Happy rainy Thursday-yes…it’s raining again…..I think I’ve come to grips that indeed…this is our summer this year, it’s not changing any time soon-rain on tap for Sunday & next Thursday – with temps only up to 73– mostly 71….I’m thankful we didn’t waste time setting up the pool.

My St. John’s Wort is still not turning red, I did more reading on the internet to find out that it is important that it is solar infused – well, it’s a bit difficult to have it solar infused when a) my window faces west and the sun doesn’t arrive until well into the afternoon and b) there’s no damn sun to be had expect for maybe three days of it since I put it in the jars! I see there are a few days of part sun in the future, I’ll take the jars out and set them on the patio for the sun to hit them first thing in the morning and work on them a bit more

directly and hope to see some red.

Even though we’ve been lacking the bright direct sunlight, some things seem to be growing and producing. Sadly, I’ve seen seed pods on my Sweet Peas already, and my Sweet Pea wall is beginning to shrink – there are also seeds on the Honeywort…why….??? It’s not time yet!! So many things have already cycled out, I’m not ready-so much hard work goes into getting to this point, and now….the seeds are arriving already – which brings with it an ending that seems has just begun. With that being said, I know it’s not over, it’s just a new cycle – time to utilize, time of harvest and a time for seed collecting to begin planning for January already!

I have some of my Calendula oil ready this weekend, I will begin to work on processing it for my daughter to try the three different carrier oils I made for her. I’m hoping one of them will work, it’s been fun gathering the materials throughout the area and of course finding some things on-line. I’ve also used two different methods – one with drying the Calendula then putting it in oil, and also putting the fresh buds in the oil. There are so many different opinions on the internet and in the books….we will see how it goes.

I’ve been keeping an eye on other things in the wild fields also – still learning what things are and what I can use them for, and deciding whether or not I want to spend my time and energy on making things with them yet. I went out to forage for more red clover yesterday and found several happy patches that were easy to get to and eager to share! I like the idea of making a bath tea – a sachet filled with dried herbs with essential oils that you hang on the facet letting hot water run through it as you draw your bath. It sounds delightful, even though I haven’t indulged in taking time for a bath in a while, this just might give me a good reason to slow down a bit and take some time to just relax in a hot bath! I have to try them out before I give them as gifts of course! Rose petals, Red Clover, and lavender will go into the sachets, it’s been fun gathering those and drying them for future use. My daughter likes Eucalyptus and my daughter-in-law likes lavender so I will work on getting those essential oils to use with the sachets.

Even with all my complaining about the lack of direct sunlight and warmth, some new faces are emerging out in the flower field – they certainly have taken their sweet time! I’m still waiting for my Pin Cusion flowers to put on color and my Lisianthus, but the Yarrow, Verbena, and Statice have arrived!

My get-up & go has seemed to have gotten up and left….what’s up with all of that? There’s still lots to be done – I only have one side of my Lily patch in, things need to be taken out of the flower field to make room for the celosia that should probably be in by now and the Zinnias that I started a few weeks ago look like they could go out soon. But alas, the rain….it looks like Saturday will be a good day to get some of those things marked off my list. Tomorrow is subscription drop off day, my Snap Dragons are cranking out color in addition to my Strawflowers, Godietias, and still my faithful Honeywort! Thank goodness for those!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great rest of your week. Hugs to you!