these days

these fleeting summer days...

I think back on all that we did last summer.  multiple big trips, canoeing, kayaking, I went to the ballet, we went car camping and backpacking and exploring.  there was berry picking of course.

this summer seems like it's been just the one trip up north and a whole lot of plugging away on the house next door.  it seems that way, of course, because that is precisely what it has been.  and I'm working on becoming okay with that, and on noticing all the joy and happiness right here.  because there is a good bit happening right in front of me, should I choose to see it that way.  music at the lake on Thursdays, market most Saturday mornings, enjoying the new splash fountain in town, fires in the backyard with the greatest of friends, breakfast and tea on the deck in the sunshine, playing in the creek at a park nearby, floating paper boats in the rain..... the neighbor thanking papa for mowing her lawn by giving us a tray of homemade hungarian treats.  even though he mows her lawn to thank her for letting the chickens have access to her back yard for foraging.

also, puzzles (done mostly during my mom's visits) and books.  finally, earlier in the summer, I got into the swing of reading more and have had a good book in hand most days these past several weeks.  I've been lucking out, quite enjoying the ones I've picked up and often feeling compelled to read aloud because I enjoy the writing so.  books like Isabel's Daughter, Me Before You, Beautiful Ruins, and most recently, Delicious!  they go very well with a cup of earl grey in the mid-morning sunshine.

to be sure, lurking about the kitchen there are unfinished (and yet-to-be-started) projects staring at me, taunting me, daring me to summon the motivation to tend to some business.  beeswax that needs to be cut away from the dirty bits if ever it will be used, cabbages that need to be turned into kimchi and sauerkraut, an ever-growing pile of zucchini (despite our eating it regularly) that I keep saying will be made into curried zucchini pickles.  stuff like that.  and all the while more and more pours in from the garden.  but I'll save that for another post.

a final note~  the summer swap will be wrapping up soon, with all of us meant to be sending our packages out by this coming Monday, if they aren't already on their way, that is.  and lest you think I'm on top of things, a swap-host-extraordinaire, perhaps..... well let me just say that mine is not on it's way yet.  but soon.  very, very soon.  and I look so forward to seeing more photos of everyone's goodies in the days to come!