Seeking peace and perspective...in the Humble Bungalow Garden.

The late night news coverage of the violence in Nice, France was hard to watch.

is unsettling...
difficult to process....

I was worried for the safety of our friends who live in the South of France
so I sent off a couple of emails before retiring to bed.

When I woke up I went to the computer and read the emails from our friends confirming they are safe...

Sunshine shining through the freshly cleaned windows was a welcome gift.
The birds were chirping and the garden beckoned...

Coreopsis

I took my coffee outside and wandered in The Humble Bungalow Garden...
I am going to take you along too.

Limelight Hydrangea

Fisherman's Wand

Limelight Hydrangea blooms are quite large.

Calla Lily

The flowers and birdsong are calming...

I understand that

world events are beyond my control.

All I can do is control my own reactions to these events.

My current novel...

sitting quietly reading with a cuppa on the porch.

This lovely Hollyhock is blooming in a garden nearby...

The delicate crepe papery petals reminds me of our Romneya Coulteri.

Romneya Coulteri

I find solace when I am immersed in domestic routines 

like polishing silver,  

weeding the garden 

or 

cooking in the kitchen.

 ~ Stuffed Peppers ~

Two recipes popped up at the top of my google search for stuffed peppers

I added some other ingredients that I had on hand.

Halve the peppers and remove the seeds.

Cooked rice

add

sun dried tomatoes, corn, olives, basil, onions, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic 

Mix to blend in a bowl.

Stuff the peppers

top with tomato sauce and grated cheese.

Chill until time to bake.

Cover loosely with foil

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. 

Without them humanity cannot survive."

~ Dalai Lama ~

Chester looking rather relaxed on the front table in the entry hall.

He uses the wicker chair behind him as his scratching post.

He is a naughty boy, but is so cute that he gets away with it!

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Books, Bedding, and Bouquets...

Summer reading...
I love having a stack of books ready and waiting for summer holidays.

Reading has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember...
The summer of 1960 we moved to Oak Bay and the first friend I met was Diane.

Her family lived up the block from us and we hit it off right from the start...
they resided in a charming heritage home tucked away, it was actually hidden from the street, surrounded by a lovely large garden.

We spent many lazy sunny afternoons playing in her garden that first summer.

I learned how to read at Monterey School using the Dick and Jane readers and became interested in other books. The Anne of Green Gables series, Trixie Beldon, The Famous Five series, Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Box Car Children were among my favourites...

After playing outdoors all morning,
we would retire to read in her cozy bedroom nestled under the eaves.

We started reading novels voraciously...attending a library club one summer at the Public Library. Our mother's permitted us to take the bus downtown...Victoria was a small town and much safer in those days. We read so many books that summer and collected a stamp for each book we read...the program was called "Circus McGircus."

In our preteen years, we started listening to music and developed crushes on the Beatles. We owned a TV and her family did not, so she came to our house to watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan...a lot of screaming ensued, and my parents were not amused!

We would peruse the Beatle fan magazines that her English aunt would send in the post...I had a huge crush on Paul McCartney, and if my memory serves, I think she liked John Lennon.
We even wrote fan mail to Paul and John at The Beatles Fan Club!

As we grew older our taste in reading changed and Diane and I went our different ways...she now lives back east and I stayed in town,
we are now "FaceBook friends."

The love of reading was fostered early in our lives and continues to be strong.
Fostering the love of reading is important and one needs to start early....
reading regularly to babies and children is the best way I know of to get them into the habit...and there are so many great kids books available!

Lands' End had a 50 % off sale on one item on the 4th of July.

I jumped at the chance and ordered some linen bedding 

linen sheets have been on my list for several years.

Bunny is test driving them...

These are the flax colour and soon I plan to buy a linen duvet cover.

Love love love this bouquet!

 Thorn and Thistle put this beautiful bouquet together for our darling daughter's elopement photo shoot.

OOTD

NYDJ skinny jeans

London Fog polka dot trench coat

Sperry espadrilles

I arranged to meet a friend for lunch this week.

We met at a popular Victoria institution...

Pagliacci's on Broad Street.

You need to be there early or wait in line until a table is available.

They are well known for their pasta and focaccia bread.

After lunch we perused Russell Books

then parted ways 

as I was totally immersed in searching the shelves for more books!

The newlyweds will be home soon...

looking forward to seeing all the pictures taken by Kim Kaylyn Photography.

What books are you reading this summer?

Any titles worth sharing?

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Elopement flowers...

By the time you read this post
our darling daughter and her fiancee will be married...

Married!

Such a joyous occasion to stand before each other
in a beautiful setting by the sea
to pledge their love and future years together
as husband and wife.

The Humble Bungalow Kitchen 

looks like a flower shop.

Hey Jude!

Thank you for your timely blooms...

I was worried that this stellar David Austin rose "Jude the Obscure" would have finished flowering 

as it has been going steady since early May.

We also ordered flowers from our favourite shop Thorn and Thistle Flowers 

so there are going to be two bouquets.

One for the actual ceremony and one for the photos.

~ a simple garden bouquet for the bride ~

~ a boutonniere for the groom ~

The Humble Bungalow Kitchen 

was in need of tidying by the time I had finished arranging all the flowers.

Putting together floral arrangements and bouquets over the years

for special events and parties has been fun.

Flowers play such a big part in my life.

 Growing them in the garden and arranging them in vases and posies

has been a rewarding and creative endeavour.

Flowers add such beauty and ambiance to a home.

I cannot imagine life without flowers...

The wee library on our street is a great source of books 

 the neighbours read quite a lot and they drop off and exchange novels 

with great regularity.

"Sisters" by Claire Douglas sounds like a good read...

It will need to wait until after 

I finish Elin Hilderbrand's novel "The Island" 

which I am enjoying immensely...

This morning I whipped around the house and got all my chores done then I took myself out for a long walk to get some fresh air and exercise.

The sights and sounds were just what I needed.

While I was walking I got several texts and photos from darling daughter taken at the service.

The weather co-operated with oodles of blue sky and loads of sunshine 

Such a beautiful day for their ceremony.

Next time I see our darling daughter she will be married!

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

The view from here...

The view from here..

The Humble Bungalow Garden

Hydrangeas in front of the freshly painted exterior of our heritage home.

Since taking this picture Mr. HB has hung up our heritage plaque, 

house numbers, mailbox and the porch furniture is back in place.

The view from here...

the back deck door and steps.

Our first sweet pea bouquet cut from the garden.

I love sweet peas...

their form, colours and scent are all exquisite.

I wonder if anyone makes a sweet pea perfume?

The view from here...

walking snippets

Hollyhock up close and personal

growing on a street just off Dallas Road.

The water was calm, 

not a breath of wind 

the clouds hung like a puffy white curtain overhead.

Two handsome bucks were leisurely munching on the seaward side of Ross Bay Cemetery oblivious to the passing cars...

I stopped and watched them from just across the street.

They were more interested in lunch than taking any notice of me!

More signage along my regular walking route...

The view from here...

We enjoyed dinner out last evening with our friends at the Flying Otter on the Inner Harbour in Victoria.

This is where the local seaplanes take off...

There are the traditional Victoria hanging baskets on the dock.

On Fridays The Flying Otter offer a 2 for one appetizer special 

which I plan to order next time I go...

my BFF had the Tuna Tataki and the crab cakes and they looked amazing!

The view from here...

I started reading a new book by author Elin Hilderbrand.

Her writing style is very engaging and I have a feeling that I am going to want to read her other novels after I finish this one...

they are all set in or near Nantucket.

Our darling daughter and her fiancee are set to elope this weekend and I am feeling very emotional as my " first born ~ baby girl" is getting married.

She and her fiancee will be taking a ferry to a beautiful Gulf Island 

where they have an intimate ceremony arranged to take place in a natural setting.

~ Wedding flowers need to be assembled ~ 

after I pick them from the garden...

I hope my tears do not fog up my glasses too much.

I feel Happiness and Joy for them both...

I am certain that it is

the heart tugging mother's love

that is responsible for my mood.

I will show the bouquet and boutonniere on my next blog post.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Busy Bees...flowers and food from The Humble Bungalow garden.

Hip Hip Hooray!
Sunflower season is upon us and bunches and bunches of these gorgeous flowers are waiting to be scooped up from the Farm Stands and Flower shops.

Such a cheery yellow flower...

so simple and when massed together they make a bold bouquet.

The bees are attracted to these beautiful big blooms.

Look at all the pollen that this worker bee has on its wings and body!

Another bee gathering pollen...looks like the pollen is dropping off the wings

I managed to capture another worker bee in flight...

with so many bees on the sunflowers you could hear them buzzing.

Bees seem to be plentiful here in The Humble Bungalow Garden and for that I am grateful as we have been enjoying the first taste of our tomato crop.

The greenhouse is proving to be quite valuable...

we had our first cucumber last weekend and the flavour was so sweet.

Heirloom tomato "Salad" variety served on top of butter lettuce leaves.

Sprinkled with a bit of salt and pepper with a light drizzle of dressing...

yummy!

I was busy running errands and it was noon before I knew it

so I took myself out for a quick bite 

a curried vegetable wrap and a side of salad

sitting at an outdoor table in the sunshine 

with the sounds of the birds and the scent of the sea...

 a lovely summer holiday moment

and I did not need to travel far...

Hope you are having a fabulous week.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~