Ordinary Summer Days

My days have fallen into a routine. Early each morning I go outside to do a little walking, water my plants, and take a few pictures while it’s still relatively cool! Cool meaning below 80. It doesn't take long for the sun to rise above the trees, the temperature to go up, the humidity to increase, and the dew sparkling on the grass to dry.

The last couple of weeks, it’s felt like I’m living in Florida. You know how along the coast those afternoon storms roll in with huge billowy clouds? We’ve had the same thing; storms rolling in each afternoon, heavy showers, and amazing lightening. The rain combined with warm nights has caused an abundance of mushroom to pop up across the yard. 

Each day I discover new ones, some tiny and some the size of a dinner plate. All unique with almost perfect symmetry, fascinating textures, and earthy colors. Each day they grow a little more, slowly opening like a beach umbrella. It’s fascinating to see what’s in the shade of those umbrellas. Sometimes there’s a little “baby” mushroom trying to find space to grow.

After the short morning walk around the yard, I lock myself inside where the air-conditioning and fans are running nonstop! So now what do I do with the rest of my day? I usually spend a little time catching up on the Internet; blogs, Facebook, and Flicker, then I turn to more productive things.

My project for the summer is deep cleaning my cluttered craft room. I started with the closet, pulled everything out, and began sorting; serious sorting. At this stage in my life I’m never going to do all those projects I thought I would do some day. There aren’t enough some days left, so I’ve filled boxes and boxes of stuff to take to a donation center. Here’s some things that made me wonder at my sanity: millions of wiggly eyes, a bag of styrofoam balls, remnants of very old fabric, articles I’ve ripped out of magazines, metal buttons that you cover, and 32 wood pieces. I'm sure I had good plans for these things once upon a time! The things I kept were scrapbooking supplies, cross stitch supplies, and a few quilt projects. This week I finished the closet and moved on to the cabinets and bookshelf. I’m feeling good about my craft room. I might even be able to find something in there now without a lot of searching!

In the evenings I have started cross stitching again. I’m working on a set of little bird pillows one for each month of the year. So far I’ve stitched seven and finished four pillows. I haven’t stitched seriously in a long time. I have forgotten how relaxing it can be to push the needle through the fabric in a slow, repetitious motion.

So that’s about it. That’s what my summer days are like. Except for going to church and to the grocery story, I’m home in the cool. That being the case, I’m not taking many pictures, only one a day. With no adventures in sight, I feel like now would be a good time to take a blogging break. I need it. I don’t think I’ve taken a break since I began my blog six years ago. I’ll still be around on Facebook, Flicker, and reading your blogs, I just won’t be posted here for the rest of August.

So, I’m wishing all of you a wonderful end of your summer. I’ll see you when the weather begins to cool, the leaves start to fall, and I’m back to wandering.

Happy August!