Scenes from Life

I keep seeing lots of talk about fall activities around the blogosphere, but it is still very much summer around these parts...sunny and warm. When you don't have kids to return to school (and are no longer a student yourself) there is no real definite end to the summer season, is there? We're still trying to squeeze in a few summer adventures before the month is out.

The bees and butterflies go crazy for the lavender in our backyard. I've planted other pollinator-friendly flowers, but the lavender is definitely their favorite. If you like bees, try planting some in your yard or on your balcony; it's super low-maintenance and seems to be hardy in all climates. (I know lavender is supposed to prefer a hot and dry climate, but we had the wettest spring/summer ever, and it did just fine. And we've also had extremely cold temperatures and lots of snow, and nothing seems to faze it.)

I've tried a few times to get good photos of the butterflies, but this is the only one that was remotely in focus; just when I've got my settings right, they flit away to another plant. I love the way butterflies move through the air; it's sort of graceful and haphazard all at the same time.

We've had this summery welcome mat for a while, and I don't think I ever shared a photo. We got it at Target for $3.98 or something crazy like that (it was already on clearance). I have to say the natural coir doormats from Target last longer than any other we've tried. Remember this popsicle mat we got May of 2014? Probably not, but take my word for it that it still looked great until just a few months ago. That's an eternity in the world of doormats. We will keep this one forever too, but we'll probably move it to the back door once it gets closer to the holidays so our neighbors don't think we've completely abandoned the house. A summer doormat in December is sort of the equivalent of leaving your Christmas lights up till July, right?

I love the colors, and it makes me want to go to a pool! We haven't been swimming once all summer...must do something about that soon.

More zinnias growing in the window. I got a packet of zinnia seeds earlier in the summer, and I've gone kind of nuts planting them in any spare container I can find, all over the house and on the back patio too. I'll share some more photos when they bloom! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! xo, Mary