Summertime 2011

I had wonderful intentions of writing a post today complete with pictures of our summer adventures, only to leave my camera behind at our summer home where I don't have access to the internet. But we've been having a great time swimming, boating, fishing, clamming, lobstering, taking long walks, collecting seaglass and shells and all sorts of beach treaures - trying to savor every minute of this fleeting New England summer. I promise to check in soon with lots of new pictures.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Man it was hot today! I love New England. Last weekend I was gardening in my fleece coat and wondering if it would ever warm up aroudn here, and today it was 95 degrees and humid. I spend much of the winter and early spring wondering why it is that we live here, in this cold, gray, barren part of the world - but on days like today when the flowers are blooming and the vegetables and herbs that we planted on a cool spring day are growing tall and strong, I remember why.

We spent most of the morning indoors, reading books, playing music, and wrapping up a few remaining items to round out our homeschooling year. Then the kids raced out after lunch to get the sprinklers going. Is there anything better than running through the icy water from a sprinkler on a hot day?

Now that the weather is warm we try to bring the chicks out every day to scratch, peck, munch on bugs, and get used to outside living. We're hoping to get their coop set up in the next week or two, by which time it should be warm enough for them to move outside permanently. We've had our chicks for a month now and they are looking much less like babies and more like chickens.

We're wondering if this gal, Flower, is really a he-bird? Any chicken experts out there want to weigh in on this?

No, I did not grow these incredible peonies, but I might just make it my life's mission to do so. Aren't they amazing? A friend gave them to me and my entire house smells like a sweet, sweet rose.

We are planning to wrap up our homeschooling year tomorrow and celebrate with the performance of D's play, Much Ado About Nothing. We can't wait to see it! Happy weekend!

Summertime

We have settled in to our summer home, our favorite place in the world, and one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. This is where DG and I met, where we fell in love (awww) and where he proposed. We were a bit late settling in here this year, but now that we are finally here we've been boating, building castles, staying up far too late with friends and family, catching crabs and minnows, digging sea clams, toasting marshmallows by the bonfire and reading lots of good books. The water has been shockingly warm (let's hear it for global warming! wooohooo - that's sarcasm, difficult to pick up via computer so I just thought I would clarify) so we've all been swimming lots and lots. It's rare that I put so much as a toe in this ocean, but I'm loving it this year. D and DG have been fishing up a storm, though so far they've only caught sand sharks and small cod.
We've been barbecuing, making fruity summer drinks and eating drippy watermelon. I've realized that my true calling in life is laziness, slothdom, and mastering the art of doing absolutely nothing. Ahhhhh, summer. I love it. And I feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place, where I can fully enjoy it.