Tuesdays With Tracy: June Joy

Hi Friends! 

I hope you’re enjoying summer.  Thanks for joining me for some June joy. We traveled early in the month and now we are enjoying being home.  This is the current view of our pond.

June Joy in my garden

The garden is always so charming in June.  The weeds haven’t quite taken over yet and blooms are busting out. Below are some Iceberg roses in the front yard. 

Confession time – I never got around to pruning them this year and they don’t seem to be phased by my laziness. Kelly has several of the Icebergs along her front fence and they look fantastic. Check out her great blog on Iceberg Roses.

Now let’s walk around to the back garden. My peonies bloomed while we were traveling so I told Kelly to come over and cut some and enjoy them. Her peony wreath was gorgeous!  She posted this photo on her Instagram stories.

And then my wonderful neighbor,Joyce, sent me photos too.

Do you remember a few months ago when I went to the flea market and then posted photos and had you guess what I brought home. Well, no one voted for the cement greyhound dog. And one of you even said there’s no way you brought that home! I had a good laugh over that. 

Well, I had a vision for where I was going to put the greyhound dog. And again, thanks to my neighbor Joyce, this is it, in my garden. 

That cement greyhound is probably 3 feet tall but I could just picture him nestled in the flowers in the garden. 

The best dog we ever had was a little nine pound Italian Greyhound named Bubba. We had him here for 17 years of snuggles and love. What joy, and the cement greyhound is now named Bubba, and he brings us June joy in the garden!

Ok, back to the garden! We planted seeds in one spot in the garden and they have sprouted.

In that spot are some cosmos, zinnias, and gomphrena. We placed some vintage plates at the edge as a border, and a teacup with a shiny streamer to keep the birds away. Here’s sweet Larry placing the plate border for me. ❤️

There are sweet peas beginning to climb on the obelisk trellis. Next year I will plant them sooner as they may not bloom in the summer heat.

“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.”   – Luther Burbank

In another spot I planted my winter sown seedlings. They are already bringing June joy!

Hollyhocks, snapdragons, delphinium, poppies, and Lupine (they will bloom next year). It’s fun to check the garden each day and see what’s growing. Such joy!

“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.”  – Kakuzo Okakura

Roses in the back garden also give us so much joy.

These are Sunrise Sunset shrub roses and they bloom all summer and into fall.

“Earth’s crammed with heaven & every common bush afire with God.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Below is The Fairy rose that my mother always grew in her garden.  You know, God is preparing a place for us in heaven.  My mom is there, and I’m thinking God has her tending a garden.  Joy!

June Travel Joy

I mentioned at the beginning that we traveled in early June. We packed our carry-on bags (let me know in the comments if you would like some packing ideas!) and went on a long awaited Mediterranean cruise with some friends. Here we are with our dear friends, Maggi and Brad on our last night in Athens.

Those two introduced us about 50 years ago and they have two daughters that are good friends of our two daughters. We were so blessed to be able to travel and experience such joy!

One of our last stops was Santorini, Greece. Our daughter Lindsey had been there with her husband, Ryan and highly recommended it. These photos were taken on our hotel terrace after a day of relaxing by the pool and eating a charcuterie plate for dinner.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.”   Albert Einstein

I’m trying to look up and see the stars. They are miraculous.  Every breath is a miracle.  I’m praying that you can see the joy in the simple beauty around you.  

Love,

Tracy