Summer Time

Summer is flying by!  We just hit hot and humid last weekend.  I was thinking Sunday afternoon, I'm literally in a sweatshop.  And I mean literally in the true sense of the word literally.  I was working on weeding out stuff in preparation for a garage sale, which means stopping periodically and taking a break to do "projects".  I finally pulled out my sewing machine (inherited from my grandmother) and worked on some sewing projects.  I made a few pillow covers and that was it.  But I was sitting in my living room full sun, with the fan going, as it's in the 90s and humid and feeling really warm, if not sweaty, working away on the sewing machine.  I was pretty proud I figured out how to load the bobbin up after it ran out of thread, without an instruction manual.  And I was kicking myself that I wasn't running errands in my air conditioned car in air conditioned stores, which I had purposely left for Sunday afternoon.  But the urge to sew grabbed me and I went with it and now a ton of cool "new" pillows and less fabric I need to find a place to store.

Lots going on.  I was up in VT for one last visit of the house I have been visiting for over 10 years.  Dad and Barbro are moving to NH later this month and so Nick and I went up to help with packing and weeding out stuff.  Nick found his baseball cards finally!  Went through all the books in the house (well almost, it was alot) and helped with identifying keepers vs garage sale as they work on slowly downsizing.  It seems like their new place is about the same amount of storage, although it is a townhouse so different feel.  Enjoyed one last fourth of July celebration with grilled goodies.  One last sleep in the guest room on the fold out couch.  One last visit to the co-op to pick up honey - even though I already had a quart, didn't know when I would have the opportunity again and honey doesn't really go bad, well not quickly.  And one last general visit as a local versus a future visitor. 

 

Nick and I swung by their new place in NH on the way up since it wasn't too far off the path.  It looks really nice and the town looks cute, but it's really different.  It's a really small town.  Like really small.  Smaller than I'm used to so I'm curious what the visits are going to be like.  Lots of outdoor stuff - hiking and canoeing and other fun stuff.

I popped down to Atlanta again for a project interview.  We were the long shots since we were the Yanks from up north.  Fingers crossed we get the project.  We prepped before the interview, in the student center.  It was empty for awhile and then we were inundated with hundreds of summer students of all ages mostly 4th grade and up.  We suddenly felt very out of place with our suits next to the kids in their matching t-shirts for whatever summer program they were in.

I've been missing the CSA from a few years back, but it was just too much food for me.  I'm happy to say I found a good substitute.  There's a local farm in Lexington, Wilson Farm which is pretty amazing.  I've been a few times over the years, but if you think Whole Foods is expensive, wait until to you visit this place.  Tons of specialty cheeses and other gourmet goodies.  But their local produce is pretty good prices so as long as you stay true, the price tag isn't too bad.  I've been swinging by periodically and even have a calendar of what veggies/fruits are in season which month that they grow.  I still end up with too much food for me.  Right now I have lettuce, spinach, arugula and baby kale, not to mention the beet greens that I should put in a salad and that's just the green leaf stuff.  I did get peas still in the pod a few times.  I don't know, but there is just something so pleasant about shelling peas.  I think because it's such a common prop in movies for a nice family moment.  I don't really remember shelling peas in my childhood but somehow have pleasant childhood memories.  Good old Hollywood.

I even picked up a sample of Farrow & Ball paint - you can see it in the bottom of the picture.  It's a British paint that has some amazing color options that have a life of their own in different light.  It's pricey though so I've yet to figure out where to put the sample pot of paint - which rooms to paint a part of the wall.  I think I can put two swatches of paint up so am thinking the bedroom and the back room.


And finally, I'm happy to report that I booked another Europe trip.  I was thinking that it was such a good thing that I finally took time to have a proper vacation.  I so enjoyed my trip earlier this year to Iceland and Paris.  And I've been planning my upcoming trip to Denmark in the fall.  I started realizing I need to book something for next year.  But was still torn because trips can be so expensive, especially the airfare part.  And then my colleague with the good deals comes through for me and forwards a deal for Amsterdam.  I took a little longer than I should have to book it, so instead of going at the beginning of tulip season, I'm going a few weeks earlier.  That's the problem when you don't book right away - the good flights get snatched up.  Still, pretty good deal - round trip for just a little over $500.  It was a promotional deal so you have to jump on those thing when they present themselves.  So I'm pretty set at having a good vacation about every 6 months.  I can breathe a sigh of relief I'm keeping on schedule.  The more I travel the more places I want to visit, just in the country I was just visiting. I still want to do more northern light trips.  I'm determined to see them in my lifetime!