I wrote that phrase in my journal this week to describe my garden, but I think it’s a good phrase to describe what I want life to be right now.

Abundant.

Messy.

Beautiful.

Harvesting Dinner -- An abundance of vegetables from the garden

Bountiful and exuberant but also relaxed, easy. Not concerned so much about rules or schedules.

Barefoot days. Garden harvests. Ice cream.

Barefoot mint harvest spot the heart shaped hole in one of the leaves

(That mint became ice cream. And just adding that photo I noticed a secret heart in one of the mint leaves. Do you see it?).

I took a lot of last week off. I sat in the garden. I tried new recipes. I went away for the weekend with friends I’ve known since first grade.

This week I eased back in.

First time I've kept a gardenia alive for so long and had it flower a second season

I did some painting.

Snapdragon Watercolor Painting by Anne Butera

I prepared for and hung an exhibit of my art at the library.

An exhibit of Anne Butera's Flower Paintings at the McIntosh Memorial Library in Viroqua, Wisconsin

I started designing next year’s calendar and planning next year’s tea towel.*

I spent time in the garden. I went for rambling walks all by myself.

A friend of mine emailed me about how the other day she went for a swim and then sat in the sun, soaking it up to store for winter. I love that idea. If only we could.

flowers in our spring rolls -- borage, calendula, violas and basil flowers are all edible and beautiful

But we can’t. So let’s sit in the sun or walk barefoot or lie in the grass watching the clouds. Let’s put flowers in our food and catch fireflies and celebrate summer’s wild abandon.

*I’ve updated my previous years’ designs so that they’re all 2020 dates, giving people a chance to buy the fabric during Spoonflower’s 1/2 price fat quarter sale. It goes through August 11.

summer's wild abandon