July Garden and General Busyness

When I last left off, I had just planted sweetpea and delphinium seed indoors and was drinking a Bloody Mary. Let me catch you up to the present time, as I sit, once again, at the dining room table and sip yet another Bloody Mary; yet today is a sultry summer day and it's been a busy few months...

First, an update on the seedlings. They grew to look like this:But soon after I planted them in the ground, in May,
they faltered. The Sweetpeas rallied for a bit,
but they never bloomed and I think they were hindered by the squirrels' unrelenting attention. Not to worry, however. Here I am in my garden, this afternoon after returning from a lovely brunch at the neighbor's (Mango Bellinis, and espresso in their new Illy Espresso Machine):










As you can see I am a LiberalPrep: I pair my Lilly with pearls and Birkinstocks.

Here I am, three years ago at the Wauwinet in Nantucket, in the same dress, longer hair and sandals, not Birks:

This past spring, my oldest son graduated from college. We had planned a garden party for 50 people, but cold, rainy weather forced us indoors. Our house is small and it was a bit crowded, but we had plenty of wine and food and no one seemed to mind.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Los Angeles with my husband and youngest son for my son's college freshman orientation. I used to live in Santa Monica, so am looking forward to getting back for a few days. I miss the sun, the palm trees, the beach and the shopping. (Last weekend I was in Portland, Oregon--GREAT city, BTW--and everybody was asking where I got my clothes. When I said, "LA," everyone nodded their head knowingly. Yeah, of course LA. Not Portland, not the Midwest Prairie.) I've already made my list of stores that I plan to hit on Montana Avenue.