I Felt Really Great Today

Not sure why. Perhaps because I slept in until 9:30? Who knows but I felt good. 

It felt good tidying up for a guest that would be arriving around noon. We just did normal things around the house. Skip napped, watched Wimbledon tennis, and did some chores around the house. I went out shopping at several stores and treated myself to a coffee and apple fritter at Timmies before heading home. This evening I met my spinning/fibre loving group and had a nice gabfest with them.

I have enjoyed looking at the daily changes in the garden. I did a Facebook post on what made me happy today.

I bought two pots of sunflowers on sale a week or so ago. I love their sunny 'faces'.

The lone Asiatic lily and echinacea plants are just outside my side door and just started blooming last week.

We have to cage our tomatoes as an attempt to thwart any rodents that make their way into the back yard. They don't seem to bother the purple salvia (Victoria blue) or the dwarf zinnias.

Air conditioning makes me very happy. Old 'Rusty' has served us well for many years and keeps on doing a great job.

The first tomatoes plants I put in the ground got totally destroyed/mown down/chewed by some critter in the back yard. I found replacement plants that were already about a foot high and they're doing great. And yes, they are in cages. They're Early Girls and already have fruit on them. The bigger tomato in the photo is about half the size of my fist. Our Roma tomatoes have just started flowering.

I got this bee balm/monarda/bergamot plant from a friend 27 years ago. Some years it develops a powdery mildew but so far not this year. The blooms are particularly spectacular right now. I love rubbing the leaves and sniffing the aroma. My friend also gave me sea holly which has a pretty, blue, spherical flower. However the flower smells like dog poo. On the positive side, the bees and other insects love it so I think they're great for pollinators.

We planted this echinacea plant that same year - 1996 - the year we moved into this house. It is also blooming very nicely. 

I like to spend time dwelling on things that give me joy. There can be so much in life that is difficult to deal with but I like to focus on the pleasant things I experience and revel in that. Those crappy things will still be there but I don't need to spend any time fretting about them.