Dear Prudence, won't you come out and play..

But she's making things with felt and embroidery thread and having such a good time.

Bette Davis eyes...

snowmen in a heatwave.
I really want to get a baby blue flannel hat this winter.

For a second there I thought you'd disappeared...

"...it rains a lot this time of year."
That doesn't keep the squirrels from swiping tomatoes and eating them in the misty heavy rain.



And stars from falling along garden paths. If only by magic.



You heard it here first.
My new love affair is with burnt pumpkin and charcoal.
Charcoal felt that reminds me of men's grey flannels.
Like school days and uniforms.

C is for...

Crayon crumbs. That's what we call the little pieces of crayon ends in this house. Today we gathered them all up, sorted them, mixed them in color combinations , and melted them to make Wax Stax. Little chunks of swirlie colored wax crayon goodness molded in muffin tins. So much fun. They are cooling now.

take our hands out of control...

Every kid must have that summer of the loopy weaving loom. This summer is Ethan's turn. He really loves it and has taken weaving to an extreme level. He has always been a fan of color groupings and creating color schemes. He has taken to naming his finished trivets. Sun Glow and Hugs and Kisses and Lily on Water, among others. How cute is that?

They hang on display in his work area. Suspended from a space dyed rainbow piece of yarn tucked into the second drawer down on his dresser.

I've been working on some new things too. Loving the idea of felt and hand sewing and embroidery and the whole bohemian feel of it.

This past weekend we made this yummy dessert. It turned out great. I replaced the oreos with organic chocolate sandwich creams and whipped cream. Eth and I decided that we want to try it with vanilla sandwich creams and lemonade. I think maybe we'll get the ingredients for that tomorrow.

Another August weekend, heavy and still and unpredictable. The petunias are starting to get long and lanky and tired of producing all of their beautiful vibrant blooms. Thank you petunias for working so hard to make the yard so pretty for us! They are already starting to put the chrysanthemums out for sale at the garden centers. I saw a huge beautiful display last weekend at the Farmer's Daughter. Oh how I love a big happy mum plant in that deep rich red color. Mums are like the big banner that says Welcome Autumn! I'm drawn to the displays and want to buy one so badly, but I keep reminding myself that it's not quite time yet. Mums are for September. We are deep in August.
Saturday was gorgeous and we all spent time outside reintroducing ourselves to the backyard after being inside during the heatwave days. We played swingball and soccer and did some yard work and harvested the worlds biggest strawberry tomato. It was so pretty! I love it photographed on the blue table. Great thing about it is they taste as interesting as they look.



Interesting in a good way. Just like we are.

Me and Del were singin' Little Runaway...

Yesterday, I worked on this paperback book cover for a birthday gift. It's made from felt and hand embroidered and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I hope she likes it.
The German Strawberry tomato plant is so filled and heavy with ginormous green tomatoes. It broke the stakes, that it was attached to, in half and is now sprawling over top of the peppers and the green beans. The peppers are not happy. This is the problem we have every year, you'd think I would have solved it by now. Taming the tomatoes. I'm pretty sure it's just as difficult as taming the shrew. It's hot hot hot out and humid and I'm not looking forward to going out there and wrestling with overly affectionate tomato vines! It's tough being an August gardener when you have not properly prepared. I'm thinking of trying something like this next year. It accommodates 7 foot tall plants. That's what we seem to grow. I'm not sure why we have those cute little 3 foot tomato cages, I have yet to grow a mere 3 foot tomato.
Despite the unruley tomato rebellion, summer food is in full swing. I came across this cool recipe/idea article from the NY Times for quick simple summer meals. I'm loving the suggestions. We've been trying out a lot of fresh new food ideas this summer. I'm happy Ethan has been so receptive to them and enjoys most of them. This year he decided mustard and tabbouleh, separately of course, were pretty darn cool. However, tomatoes and pickles are still yucky. Bacon will always be his best friend...so I tried BLT's but that didn't work. Oh well, there's always next year.



Miss Potter came in the mail yesterday via Netflix, so last night I watched it before bed. Such a sweet movie. Visually, it was so delicious. All the rooms in the houses were packed with the loveliest furniture and decorations and bric-a-brac and oh the wallpaper! I crushed on the table set for the Christmas party with all the china. And the Christmas tree, I love a good Christmas tree. The scenes where Beatrix is at Hill Top in the Lakes District are gorgeous. Filled with so many pastural landscapes in shades of bright green fields against stone walls and buildings. It was a really nice ending to a good summer day.

The perfect morning for me. A second glass of iced coffee and a delicious summer book. I found this one at Wolfgang Books when we stopped in last Friday and I'm enjoying it very much. This amazing garden was on Gardener's Diary this morning. Jim Scott has a five acre garden. It has a zip line over a waterfall/pool area. Ethan was impressed. It was inspiring.

I talk outloud like you're still around...

It may be 100 degrees outside today, but in this room it is all about pumpkins and paisley and a forest of starless, trunkless trees in progress. Feeling autumn and I love that. So many ideas in my head and things to be done.

pass it around...

An August dressed in yellows...

Fruit salad with yellow watermelon. (which is so juicy and sweet and yums) and cantelope, kiwi and blueberries.

Bread and butter corn waiting to be cooked and eaten. I love The Farmer's Daughter market. They have my happy yellow and white corn which I love but is so hard to find in this area of white corn lovers.

A granita (melting in this 97 degree weather we are having here while I take the picture, haha). Made with left over watermelon and mint.