I don't know why I always think every year that summer will be less busy than the rest of the year. I've been so busy that the time is flying too fast. My favorite time of year is going by in the blink of an eye. There's never a dull moment though.
After getting back from our trip, I painted a mural at church for the children's classroom area. There is a stage with windows where there will be puppets that is supposed to look like a ticket window for a subway or train and a guy just hanging out by the phone booth reading a newspaper.
Gardening takes up a bit of the time too. We have tomatoes, squashes, cucumbers, chard, corn, okra, beans, peppers, and lettuce. Also, we have some fruit. Our blackberries are ready to get ripe and one of our paw paw trees is loaded with fruit. So you've never seen a paw paw before? Here they are. They taste a bit like banana pudding when they are ripe. The trees were a gift from my very generous sister. :-)
I've been making jewelry when I get a chance. A bit here, and a bit there, mostly commissions for local people. Here are a few pieces that I made for a friend who brought me some pearls and leather to make into necklaces and earrings for her.
I've been entertaining nieces also for the last two weeks. Last week, we picked up one of our nieces who was homesick at camp and brought her home with us for 3 days until my mom could come and get her and take her to her parents. This week I had a niece and a great niece for three days also. It was like Camp Stillwaters for all of those days. We did art, played pool, and fished and swam. It was great to get to spend some time with them.
I was surprised when I went to the mailbox one day to find a package from Steph in Belgium with this beautiful necklace and other goodies. She always sends such wonderful surprises. Please check out her
blog and
Etsy shop to see more beautiful jewelry.
Well... now for a relaxing weekend...I hope.
"Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
There are certain things that take me back to my childhood. One of those is sitting outside breaking homegrown green beans. My grandmothers and aunts would sit outside on the porch where it was cool and break beans while we children would swing in the porch swing or stand around begging them to take us down to the creek to wade. Doing the work outside just makes a mundane task into something special. Dinner tonight is mostly from the garden. Even my husband, the carnivore, doesn't complain about a vegetarian meal when the garden is coming in.
A little something colorful in honor of summer...polymer clay with a mosaic of lampworked glass, turquoise, millefiore, and dichroic glass in a copper bezel sent to me by Steph.
