After a fairly cold and snowy winter and a fairly wet and chilly Spring, we are almost at the Summer Solstice and the brightest day of the year. If Summer is your heart season, then you are probably loving the hot days and maybe that humidity too. Me? Well, if you follow me regularly you know I'm a Fall lover but working in the garden, fresh picked tomatoes, farmer's markets and some travel has me enjoying this season just a little. Work has been sporadic. We've lost some physicians due to retirement or just moving on to bigger and greener pastures. Rural hospitals can have a hard time recruiting young docs. Even though we're owned by University Hospitals of Cleveland, we still need docs down here in Amish country! So, with that in mind, I'm finding that I'm only working about 2 days a week or even just one day in a 2 week pay period. But you know what? I'm not complaining about that! Jack and I find adventures to go on and lots of work to do here at the Pines. I sleep later and enjoy that more! We're getting ready for a family reunion in Chicago at the end of June and then my sister, 2 nieces, and 2 great nieces, are going to Maine in July. We invited Jack to come too but he decided he'd rather stay here with Annabelle and he and I take a trip East another time. Smart guy to avoid all us gals. Should be a fun trip but lots of driving. My sister has to get her dialysis in between so we're working on that schedule, and we only have a week. Yep, Jack is probably the winner here instead of a fast road trip. So, helping with the reunion plans from here and doing what I can has kept us busy. Here's a few pics of life at the Pines this June so far:
My climbing roses are blooming. I have a new one on the other side that's doing well but too small to see in this pic. Hmm....pergola seems to have a little lean going on?
Even the weeds in the Creepy Woods put on a pretty show. However, all that walking in the wilds, and planting and mulching leads me to a nasty spider bite. I get these about every other year. I really need to wear long pants when gardening.
Ouch! After an antibiotic and cortisol cream, I'm happy to report all is well. Dang bugs.
One of the nice things about a cool evening is a fire in the pit. It was a lovely evening the other day and a fire was a nice way to end the day.
I made a new to me Greek recipe called kalitsounia. It's made with feta and ricotta cheese and eggs and some fresh mint. I wrapped the mixture in puff pastry in a muffin tin. I took them to a church social and everyone seemed to like them. They look cute too!
I decorate for the summer holidays like Memorial Day and also July 4th. I found that picnic basket at a thrift shop on my trip to Chicago last month. I think it's found a new home here!
One of my pleasures is walking with Annabelle and she always like to stop and say hello to her buddy next door...little Beano the Alpaca. He comes to the fence every time he sees her. Too cute. Finally, this month has had me getting some pics made from slides to put on posters at the reunion. This following pic is one that sure brought back some memories and makes me smile. Me, Midge, and my brother, Jim. Midge and Jim are only a year apart and could have passed for twins back then.
Midge has always hated her picture to be taken, even as a little kiddo so seeing her full on laugh here makes me love this even more. Photos are a quick second caught in time that can bring smiles, or tears, but mostly memories. My son Craig and my daughter-in-law Amy went to Europe for a few weeks to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. My parents went to Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary back in the early 70's. He wondered if there were any pics of them on that trip that he and Amy could stop and take a shot at the same place. Well, while looking at slides I found only one. It's of my Mom standing by the Eiffel Tower. So, Craig did this:
I guess he did a google search from her photo to get the same spot. There was a fence blocking him from getting any closer, but I know my Mom would have really loved this photo. Moments captured in time. This did bring a smile seeing Craig, and a wonderful memory of my Mom. Thanks Craig! Love it! Yep, just one of the things that makes me swoon for this June!
5 comments:
Ouch on the spider bite. I had one on my finger a few years ago and had to go to the doctor for meds. Not fun. Hope you have fun on your trips. Here we have been keeping our windows open which is so nice...no humidity yet which is fine with me. Janice
Oh, your son doing that same photo as your Mother, that is so special! And a girl's trip to Maine, wish I could come too! Your poor leg, yes make sure and wear long pants next time! My husband had this treatment: put alcohol on your skin, THEN put on the Cortisone cream. Every mosquito and spider and other biting insect gets him every time. x
Ohh the spider bite is awful. You are easing into retirement at this point.
A one week driving trip to Maine wow a quick trip for sure. What part of Maine are you headed for?
Cathy
Well, summer has certainly not found Nod yet. :-( Today our high is only to be 52º and our real feel temp is 46º. Seriously. And rain...yikes. We have had essentially a week of rain (over an inch in the past 24 hrs alone) and the forecast says rain for the next 3 days. (And, uncannily, the weathermen seem to be extremely accurate when they are predicting bad weather - not so much good.). Wow...you have some nasty spiders at your Whispering Pines. That bite looks nasty!! You certainly are going to have a busy couple of weeks ahead. Good luck with everything! Love the photos of Craig and your mom. I don't know if it was intentional or not but I love how your mom appears to be holding a black bag or something in her right hand and Craig's dark jacket/sweater mimics it perfectly. You should get one of those double frames and frame the two photos together.
Hi, YaYa!
Thanks for showing and telling us why you Swoon For June, dear friend! Your property looks lush and green-- so pretty. Ours is finally looking good, too, after a brief drought that was starting to turn the lawn yellow and had us running the sprinklers three times a week. Just yesterday, Mrs. Shady came home from shopping with a new batch of flowering plants, one for an empty hanging basket next to the bird feeder and the rest to be planted in the ground beneath it. She planted the flowers in a ring around the circular bed and covered it with attractive brown rubber mulch to discourage weeds. Bird seed had been dropping to the ground and sprouting. The rubber mulch should prevent that from happening as much. I'm sorry you got bit by a spider. Back in Florida in the late 1990s, I got bit on the hand by one as I was stripping Spanish moss from our trees. It must have been a Black Widow because my hand and arm swelled to gigantic proportions and I needed to soak them in ice water around the clock for a day and a half before the swelling started to go down. What an ordeal!
Those cheese muffins look delicious. Please ship 50 bushels to me pronto! What a wonderful picture of Annabelle and Beano giving lubbins to each other! Their colorblind display of affection is a lesson for us all. Dark colored or light, we can and must all get along, respect and be good to each other. I always enjoy looking at your childhood pictures. The one of you, Midge and Jim as kids brings tears to me eyes. It was heartwarming to see the old pic of your mother posing at the Eiffel Tower on her 25th wedding anniversary and the other of Craig posing at the exact same spot on his and Amy's 25th. Such images get the mind racing and emotions stirring, don't they?
I'll be returning to blogging with a new post next Sunday, 6-22, and hope you can swing by for a visit. Until then, have a great weekend and a lovely week ahead, dear friend YaYa!
Post a Comment