Tag Archives: summer

Summer Fruit, Flowers and Veggies …

Posted on July 10, 2012 by | Comments Off on Summer Fruit, Flowers and Veggies …

My creation


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July Calendar Picture …

Posted on July 2, 2012 by | Comments Off on July Calendar Picture …

100_0106


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The fish . . .

Posted on August 10, 2010 by | Comments Off on The fish . . .
I've been writing posts and not posting them for several days.  I'll have to go back and fix that.  However . . . it's pretty hard to post a picture that hasn't been taken, and all my posts refer to pictures.  Unfortunately, my camera battery is a goner, and I can't find my charger.  I know it's around, just how to find it is the mystery.  Sort of like looking for my glasses and realizing they're on top of my head serving as a headband.  But in the meantime, I'll use my Blackberry camera which, truthfully, isn't all that bad. 


Where do you usually find your glasses when they've been lost?







So . . . for today, take a look at this girl, my sweet Rowan, lounging in the pool.  What a happy, sweet girl she is!
 
What are your grandkids doing this summer that's fun for them, and you?

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Posted on June 7, 2010 by | Comments Off on It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
I love this time of year. And I hate this time of year, too. It’s odd, this dichotomy of feeling. But it’s what makes the end of May/beginning of June such a great time of the year for me.



 Let’s start with why I don’t like it, so that this post ends on a high note.



It’s the end of the school year. That means a couple things. A trip to Boston to bring the boy-child home from college being the first. This is both a bad thing and a good thing. Good that he’s coming home for the summer, bad in that even though he knows when I’m getting there, he’s never ready. This year’s room cleanout took longer than last, despite his being halfway packed when I got there. (Which was better than last year, when NOTHING was packed upon our arrival.) No matter - we got it done and he’s likely getting 100% of his deposit back (if, that is, he remembers to mail back the key he forgot to return in our haste to depart).



 It’s finals time for the girl-child. That means loads of projects and final review packets for homework. It always seems that the end of the school year is fraught with last minute “I need a …sheet of posterboard/set of report covers/shoebox for a diorama…” statements. We never seem to have what she needs, and Staples becomes our new favorite store for a couple weeks. It’s home to pick her up, honk the horn, she jumps in, we go to the store for the latest supply run. It happens every year.



So we have the boy home and not necessarily working, which stresses me more than it stresses him. Although this year, he REALLY shocked us all!! He got home Saturday, and on Tuesday, he was working for a man tabulating his accounts and listing antique books on eBay. Within a day after starting there, his email to the printer at which he worked over Christmas was answered, and he accepted a second job working there. So not only is he working, he’s holding down 2 part-time jobs. Here’s hoping that he saves a lot of the money he’ll be making this summer.



The bills go up at this time of year. We use more water and more electricity. We have to buy more groceries. It’s not huge, but it’s an increase. It makes things a little tight for a bit, but we adjust. At least until what happens next.


 What happens next is the real reason I don’t like this time of year. Preparation for the girl-child’s annual summer trip to her dad’s in Colorado. We spend the last 2 weeks of the school year picking up some extra clothes, socks, swimsuits, toiletries, etc. so she’s as comfortable there as she is at home. Every year, her plane leaves the day after school lets out, so she really doesn’t get a chance to enjoy her friends outside of school even a little before she goes. I don’t pay for it, and I do complain, but in 10 years of her going out there, it hasn’t changed. I guess it never will, so it’s something we grin at and bear. The good news is that she likes spending the summers with her dad and her little brother, so she looks forward to it. But I miss her desperately the whole 2 months she’s gone.



Doubly tough for her this year, since she has a boyfriend here, but I think they’re going to be just fine. This one’s different from the last one, and I don’t see him straying over the summer. And for that, I’m happy.



So, why do I love this time of year? It smells good…freshly cut grass, early roses, and in early June, honeysuckle. There’s a whole hedge of it 3 doors down from my house. The evening breeze brings the scent of it through the windows, and it’s heaven. There’s nothing like it, and I revel in it. It’s my favorite part of the early summer. There are crickets now. And singing toads. Their evening song travels on the breeze with the honeysuckle. There are fireflies on the more humid nights. Not lots of them yet, they’re these random flashes, like candles quickly extinguished in the dark. In a couple weeks, they’ll light up the whole field. My own personal twinkle light show. LOVE them!



Songbirds!!! There are birds singing again! Even though there are birds all winter long, the winter birds don’t sing like the summer birds do. I miss it in the winter, and I love the sound in the spring. They’re beautiful to see and pleasant to hear. There’s also the whole baby bird thing – and when we’re really lucky, a nest on the porch so we can watch them grow.



It stays light out longer. That means that after dinner, I can sit on the deck with my unsweetened tea or a beer and a good book to unwind after the day. I don’t have to worry about it getting dark before I want to go in, or getting too cold to sit. The temperature and the light are perfect for as long as I need them to be.



 Then there’s the garden. The strawberries are fruiting, and we get a big handful almost every night. I’ve planted more, hoping in time to get more than just a handful, but the dog likes the garden WAY too much, and I think they’re doomed. Again. Yes, I put fencing up (netting around fence posts), but the dog sneaks under and, well, does what dogs do in the outdoors. I’m still working on how to get THAT to stop. Eventually, I will succeed. I AM smarter than a rat terrier mix. Honest.



Anyhow, so there are strawberries, and the annual planting of the tomatoes. But only one plant this year. My daughter claims I “caved”, since I said I wouldn’t plant ANY tomatoes this year. I used to plant grape tomatoes, big tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, bell peppers and string beans, but ended up with either early blight (cucumbers), not enough harvest to make a meal out of (beans) or too many to use (everything else). This year, I bought one tomato plant, a beautiful basil plant (which will be potted), a catnip plant (also to be potted – that crap takes over the WHOLE garden if you put it in the ground!), and that’s it. We also have a lovely potted spearmint plant for mint iced tea. So with a little olive oil, mozzarella and balsamic vinegar, plus some pound cake and whipped cream, I have the makings of a caprese salad and strawberry shortcakes. Perfect summer dinner!



So, all that to say that it’s late spring. Children are home, flowers are blooming, birds are nesting and the garden is in. All is as it should be at this time of year, love it or hate it.

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