A Perfect Summer's Day at Last

We are about to kiss Summer 2013 goodbye. I'm relaxing with my little laptop, and thinking of all the best moments. Summer lovers must be a little sad--although we've all had our weather roller coasters, the last bit of August was absolutely beautiful here in the Ozarks, and September has heated up enough to keep my tomatoes and my tan going--why would I want to bid all this heaven farewell?

There are things I love about fall like wearing sweaters, making apple pies, decorating pumpkins, and hot cocoa on a crisp fall day, it's true. 

But it will all have to wait one more moment while I reminisce about my summer. I stumbled upon a sweet summer memories blog post, which made me think it's time for another. I had posted this one in July of that year, and it was kinda fun.

♥ Read Cats and Quiches

 This year we were not able to travel...and I didn't even really have my deck to sit out and sip coffee on because it is all torn up right now! I've been looking forward to a new deck for a while. So, things are not perfect, but that's no excuse not to find some bliss. 

These are a few of my favorite things from this summer.

I found a new cozy corner on my greenhouse sunporch.

We actually grew pumpkins this year! We've already harvested the first big orange one. It was great weather for the squash family.

My aloe vera plant (which has now been moved to that new cozy corner) is huge!

My front yard flowers have been amazing. In the flower box hubby built for me many moons ago, are marigolds grown from seed, impatients, and pink lavender.

My mailbox garden was grown from seeds...marigolds and zinnias.

I made blueberry muffins with real blueberries! So yummy. I'll post this recipe soon, I promise.

I finally went to the new location of the FM Store--my favorite fabric store. I just get lost in there dreaming about all the things I'm going to make! This time I was picking out a chair covering. Here's a few fab pics!

I actually knitted a lot this summer. I finished a patchwork knitty quilt, and I'm almost finished with the second piece of my knitted tank top. Woo hoo!

Minnie is hanging out with me right now, telling me her best moments of summer. ♥ She loved my daughter being home and constantly hanging out in her room--especially when she has friends over!

I love wearing summer shirts and shorts much more than cold weather clothes! Almost all the shorts I wear have embroidery on them! Embroidery is how I tatoo!

Speaking of wearable art (embroidery in particular) I found my Mexican dress! A dear friend actually bought it for me in Mexico and it is filled with the most amazing embroidery...gorgeous! My daughter thinks it looks like a blue tent on me, but I don't care because I'm so in love with the embroidery. What a nut! I need a good photo of it and soon. ♥

I discovered "earthing" the simple act of walking barefoot on the ground to transfer the earth's free electrons (the most potent antioxidants) into your body. It sounds so simple--too simple almost. But there are places in the world, like in Austria and Switzerland, where there is a tradition of getting up in the morning and going barefoot. What will I do when it's too cold outside?

I'm still eating, cooking, and canning tomatoes fresh off the vine. Nothing like it, period.

I decorated my typewriter! Might as well...only four ribbon cartridges left before it gets upcycled!

Finished the butterfly scarf--it will be fun to wear this fall and winter. Now that's something to look forward to!

I became a contributor to Tag Tuesday. I love making tags, and they have so many uses. Being a part of Tag Tuesday is just more motivation!

My hubby's in an awesome show at the Little Theatre, but still took time to go to a lovely craft fair with me!

I started making mood boards - fun! Kinda like inspiration boards. And I've turned Pinterest into many inspiration boards for myself. Love it. Join me on Pinterest! (see my link at the top right)

I made pink lemonade a lot. Yum.

I made an upcycled summer art journal using vintage file dividers for the covers--very cool.

Read Upcycled Art Journal here.

I did a lot of reorganizing in my crafty corner!

Don't forget to write down what you loved about this summer, whether you blog about it, put it in your art journal (I'm putting mine in there too), or just make a list--it's really fun to look back on and makes you remember all the things you love about your life.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Summer-at-Home



















 

Cats and Quiches

"She (the cat) hasn't had her full ration of kisses-on-the-lips today...she had the half-past-six one in the garden, but she's missed tonight's."

Colette

So we've been busy gardening, kissing the cat, making zinnia bouquets, watching the tomatoes starting to turn, cleaning up my studio, and savoring every moment of summer, no matter how hot it is! We try to have our coffee early early these days--before the heat! I saw a little green-striped snake in the garden this morning! Yikes! We've named him "No-Feet."

Easy Spinach Quiche

Spinach quiche and roasted rosemary-garlic-and-parmesan potatoes made a perfect dinner one night. So easy. Buy the pie dough. Line your pie plate, and bake it for five or six minutes at 450 degrees. Mix three eggs and about a cup-and-a-half of milk, sprinkle in a bit of salt and pepper. Cook a few slices of turkey bacon, and chop up 1/4 cup sweet vedalia onion. Add onion to egg mixture. I use a bit of frozen spinach, thawed, and water squeezed out of it. Then pour egg mixture into hot pie shell, place a cup-and-a-half of shredded sharp cheddar cheese around, sprinkle in the crumbled bacon, sprinkle the spinach around and put the whole thing back in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 50 minutes until done in the center. Make two and have enough for breakfast the next morning! Most store-bought pie dough comes with two pie shells.

We've been making plenty of pasta salad too--just waiting for more of our tomatoes to turn! Hurry tomatoes!

More things I love about summer:

getting a tan

lots of flowers to put all over the house

morning sewing sessions on the deck

music outside

coffee outside

long, long days

going to bed at midnight

the farmer's market

the gigantic butterflies I saw in my garden today!

big fat bees

late-evening walks around the neighborhood

watching movies with my daughter

dinner at our favorite Mexican place (teeny tiny joint) with my hubby

pasta salad, potato salad, fresh salsa, tomato paninis

a braid in my hair

ankle bracelets

long flowy cotton skirts

my favorite sandals

the look of white gold on tanned skin

a little sun-kissed streak of blonde

sunrise

sunset

the beach, the pool, long baths

Joseph on my mini ironing board--not exactly pressed for time.

thunderstorms that pop up out of nowhere--like right now, so I should post this!

Have happy summer dreams everyone!

Every Inchie Monday--BOOKS

Happy Inchie Monday everyone!  

Today's theme "Books" could definitely go many directions. I chose to see how many favorite books would fit on an inch. I suppose my hand-written font could have been even smaller, for sure, but after listing a few, I went ahead and added a few stitches (all good, non-digital books have stitches), some color, a teeny button and little tacks.

I could spend all day dreaming up book Inchies, but thank goodness there are many creative ones to look at on www.everyinchiemonday.com.

My daughter and I had a lovely morning today at Barnes & Noble book store. Once in a while it's nice to go on a quiet weekday morning, get a table in the coffee corner, and take your time leafing through books and mags. And I love to see what she picks out--she's quite the avid reader and writer. Very proud of her! (a future English major) I grab all the latest issues of Somerset-everything (they have several varieties of publications) and choose which one I can't live without! And now, when I'm settled down for the night with my cup of tea, I'm going to attempt "Howard's End."

We have been enjoying our summer, in spite of the continuing heatwave. I try to get up as early as possible and do my gardening by 8:30 a.m. I have a lot of writing to do, reading to do, and plenty of stitching inbetween! Due to the lateness of my garden, the tomatoes have not quite turned yet. But the plants are loaded so when they do...I'll be chained to the waterbath canner, getting all the yummy fresh tomato love packed into jars of salsa and other goodies!

Eat, READ, Write, Dream, Stitch!

 

 

 

 

 

On the longest day of the year...

Here come my roma tomatoes--summer is here! I can almost taste the salads, salsas, and bruschetta's. We've been known to have nothing for dinner but a crusty loaf of Italian bread and freshly made bruschetta. Ahhh. Happy summer solstice!

 

"If I had to choose just one plant for the whole herb garden, I should be content with basil."

--Elizabeth David

"The love of dirt is among the earliest of passions...Mudpies gratify one of our first and best instincts. So long as we are dirty, we are pure."

--Charles Dudley Warner



The days are long, and the fireflies light up the night. Love it! Summer dreams.