Share the Joy Thursday : It’s Summer, Ready or Not !

So it is Summer !

That is glorious.

Especially for us winter-haters.

The season of all things hot, blooming, green, holiday, flowery, fun…

The celebration season, right ?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am grateful it is here

but

somehow this year,

summer arrived way before I was in the groove and has just been doing it’s thing without me.

Usually I would have had the grill out and been using it every night.

I would have my back deck arranged with some annuals in pretty pots, some herbs in containers, and maybe even some plants that I had grown from seed flourishing in the almost July sun.

Instead, because of life and a variety of circumstances,

the deck is completely empty.

The table isn’t even up yet.

And this week, for some reason, I am feeling like this poor, poor Gerber daisy

that was destined for one of those pretty pots on the back deck , but instead sits wilted and miserable in poor soil in a plastic pot in the dining room.

So where is the joy, you may ask ?

Well, this morning, I took a little stroll through my backyard with the camera and got kind of blown away…

Here were the abundant joys of summer happening without any of my influence,

presenting themselves for my “in JOY meant”

when I finally took the time to look around for them !

A riot of clematis blooming in the morning light.

Elephant ear hostas, already with flower buds

and leaves the size of serving plates !

    

Even roses that didn’t get the protection they deserved last winter, still decided to put on their summer show with no help from me.

And the display that touched me the most,

this precious blue hydrangea.

I have planted blue hydrangeas before, and though their tags told me they were the blue variety, they would always bloom white like this one :

Gardener friends told me I needed to add more acid to the soil. Or was is ph ?

Whatever, I never did anything, and just accepted that my blue hydrangeas were now white ones.

But this blue plant is special.

I planted it in memory of my neighbor Katherine, who died in 2008.

I called Katherine My Lady of the the Blue Hydrangea because of the gorgeous bushes she had at her house next door, and whose blooms she generously shared with me from time to time.

Katherine’s husband, Stephen, sold the house and moved away last fall and I really miss their presence next door.

But when I saw this hydrangea bush that is planted bloom BLUE this week,

I was filled with a bittersweet joy of how life, love and light just keep going on…

So it is summer, Kimbo, ready or not.

I think we will have to forget about the getting ready stuff, and just meet it right where we are…

and perhaps remember that there really is no wrong way to do that.

Wishing you a joyous Summer day, Beautiful Ones !

and go visit Meri for some more joy !