‘Tis the Season
The End of Summer Driving
Summer is always a welcome time of year for me in so many ways. But as the kids return to school, I remember one particular reason I welcome summer: my morning commute. The summer commute is free of school traffic, school zones and school buses. When the kids go back to school, the morning commute contains more teenagers, crosswalks and buses. Ah, farewell summer!
The Last Back-to-School
This month, my college-student daughter realized this year would be the last time she goes back to school. The last time to worry about school supplies and course load. She will be moving on to her career. As she is my youngest, I recognize this is the last of round of back-to-school for me, too. But perhaps at some point there will be grand-kids and back-to-school will re-appear. Maybe it’s just the end of this round. Another end, another beginning.
Zinnia patch is a hit!
Last year, my husband and I started a new flower bed in our. It was kind of an eyesore through the winter, as we’d covered it with cardboard to help get rid of the scraggly grass and weeds. This spring, we planted a ton of zinnias and cosmos to give a pop of summer color in the one sunny spot in our yard. All grown from seed. It’s been fun to see it grow full with so many colors and varieties of zinnias. An added bonus: the birds, bees and butterflies like it, too! The colorful bed is cheery and
Summer Travels
August is a good month for summer travel. In Europe, it’s almost a given that people will flock to vacation spots for part or all of the month. Here in the United States, our vacations tend to take place any time between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I won’t be going anywhere in August, but I had a week with my granddaughter in July. That will have to hold me for a while. But when I see flowers like this when I walk in my neighborhood, I can’t complain about staying home. What summer travels have you had this year?
Bee Report
BEE REPORT BEE REPORT July 11, 2023 Sally Jadlow Comments 0 Comment I don’t know when or if there is a national beekeeping day, but beekeeping was one of those things on my bucket list, but as I hit 80 I thought that would be one thing that would be left in my bucket, unrealized. My dad and I kept bees in my younger years. We marketed it under the name “Uncle Hank’s Honey.” Then this spring some dear friends offered me a hive and I took them up on their offer. My son, Josh and I check them regularly. So far, they
Love the Colors of Summer!
It’s lily season! The first roses have finished their cycle, and the hydrangeas are just beginning to bud, but the lilies are in their glory days! The orange daylilies are pretty ordinary, but planted in a mass, they make a colorful statement. And I love that they give some color up off the ground. Flowers are one of the best things about summer! What’s blooming at your place?
Summer temps mean tea time!
Tea is my go-to drink, regardless of the time of year. I have a whole drawer and some cabinet space dedicated to tea in my kitchen. I carry tea bags in my purse. And when the days heat up, I’m always on the look-out for a good glass of iced tea! I keep a pitcher of tea in the fridge during the summer–the kind that’s brewed just right. The kind that offers refreshing flavor. Some of my faves are mango/peach/apricot and tropical passion fruit. Nothing better to beat the summer heat than fresh, fruity iced tea! Are you a tea
Flowers thrive in summer sun
The property around my home is quite shady, thanks to several old, giant trees. So growing flowers is a challenge. I don’t have enough sunshine for most of the summer flowers to thrive. We have a few lilies and some roses, but the lilies have a short season, and the roses do well at the beginning of summer then kind of waste away. But I love flowers! So this year, we decided to dig up a spot that we can only see from one room in the house, but that gets full sun. Fingers crossed that it will soon be
Reading Poolside Beats the Heat
One of my favorite summer activities is reading—preferably beating the heat near a pool or beach with a bar and waiter attending my cold beverage needs! I’ve found that my Kindle is great outdoors. The lighted screen is easy to read and it doesn’t add too much weight to my beach bag. I’ve read several books recently and enjoyed most of them. A few I’d recommend for your summer list: Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize), and Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Some that I’ve got
Bring summer–skip the bloodsuckers
Summer is my season. I don’t mind the heat, as long as it doesn’t come with high humidity and inch toward the upper 90s. I love almost everything about summer—vacations, long days that allow me to enjoy the evenings outside, warm temps, summer flip-flops, reading by the pool, tropical iced tea, the flowers in bloom, and probably much more! Pretty much the only things I hate about summer are the bugs, mosquitoes, and spiders. Ugh. I’ve tried so many different ways to keep the mosquitoes away. Citronella candles make me sneeze. And I hate spraying chemicals on my skin or