Happy July 1st! Good grief time flies, it’ll be Christmas next week at this rate. What better to celebrate the first of the month than a Dahlia photo? I took this when we were in Michigan visiting my family. A stunning array of blooms. Absolute perfection in my book. I want Dahlia’s everywhere – how gorgeous in vases and on the shrubs. We had to run down the street and take this photo – too pretty to pass up!

I’ve only seen Dahlia’s in North Carolina, Maine and Michigan. I’ve not seen them here in Charleston that I’m aware of. Maybe because I wasn’t on vacation I wasn’t paying attention, haha. I absolutely love them. Doesn’t matter if they’re the large ones or the small, they’re equally beautiful. I’ve got my eyes out on where to plant one (one day) that gets full sun. That will prove to be tricky. I took this photo at a nursery in Michigan. Beautiful plants of every kind. So hard to choose!

You’ve heard the old adage, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” right? The modern version of said adage is the petal doesn’t fall far from the flower. Ok, so I needed to make a Father’s Day post work with an image and when I saw this image it immediately came to mind… Today is Father’s Day.

In Michigan, this is a Fish Fly – in other parts of the country they’re known as Mayflies. We were visiting family in Michigan and saw the first fish fly of the season (yay!) a few days before we departed. Living near the water you’re sure to be surrounded by them, especially if there is a bright light (streetlight for example). Oh the stories I have about fish flies!

The transition from spring to summer in Charleston, SC is full of everything beautiful and tasty! Spring brings all the new blooms, buds and flowers – shortly afterwards come the scents that smell like a fine perfume- so beautiful. As we get closer to summer (June 21st!) the fresh produce is really in abundance. I try to plan meals before I go grocery shopping, but sometimes that gets thrown out the window if I see really good produce. #changeisgood

The Detroit Institute of Arts is an amazing place to visit. Wear comfy shoes because it’s HUGE and you’ll be walking for hours. There are even a few places to eat – because you will get hungry and your feet will get tired. Happily, you won’t notice it until after you leave, ha ha. This place is enthralling – it’s mind blowing how many important works of art are under one roof. What a responsibility!

Nose in the air – that’s how I used to feel about carnations. They seemed to be cheap “filler” for bouquets – but recently my husband bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from a place we visited. Included in the bouquet were carnations – most of them closed, they looked like little rosebuds. After other flowers wilted away, I put the carnations in a jar with a little water…