July...it is all about me! LOL

I'm the sort of person who does not crave the limelight or work at getting attention. I prefer to work quietly in the background, picking up the pieces. I didn't want a big wedding, I would never want to be on a TV game show, and I sure as heck would hate to be a politician. So my theme this month is a bit out of character! But I figure turning 60 is a thing to celebrate, so I made myself a cake with 60 candles. I didn't have a real cake because I don't need the calories, but this one was fun to make and I laughed as I made it.

The only sad part was missing a good friend Roberta, who died 3 years ago. She was always the one to make sure I had a 'zero' birthday party...30, 40, 50. But we had family visiting this weekend and went out to dinner Sunday, so I sort of had a party, and felt good within the loving thoughts of family and friends. Facebook has feature that reminds you of the birthdays of your friends, so I got lots of Happy Birthday wishes. What a great feature!

I'm really thrilled to have finished 11 months of the journal. I've been thinking about what I want to do next year. One idea, have friends and family each contribute a small 'found' object to incorporate in each piece. I want pieces to be a different shape and less representational. It is nice to have extra time to plan.

June 2009 Peas and Strawberries

It has been an interesting experience coming up with a theme each month for this project. I now have 10 squares completed and I find that I don't really pre-plan too much. Every month is a different time and mood. June is all about peas and strawberries from our garden. They don't last long, so you have to enjoy them while you can, or freeze them. We have snow peas, sugar snap peas and garden peas, so picking has been an every other day event.

I'm lucky to live where we can have a big garden, and to have a husband who likes to do most of the work in the vegetable garden. I'm in charge of the flower beds, and they are rather out of control this year. I look at pictures from a couple of years ago and wonder where all those huge plants came from. They aren't the dainty, neatly separated plantings I intended. When you have something in the garden that is easy to grow (daylilies, phlox, coneflowers, sedum, etc.) they develop a mind of their own. One of these days.