boys of summer

“You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again.

(Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762)

           " It is easier to build strong boys than to repair
broken men."

                                                           (Frederick Douglass)
                                                      
                                                     

“The boy is father to the man”

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.

(Stacia Tauscher)

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child.  (Frank A. Clark)

       Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


                                                                    

Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.

(Robert Fulghum)

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. 

(Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family)

“Be patient with the boys - you are dealing with soul-stuff”

                                                                       (Elbert Hubbard)

"...........fishing, drawing, and music occupied my every moment. Cares I knew not, and cared naught about them.

( James Audubon)

                 Time goes, you say? Ah, no!                     
                                      Alas, Time stays, we go.
                                                                 
                                                                                                     (Henry Austin Dobson)

"another time"

my mom and i had a wonderful day together a few weeks back.  we drove off to a small town about an hour away and spent the day antiquing, thrifting, and enjoying a fabulous lunch at this place.  to say that the food is good is a huge understatement.  every item is homemade - from the salad dressing to the spinach quiche to the incredible choice of desserts.  one of my favorite items is a half canteloupe with a scoop of the most flavorful chicken salad i've ever tasted nestled in the middle. mmmm.

the restaurant is in an old house, with several rooms to choose from for seating.  this photo shows the back room, where the ceiling is painted with the most lovely sky and clouds...very well done. 

i loved the "valance" in this room, fashioned from pretty vintage aprons.  so lovely when the sunlight shines through...

here's a closer look at the ceiling and an interesting old chandelier

another room, in which vintage purses were used to hold dried flowers on the wall; and also propped open on the tables as containers for condiment packages 

the creamy lemon pie...i'm at a loss for words.  it was really that. good.

i also really appreciated the mixed plates, glasses, silver, cloth napkins - no two pieces match.  it's just charming!

vintage seed packets

recently, i have been admiring old seed packets on etsy... i really love the graphics and colors and typography.  a few weeks ago, i was sorting through a bunch of pictures and frames at a thrift store - and to my amazement, i found a rather homely brown frame with a real treasure inside!  there were four seed packets mounted on burlap...and it was marked either 50 cents or $1...i can't remember.  as soon as i got home, i removed the contents from the backing and have been admiring the beauty of these since!

a rather peculiar name for a flower?!? hmmm.

here's the burlap backing that the packets were taped to...

the dates on these are 1915 and 1916 - aren't they just so pretty?

growing things

this year i filled my shabby white planters with hot white lobelia and i love the airy look of the tiny flowers

a better look at the planter, with its rusty and peeling white finish

the view as you approach our front door

i'm really liking the cast iron welcome sign, new this year from hobby lobby:)

one of our hydrangeas...getting closer to blooming every day

wine and roses weigala - the color of the blooms and leaves on these are just magnificent - the leaves turn a deep, dark wine color throughout the season.  and the blooms continue spring to fall. 

a few shots of our young hostas

and our big excitement this summer is a trial of mel bartholomew's square foot gardening !!!!  we were introduced to this incredibly sensible idea by my sister, who started this method of gardening last year and just loves it:)  this concept has been around for 25 years and is very sound and easy and doable!  i have never had the patience for traditional row gardens...but i am confident that this will be perfect for us.  i just received the book from amazon today - and have been devouring it - i would never have believed it!  the author is a retired engineer who spent years researching how to grow a garden efficiently and effectively.  his principles are well researched and well proven...and so easy!!!

i love that this gardening method really engages children...

here's a shot of the cedar tree that my older son brought home as a tender little shoot in a paper cup back in first grade...here they are 5 years later.  love this photo!

a bird perched on our front step...

and close-ups of my precious little white birds on stakes...

oh - and percy (the bossy white puppy) says hello and thanks for stopping by!  you're welcome here anytime:)

memories of summer

                                  (all photographic images in this post by bomobob, found on etsy, of course!)


random thoughts and little snatches of childhood memories that have come to me lately:

mom and my siblings and me hiding under the huge library table in the basement during those magnificent summer storms...while my dad watched the weather from upstairs, and my mom fretted about him

the cool quiet of the public library we visited often...and then leaving with a huge stack of books.  feeling so wealthy if i had a whole new selection of books to choose from!  nancy drew, the hardy boys, etc...

hot, sticky nights (before air conditioning)

listening to the distortion of my voice when i talked into a whirring box fan

popsicles.  i loved popsicles.

the magic of the ringing bells on the bike driven ice cream treat cart - oh, the excitement!  the orange sherbet push-ups that had bubble gum in the bottom...

walking on the blazing hot pavement to the public pool across the street.  never learning to swim very well, but loving the pool anyway;)

staying with grandparents in small town america; walking uptown to the ben franklin store and buying "penny" candy that usually cost at least a nickel, if not more.  i always bought those individually wrapped cough drops and ate them like candy:)  and remember those wonderful spearment Southies?!?

road trips with my family.  i am the third of four children and always had to sit in the back middle of our car, with my feet on "the hump"...i've always claimed that this is what stunted my height. hee! and i'd always get jabbed with an elbow if i moved over to one of my sisters' sides of the backseat.  oh the indignity...

being eaten alive by mosquitoes - the horrible bane of my summers!!!  which continues to this day, but is better due to vector control here in the city.

days that flew by in a flash...and days that seemed to last forever.  feelings of infinite possibility.  feelings of boredom and melancholy. 

the wonderful smells of summer - sunscreen...watermelon...fresh dirt...pool chlorine...

my pink banana seat bike...

my grandma's gorgeous peonies

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. ~Gertrude Jekyll