Tag: summer (page 3 of 13)

HELLO, June!

Hello, June! We’re ready for the longer days you bring, the warmer weather, dinners by candlelight as the sun quietly sets, beach music and long strolls. We’re ready to go seashell hunting, eat breakfast on the beach, watch our garden grow, stay up late watching old movies and read good books on slow afternoons with sweet iced tea by our sides. We’re ready to feast on strawberries fresh from the fields still warm from the sun with juice running down our chins and eat our weight in heirloom tomato sandwiches with salty potato chips on the side.

{Summer 1956 // Pinned HERE}

HELLO & Goodbye, August!

The month has gotten away from me! We’ve been too busy feasting on heirloom tomatoes, sandwiched between homemade bread with salty potato chips on the side. We’ve baked pies and ate our weight in summer cherries and vanilla ice cream. We’ve hiked and planted flowers in new flower pots and danced around the house to whatever was playing and generally let the day steer our direction. We’ve been soaking up the sun and just enjoying the art of being before school begins anew. But, I’ll be back soon with lots to share.

{Image Janet Hill, Julie’s Marvelous New Swim Cap // Pinned HERE}

‘Tis Autumn

On Saturday, we celebrated the Autumnal Equinox by Mr. Michie taking me to a glorious horse chestnut tree he had found and we spent a good 20 minutes collecting handfuls of fallen conkers. We brought them home, scrubbed them clean, dried them and now they’re sitting in a bowl, nestled around a candle, with their shiny chestnut brown coats gleaming.

Since Saturday, it feels as if Mother Nature has kissed Summer on the cheeks and bid her adieu. It has been decidedly chilly and rainy. This morning we woke to clear skies and it had warmed up to a balmy 38°F when we left for school.

I’m not complaining; I love the crisp air, the crunch of leaves and acorns underfoot, the air that smells at once fresh and of an earthy dampness of leaves slowly decaying on the woodland floor. There is a magic to this time when one season slips into the next.

The Written Word Endures #9

“We’re here.”

In an explosion of cheers and yelps, the car doors flung open as Palmer and Cara leaped out and ran like wild Indians across the dunes to the beach beyond. Lovie laughed and placed a hand to her heart as memories played in her mind. That was just what she and her older brother, Mickey, used to do. Now, years later, her children loved it here as much as she did. She pulled herself from the car and set her hands on her hips, lifting her face toward her house.

Primose Cottage was perched high on a dune overlooking the sparkling blue water of the Atlantic. It was the same pale yellow color as the primroses that grew wild on the dunes. With its blue shutters and doors, it looked like another of the wildflowers that surrounded it — purple petunias, sassy Indian blankets, and the lemon yellow primroses for which the cottage had been named. She lifted her hand over her eyes like a visor and searched for signs of wear and tear. The prevailing salt winds and the long winters were harsh on a house. A bit more paint was peeling, sand was thick on the stairs and porches, and there was yard work to be done, but all in all, the little house had survived another winter.

She felt the warmth of the sun as she pulled heavy brown bags of groceries from the car. It was just like the children to run off when she could use their help, she thought with a wry grin… Pushing open the the wood door, she was met by a wall of blistering heat and stale air in the closed-up house… Sweat beaded as she hurried to the large patio doors, unlocked them, and pushed them wide open… She was home at last! Home on the Isle of Palms.

In a burst of enthusiasm, Lovie felt the young girl hiding deep within her spring to life. Chores could wait. Unpacking the rest of the car could wait. Cleaning and dusting could wait. At this precious moment in time, her children were out on the beach, playing in the sun. This, she knew, could not wait.

Lovie almost skipped to the linen closet to pull out three thick terry cloth towels. She didn’t usually use her better towels for the beach, but sometimes one just had to break the rules. She tossed the towels in an empty grocery bag, grabbed her floppy purple hat, and hurried out the door.

Her heels dug deep into the soft sand as she raced along the narrow beach path…Immediately she spotted her children cavorting in the surf like shorebirds — Palmer a shorter, pale-chested sanderling, her dear “peep”, running on thin legs, dodging waves. Cara a sleek, slate-black hooded gull, raucously calling and laughing with joy.

Joy… It filled Lovie’s heart as she sprinted toward her children. She paused only to slip out of her shorts and tug her T-shirt from her body to toss on the sand. Her simple black maillot folded to her woman’s body, but she felt ageless as she raced to the waves. With a cry, she leaped into the water, splashing and surprising her children, who whopped in excitement at her arrival. She heard their calls — “Mama! Mama!” — as birdsong before she dove under the oncoming wave. The water was startlingly chilly yet refreshing.

Stroking beneath the water, she felt all the accumulated dust of the city wash away. Lovie kicked her legs, pushed with her arms, and burst to the surface. Gasping for air, tasting salt, she felt the warmth of the sun on her face.

– Mary Alice Monroe, Beach House Memories

* It certainly feels like summer around these parts. I’m on my third book in one week! We’re devouring books whole around here! My Mom introduced me to Mary Alice Monroe many moons ago, when she gave me a copy of The Beach House. The sequel to this book is just as moving and for anyone who grew up in or around the Lowcountry it certainly speaks to your Southern heart. I was left in pieces after this book. It was eloquently written. And as sea turtles have been a cause near and dear to my heart since I was a child, this book in particular is very special.

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School’s Out For Summer

I met Mr. Michie Friday afternoon with Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” blasting from my iPod. The wide smile on his face let me know just how happy he was!

It’s one of the prerequisites of summer in our house to watch Dazed & Confused at the end of every school year.So on Friday night, with pizza and a carpet picnic we set up the projector and screen and started summer off right!

School’s out for summer and it feels so good!

Flight Facilities

Summer vibes are definitely in full swing around these parts and this is one of many songs that we’ve been playing around the cottage lately. The music video is just too funny, not to share!

Here’s to Wednesday, we’re halfway to the weekend!

Happy July!

“Oh, Hi! I didn’t see you there!”

I’ve been having too much FUN lately, so I’m a few days late to wish you “Happy July!” I’ll never know what happened to the rest of June? It went by in a blur of carousel colours and lights, red ringlets, freckles, baby toes, chocolate cream pie, hot summer car rides that ended in ice cream cone licking, strawberry moons, eating from the garden and being surrounded by everyone I love.

Here’s to hoping that July holds as much FUN and happiness as June did!

{Image Slim Aarons // Pinned HERE}

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