Busy Summer Days

What a delightful summer it is here!  Perfect weather for the 4th of July neighborhood potluck and right through the following week of the National Cherry Festival.   Our town was so busy!  In between activities and my 2 yr. old granddaughter's first overnight with Nonna and Poppy, I've been painting furniture and sewing up a storm in preparation for an arts and crafts fair this Saturday.   I have been perching all the furniture to be painted and in-process on top of our all-purpose trailer.... works well... just the right height.   Packing the van today... set up tomorrow... wish me luck!

Summer Solstice and Strawberry Pie

It rained constantly last week so one hardly noticed that there was an extra long day.   There is something so special about the Solstices.   They put you in touch with the earth, sky, planets.   Now that the days are getting shorter, though only slightly noticeable, I am feeling very in touch with summer.  Slow down.   Enjoy it.  I even took time to "rest my eyes" in the hammock this sunny afternoon.   The strawberries are ripe here now ........ so strawberry ice cream pie was just the perfect desert tonight!

The Pie Lady Strikes Again!

Some cooler weather and sunshine inspired the baking of a strawberry rhubarb pie today! 

And a little stroll around the yard and garden.  The wild flowers are as beautiful as the garden variety!
Hope your Sunday was lovely, too.

Now I am Committed.

It has been years since I have done an outdoor Art Fair..... and I remember some of the reasons why!
The wind takes the booth tent like a kite no matter how it is secured, the rain makes your nice grassy space all mud, the usual moderate Michigan summers suddenly turn "fair day" into a record-setting temperature high for the year!

So I have been missing all of that, but especially the people!  There is nothing like getting person-to-person feedback when presenting your handmade creations.   Therefore when I found the used E-Z- Up at a yard sale, I immediately applied to one of my favorite summer shows.  And I was juried in.... voila!

The application required a photo of my booth which I did not have, so I quickly created a mock-up on the deck on a sunny day... picture included here.  Now I have my work cut out for me... no pun intended.  My work table has sewing projects piled high and my calendar is scheduled full.   What fun!  Can't wait!

Seven Friends

Here we all are on the Stairs to Nowhere at the top of the garden:  Nonna (me), Tigger, Kitty (being held close), Emily (my granddaughter), Pooh and Piglet.  This is why we save everything!  The cement creatures came into our lives many years ago, long before a grandchild was even a twinkle.  And when replacing a deck with stairs, we could not possibly discard the stairs, but instead installed them in the hillside and built a garden below and beside them.   Voila!  A place to visit with friends!
Oh, and the seventh friend is Eeyore, sitting off by himself in the ferns out of camera-range.

While Waiting for Summer.....

I have been visiting estate sales in obscure places.   Yesterday while following signs to a sale down gravelly roads, I stopped to take photos of this stately old house and barn.  Makes me wonder what the story is... someone is tending the lawns beautifully.   And the lilacs.... aren't they gorgeous?  Even though the foundation is falling into the basement under the house, the building is still square as can be.   Just a few of the old asphalt siding shingles are still clinging to the upper exterior.   

A Perfect Event!

 We had the pleasure of hearing Sebastian Junger speak the other night.  If you will remember the movie with George Clooney:  "The Perfect Storm," Junger is the author.  He has written other true life thrillers including the just-out-in-paperback:  "War."  He also co-created the movie "Restrepo" now out on DVD.   We are so fortunate to have the National Writers Series here in our town:   http://nationalwritersseries.org/ 
 Lots of talent here and lots of talented visitors.