and I'm back to summer

The best thing about summer has to be picking flowers from your own garden.

Roses and peonies have been slow to bloom this year. We're just about dipping our toes into July, and my flowers are JUST starting to burst into glorious flower. Not their fault, the weather has been nutty: Cold and blustery, a hint of sunshine, drizzle and heavy downpours. I've been impatiently watching, waiting for the day I could pick them and bring them inside.

On Saturday the first peony was ready. I considered leaving it, but then The Girl made the decision for me and picked it when I wasn't looking. A pink rose was also open, but couldn't be picked due to the spider taking a stroll over the petals.
This morning, when I looked, I had 5 peonies, on three different plants. I've left the dark pink one for now, as it's the only one on the plant. I'm sure I'll grab it for a vase before the end of the week.
vases of flowers from your own garden feels like such a treat.

I must share this with you too, an idea I found recently on a brilliant blog.

Instead of throwing out the end of celery, place it in a saucer of water. After a few days the centre will have a little cluster of leaves pushing up.

A week later, and I've followed the instructions and have now put the celery in a pot of soil.

Apparently, the stalks will grow and you basically have an indoor celery plant. If nothing else, it'll look pretty and smell nice.

Take a look at the blog where the idea came from, they have all manner of intriguing projects along these lines. Great ideas for kids during the upcoming summer holidays! [17.apart]