two-thirds of the way through the month, i declared self-care september. i do not go gently into this particular season change, so i have started taking vitamins, brewing chai, ordering ingredients for making myself a vat of herbal iron supplement, and saying yes to all of the things i know will feed my soul: baths, mike’s mango lemonade with friends, arranging flowers in rainbow order on my windowsill.
the one other thing i want to self-administer is more time to write. my two part time jobs amount to more than full time hours, and recently my husband was working a bunch of overtime as well. i am hopeful, given that we are not going to be preparing for any weddings of our very own this coming year, that this seasonal transition is going to see a down-shift in activity and bring me some of the writing time i’m seeking. i am looking forward to looking back, as i unpack my thoughts to share on “how i spent my summer vacation” in the coming months.
for now, i’m slapping up a few rainbow photos (ones that aren’t tied to other upcoming posts), and checking the box for one more act of self care, as self care september winds itself down.
pink: b pancake’s favorite flower from the wedding, actually this is one of its siblings, as seen in situ at our friend/wedding photographer’s beautiful house.
red: upon our return from our honeymoon, some of the leftover wedding flowers had dried themselves so beautifully, i have kept a few of them around to enjoy for a bit longer!
red: soon after the wedding, the rainbow terrace garden really started blooming. these ladybird poppies were among the flowers i grew from seed.
red: most of the zinnias i planted also waited until post-wedding to make their appearances.
red: these bee balm (aka monarda) were also featured in the wedding decor, again from my friend’s lovely garden.
orange: many of my dahlia tubers were chosen based on a twofold system of name and color. if they fell anywhere in the rainbow and had a name i loved, they made the cut. this is patricia ann’s sunset, and it was an easy impulse buy as it shares my mom’s name!
orange: when we left on our honeymoon, we left the bees to tend quite a few vases of flowers on the work bench that had served as a buffet table, and when we returned, they were beautiful even in their various stages of wilting and drooping.
orange: meanwhile, our return was greeted by so many new blossoms in the terraces.
orange: potomac orange snapdragons of the dragon house
orange: fire magic dahlia!
orange: our friend’s garden was also dripping with raspberries when we visited. we just enjoyed a handful of red raspberries from starts she dug up for us this spring!
orange: vibrantly budding rose in friend’s garden.
orange: one more flower that our friend shared for our wedding, that i just adore! i can’t remember its name.
orange: right before we left for rich’s daughter’s wedding weekend, we watched this young man earn his orange belt! what a great group of people showed up to help administer his test! i am very proud of his hard work!
orange-yellow: solar flare heirloom tomato heart!
yellow: sunflower season is brief and fleeting in our bioregion.
yellow: so we try to enjoy it while it lasts!
yellow: i love to continue to enjoy sunflowers after they start to fade, especially if they featured in my wedding decor.
yellow: harvest moon dahlias were the first among our dahlia babies to bloom, right after our wedding! they have continued to produce on and on, with blossoms the size of quinn’s head!
yellow: swallowtail on a cedar bough.
yellow: smoky moon; my husband and i spent a few nice evenings moongazing from our adirondack chairs (wedding presents hand built by dear friends – photos soon) in the backyard.
yellow: my friend’s dahlia named “glow.”
green: quinn found this bright green moss to be captivating, in another beautiful corner of our friend’s garden.
green: these nodding heads were once purple, and will be again next year. lauren’s grape poppy seeds to share! let me know who needs some.
green: bells of ireland, grown from seed! i am so proud when any of my green flowers blooms.
green: polar bear zinnia with green veins.
green: i am fond of gladiolus, maybe because my grandma rew used to grow so many in her garden!
green: the smoky sun cast an interesting light on the river over labor day, where we spent one last summer afternoon.
blue: i think this is a salvia, i love its dark stems and sepals.
purple: phlox in my garden
purple: more monarda (bee balm, at least i think so) in one of my favorite shades.
purple/black cherry: hollyhocks and husband.
more black cherry: black swan poppies in my garden did not grow to nearly the size of the lauren’s grape variety, but they sure are pretty.
purple: crab spider traversing the glads.
red violet: and green! zinnias are so cool.
red violet: hollyhill starburst dahlia!
red violet: pretty sure this is an echinacea, perfect for the september self care theme!
red violet: sending love and support to those who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods, in all the recent fires (the only effects of which we felt were smoke and reddening of our views of celestial orbs), floods, and storms.
red violet: i’ve been wanting to grow these since i was a little girl flipping through seed catalogs in between bouts of wedding planning. so glad the asiatic lily variety pack i bought on clearance included some red violet!
red violet through heart-shaped lens: this ephemeral summer may have officially come to a close, but i will warm my chilly hands against the flickering warmth of memories of all the happy days it contained for many months and years to come!
a splash of color on monday
a photo study documenting the colors of the spectrum: the balance points between light reflected and light absorbed
Love love love this rainbow. It is so nice to have you writing again!!
My self care September (yesterday) included picking LOTS of apples (if you are not careful some might just appear on your doorstep!!), spending too much $$ on impulse buys from Costco, getting 9 quarts of pears canned (they will be saved for special occasions!) I am also happy to realize that part of my self care is feeding the Hickarews, who are always willing and happy to eat!! Plus they never complain!! I look forward to more posts highlighting and recapping the summer celebrations!