Summer

5/23/2014

During the fall and certainly the winter, houses are closed up to keep the heat in and the cold out.  Even as pretty as snow is, during the dead of winter, I long for summer breezes (not the heat mind you), open windows and curtains blowing in the wind.  

Once I have shaken off all remanents of winter, which includes putting the snow shovels away for probably the rest of the year, I feel light-hearted and long to feel the sun on my body (even though I know all the damage that the sun can do),  Sometimes I sit in the backyard with a big floppy hat on and sit on my Adirondack chair and close my eyes.  

When I'm inside the house and the windows are open, I can hear and see the little birds rustling around in our trees, busy at work on nest building and searching for worms.  The squirrels still run up and down the oak trees and along the fence - and I wonder how they keep from falling off!  Even though it's not winter, I still put out stale pieces of bread for my little critters to eat.

I can hear children laughing while they play, the ice cream truck making his way through the neighborhood ringing his little bell and lights on a neighbor's deck.  When a storm blows through, I can hear and/or see lightning and thunder.  The sky becomes very dark, which gives you fair warning to get inside - or get wet.

I hoover over my newly planted shrubs and flowers, willing them to thrive.  I go to farmer's markets to get fresh corn, tomatoes and zucchini.  When I have fresh yellow and green zucchini, I microwave them in a little water until they are softened.  I top them with salsa, peppers and tomatoes and cover with Swiss cheese - this is yummy - trust me.

Yesterday, in a Martha Steward like moment, I made banana pudding from scratch.  I made the graham cracker crust, cooked custard and added bananas.  Since the recipe asked for Splenda rather than sugar, Jeff was able to enjoy the dessert too.  Jeff's body doesn't like a lot of sugar anymore so using Splenda was a good decision.

Once my chores are done, I'm heading to the porch swing with a book!

Enjoy your day.

P