June brought on many new blooms, and personal insights. And at least one lived out dream. A beautiful month, in a beautiful place, with beautiful people and creatures.
While out to cut some herbs for dinner I spotted this tuckered bee asleep in a nasturtium flower.
A bright summer night here in the Pacific Northwest– 9:20pm.
Two tomatoes on the vine that I think look like a stick man with tomato shoes.
Sheet pan pizzas, one of my go-to easy dinners. These just happened to turn out particularly beautiful! Ricotta, mozzarella, pizza sauce, pepperoni, and basil sit on top.
I re-read the children’s book Strega Nona because I remember finding it so enchanting as a kid. Afterward I read about the strega (witch) culture in Piedmont, Italy. It’s fascinating!
Taking Luffy for an outing in the front yard with a glass of wine. She loves her outside time.
My snap peas gave an encore harvest! Apparently snap peas don’t like to be planted near alliums or fennel. My peas were sandwiched between both. Once the scallions were harvested, they did produce many more peas!
Unreal ranunculus from my neighbor’s garden.
Those same ranunculus were so lovely that I used them in a shoot!
This was the veggie patch at the beginning of June, with borage (closest to the camera) just beginning to bud.
The veggie patch near the end of June: rapidly growing broccoli and borage, and all the lettuce has been harvested.
Caramelizing kimchi for stir fried rice cakes! Also in the stir fry: ground beef and sugar snap peas from the garden.
Something strange happening to the leaves of one of my dahlias– I panicked and thought maybe it was mosaic virus though I’m still not sure. I pulled it out!
Bundles and bundles of fresh lavender from my neighbor’s yard (this was about half the harvest!)
Fresh lavender wreaths from the lavender in the previous photo. I made four in all! The house smelled amazing. My knuckles got blistered from the pruning shears.
I regret not trying these potato chips– apparently the flavor is a vinegary bbq which sounds pretty incredible!
This daisy in the yard was a ladybug love den.
A rogue strawberry plant that grew between the bricks in our backyard. I did not plant it and have never planted strawberries.
The final carrot harvest from the veggie patch! A nice big, heavy bunch.
My biggest carrot this season.
Luffy occasionally asks us to pick up the sheets on the bed so she can explore a little cave.
Fresh fruit and nasturtiums from the garden with a spice mix for the melon (ancho chili, salt, and sugar.)
One of my Seattle dreams was fulfilled this month– taking out a hot tub boat on Lake Union! It’s a hot tub that’s also a boat. And it was fantastic.
A gorgeous swallowtail butterfly stops by for a visit. We have these pink blooming plants all over our back yard and pollinators love it. I don’t know what it is, but I think it may be a type of milkweed?
For fun, I googled some Sanrio products from the 90s and found out that things from my childhood officially rank as “antique.”
Carrots and borage flowers from the garden with homemade ranch dip.
Crackertizers (or canapes if you’re fancy) with avocado, blue cheese, tomato, bacon, and chives.
What I watched, read, and listened to in June:
(Pictured Above)Kiki’s Delivery Service on Max
I’ve seen Kiki’s Delivery Service a ton of times, but the last time I watched it the dialogue pictured above hit different. I found the script online and took a screenshot of the dialogue from this scene so I that could remember it. In the scene, Kiki, a young witch who has suddenly lost her ability to fly, is sitting with her friend, Ursula, a painter. Failing, overcoming self-doubt, and finding your purpose are all major themes of this movie, and it mirrors a lot of what I’ve been experiencing over the past few years.
A Room with a Viewby E.M. Forster
After finishing Pride and Prejudice, I decided that reading books that I already know the plot of make for the most relaxing before-bed reading. So I picked up A Room with a View, which I already know very well from the (amazing) 1985 movie. It’s wonderful. E.M. Forster continually amazes me with the little powerful philosophical snippets that he casually drops into the descriptions of scenes. I find myself deeply connecting to the heroine, Lucy Honeychurch, because I feel that I’ve felt exactly what Forster has described– that during a distressing time, creativity feels feeble and childish (though it isn’t), and that sometimes, when swept out of your comfort zone to a place that feels enlightening, society’s reality can bring you back down with a thud. He sharply articulates the chasm between the truth of the individual and the standards of society that make being a human so timelessly difficult.
Criminal Podcast on Stitcher
I think I’m late to hopping on the Criminal train, but it’s a great ride. I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, but what I like about Criminal is that the concise, 15 minute episodes feel more like human interest stories with a true crime seasoning than just straight true crime. My favorite episode so far was about the black market for Venus Fly Traps (episode 5: “Dropping Like Flies”). I’ll let your curiosity take you to go listen to that one.
Songs of June:
My Favorite Product This Month:
(Not sponsored, I just really like it!)
I love this packable sun hat from Baggu. I have one that I wear for gardening and I just ordered another one. Aside from being fun and coming in a bunch of great patterns, it’s also made from breathable cotton, has straps to tie under your chin, has an adjustable elastic band inside so it won’t fly off your head, and it folds up for transport and storage. It’s saved me from many a sunburn, and I get compliments on it constantly.
