Celebrating the Summer Solstice with Wreaths and Strawberries!

Summer Solstice 2014
Once more in honour of my Scandinavian ancestry, I made a Midsommar wreath to hang on the front door to welcome Sommar in! The Quail Hill Tradition is that you use only those flowers and plants that you can find on the property on The Day.

This year it is a bittersweet tradition, as I have in the past few years made one for our front door as well as one for an amazing couple who live about two hours north of us. I made the square one with lavender and heather for Don whose wife Bette left us in March. I do hope he likes it and that it brings him a bit of joy to his rather lonely days.

Tonight Mr Bear, our friend Mr B and I sat on the back deck and after a 'it couldn't be beat, doing your own hamburgers on the grill' dinner, Mr Bear brought out his treat: fresh picked this morning strawberries, cleaned and lightly sprinkled with vanilla sugar. Mr B contributed the ice cream.

These strawberries are so sweet and fragrant it was like eating perfumed hearts. No white heart to be seen, these were left to bask in the sunshine and take their own very sweet time to ripen. None of the hurry up and wait California strawberry! no sirree bob, these were the real deal and brought back memories of picking them in our parent's gardens, still warm from the sun.

Midsummer and Summer Solstice Blessings to all who read this and to those of you down under, Happy Winter Solstice to you as well!

As if the Documented Life Project wasn't enough ...

to keep La Musa happy, nope, I have gone and signed up for Ms MAM's Sketchbookery class as well. Considering that it starts on July 1, that should give me enough lead time to get my house in order and organize some sort of studio in which to put all my play stuff that I will no doubt be using.
I am also thrilled that my conversation with John (a good friend and WordPress genius) led to him helping  the Ms MAM get her new Sketchbookery site launched! Yay for networking!
So, now to make a sketchbook or find one...
I actually started sketching on our recent trip to the States, so I do have a sketchbook cobbled together but I think I will need a bigger one.
Here is one of my sketches from the trip: the blackberry brambles had almost entirely taken over the barn!

 Blessings to all those sketchwarriors out there, braving the bugs and the elements while you 'art'!

A little House Keeping..

Dear Perusers:
Goodness me, is it June Already?
Time to get ready for our annual MidSummer wreath making (with candid photos of Mr Bear struggling to make one again, lol), but before I do, I just wanted to let you know that I have decided to put my Documented Life Project into its own blog so I can keep this one clear for photos and poetry and whatever else strikes my fancy.
So please note on the top right hand side bar  - A Documented Life Project So Far.
Thank you ever so.
Since we have returned from our two weeks holiday away, our garden has become deliriously riotous with what only can be described as SuperGrowth with Don's peonies joining in the fray. Here is a bloom I picked yesterday, a delightful 'ball' of soft soft feathery petals and subtle scent.
Blessings to all lawn warriors out there battling the grass that threatens to choke the motor!