June at Last

June is finally here and things are growing like crazy. I did not pay the price for planting dangerously, except that some things went in while the ground was probably too cool for germination so nothing was gained there by a too early planting. We were bold with our window boxes and pots because we are expecting a visit from Shana's father next week and we wanted everything to look as good as possible. Newly planted pots never look as good as the ones that have had a few weeks to relax and grow a bit.

The shady garden looks great, and my hosta/hydrangea corner garden is filling out beautifully. Hydrangeas are getting off to a bit of a slow start this year. I can hardly wait to see what that corner looks like when they start blooming. The shrub border is filling out well, although Shana was disappointed when she realized that it will be years before it looks really mature. She came to that conclusion herself, so I was not the bearer of bad news this time. We will have a shrub border of eighteen beautiful quality shrubs/small trees without spending a cent this way, so I don't mind the wait so much. I'd love to be able to go the instant gratification route like we did with our privacy hedge, but both of us know that is a very spendy way to go, even if it is much more exciting. At least this year my border looks like shrubs instead of sticks. It looks so much like shrubs that my neighbor was inspired to clear out the brush from his side of the fence and lay down mulched leaves so the transition is harmonious.

We've spent all of this year's reno money and are back on the budget of Normal People. Not nearly as much fun as dreaming up beautiful projects. This week we will be doing a few indoor projects. We have the paint for the kitchen backsplash area, and a bit of paint for an outdoor decorative paint project.  I also have in mind a little sign to paint using an old fence picket from our old fence. We went to Cape Cod Pickers Sunday to pick up a couple of furniture items. We are moving a little console upstairs for our entry area and replacing it with a low stereo cabinet and replacing a struggling little shelf and basket unit in the kitchen with a little hutch. The hutch is pretty old and super cute. A real one of a kind find. Kind of yellow like our pine cupboards and will not only accommodate out kitchen textiles like the tiny piece we are using now but will also provide some shelf space above - maybe I can display my Corning Cornflower pans! I am picking them up tomorrow (it might take two trips) and will post pictures then. We got both for about half what we would expect to pay for a nice new media console (on sale, with discount) alone and both are good quality and good looking pieces.

We spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon at South Cape Beach. It was nice and cool, with little wind and plenty of sun. It felt so nice that both of us are burnt to a crisp. Why do I learn the same lesson every June?