Greetings from the steamy prairie! If these photos look slightly ghostly, its because my camera kept steaming up as I tried to take photos. It is hot and it is swampy out there! But the garden sure looks good, doesn’t it? In that ‘about to turn into a jungle’ sort of way….

   The roses are totally done….the cabbage and kale are monsters, the lettuce has literally gone to seed. But the zenias are up and looking marvelous, as are the sunflowers. The birdhouse gourds are thriving and climbing up the little chapel, and I’ve got squash and eggplant going, almost ready to pick. This is summer!

  The bees are very busy too, and I love to go out and watch them work (they’re the only ones motivated to work in this dripping heat!) There are big bumble bees that love the sun flowers, but I love seeing all the little bees flying around too, and I hope that some of them belong to my neighbor’s hive. I need to remember to take my spoonful of honey a day to help allergies, because what’s more local than honey made from blooms in your own yard? I’d say nothin!

   The sunflowers are going crazy too, and I love seeing their sunny little (and big) faces reaching for the sky. There is something so wild and magnificent about sunflowers, bobbing in the breeze and following the light of the sun. I’ll have to save some of these seeds and feed the birdies the rest. I must always have the sunflowers, since they’re my mama’s favorite flowers— and the bees too, of course!

   And now that we’ve turned the calendar page over to the month of July there is no escaping it– it is SUMMER. And since I’m always game for a treat, I thought it would be fun to do something special– something garden and something bee inspired!

  So— I’m going to have a little giveaway here on my blog! All you have to do is comment on this post and you can win an 8×10″ copy of my painting “The Bee Keeper’s Garden”, shown below:

   However, as much as I love the bees, I dont want to touch the bees, so I am happy to buy honey from my neighbor up the street. On Saturday he had a booth set up at our town Famer’s Market and I was so happy to buy from him (you can see his honey bear in the pic above!) Some other neighbors were also selling lavender products and I bought a nice little bouquet I’ve got hanging in my kitchen window, and I also got a jar full of dried organic Bay Leaves.

   Bay leaves are always called for in some of the old homey recipes for soups and stews and baking and I always think “where in the world am I gonna get a bay leaf?” well now, I have a whole jar! They also make me think of Tasha Tudor and her famous Bay tree that she was so proud of…and I was able to see when I toured her home 3 years ago!

  Well, I should sign off for now, but please dont forget to enter the print contest! If you’d like your own pretty little bee keeper, this is your chance! 😀 And if you’re a bit like me with no patience, please know that I have prints in my etsy shop read to go out!

  I am also putting the finishing touches on my newsletter and would love to send it to you as well. It is mostly a homey little letter that I send to you, my kindred spirits, about once a month– usually with a treat enclosed. You can sign up for the newsletter HERE and please know your information is always private and never shared. And I love being able to send you a little something extra!

  Well, have a wonderful day! I hope your world is full of loveliness and bloom. And may you always–

Take Joy,
H