Under the Tuscan sun...

August—it’s hot and dry, but I would never avoid the garden; not even on the hottest day of the year would I ignore it. Our summers around here are but fleeting moments. To allow myself to put away my gardening tools would be sacrilege. So I’ve been working incessantly; stopping only to hydrate and maybe eat a morsel of mouthwatering fruits in season...

You see, I've been working in the creation on a new flowerbed that runs north to south along the fence in the west side of our house, and knowing that the gardening finish line is nearing made me do crazy things... like working extra long hours under the August sun.

I must admit that as much as I love summer, working under extreme heat can really do some bizarre things to your brain, not to speak of your body... the good part of it is you’d discover you have magical powers... you would see things that are not, hear things that are not and even talk to things or people that are not... in fact, just yesterday around 3:00pm I thought I saw you wandering my garden in your pretty summer sandals. Was it you? Was it me? I must have been under the spell of the sun... or was it more in the brink of a heat stroke?

The love of growing things is universal, and each season in the garden prompts different action, and brings its own urgency, and thus, I plunged into creating new planting spaces. I’ve been envisioning this for a long time—planning things in my mind, deciding what I would plant, what needed to be moved, and the wait could not be prolonged. Besides, the frost is coming soon—I know it. There aren’t many days left in the gardening year... can you not see changes brewing up in the horizon? Oh I can. Sadly, I must say. What I see in the garden is very precious because it has so short a time to live.

I am very satisfied with what I’ve done thus far in this part of the yard. The old swing is looking marvelous sitting in its new place, and I have embellished it with some old outdoor cushions I’ve been saving, and added a solar lantern to hold the black unknown at bay.

I have a special fondness for dishes; particularly vintage rose designed dishes and delight in embellishing my garden with the most unusual things—things you would normally find in a kitchen you'd see scattered all around my garden... like this gorgeous vintage bowl...

Isn’t this the most gorgeous bowl ever? Why would anyone give it away? Many a days ago this pretty bowl rested on someone’s table, but given the chance of a second life it sits pretty on my new flowerbed, posing as a birth bath now... I just love it!

I’ve been stung by wasps, a few more wrinkles have been added onto my scarred hands and skin, but at least I can sit down now and relax... at least for now I can. The garden looks glorious in its peak. Vines and tall garden phlox and the summer Peeper that find their home amidst the black-eyed Susan all cohabit peacefully in this paradise that I just so love...

It is so nice to just sit here and do nothing... just look at the world pass by me in heaps of delightful wonderments.

May your day be filled with joy. May you never give up, and keep on trying. And may your heart be cured by the joy of a flowering garden…