Category: Life (page 3 of 81)

HELLO, September

Hello, September. You seem to have carried forward the cooler mornings that were August’s “goodbye”. The light is ever so subtly changing and evening is drawing in just a touch sooner than a few weeks ago. But the sweet potato vines are still spilling over our planters with their vibrant green and deep purple leaves and the ocean is still warm and there are still signs that summer is present. 

You bring with you today the return to a fresh school year, one I don’t think we are altogether ready for, but onwards and upwards we shall go. This summer has not quite been the summer we planned as life continued to happen, but we rolled with it all and still managed a few hikes, breakfasts on the beach, early morning swims, sitting with friends chatting while the wind whipped at our hair and lots of ice cream. 

We’re ready for that seasonal shift that you will most certainly bring, even though we will be teased with cooler than warmer days before you make the final push into a more autumnal feeling. We’re ready to still reap the last of the farmer’s market harvest of fresh corn and heirloom tomatoes before we move fully into embracing squashes.

We’re ready for those early days of school where we still might be able to slip away not too long after the bell rings to go for a quick afternoon dip and a lazy stroll home. We’re ready for our first taste of warm apple cider while a cooler evening breeze blows in. We’re not ready to wish away the summer as we like each season to have it’s due, but we are ready to see what you hold for us as we stand on the cusp of Autumn.

{Waterfall Valley by Charles Wysocki}

HELLO, August

Hello, August. We’re ready for those lazy, hazy days of summer to come into full effect. Now that school has wound down for the year and almost all the school related jobs have been ticked off the list, we’re ready to just be, to take the days as they come. 

We’re ready for early morning swims, when the world is still quiet and hopefully we’ll spot a seal or two paddling by. We’re ready to watch old episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, while feasting on PB&J sandwiches and salty potato chips for lunch. 

We’re ready for long walks that end with an ice cream cone and we’re ready for quiet nights on the beach stargazing and listening to music while the waves roll in. 

We’re ready to be and live within the moment, to cherish the time together and to relish in this month, before our pace has to pick back up again in September. 

{Poolside, Janet Hill Studio | Found HERE}

HELLO, July

Well, HELLO, July! This month you bring with you the end of the school year and boy are we ready for that! We’re ready for our Fourth of July celebrations and watching JAWS in the dark after dinner. We’re ready for our Christmas in July party with a summer twist and watching old Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music and just generally feasting on Christmas happiness. 

We’re ready for the luxury of more warm days and chances to go swimming. We’re ready to eat our weight in all the gorgeous fruit that is in-season at the moment. We’re ready to make pies out of the fresh blueberries and cherries we’ve been greedily gobbling up, topped with a big scoop of homemade ice cream. 

We’re ready for lazy summer weekends in which we get to read on the beach and pack a picnic for lunch of ham sandwiches with heirloom tomatoes, salty potato chips and a thermos of iced tea. We’re ready for cheeseburgers and fresh corn on the cob from the greengrocers, smothered in butter and each bite has juices running down our chins. 

We’re ready to continue to dance to the 60’s and 70’s soundtrack of our summer that has us in quite the groove lately. We’re ready to watch evening fall as the breeze blows the curtains in the open window and we just get to sit and be. Welcome, July, we’re ready for all that you bring. 

{Image: “Maggie in snorkeling gear”, October 1958, Montego bay, Jamaica. From the third of three small “ektachrome transparencies” boxes, this set labeled “personal fair great / our wedding” by Nick DeWolf | Found via Messy Nessy | Pinned HERE}

HELLO, June

Hello, June! We’re ready for more of the glorious sunshine that May has brought us and to feel that warmth upon our skin. 

We’re ready for bowls of fruit for dinner when it starts to get truly hot and fresh heirloom tomato sandwiches, still warm from the sun when they are picked. We’re ready for the curtains to billow in the breeze while we eat dinner with windows open and breath in the salty air. 

We’re ready for early morning beach walks and finding a good spot to stop, read and drink a cup of coffee. We’re ready for the days to continue to lengthen and grow. We’re ready for Friday night pizza parties and watching old movies in the dark. 

We’re ready for the last stretch of the school year to come to a close and the start of summer to truly begin. We’re ready to relish the little things, to live within the moment, to keep on dancing and to have the wisdom to drink it all in.  

{American actor Sandra Dee, dressed in a bathing suit, with her pet poodle. She is filming ‘Gidget’ on the Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu, California, USA. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images), 1959 | Pinned HERE}

Eighteen

Eighteen years ago today, you took my hand and placed it in yours and we’ve been holding hands ever since.

Here’s to the next chapter in our adventure.

{Publicity still of Myrna Loy and William Powell for “After the Thin Man”, 1936. Photo by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images | Pinned HERE}

HELLO, May

Hello, May! If you’re anything like your sister April, you will still usher forth chilly mornings that swiftly begin to warm up when the sun comes out. Offering us a minuscule taste of what summer shall bring, when the glow of the sun is on our backs. 

Today, you herald in May Day and the appearance of the Green Man who will parade through our village with his beribboned and festive court in attendance. We’re ready for the days to continue to gradually lengthen as we eat dinner with the windows open and a breeze blows in. We’re ready for the bounty that will begin to arrive in earnest at the green grocers and the taste of the first heirloom tomatoes and yellow squash of the season. 

We’re ready for longer beach walks and the hopes of catching a seal or two sunbathing. We’re ready for early mornings where we quietly read and sip coffee as the sky turns from purple velvet to a soft awakening pink. We’re ready to continue to appreciate the little things and we’re ready for the adventures that await us.

{An image from, Summer’s Coming In by Natalia Belting, illustrated by Adrienne Adams, 1970}

HELLO, April

Hello, April! You greeted us with snow this morning and it was positively delightful! If only school had been cancelled too and we could have stayed home drinking hot chocolates and watching those big fat flakes gently float down like feathers from a pillow fight. Lady Winter is not quite done with us yet and she ever so gently deposited snowflakes into the creases of daffodils and filled the cups of crocuses and dusted the rocks along the shore. It was a magical start to the month.

We’re ready for more bulbs to spring forth around us, surrounding us in a sea of yellow daffodils and pink striped tulips. We’re ready for the Spring Break that you will bring and the opportunity to work to our own schedule. To take even longer morning walks with a beach picnic packed up and ready to be gobbled down when we find the right spot. We’re ready for more strolls at dusk as the days begin to lengthen and fresh clean air being blown through the house, making the curtains sway.

We’re ready for a visit from the Easter Bunny in hopes that our basket is filled with all sweet things and maybe a small surprise or two. Welcome, April, we’re ready for all that you bring.

{A model wearing a headdress of pink and mauve lilacs and a bow of pink satin ribbon, by Emme, photo by Horst P. Horst for Vogue Magazine, 1959 | Pinned HERE}

I Give My Little Stars to Children

Via This is Colossal : Maria Prymachenko (1908 – 1997) was a self-taught folk artist known for her renderings of life in the Ukrainian countryside. Her gouache and watercolor works are vibrant and imaginative, depicting symmetrical red poppies tucked in a small vase or fantastical bull-like animals sprouting two-headed snakes. Expressive and consistently advocating for peace, Prymachenko’s paintings are widely known throughout Ukraine and internationally: she received a gold medal at the Paris World Fair in 1937, when Pablo Picasso is said to have dubbed her “an artistic miracle.”

{I Give My Little Stars to Children | gouache and fluorescent paint on paper | 1983}

HELLO, March

Hello, March. You’ve arrived on a gust of wind and came so much quicker than I thought you would. You have kept the coolness and rain that February had shrouded around her. But you seem to have brought the beginning of spring with you. There are blush pink blossoms budding on the trees and yellow daffodils with golden egg yolk hued centres, whose lush green arms dance in the breeze and crocuses the colour of violets that have sprouted up at the base of the woodlands, creating a path all of their own.

You bring with you Mardi Gras and the start of the Lenten season. We are ready for this time of reflection as our hearts our heavy with the world. We all seem to be in a continual cycle of treading water and then taking a deep breath before the next wave crashes over us again. 

We are ready for the first tastes of spring that will slowly start arriving at the green grocers as your month progresses. We are ready to dance in the kitchen while cooking dinner and the sun filters into our windows just a little longer than the day before and the day before that. 

We are ready to wear the green for St. Patrick’s Day and feast on my Nana’s Irish soda bread. And we are ready to continue to appreciate the little things, to live in the moment and to find peace in the stillness.

Welcome, March, bring us all good things. 

{Daffodils from the “Floral Calendar of Japan” series by Kawarazaki Shodo | Found via Fuji Arts}

HELLO, February

Hello, February. I’m not sure how you arrived so quickly? January has kept us busy beyond measure, so I somehow wasn’t expecting you quite yet, but we’re happy that you are here! And on this first day of your reign, you have ushered in with you the Lunar New Year. The Year of the Tiger. May it be a year that brings good fortune and luck to us all. 

We’re keeping our fingers crossed that you continue to bring chilly days and maybe, just maybe a snowy day. We’re ready for hot chocolates with marshmallows and whipped cream on slow Saturday afternoons while we watch old movies. We’re ready for more chances to catch our breath while lingering at the table when dinner is over listening to music. 

We’re ready for the celebration of L-O-V-E that you herald in this month and all the red, white and pink that colours our world with a rosy hue. We’re ready for pancakes for dinner on frosty nights and copious amounts of tea and the chance to be still and read. We’re ready to continue relishing in the season of winter when all is quiet at night and we can hear the foxes crying out under the stars. 

We’re ready for all that you have to offer. Welcome! 

{Lore Pemberton, The Quilter’s Cottage, Found HERE | Pinned HERE}