~Welcome June!~

"June is bursting out all over as summer finally arrives. The days are hot, the roses are in bloom and we feast on strawberries and cream."~Sarah Ban Breathnach


Joyful Simplicities for June

~Enjoy a frosty pitcher of lemonade.

~Take a trip down memory lane by catching lightening bugs or fireflies on the lawn at twilight.

~One June weekend, buy a whole watermelon and keep it in the refrigerator for at least a day so that it gets ice-cold. Cut it in large pieces and sit on the porch, back deck or front stoop eating watermelon with family or friends, spitting out the seeds. Have a contest to see who can shoot the farthest.

~Be on the lookout for a strawberry festival or hold your own. The Victorians called these homegrown events "Strawberry Regales," and the menu included every strawberry confection imaginable. Turn this into a potluck dessert party and invite friends to bring their favorite strawberry sensation.

~Celebrate the first day of summer on June 21 by camping out in the backyard. Pitch a ten, bring out the sleeping bags, build a campfire in the grill. Serve hot dogs and s'mores for dessert.

~Hang a hammock. Lie in it.

~Paint your toenails red.


~June~

The robins and blackbirds awoke me at dawn
Out in the wet orchard, beyond the green lawn,

For there they were holding a grand jubilee,
And no one had wakened to hear it but me.

The sweet honeysuckles were sprinkled with dew;
There were hundreds of spider-webs wet with it too,

And pussy-cat, out by the lilacs, I saw
Was stopping and shaking the drops from her paw.

I dressed in the silence as still as a mouse,
And groped down the stairway and out of the house.

There, dim in the dawning, the garden paths lay,
Where yesterday evening we shouted at play.

By the borders of box-wood, and under the trees
There was nothing astir but the birds and the bees.

And if all the world had been made just for me,
I thought, what a wonderful thing it would be.
-K. Pyle.

What are your favorite things about June?

Photos by June Dudley and can be found at art.com
Source: Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach