I'm sitting here in my backyard with 14 chicken feathers sticking out of my bra and a beer in my hand, typing out a blog post while my hairdresser/friend Renee swears at her iPhone as we wait for my hair to bleach. I know the shocking part of that sentence is that I bleach my hair. She's actually swearing a lot at her phone now and appears to have actually fainted. I think that was a growl. I'm just going to ignore it.
Later I'm going to make us dinner and that'll be it. That'll be the memory. It isn't what you'd call mind shatteringly exciting and definitely not something you could base a Netflix series on for instance but weirdly those HUGE instances in life aren't normally the things that morph and stick and turn into memories anyway. It's the weird little things. I barely remember going to Disney World when I was a little kid but I definitely remember our next door neighbour cooking french fries for the kids in the neighbourhood in their basement kitchen and serving them in brown plastic cups.
Every year when summer starts to wind down and the skies go from bright blue to light blue, when shadows are longer and mornings are cooler I get angry at myself for not having done more. I think *next year* I'm going to do more in the summer. I'm finally going to book a trip to the East Coast, I'm going to go out more, go for dinner more, enjoy more ... and then I don't.
But this year I feel like I've made more memories than I have in a long time. I've made more of a point of saying yes to things I'd normally say no to. Because there might be a kick ass memory to be made. I work less (marginally) and garden more. My front yard is a disaster and I'm sure the neighbours think I'm suffering from some sort of dementia or arthritis or work allergy. Or maybe they just think I'm lazy. LOLOLOLOL!!! No they don't. They might think I'm nuts but they definitely don't think I'm lazy.
Here's a little bit of what my summer has looked like:
A little bit of pizza making.
I've only managed to get through two of the books here this summer and I've just started the one in the centre, The Ice Cream Makers.
A rather large memory from this summer is going to be building this garden. Holy crap. It took months but I absolutely love it now. It's easy to take care of and just a nice place to be. You know. If you like gardening and vegetables and snakes.
This wasn't this most recent haircut with my friend Renee, it was one or two cuts ago nearer the beginning of the summer. She is clearly a garden gnome and I am leaning towards that Hermey the Elf.
This summer I tried to help save a neighbour's sick chick but we weren't successful. But we tried. We really tried.
I grew, picked and made jam out of strawberries.
You'll never believe me but I made this rain hat out of a grocery bag.
Me and Murray. I made it as far as picking up some back ribs from my favourite pig farmer, but still haven't got around to actually cooking them.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
One of my favourite super-stupid, boring, simple, summer things to do is go to the feed store.
Met a lot of snakes in the garden this summer. This is the milk snake I saw a few weeks ago living in my stash of wood at the back of my plot. Love him!
And yes I've worked this summer. But I've made a real point and habit of working in the backyard. Outside. It's still working but it just feels slightly better than being stuck inside working.
I've cut scapes and made pesto and harvested around 160 heads of garlic.
And I relaxed for a full ... I'm gonna say day. At Lynne Knowlton's astonishing treehouse.
I even stacked rocks in what turned out to be a fierce rock stacking competition with Lynne herself. So that wasn't so much relaxing as training for what I expect to turn into an Olympic sport.
And I gardened some more.
I'm raising caterpillars into Monarch butterflies like I do every summer.
I went to MORE antique markets and ate french fries. What better memory could a person possibly have? Other than maybe eating french fries with gravy.
But I wanna make MORE memories. So I'm taking next week off from blogging. Here's a funny story. I didn't even know I was going to say that until I typed it. Now that I'm saying it, I feel like I should also take a week off from social media entirely. omg. This is getting real now. Where is this coming from???!! Maybe I do have some form of dementia.
Have a great summer memory photo to share? This is where I ask you to add it into the comment section with a little description of what's going on.
Monday is a holiday in Canada so I wasn't going to post then anyway, so technically you're only missing 2 posts from me. And chances are during my time off I'll be doing stuff that I'll be able to turn into great blog posts when I get back.
See you in just over a week and don't forget to upload some summer memory pics.
Have a great weekend and week!
Dianne
How inspiring are you?! :D I think it's also worth an honourable mention for the harrowing acquisition of the egg chair! I mention it because getting my own (after seeing your fabulous one) has been a big deal for me this summer, especially getting it on sale because everything is so bloody expensive here in UK compared to my Canadian homeland. Anyways, all that other DIY stuff I did has faded into the abyss of my partially-functioning grey matter, I got that damn chair - ON SALE! Now, just waiting on the lights...
Karen
It's great! It looks so comfortable! I was just going to do an update on my light post because those lights are still going strong. They've lasted the whole summer on one set of batteries. On every night for 4 hours with a timer. They're fantastic! Now go make another memory. ~ karen!
Dianne
Yes Ma'am! ;)
Stephbo
Took my BFF's daughter skydiving to celebrate her high school graduation as valedictorian! I love this kid as if she were my own.
Karen
How was it? I was supposed to do that but somehow it didn't end up happening. The outfits are cute! ~ karen
Luanne
Beach days are my summer go-to. The sound of the water and children laughing, the smell of sunscreen and dried seaweed, the sunshine on my face and the breeze cooling me off. This beach day in Matlock, Manitoba really hit the spot - please enjoy the view of Lake Winnipeg.
Karen
Nice. Very, very nice. ~ karen!
Nicole
Well, I hate summer (too hot) even though I love gardening which mostly happens in summer. As for this year, I absolutely blew it and didn't get my goats bred on time so they are kidding in July and August (poor girls AND poor babies).
The best part is the little kids with the little kids in the photo. :) And I'm really enjoying the fact that my partner who is such a city boy has now earned the name of Farmer. Right after the baby goats were born, one was lying in the sun on a 112 degree day and he thought it was dead. To spare myself and my daughter, he was going to "take care of it" before we got home so he picked it up. It let out a loud bleat and he didn't even drop it! This is the man who was quite positive that he would NEVER touch a goat or a chicken. Ever. No matter what. He has now picked up both critters and lived to tell the tale. So . . . onward and upward!
Karen
GOATS!!!! I mean the kids are obviously cute too, but baby GOATS!!! ;) Give the city boy a pat on the back for me. ~ karen!
Nicole
Consider him patted on the back. :)
As for the goats, I'm sure you don't remember but I mentioned at some point that chickens were the gateway animal to goats. So . . . when are you getting your goats??? We live in town and these are "backyard" goats - you can do it! lol
Karen
I didn't remember it was you but I remember the comment! ~ karen
Meredith
In your defense, summer in Canada is what, maybe three weeks long? You packed in a lot of stuff in those three weeks. Be proud.
Just kidding.
Enjoy your time off!
Karen
LOL! That's actually close to true for some parts of Canada! Toronto area? Not so much. Most Americans are shocked at how hot it is here. Even people from other parts of Canada will get off a plane in Toronto and start randomly ripping their clothes off, lol. I think it's the 100% humidity that gets 'em. ;) ~ karen!
Wendy Crowley
Just back from a week in the Queen Charlotte Islands. Kayaking, hiking the rain forests, learning about the Haida nation & visiting original sites, fishing everyday. We ate crab, prawn, halibut, ling cod, yellow eye cod & quill back cod. I caught my first & second fish ever....on the same line. Definitely a trip of great memories.
A change is as good as a rest, enjoy your week.
Jane C.
My summer memories: Rain. Lots of rain. My gardens were flooded, the peppers and garlic died. In July I tore up my "good" knee and have been limping ever since. While I was away at a rental cottage, the local deer knocked down the fence and ate my bean and tomato plants, having previously consumed the buds on all my Asiatic lilies. My old lawnmower suffered a fatal cable break so my lawn closely resembles an abandoned hayfield. But my daylilies were spectacular!
Amy Watson
Also we moved and bought a house and adopted a box turtle.
Amy Watson
Met a couple of snakes too, this is an oak snake
Karen
That's a big one! ~ karen!
Lesley on the Mountain
I don't want this summer to end! My kids start university in a few short weeks, and my daughter is going to be living away; I start to cry every time I even THINK about it! At least I get to keep my son here, but since he's taking engineering, I doubt I will barely see him. Having said that, I convinced my soon-to-be 18 year-olds that they have to take one last vacation with mom and dad, so we are off to Banff on Friday! Also spent a great few days in Montreal with friends, replaced the rest of our doors and windows, and shot my lowest round of golf to date. Someone please tell me that fall will be great, and my 'little' new adults will thrive!
Teresa Chandler
I'm just getting started feeling like it is really summer. But summer days on my friend's pontoon boat with good food, music and happy dogs always feel great!
Karen
Great pic! ~ karen
Andrea
Went to a Girl Scout camp counselor reunion and saw I end she i hadn't seen I need 25 years!
Karen
That's the kind of picture that makes me sigh. ~ karen!
Sabina
So many memories so many pictures! It's been a summer of simple pleasures and staycations since we treated ourselves to a hot tub in late spring. Great concerts, tooling around Kensington Market, gardening, hitting local u-pick farms and canning up a bit of summer. We're camping now and it's cold and raining and really crappy out lol but this is my favorite summer picture because it shows the fruits of our labor. Fresh beans and tomatoes and my homemade sour cherry chipotle barbecue sauce on some mighty fine ribs! Happy Summer Memories to you all!
Karen
Foooood!!!! Now I desperately want to make macaroni salad and ribs. :) ~ karen!
Nancy Blue Moon
Have some fun Karen...😸
Tracy
Karen, You have to come to the east coast next year. You will love it here in Halifax. We'd love to have you write a post "down here".
Karen
Oh I know I'd love it. :) ~ karen!
Ann
You're a nut!!! And I love it!
Nancy
Enjoy your time off. Our summer memories include building a huge deck in the backyard (will it ever get done?) and the birth of our first grandchild.
Nancy
Enjoy your time off. Our summer memories include building a huge deck it backyard (will it ever get done?) and the birth of our first grandchild.
Tatiana
Feeding some deer in my backyard
Karen Hekfrich
Spending the summer in the little town of Winthrop Washington walking and enjoying lovely sunsets