Corner View: Summer

Wild flowers at the Farmers' Market, eggs and honey. These are all things that scream summer to me.

At the Farmer's Market table tops are swelling with selections. Getting strawberries, asparagus... soon tomatoes and sweet corn.

See more from corner view at Spain Daily

Checking In:: the Manifesto

In my summer manifesto, I said I would "Be better at Thank You's." And I am doing my best to live up to that.

I am actually, really good a writing thank yous. I am however not good at sending them. It seems to be a tick. Anyone else have this?

So here's to putting your stamps, addresses cards and envelopes in the same place. Ahem, my purse.

The Good Old Days

Yesterday, our pastor talked about the good old days. He started the sermon with the question, "When were the good old days?" And after a few seconds of quiet he followed up with, "You can shout out an answer."

"Remember that summer when..."  "The 80's were the place to be..."

I sat there wondering, if it is this summer. And I'm not trying to sound cliche but, it's true.

 Food and laughter. Sprinklers and warm towels. Gratitude and celebration. Cleaning and reparing. Soul-filling friendships. And after camping last weekend, this weekend was birthday parties, good bye parties, lunch and conversation, dinner and conversation.

I love filling a place up with people and caring for each other in the process.

Last night, I was driving home from a evening of food and relaxation, the sun was setting-- in this end of a movie, sun-dog and light blue sky kind of way. And the the kids singing in the back seat-- no longer requiring more than a book and a toy on the way home to engage them. And the wild flowers and prairie grass peek up where ever the fields end, purple, yellow, and a light green with white feathery plumes. I was overwhelmed with this sense that this is so good.

Of course this weekend was also filled with more severe weather, hot tempers and meltdowns. But, if I choose to just look at the good. To be present in everyday, I may find that everyday can be the good old days.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

-Amanda Blake Soule

Camping....

Do you have friends, the kind that you are with through everything?

We’ve seen the metamorphosis, shared history. We’ve known each other since we slept in bunks in door rooms, pre-marriage, pre-children, pre-mortgages, pre-moving, pre-doctorates... And now we take time each summer to vacation together. We clear our schedules for some serious relaxing, hiking, playing and eating. And it's something that we look forward to all year.

[Fierce but friendly competitors!]

[Enjoying crazy loud card games... insane amounts of laughter.]

[Welcomed the rain for an excuse to relax more!]

[Our 'eat out' night. This photo is just for David...]

Do you have a similar tradition, vacationing with friends or family?

Like Dorothy?

The wind was a blowin' and the rain came down last night. The tornado sirens went off so we moved two sleeping kids and the dog down to the basement.

We went to sleep in a dry basement and woke up to a very wet one-- well I guess that's what happens when you have 4 inches of rainfall in two hours.

Isabel woke up this morning and whined, "why did we have to sleeeep in the baasseeement?"
I explained about the tornadoes... she cleared up, "like Dorothy?"

Yes. Like Dorothy. No other explanation needed-- she preferred to not be whisked off to a magic land today. And that's ok with me.

So, needless to say,  camping photos will have to wait until later (:

Stay dry out there.

Wonderful Weather-filled Weekend

Yawn! I'm tired, we had an awesome weekend at Wahbonsie State Park and we stretched it waayy into Monday. Which is the best kind of weekend, if you ask me.

With 8 other couples, there was much laughter and games, food and merriment. Some days, the weather was less than ideal,  dark grey skies, thunderstorms, intense amounts of rain. Our little tent stayed dry and the weather gave us an excuse to relax, play more games, read books, eat, eat, eat.

But when the sun came out we played a cutthroat game of wiffle ball and we descended on a local swimming pool with 100% group participation. Which is kind of amazing seeing as we had two sprained ankles and two pregnant women.

And, the kids had a blast with their Auntie Meggie on their own very special weekend. Hot Dogs! Sprinklers! Toy Story 3! Popsicle! Wonder Pets! Truman cried himself to sleep on the way home from Omaha, where we left Megan at a hotel so she'd be ready to get home early Tuesday morning. Crying loudly... "My heart is sad. Meggie needs to come home with us."

After I unpack the car, dry out the tent and throw in some of our wet laundry-- I'll share photos with you!

*Photo from Homer-Dog

Giveaway Winner!

Should we call this first time vistors good fortune? Grace 
won! Grace I'll be sending you an email and you can shoot me over your address. Fantastic!

Congratulations. And thanks again to Rae for this awesome book! 

Book Review: Handmade Fun by Rae Grant (and a giveaway)

A little gem arrived in the mail last week, a preview copy of Rae Grant's Homemade Fun: 101 Crafts and Activities to do with kids.

What a joy, as a designer, crafter and a mom. I'm a little hard to please when it comes to craft books. But I loved this thoughtful journey into homemade goodness. Rae gives you the basics on what used to be family passed down knowledge-- celebrations and joys of handwork, how to address a letter, leaf collecting journals, folded paper jewelry, salt dough and cupcakes. Hey, let's not forget the cupcakes.

Not too long ago there weren't DVD players to keep the family occupied-- time spent doing, creating, cooking, living took up those daily hours. And occupied minds and imaginations.

This book will be treasured in our family-- and I'm sure you'll see more of it throughout the summer!

:::::::::

Tonight we attempted to make the owl badges, but since my daughter is crazy for kitties, hers became a kitty badge.

So we chose our fabric, cut out circles, drew on our character and tomorrow, we'll attempt to embroider the over these lovely felt badges.

:::::::::

Rae and her publishers are graciously letting me give away one of her books.

How to enter:
-You have until Midnight CST on Thursday, June 17th to enter this giveaway.
-Just make a comment ON THIS POST to enter — any comment.
-For an extra entry "follow" my blog 
-For one more extra entry Tweet about this giveaway (@YellowDoorMary)
-The winner will be randomly picked and announced Friday, June 18th.

Our new neighbor...

Eric started it. He came home, as a surprise with two cups of coffee and two homemade muffins. While I was singing twinkle twinkle, he ran just down the street. And then we had a date at our own table, by our own front window. And the coffee was still piping hot.

Here's the story.

We had a coffee shop move in to our neighborhood, at the end of our alley. Only 4 houses away. And they make amazing coffee— bold and flavorful.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t there three times this weekend. Because I was.

In all seriousness, this building is an icon in our town. It used to be a very cute shop with lots of home décor items, purses, curated antiques, floral arrangements, plaid napkins and kitchen towels. It was a jack of all beautiful trades for this little town. But, it closed and the building has been empty for a few months.

Then this little coffee company came along, locally owned by a professor and family. They make all their coffee pour-over, drip brewed with these. It’s a simple little process that proves to hold a big, bold brew. They have baked-in-house muffins and cookies. And cold brewed coffee too, and it’s super smooth.

So if you see me on a Friday night or Saturday morning walking down the block with two full cups of coffee, don’t mind me. Or, get your own cup and come sit by our table for breakfast.

This weekend... brought to you by Diana 50mm

{This Moment} My Beloved

 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Giveaway Winners!

Tara and Imene!

I'll be sending you an email so be on the watch for it.

In Search of Summer: The Manifesto

I think it so fitting that for some of us, today is the end of this series.

I needed something to usher in the season, to help me me mindful and focus on slowing down.

To look for every day opportunities to see the season for what it is-- this not spring but not yet summertime. To embrace all it brought with it, rain and sunshine, life change and rhythm change. We saw the physical changes didn't we? Throwing off the jeans for shorts. Trading in boots for sandals. Blankets for open windows.

Now, what was the purpose of this? And how will we carry on the mindfulness? Here is my summer manifesto, thank you to Nicola and Imene for the idea.

We will...
 + Say yes to sprinklers
 + Eat outside at least once a week
 + Play in nature, trees, forest, beach of some sort at least once a week
 + Take our family balance seriously.
 + Paint our house
 + Feed our souls and feed others bellies
 + Watch less TV-- or none at all (ahhh I can dream)

I will...
 +Learn how to sew
 +Be better at Thank Yous
 +Write in my journal

What will you do this summer?

Don't forget the giveaway you can still enter until midnight tomorrow!