A simple summer

Nothing about this summer has been earth-shaking for us. We've had no major adventures, events or life changes. We haven't gotten in the car much on the weekends, other than for me to run errands. A toddler and infant keep at least Matt or myself home much of the time and in bed early more often than not. It's been a simple summer. But isn't that how summer is supposed to be? Full of small pleasures and lazy afternoons and no real agendas or schedules (other than sleep schedules - that's not something this sometimes uptight mama can let go of very easily!)

Here's some of what hasn't made the blog this summer, but has made this season simple, and special, for us so far (this isn't a goodbye to summer blog post that's for sure ... we still have quite a few weeks left to enjoy!):

• watching our ordinarily very cautious Emery take to the water like Michael Phelps (ok, that's an exaggeration, but you get my point. She likes swimming. And that makes us happy.)
• being able to go to the pool on a whim, since it's only a five-minute walk from our house
• struggling over our vegetable garden, but then reaping the benefits of a yard that doesn't stop giving ... our backyard fig tree that appears to be centuries old bestowed on us more figs than we could possibly ingest and just this past weekend, i discovered a gigantic crop of cherry tomatoes hiding in front of our backyard swing!
• letting Emery play in the sprinkler in the front yard ... and then seeing an older woman drive by twice in five minutes just to watch her
• frequent visits for Emery, Anna Kimball and myself to our neighbor and angel's house for much-needed afternoon diversions
• watching Anna Kimball grow and share her incessant smiles with any and everyone
• making the most of blueberries, cantaloupe, tomatoes and looking forward to falling temperatures that will make grilling fun, not just tolerable
• time with friends, new and old
• Emery and Anna Kimball becoming friends ... so far, the admiration and affection is mutual!

My zucchini might be green

but that doesn't mean my thumb is ... yet. We've taken advantage of the raised bed the previous owners had in the backyard and planted loads of tomatoes, wisely only ONE zucchini plant, some bell peppers, cucumber and butternut squash. And some beets on a whim, but I have zero hope for those.

I can't say I do much more than water the garden each morning and try to pull a few weeds when I notice them. But I'm beginning to think I might have beginners luck, or just a thumb that's getting greener, because everything seems to be sprouting along quite nicely! (though you will notice some diseased leaves on our tomato plants ... suppose I need to address that soon)

Also, just pretend that fence isn't there behind the bed and that's what it would be like if our neighbor's backyard were really ours. :) But what can I say? We prefer a more, oh romantic English style garden, that's all ... otherwise you know we'd be sporting the terraces and manicured shrubs.

As for what to do with the glut of zucchini that will continue to overwhelm our palates, I'm already going the pancake route with these zucchini fritters. The only changes I made were to salt the zucchini after grating and let the water drain out for about 20 minutes and use buttermilk pancake mix (because I already had it and want to use it up) instead of flour. They were delicious and fortunately much crispier on the outside than I anticipated!

And then there's the fig tree we planted this spring.

Just kidding of course. It's been here for eons I am sure. It won't be long before we are up to our ears in figs. Thinking I might need to set up shop at the farmer's market and start selling them for $5 a pint ... with Emery and Anna Kimball in tow and in some straw hats and gingham dresses, don't you think I'd do some good business?