Gather Ye Rosebuds

Ah, beautiful lush June. I have two favorite months, June and October. June is so fresh and perfect. Everything is in it's prime. The yellowjackets have not yet set up residence in mailboxes and such, the grass is not parched and brown. Roses bloom, fruit ripens, children are still excited to be home for the summer.

I have been busy helping Amanda learn to ride her bicycle without training wheels, milking our little goat, doing lamb aerobics (this is where you repeatedly lift a 60 pound lamb over a gate that they proceed to jump over again and again), providing ready-to-lay hens with treats of grass clippings and succulent weeds to lure them into early laying, filling swimming pools and pretending to know how to read those lovely manuals that come with them (in 16 different languages nonetheless).

The garden is full of blooming English roses; Othello, Mary Rose, James Galway. The honeysuckle is entwining with the mint and the hops are beginning to cover the sage plants. Sycamores are blooming, the starlings are on their second batch of babies and we have all grown accustomed to walking in the garden barefoot.

We spoiled ourselves the other day by making fresh goat milk ice cream with ripe strawberries from the garden; Breyers, move over!

May your June hold a Midsummer's Night Eve, or two, to remember. Such a magical time of year!