Summer

Summer is here at last. It was a long wait. Some things in the garden are doing well and others not. I have been eating lettuce for weeks and now it is bolting. Nothing else is ready to eat. Last year I had the best carrots I have ever grown and this year very few have come up. Bugs are bad. They have their favorite vegetables. They have eaten all the broccoli and most kale. Even the summer squash is not doing well. It is a sad day when I have to buy zucchini.
Water is still cold in the cove. I have been in a few times but not for long. The older I get the colder the water feels.
The fire flies have been great this year. I love watching them. I haven'y walked much at night because of the mosquitoes.
There is more to do here than I can handle. My main objective is to keep the weeds in the gardens to a minimum so the vegetables can grow. I do not understand why weeds grow so much faster then the vegetables. The grasses and other plants that grow in the so called lawn are now about 10 inches high. I haven't  mowed for about three weeks. The perennial flowers in my overcrowded, overgrown garden are big and beautiful. They bring so much pleasure to look at.
I have been sitting in the galleries, walking the dog and going to the jazz jams twice a month, and the reading group once a week. I paint as much as possible, thirty two so far. I have painted some small ones but they take as much time as the larger paintings. I just can't do loose and fast.

Photos of flowers and vegetables

Sage in flower.  First time I had it winter over. It is a mystery to me

White Mauve with the sage.  Beautiful flower. Not invasive like the pink one

Feverfew comes up every year.  Seeds itself. This is the largest plant I have had

Sun drops

Poppies in the vegetable garden. Come up from last summers seed

This peony has a beautify color the camera can not capture

Here it is July 9th and I am planting basil again along with cucumbers and kale.
Bugs and weather have done them in.

Sage and garlic

Garlic scapes, so beautiful

Young cabbages

Beets and Johnny Jump Ups