains and mild temperatures this spring. It can really give one a big head- I'm starting to believe I have green thumbs. 

A basket full of mixed greens for supper. 

The first nasturtium bloom. 

The Swiss chard is gorgeous. 

The ornamental flowering area is continuing to bloom. There has been a nice gradual bloom from each species. 

A delicate looking, but fairly hardy perennial, alyssum, planted last year, has finally bloomed. There is a range of lovely color, from pale yellow to pink to orange to a bright red. 

A healthy dose of friends and sunshine

This Memorial Day weekend, we had a lot of socializing and time outside.

We kicked the weekend off with the first of the season Full Moon Pickin' Party which has always been a favorite of ours, and this year was made even more special by coinciding with the first "Super moon" of 2013. The night was cool, so the crowds of families and dogs were large and playful, not stymied by the summer humidity that is so often the bane of our summers in Nashville. The Pickin' Parties are a bluegrass showcase on the small stage set up near an old horse barn. It's also a chance for pickers of all types to jam together spontaneously under the stars, and any bluegrass instrument gets you into the party for a very discounted ticket price. Beers and sodas and water are included in the admission price, so this is always a popular event.

Saturday's absolutely gorgeous weather provided the perfect backdrop for a gathering of friends to picnic at Arrington Vineyards. This is another very well-frequented excursion for Nashvillians in-the-know, as it is the closest thing to wine country we've got in Tennessee- picturesque, peaceful, with decent wine to sip on and great music in the background.  You can do a wine tasting, and then purchase some bev's to sip on in the sunshine, within site of the grapevines.

 We had libations flowing and amazing food from my foodie friends. Jaime showcased all of the food here on her blog. The recipes for my contributions of Picnic Chicken and asparagus are detailed here.

It was just a perfect day for relaxing with sweet friends and enjoying the early summer in the south.

The garden grows

Some of my early plants are coming up- the mesclun lettuces taste peppery and pungent.  

My herbs are sprouting. 

The tomatoes and peppers are loving the compost- rich soil, nice rains we've had this month, and the sunshine of the back patio. 

I'm even more excited to see some of the  plants that I planted last year finally flower! 

Creativity Surge

Sometimes, your ambition dwindles while the remnants of your morning tea drain down the sink. Sometimes, your brain just can't shut off with ideas to pursue and plans to make. When the surges strike, it's imperative to jot an idea list, and get your thoughts out before they flit away.

So here are my random ideas for some creative projects in the pipeline:

• Developing Etsy shop and getting jewelry business thriving again (website, cards, local shops, then craft fairs, parties, catalog). Ideas for incorporating old pieces (brooches especially) into new ones.
•  Incorporate blog into/with the jewelry website
• Blog to morph into a compilation of each of our different blogs with the central theme of "the sweet life" / "gratitude in the everyday" (foci will be family/friends/get-togethers/making time "out of the clouds" (JT/Adam guest post about travel/friends/community); jewelry/gifts/crafts; living well/books "read well live well"; gardening life "where are we growing"- post on "weekly weeding" in life as in the garden; food "foodie futz around"- healthy and indulgence; pups "I mustache you a question")
• A "Tribal Times" blog with features by each of us Tribal girls- my lady loves!
• Children's book featuring Poco and Xena (ideally with Riha as illustrator- but still awaiting commitment on that one).
• Continue work on "the novel"

I've been thinking a lot about juxtaposition, dichotomy, duality and balance. John and I had a great talk last night about a person's innate and competing desires and drives, and the frustrations these can cause as you try to reconcile them in your thoughts and actions.

Instead of remaining frustrated, I am trying to capitalize on the momentum. I want to harness the often spinning-off tendency of some of my basest proclivities, and focus the competing energies towards a mutual goal of creative inspiration. Why can't I have a multi-pronged endeavor that captures the essence of who I strive to be?

I was particularly inspired by the blog abeautifulmess.com. Elsie and Emma derive a focused theme from varying interests, which leads to an abundance of inspiration evident throughout the pages of their blog.

I'm surging with creative energy!