A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in – what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.
– Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, and dramatist, from Les Misérables

Alas, the nearly month-long fog has brought mildew to my dahlia plants, yellowing the leaves and making the blooms smaller and the stems spindly, which means I will be lucky if my flowers are still producing by the end of August. Thankfully, I have recorded my weekly bouquets in Technicolor, so while the typical San Francisco Bay Area summer temps are shortening the lifespan of my flowers, I can still enjoy what they looked like when the sun shone all day.

My bouquet for my friend Jane.

This time, I’m sharing a bountiful bouquet I made for my friend, Jane, whom I’ve known for more than 20 years. We met when we worked for Lutheran Social Services in San Francisco back in the early 1990s. We had a very nice dinner and a relaxing evening at the Bistro Liaison (1849 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709, 510.849.2155).

Another July auction bouquet.

I have another weekly bouquet for the winning bidder of my flowers at my son’s middle school auction. We’ll see if I can keep making them into September!

A bouquet for my sister and my mother.

And lastly, I made a bouquet for my sister’s birthday in July. When we visited, we took three flowers from the bouquet and put them in the vase adorning our mother’s niche in Folsom.

Summer shorts are ready for my daughter’s drama camp play. Silk shorts are paired with a bejeweled sweater, pointy nude pumps, and sequined clutch.

Who knew that a pair of Anthropologie chandelier earrings from a few years ago would match perfectly with this summer’s bejeweled sweater? Accompanied by an antique button ring by Elizabeth Ngo (Abacus, Portland, ME) and Sundance stack of rings.

Silk, linen, sequins and beads, antique button, and acrylic jewels create a visual and textural feast.