My Outdoor Office and Other Summer Dreams

I’m dreamin’ of warm summer days—aren’t we all?! A couple of nights ago the overnight forecast was for between zero and -5°…yes, that’s right: MINUS FIVE DEGREES! In March! Our grandchildren in southern Ohio have missed almost the entire last three weeks of school because of snow and or too-low temperatures!

BUT…it’s looking BETTER! Our local weatherman (the one we watch is a “he”) is now teasing us with a possible HEATWAVE of high 40s next week! Oh, joy! That has me thinking not of spring…no, I’m going in for the full SUMMER DREAMS!!!

As I glanced out to our snowy scene beyond our screened porch the other day my heart wished I could go sit out there for a spell (as you know, the screened porch is my favorite space in our cottage). I thought of the naps our babies (and yes, I too!) have taken out there, the quiet times sitting there doing “nothing” but being, the puttering and happy hours, rocking our babies out there as night falls, visits to blogging friends, birthday celebrated there…and yes, actually working out there.

Working is much more palatable when I can work here:

Just look at that GREEN! Awash in sunshine! And in the protective shade of the porch, a blooming Gerbera daisy, and the happy/going-crazy purple flowers that I don’t know what they are (help! I’d love to know if  you know!!). I’ve had that plant—in the same pot!!—for at least 8 years! Sometimes, when she’s wintering indoors, she still blooms, but she’s happiest in the summer—just like I am!

A close-up might helps those of you serious gardeners to help me identify her. The precious Gerbera was a birthday present from our grandchickadees last summer (yes, I even have a summer birthday—August—the HOTTEST month of the year, and perfect for me!).

This is the sweet note the chickadees’ sweet Mamá added to it: “Thank you for being such a good “Ata” and helping us bloom and grow! OXOX Happy Birthday.” Oh, this Ata does love that daisy!! (I used it in last summer’s Last Hurrah post here.)

But I digress…get me on the topic of summer and I’m off in every direction possible!

One beautiful August day last summer I was fortunate enough to be able to work from home, and as I do every chance I get, I took my laptop to my “outdoor office.” It occurred to me that I needed to capture the blessing—that very moment! Notice that there’s no fancy staging…no glistening glass of iced tea with lemon slices and a bit of mint from my garden. No lovely napkin, or coaster, or long and beautiful iced tea spoon. Just simple, easy, real life happening: Laptop, mouse, Bluetooth, Bible, pen and paper.

First…ahhhh…a moment (or two or three or more) to breathe, to read His Word, to reflect, to write, while basking in His glorious gifts.

 

My up-close view.

This winter I have been working hard to not complain much about His ways with the weather, as I know I don’t know much anything about His reasons. But even through my strongest effort He knows that in my little human heart I CAN.NOT.WAIT until I am feeling, seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling His summer gifts:

~ Bright sunshine (I dare not complain…we’ve had many sunny days this winter);

~ WARM sunshine;

~ Birds singing (they’re singing their little hearts out already; I think they’re as anxious as I am for summer days!);

~ The sound of gentle breezes murmuring through the leaves instead of winds howling through the bare branches;

~ Our wind chimes playing their soft, tinkling music in the breeze;

~ The scent of fresh grass and dirt waking from their long and frozen sleep.

Oh, and I’ve promised myself that I WILL.NOT complain about a hot summer! :)   Please hold me to that!

How ‘bout you? Are you as ready for spring and/or summer as I am? Are you dreaming in spring and summer colors yet? Are you the type who wants to be OUTSIDE every moment of summer? I kid that I’m like a little kid in the summer…I.DON’T.WANT.TO.COME.INSIDE!!!

Oh, and I’ve often wondered if my love for summer has anything to do with the fact that I was born in August. What do you think? Do you love the season in which you were born more than the others?

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Zuni

The Last Hurrah…A Beach Table

I’m not too late with a beach tablescape, am I? I’m seeing a big shift to fall—blogs, magazines, catalogs—but at the end of August, as our family got together to celebrate July birthdays we hadn’t been able to celebrate, and yours truly’s in August, I just had to have a beach table. I hope those of you who love the beach and its colors will enjoy one more glance at summer…

It wasn’t a fancy table…it was a REAL table, for family brunch. See the empty spaces on either side? Those are reserved for two of the grandchickadees (#3 is still in his highchair in the corner), but since their dishes were going to be white, well…those place settings just had to wait till I was done taking pictures. The serving pieces were chosen for their colors, but also for their “wavy” edges.

Psssst…the teal plates and “glasses” are (gasp!) plastic! They’re Zac Design, and yes, they refer to them as being plastic on their website (http://www.zak.com/) I got 5 of each at an auction—I so wish I could find at least 3 or 4 more of each, but the Zac website doesn’t show this color any longer.! (If you happen to know of some, please let me know!) I was able to use them for this gathering because one of our DILs was out of town. And the gorgeous goblets we used for blueberry shortcake?? A fabulous find (.50 each) at GW!! They look like they’re a very nice quality (glass); I bet they were pretty pricey when they were bought. I often wonder about the person who gives something like that to GW, and why they wouldn’t want them. Do you wonder, or are you just happy that they do?

The centerpiece was sweet because of the Gerbera Daisy our DIL sent over with the babies with an even sweeter note:

You can bet that precious note is staying with the plant!! I’m babying it and hoping and praying I can keep it alive. I haven’t had much luck with Gerberas. Do you have the secret to keeping them happy in a flower pot?

The baby Chickadees love, love, love blueberries, so when I found a huge container of them at Kroger I couldn’t resist.

Add them to yummy Bisquick shortcakes (our absolute favorite recipe, though I add about 2 tablespoons of sugar to the mix), some half and half, a scoop of ice cream and a beautiful dollop of whipped cream and welll….it WAS a birthday celebration, after all! And we didn’t have cake afterwards (that doesn’t sound defensive or anything, does it? :)  ) Oh…and I forgot…the adults all agreed we wanted the blueberry shortcake FIRST! We’ve never done dessert first! The baby Chickadees were pretty excited about that!

Shells, of course, for the salt from the sea (and the pepper). I started out looking for some beach-themed s&p shakers, and realized I had none (now that’s hard to believe!) then I remembered my clam shells, and was glad to use those, for something more authentic.

     No beach table is complete without a palm tree, right? (I know there are beaches where palm trees don’t grow, but beaches and palm trees go together in my book!) So my Nora Fleming dish (a sweet and relevant gift from one of our sons and DIL) and my Mud Pie fish plates completed the table. The fish plates were a must-have when I found them during a Hilton Head vacation several years ago—a set of 4, along with the shell spreader. During the summer months I keep one on the stove as my spoon rest.

 

Maybe now I can make peace with fall.

Are you ready for fall? If you are, please bear with me. I actually love fall once the colors start to change and its beauty is once again revealed to us, but getting there is not easy for me.

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