GOODBYE SUMMER

I finally have tomatoes!! I had forgotten what a thrill it was to see something you plant turn into something you had always bought. What a pleasure. I picked these at the lake on Saturday and Monday morning as we readied to come home, I picked 4 more! How exciting! I really planted these on a wing and a prayer. There was a pile of dirt and debris behind the Summerhouse where Former Resident Carpenter had stacked up bricks and stones, etc, but the area was out of the way and got a lot of afternoon sun. I raked and neatened up the area, added a little black topsoil and made a little bed along the Summerhouse. I think I am a good gardener, or at least have been over the years, but it was July already and I thought, I'm just going to throw in some tomato and basil plants, a few marigolds to deter pests, and see what happens. Now I have to decide what I want to make with them!

Milo enjoyed lying in the dappled sunshine on the dock this last weekend of summer. It makes me feel a little bittersweet to think of all the good times we had in the sunshine over the summer, all the places we went and fun we had. How we woke up to it and how it stayed with us so very long each day. To wax poetic, I think I am finally saying goodbye to summer.

The Husband's clematis is blooming like crazy on his arbor (yes, we have his/her arbors!). Isn't it pretty? The lawn guy kept trimming it down before it had a chance to grow and I did the unthinkable, I told The Husband to mark it with a stake or post. But the rule on the his/hers stuff is that we cannot tell one another what to do with his/her stuff. That is why we have his/her stuff.

I'm envious of his stuff.

The acorns are everywhere. When I was little I loved to collect all things small. I loved the book The Borrower's and I longed to climb right inside it and become one of them. And acorns remind me of little houses with thatched roofs.

Ooooh! Look! I have a village!

Emily decided to try my new fishing pole which surprised me because she is not the daughter that loved to fish. Abby used to lie on the dock on her stomach and catch bluegills with her hands!! So The Husband gave her a few pointers...I think he was telling her not to hook that boat in our little marina....

He makes sure she is off to a good start...

"Look Dad!"

Well, here we have a little crappie! Not bad. Once Em realized she had to take it off the hook, she decided she didn't want to fish anymore. I told her she was giving women a bad name and to just tell him she didn't want to mess up her manicure. I do love fishing in the fall. The days are hazy and warm and the fish seem to be jumping. We don't keep them unless there is a big group of us fishing and someone is willing to do the cleaning and cooking. We have had some great fishing parties at the lake, but not so recently. Maybe I will make a deal with The Husband. He cleans, I cook. I think somehow he will leave an eyeball or two.

This summer I got an F. An F for failure. I failed to read one single book. I am beyond ashamed of myself. Reading has always been such a treat for me. Something I looked forward to to doing in my spare time. Of course I have so much more spare time now that I am pretty much an emptynester (Kevin leaves in November). Reading just seems to have a hypnotic effect on me. Reading in bed at night causes me to be drowsy within 15 minutes. If I sit in the family room and read during the day, I become distracted. Most of all, I miss my Book Buying Trips. Armed with all of my torn out pages of book reviews, off I go to Borders to spend an afternoon book hunting, reading snippets and treating myself to coffee and a scone. But how can I do that when I haven't finished or started the last bunch of books?? Woe to me.

I can browse (somewhat) safely at Amazon where I came upon this lovely book. Below is the inside jacket that will tell you what the book is about and I have a few photos of pages I like. I savor a bit of this book everyday, like a great bowl of ice cream that you want to last. I highly recommend it to everyone.

So it is goodbye to summer and hello to fall today!! It is rainy and dreary here in the Midwest. Guess I had better get used to it... Have a happy week!

xoxo

Jane