What I did this summer...

It was a summer of memorable moments for sure. Of course, it passed too quickly like everyone else. This past spring I took a gardening class through our church, we were lucky to have two happy master gardeners in our congregation sharing their knowledge. Inspired by our new mentors and the high price of bell peppers this summer, my friend Julie and I shared two boxed plots of veggies!

My backyard is mostly shade except for the very middle, Julie kindly offered a corner of her yard for our first experiment with gardening, I think we did well for a first go.

Check out our cukes
and this ginormous Zucchini {however, it was our one and only for the summer} I picked it on my way out of town the 4th of July and gave it to my friend, Tara, in Birmingham. Hope it was good girl!
We enjoyed fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and jalapenos through the first part of July. An accidental lack of watering when Julie and I left town at the same time did us in. Oh well, there's always next year! And I've heard Fall gardens are fun.

Dan and I traveled through 10 states to visit his family in PA.

We got a pic of each Welcome Sign except PA, it was too dark when we rolled into town. The Sheetz pic is our homage to PA. {Next time you find yourself in Pennsylvania please enjoy the best gas station in the world, Sheetz.} Wow, it was heaven eating our meals outdoors, surrounded by Pennsylvania farm land. Dan's mom has an amazing talent for making a home welcoming.

Her flowerbeds overflow with color and joy, the cooking and clean up are not the least bit boring with everyone talking in the kitchen. We spent an afternoon riding bikes along the Ohio river under a verdant canopy watching rafters paddle by. {I know I'm laying it on thick, seriously it was the best 2 days of my summer}

My college roommate, Kelly drove up from DC with her husband Michael and my Godson, Luke. Every little boy needs to spend a day at the farm.

Have you ever ran up and down the hill to touch the apple tree 30 times with a 2 year old?! It's the best! The reason summers, hills, tall grass, bird houses, wild daisies and apple trees were invented.

Was wonderful spending the afternoon with ya'll Kelly. Love ya'll so much.

A few projects I've been working on...

Does the bird look familiar? He was inspired from this sketch.

For my sweet, chubby cheeked nephew. Currently, it's lost in the mail, a complete bummer after all the time and love put into this painting. Won't forget the tracking number next time!

I've come up with a couple ideas I'd like to introduce to my paintings and journals, think it'll be a big hit. Can't wait to make the first sample. I've been struggling with time management lately, so I'm trying hard to set aside time just for being crafty. Often it gets pushed to the side and I'm scrambling to finish projects. No fun.

Good luck everyone getting back into their school time schedules. Cheers to the return of football, sweaters and cocoa around the fire! Am more than a little pumped about Fall this year.

this weekend

He did it!
Dan finally bought his kayak!
Here it is loaded up on the Jeep ready for it's first of many adventures...

I'm so happy for my husband, he loves the outdoors and has missed his canoe every beautiful weekend since he sold it. After a friend lamented he had just bought a kayak and had no one to boat with, Dan gleefully and unselfishly decided to help him out.

Sunday afternoon was perfect- 75 degrees, a slight wind, blue skies. I took the inaugural pics and hullabalooed from the grass until he paddled far out into the lake. Then I sat in the shade and read with my ice cold vanilla coke from Sonic. {Oh yea! Sonic!}

Louisiana is beautiful in a sloppy, flat kind of way... it's our home, and I love the people and the wild spaces that make it who it is.

My turn in the kayak, I liked it. Thought I might feel trapped but it was fun gliding through the water, not as much work as the canoe was!