I think I am a foul weather crafter (and blogger). Most of the Spring and all of the Summer, I had no desire to be crafty (or bloggy). But, as the summer comes to a close and the rose hips start to turn orange, I find myself reading craft blogs (current favorites: Angry Chicken and A Print a Day ) and lining up projects. It also helps the girls have headed back to school this week. While they were home, there was just no time to do things that require quiet and concentration.
We had a fantastic summer. Honestly- super. In previous summers- for various reasons- I think I went a little wacky and became desperate for some alone time. That didn’t happen this summer and the girls and I had some serious fun, mostly at the beach.
One reason my mental balance was more on this summer was that I managed to keep up with my running. I was able to do some trail running, too which I found I loved. One particular trail- it was amazing to run through the coast forest which in some places became quite dense and almost repressive and then burst out into the open with a take-your-breath-away view of the ocean.
The garden did really well this year. We had a fairly hot summer, so we have lots of tomatoes. This has never happened before, so I am enjoying it. I planted a lot of nasturtiums this year and I will now plant them every year! One, they are so pretty, smell wonderful and make cute, vibrant bouquets. And, two, they acted as a natural “trap” for the flea beetles. It seems that flea beetles would rather eat nasturtiums than anything, so they left our pole beans alone. While they did make the nasturiums look ragged for a while, they did not kill them and the nasturiums bounced back nicely.
Every since the switch to digital tv, we have essentially been without tv. Although we have a compatible tv and a big old antenna on the barn roof, we get basically no channels (none if you do not count the Christian channels). This sucks. Hubby and I decided long ago that we would not go the cable route and it really twists my knickers to think the only way I can watch tv is to pay for it! That’s just wrong! So now, Netflix is saving our ass.
Reading- lots of reading going on around here all summer! I recently finished Philippa Gregory’s new book The White Queen which I enjoyed back not as much as some of her others. A co-worker recommended that I read The Chamomile Lawn by Mary Wesley and it was great! I love her voice which is sharp and sexy and modern. Currently, I have three books out of the library( Snobs by Julian Fellows, The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields and A Sensible Life by Mary Wesley) and I am casually dating them to see which ones I am going to get serious about. Heck, I might just read all of them. I don’t buy books very often but I just had to buy Amanda Blake Soule’s Handmade Home- it’s wonderful!
Ciao for now!
Hope Springs Eternal 