I do wish it would stop raining.  A bit of sun would make everyone happier: me, the birds, certainly the bees, even the dog.  And today is the Summer Solstice!

I have several summer gardening projects is mind.  First I have to rid several flowers boarders of grass and weeds.  Then I'm going to remove some turf on both sides of the pathway up to the front door and plant more lavender, santolina, et cetera.  Our goal is to make the lawn area in front of the house (the shady side here in the Northern Hemisphere!) much smaller.  I'd like to have a thyme lawn or wildflowers.  It will be a lot of work but should look very nice when it's done.

This photograph shows the gate from the front garden to the back garden.  The little sign says "chien bete et mechant" which means "look out for the silly dog".

It seems that the birds prefer having their feeder in the front garden - away from the bees.

There are several young finches who have been at the feeder recently.  I can get quite close to them before they fly off.  Birds are so much fun to watch.  I like them all, even the crows.

On the day of the hive building David and I saw a "murder" of crows chasing a bald eagle away from their nests in the trees at the university.  That was great!  Not too long ago you'd never see a bald eagle, not even in the wilds.  They have made an incredible comeback.  The honey bee needs to make a similar comeback.