This Perfectly Imperfect Life

It's late July in my garden, and the Coneflowers are blooming away! I can't get enough of taking photos of them, every day, at different times of day, in different light. There aren't as many of them this year, so I'll have to be sure to save seeds and get them planted for next. Soon, the Zinnias will be blooming, and as the coneflowers wane, my focus will switch to them, and their colorful, happy faces. The late Summer and Autumn garden has always been my favorite! What's blooming in your garden now? #dirttherapy #summertime #gardenwalk #julygarden #summergarden #apartmentgarden #coastalgarden #inmygardentoday #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

Sunny Knockout's in full bloom & surviving the rain 💛 Good morning & happy Wednesday ☺️  #goodmorning #gardenwalk #morningritual #morningmotivation #nofilter #roses #rosechat #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #yellowrose #plantastar #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

🎉 And good morning & happy Saturday! #goodmorning #happysaturday #nofilter #gardenwalk #morningritual #morningmotivation #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #rosechat #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

With Azaleas like this, who needs filters?! 😍 Good morn & happy Thursday from me & my garden 💚   #nofilter #springtime #morning #gardenwalk 💚 #morningmotivation #azaleas #azaleas #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #spring #may #pink #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

What an amazing morning! Took a tour of the sailing ship "America" (a replica of the original) which was anchored just outside the mouth of the harbor (due to low tide). I haven't been on a boat since I was a kid, so the boat ride to and from the America, and seeing part of our beautiful town from the water for the first time (though we've lived here over a decade), as well as the tour and history, was a fantastic experience! I hope you're all having a fabulous Saturday and find joy in your day no matter what - especially in new and unexpected ways! 

Good morning & happy Friday! Find joy in your day no matter what ☺️🙏🏻🙌🏻  #goodmorning #happyfriday #upheavalintorevival #findjoy #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #autumnjoysedum #sedum #gardenwalk #augustgarden #summergarden #latesummergarden #mygarden #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #containergarden #summer #summertime #august #nofilter #thisperfectlyimperfectlife

Belated happy Sunday ☺️  These pretties came home with me from the supermarket this morning 😊 It's been raining, raining, raining (and raining some more) since yesterday afternoon and I thought we just might be done but another flash flood warning came through on my phone and it's already clouding back over so there goes that idea! ☔️🌧💦 The air is so thick and soupy, really awful, even hard to breathe in! 😝 It's also flaring my RA something awful! 😝 I'm in the middle of laundry and straitening up the place (before I crash 😴) after breakfast with Big (Hubbs) & errands for mom (and other such related stresses). Find joy in your day no matter the weather 😘  #happySunday #Sunday #Sundayblessings #zinnias #zinnia #frontporchview #summer #summergarden #summertime #july #julygarden #mygarden #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #containergarden #gardenwalk #rainyday #andnowrelax #spoonie #spoonielife #spoonieproblems #livingwithrheum #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #thispe...

Today I'm sharing with you The Gilly Salt Sisters by Tiffany Baker, my fifth 5 star read of the year! Genre: Fiction Synopsis from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, first trade edition paperback March 2013: "In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family's salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn't stop Whit Turner, the town's wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It's Jo who first steals Whit's heart, but it is Claire-heartbroken over her high school sweetheart-who marries him.  Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen...

Peeping through the spare room this morning. View from the front porch this morning. Hard to get an official total on this snow fall. Front walk. Looking towards the creek. Creekside this afternoon. Looking across the creek. Creekside this afternoon. Winter is finally here in all of its sparkling glory, and while it is also a lot of work, it is a joy.  And by work, I mean we have 12 porches with steps, 7 sidewalks, 2 full sets of stairs, and the trash & recycling area we're responsible for snow removal for. (Along with our truck and my mom's car). But after a decade of being caretakers here at The Perfectly Imperfect Homestead, we have snow and ice removal down to a science as a team. (TG for snowblowers so not all of it has to be shoveled. Also extremely helpful is that the landscaper is responsible for the parking areas). As the snow fell yesterday, I finally began to feel settled, less scatte...

Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon Pink Knockout, Rosa Radcon, same bush as above Aren't October roses The Best?! I love many things about October, but roses at Halloween makes my top five! (And another reason why I love Knockout roses. Not only are they the *only* roses I have left of all the roses I have grown over the last several years, but depending on the weather, they'll bloom through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Christmas). What's one of your top five favorite things about October?

I have a love - hate relationship with Summer. I want to love it, but the combo of heat and the wicked NJ humidity does a real number on me physically. Makes me ill like you would expect me to be during the Winter. (A popular misconception about Rheumatoid Disease/Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is that it's at its' worst for during the Winter - often, the warm months of the year are the hardest for many of us living with RD/RA). This past week has been particularly rough. I tend to complain about Summer as others complain about Winter! But... (There's always a "but" isn't there?) These lillies are one of my all time favorite favorite things about Summer!  Whether they're growing on purpose on someone's property or growing wild along roadsides like these across the street from us, I flipping love them! (In fact, so does my Mom). Orange is a favorite color of mine, and seeing these flowers makes my heart about burst with joy! (One of those ...

Sundays are such a special day, even when you spend a good chunk of it running errands & doing chores like we did! It's also the perfect day to appreciate blessings & what gives us joy. I frequently share under the #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy hashtag on Instagram because I full believe that the "simple" things in life bring us the most joy. (I've also found as a spoonie anything you can do to focus on the positives helps you through the muck).  In no particular order: This photo because it so captured this morning - spending the weekend with Hubbs with doing this & that and not running ourselves ragged - honoring Veterans at the cemetery yesterday - smelling the salt air down at the harbor this morning & feeling the misty fog on my skin - finally getting a handle on my novel - staring at 40 (in 4 days!) and no longer feeling shell-shocked   Now it's your turn! If you'd like to join me in sharing some of these things today, be sur...

On this Throwback Thursday, I'm taking you back to late February, 2012, in Charleston, SC, where I fell in love with Camellia's for the first time... To further travel along that path with me, click here . 

I have much to be thankful for in my perfectly imperfect life on this drizzly holiday morning! There is always something to be thankful for.  Wishing you many blessings and much gratitude today, and every day!

I am thankful for snail mail (not just receiving, but sending as well), Autumn leaves and their joyfully stunning colors, and the warm scent of goodies baking in the oven on a bitter cold evening.