It has been a relatively cold, relatively wet summer so far, but you know what – IT’S SUMMER!!! So who cares. This is absolutely my favorite time of year, so to celebrate, let’s talk about some awesome things that come with these warm weather months.
Super Late Sunsets
While I could go without the birds tweeting at 4:30 in the morning since the sun is already up, I am a big fan of sunsets that happen after 8:30. Maybe I was a farmer in a past lifetime, but I feel so much more productive when the sun is out, and therefore I get much more done this time of the year. Granted, this also finds me eating dinner around 9 pm, which probably isn’t the greatest, but yah to long days!
Green Surprises in the Backyard
Ok, so this one is a once in a lifetime (or, er…at least once every 10 or so years) deal, but the beginning of this summer has been full of surprises around our house. We have seven (seven!) fruit trees in our backyard. We can’t tell exactly what they are, but they all have different leaves. One is a peach tree which is already has little fruit on it. Same for a pear and an apple tree.
Then, when I dug out some errant mint and parsley from another garden bed, I discovered cuttings from a rose-bush. They are blooming this week and oh my goodness! So many petals and such a deep, beautiful red.
We’ve also discovered bright pink peony bushes, wild rhubarb plants, lots of hostas, and what I’m still holding out hope to be a strawberry plant that just isn’t producing berries this year. Thank you Mr. Cardinale for being a great gardener!
Wedding Season
Randy and I headed south this last weekend for part two of his brother’s wedding celebrations. It was a great night of catching up, cake eating, and dancing. We were at a great location with a beautiful patio. The only problem was a mayfly infestation. Have y’all ever seen these guys? I guess they only live for 24 hours. There were thousands and thousands of live ones and carci all around the venue. Icky! (Ok, so I’m not so grateful for bugs. I would have been grateful for bats!)
This is actually our only wedding of the season for this year, but I know they are in full swing. My other business has a long list of orders for outdoor August soirees.
Festival Season
10 years ago, this week would have caught me spending way too much time and money down at Summerfest. Eating all the fried eggplant I could shovel in my gullet and people watching all of the crazies. Oh, and maybe taking in some music.
These days, my festival season is regaled to local townie bike races and church festivals with a night or two of Summerfest sprinkled in. I’ll still get my eggplant. I’ll still be with my favorite girls. And I expect the people watching to be just as epic. I can’t wait!
