Summer Solstice Comes ... And Is Gone.

STRAINING the bounds of sanity I sit down at 11 p.m. so I'm able to post on the first day of summer. I am supposed to be putting the finishing touches on some packing for a camping trip tomorrow ... but my blog seems to come before sleep a lot these days.
I have a new photo to post above in the "self-portrait" series. The aphid-free (knock on wood) yellow roses are beside the self-sowing foxglove. And here is a house in our town I have admired for some time.
The front yard was totally dead throughout the winter. Well, actually, it was anything but dead. Look at it now in the full bloom of *summer* and you can see there was plenty waiting to happen.
For some time I have wanted to take photos of this house to document the changes the yard goes through during the year. I missed the winter time shot because I am just so shy about intruding - by taking a photo. I missed the springtime shot. Same thing.
Enough is enough I said today as I drove through the neighborhood on an errand. A car actually stopped in the street and a girl behind the wheel encouraged me to go ahead and take the picture. After I did - calling out my thanks - she moved on by.
I don't know who lives there, but when the first day of fall comes I may stop by to introduce myself - the gardening "lurker," who loves lush, packed yards.
I also did something for myself today: I stopped by to visit with an aunt and uncle. I keep putting off visiting and I know it is not a good idea. My aunt started crying because I remind her of my mother, and I started crying because my aunt reminds me of my mother.
We both still love and miss her so much. In earlier posts you may have gotten that idea. She was the "best mama in the world." And that's the truth!
So we visited for a while. I have learned the hard way not to put these visits off. You will never be sorry you took 20 minutes out of your day and went a little out of your way. If you don't do it, you'll always be sorry. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be sorry - femminismo