Saturday, August 06, 2011

On a Less Infuriating Note

Despite the actions of a few wanna-be criminals, we are having a fabulous summer; too bad that comes to an end in just slightly less than two weeks, when the kids return to school, I return to the drop-off lane and the weather returns to frigid and dreary.

Ok, ok, the weather will still be nice for at least a few months but still; two out of three.

In the meanwhile, I am documenting the many things about the summer that I love and will miss once Old Man Winter does rear his frosty head and, chief among those things is my garden.



My tomatoes have practically taken over the garden, providing a bounty of red and yellow fruits. I am most especially pleased with the heirloom Brandywine plant that produces large slicing tomatoes. The smaller Roma, grape and yellow pear plants are a delight as well and, not coincidentally, I have discovered a number of recipes using fresh tomatoes; my current favorite involves orecciette pasta, fresh basil, a couple of cloves of garlic, a combination of yellow pear and grape tomatoes, olive oil and perlini (very small balls of mozzarella cheese).

Also, for the first time ever, the garden has managed to produce cucumbers which, I happen to detest. Hugh, on the other hand, is in hog heaven with the creamy cucumber salad and the marinated cucumber salad and the cucumber slices. It's nice to see him to happy.

The garden has even managed to make the Man-Cub happy; his carrots are coming along nicely and he has been eating strawberries for weeks, now. The strawberries also entice The Teenager into the garden which is like a summer miracle, in and of itself.

Aside from the garden, I have been enjoying quiet time on the porch. In the morning, I like to drink my coffee while watching the hummingbirds drink from the feeders and, in the evenings, I light the citronella votives that line the railing and watch as the birds return  for dinner. This is the first year that I have had hummingbirds and I really enjoy watching them and listening to the different sounds they make; it ain't all humming, come to find out.



Of course I have enjoyed our time on the boat, our visit to Mayberry, and numerous other summer activities in which we have partaken and, it goes without saying, I have enjoyed the sunshine but, all good things must come to an end, I suppose.

On the bright side, I do enjoy the kids' autumn sporting activities, the colors of fall, Halloween and the smell of the smoke from wood stoves on brisk October evenings so; there is that to look forward to. And, once the temperatures drop a bit, I'll be able to run outdoors without feeling like my lungs are on fire.

Glass half full, yada, yada.

1 comment:

  1. Hummingbird fights are the best, if you can keep up to them.

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