Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Summer roses...and the goings on here in The Humble Bungalow

Summer is my favourite time of year...
the weather is usually sunny and warm and the garden is looking its' best.
I find my days slip away quite quickly at this time of year.
Busy with the garden chores,
keeping up with the domestics, walking, and cooking.

There is a feeling of weariness after a long hot day and so I am content to sit and read or watch some TV.

The roses are at their peak of perfection...


Days are busy spent dead heading the spent blooms to encourage repeat blooming.
Black spotted leaves are removed and discarded.
So important that they do not come in contact with the soil and spread to other roses.


One of the luxuries of growing roses is that you can pick a bouquet for the home or to give to others...
The fragrant arrangements that I share are always well received and appreciated.


Jude the Obscure and William Shakespeare mingle together and make for a frothy marriage of petals and scents.

Our garden helper has moved to Sooke 
(which is about a 45 minute drive out of town)
she is not longer able to help me once a month 
and I have come to rely on her...

I am in the process of searching for someone to come once a month 
 help with the heavy work, weeding and generally tidying up.


The hydrangeas are making a big statement this month.
These are by our north patio and there are many more limelight hydrangeas 
out front of the Humble Bungalow.

Last weekend our son took us to Sidney Spit in his new speedboat.
We arrived one day after our prime minister Justin Trudeau was there kayaking.


Cuddled up with two of our grandchildren...
we are ready to scoot across the Salish Sea to Sidney Spit.
And we did scoot...40 mph!
Fortunately my hat has a strap under the chin or it would have blown away!


We found a lovely little pool of water near the beach 
Our beach umbrella stuck in the sand, beach towels laid out and the cooler at the ready.


Beach combing, wading, a few games of Frisbee and horse shoes followed before we tucked into our picnic lunch.


Isla and I are chatting and taking in all the scenery while waiting on the bench. Henry, Grampa and our son will bring the car and trailer back to the boat launch.


The bungalow is super dusty right now as we have a stone mason on site.
Our chimney was in dire need of some repair and he is installing a new liner to make it safe for us to light fires in the fireplace.

He is almost finished...
while I have had to stay home more
 I have been busy 
washing the slipcovers and sorting through our linen drawers
rearranging some bits and bobs
gathering up a bunch of things to take to the charity shop.

Oh and I started a new book!


When I was donating at the thrift shop I took a few moments to cruise through the aisles...
I found something that I could not pass up.


a silver tray


love the intricate details


I must close for now and get dinner started...
thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow.

How is your summer going?
Have you found any treasures at the shops?
What are you reading?

26 comments:

Ellie's friend from canada said...

Summer is going quickly here. There are already signs of fall. The cyclamen that usually blooms at the end of September, just before snowfall, are in bloom now. The roses are almost finished (it's been so warm). I have been avoiding shops but found a Cuisinart yogourt maker for $45 on Kijiji ("Ive wanted one for a long time but could not afford it). Now I just have to perfect my technique (not much involved, so simple). So when we drove out of town to pick it up, we went to the u pick farm and came home with a prairie hardy apricot tree at half price because it is a little oddly shaped but I plan to have it grafted. We also came home with a basket of sour cherries, peas, and other fresh produce. A hummingbird flew through the greenhouse airspace. Except for the smoke, it has been an exquisite summer! Sitting here savouring B.C. apricots. I've frozen strawberries, sour cherries and blueberries and will freeze more blueberries tomorrow, all as winter treats. Peaches in a week! My roses were lovely but nothing as beautiful as yours. Your roses and photos are exquisite as usual. Ann
PS. When I was a child, we picked wild blackberries by the road at Sooke but now, I guess, Sooke is all developed!

Jennifer said...

Your grandchildren are so cute! You're so blessed to spend these precious times with them. Your garden is so lovely. Your love of home shines through. Xx

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Your garden looks so lovely and the roses are superb. It is so hot here now that everything looks worn so it is a joy to see so much beauty in your landscape.

Love the tray!

Ellie's friend from canada said...

The tray is exquisite!

Patricia said...

Oh my, that silver tray is beautiful, and as ever, so is Jude the Obscure. What a lovely day on the water, and I did see in the press that M. Trudeau had been there which only proves it is an excellent place! Love your pic of the crittur with the pretty shell.

MOPL said...

We are still in Winter in Australia. minus 10 on a lot of mornings here. No snow this year. I always take great delight in looking at your garden. Now have to get some limelight hydrangeas. You are so inspiring. Are limelights affect by soil PH? Love the grandchildren

Madame Là-bas said...

Lovely roses! It's still hot and smoky over here. I've been adding a bit of fall colour to my parking lot gardens. Yesterday, daughter and I went consignment shopping. She's 96 pounds down so fall clothes will be needed. She was lucky to find a black Burberry skirt, an Escada top and a Michael Kors jacket that fit her 5'1" frame. Your grandchildren are certainly growing. I just finished The Bookshop on the Corner, definitely a lightweight summer read. I picked it up in a Salamander Books in Ladysmith which is a lovely community bookstore.

dottoressa said...

Your garden is so beautiful,I'm always looking forward to new photos,roses are amazing
Finding right kind of help for the garden(wineyard,orchard,meadows....)who knows what to do ,and how to do it,is mission impossible (and a very expensive one,too) here as well
Here is so hot,I'm in my Dalmatian apartment,swimming a lot in the sea
I've finished "Into the water" and am reading the last one Shetland's mistery from Ann Cleeves
Your grandchildren are so sweet
Dottoressa

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Oh all that fresh fruit is making my mouth water! Good for you to freeze some for the winter...it will be delicious with your home made yogurt!
Sooke is not all developed...it has oodles of space and there are blackberries growing by the roadside here in town, out in Saanich and in Sooke.
Hope your apricot tree does well...I can only imagine how lovely it would be to be able to pick them fresh from the tree...we have two apple trees but no other fruit trees in the garden...the roses take up most of the space!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

They are so precious...being a grandparent is the best gift ever!
It's the littlest one Mira's 2nd birthday today...she stayed home with her mom when we went on the boat so that is why we did not get her picture taken.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

You have had a super hot patch of weather...I'd be worn out and wilting too if I spent all that time in the hot sun!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Thank you, It was a great find!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

The PM's visit to Sidney Spit caused quite a stir...our friends who were at anchor on their boat watched it all unfold...Justin fell out if the kayak before he got paddling and managed to paddle by the couple in their zodiac just after being married on the beach and he kissed the bride!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Oh I know that your seasons are opposite to ours...I read Australian and NZ blogs and in our winter months I am cheered by all the flowers and sunshine that are shared by the bloggers...
As to the limelight hydrangeas they are different than the pink and blue ones...they are lime no matter what the PH level is in the soil.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Wow 96 pounds down! Congratulations to your daughter for all her dedication and mindful eating...and exercise thats very impressive.
Great finds at the consignment shop too!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I have some emails out to some of the gardeners and hope to hire one soon...it IS difficult finding good help these days!
Swimming in the sea!!!...is the seawater cold where you live?

Anonymous said...

The tray: WOW: Love it!!

SS
PNW

Stephen Andrew said...

Such beautiful roses! And great find on the tray. Glad your summer is going so well! Garden helpers are so hard to find.

thepoutingpensioner said...

I'm always amazed by your roses, I never get more than Hal a dozen blooms at a time on any of my rose bushes, apart from the climber which flowers prolifically. What's your secret?
The tray is beautiful. I found a little skirt last week, it's covered in roses!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

It's a beautiful tray...love the details on the sides...and such a bargain!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I have a few responses from my emails so will keep my fingers crossed...
I am so happy that you are on IG and are back blogging...I have missed hearing your "voice" and seeing your lovely photographs.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

My tips would be buy repeat blooming roses and David Austin are quality roses so I rarely buy any other variety. They love sunshine so we plant with that in mind and we have heavy clay soil which retains the moisture. I regularly dead head the spent roses to encourage repeat blooms...top dress with compost once each year and water regularly....hope that helps.
I saw that sweet skirt on your blog and love it!

Marilyn said...

My roses are suffering from the unseasonal wind and rain. Battered and bruised. After a good start our summer has ended early. Your roses cheered me up. I have just ordered 2 new clematis to bloom next year. After roses they are my favourite plants.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Oh dear... weather is so unpredictable. Clematis are cheerful climbers...we love the Nelly Moser and Montana Reubens clematis....we also have a vibrant blue one on the back fence but I have forgotten its name!

dottoressa said...

I live actually in Zagreb,the capital of Croatia,it is not on the sea,but I adore Adriatic sea and spend some time here every summer
Usually the sea temp is around 23-24°C in July and August,but this is a very hot summer and it was 25-27 during my stay. It was like a dream :-)
D.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

The Adriatic sea sounds so warm it must make for lovely swimming.
Enjoy your weekend.