The changing of the seasons

I’m trying to take summer’s upcoming demise in stride. I know there are good things about fall and winter. But man. Summer definitely takes the cake as far as seasons go.

The thing is, I really don’t care about the temperature. My internal thermostat is pretty lackadaisical; biting cold? blistering heat? Meh. I don’t care. But there are just so many lovely things during summer that can’t be done in winter. Anyway, as usual, I’m going to try and solve my problem with lists.

Things I will miss about summer:

1. The garden! I’ve been eating dinner straight from the garden almost every day this month, and I’ll miss it terribly. Those months with no fresh produce really get to me.
2. The parties. Winter/fall parties just can’t hold a candle to summer parties. In my opinion, there is absolutely no argument. Summer parties are the only good ones. Winter parties are just a bunch of people stuck in a room.
3. The crickets. I love falling asleep to the sound of thousands of crickets. In fact, the entire soundscape of a summer evening is perfect; children laughing in the distance, birds wigging out, crickets fiddling … man, I’m going to miss it.
4. The money. It’s just cheaper to live during the summer. Fresh ingredients mean easier cooking, warm temperatures and long days mean miniscule gas/electricity bills.
5. The parks. It’s so nice to take Grady outside when she’s grumpy and get the chance to just relax. Toddlers locked up inside all winter do not happy mamas make.
6. The cocktails. Summer drinks are just the best! Mojitos, horchata, juleps, long islands, summer beer, fruity concoctions in a mason jar … these things just taste better in the summer.
7. The biking. I’ve really liked the few times I’ve gone out biking in the evening. Winter air just doesn’t work in my lungs, so I can’t really bike in the cold.
8. The clothes! I love being able to wear just two or three pieces of clothing. I love letting my legs and back and armpits breathe. I love being able to see actual people instead of just walking bundles of outerwear.
9. The warm nights. During winter I am basically constantly stressed that Grady will freeze. Kiddo doesn’t tolerate blankets.
10. The blogs. Summer blog posts are so lovely! I feel like in winter a lot of my favorite blogs get stagnant quick.
11. The relative absence of sport-talk. I can deal with soccer and baseball season because no one I talk to is really interested in those sports; but football and basketball are such a pain. To me, they’re just things that clog the traffic on the streets and clog the content on the internet. My #1 pet peeve is how on local news websites the top 10 most popular stories are almost always at least 80% sports in the fall and winter.
12. The evening light. I love having hours of light left after Grady falls asleep. In the summer I can put her down and go out to garden, dry laundry, read outdoors … in winter nighttime feels like prison.
13. This:

Things I look forward to during fall and winter:

1. Less shaving. But really, not that much less. I don’t like hairy legs under tights and I’m becoming more and more averse to pants.
2. Television. I haven’t run out of interesting content yet this summer thanks to Doctor Who, Cheers, Torchwood and Misfits, but it is nice to have actual new content to watch each week. And NBC’s Thursday lineup!
3. The absence of hoodlums. All of the stressful children are trapped in school. This really helps with my anxiety.
4. The stews. Who doesn’t love a winter stew? I make them during summer as well, but there is something lovely about hot stew on a cold night.
5. The quilting. I can’t really hand-quilt during the summer. It becomes a sweatbox.

Um, this didn’t really help. I just feel sadder about winter coming. Maybe we should throw a giant wake for summer?

1. The hats

This is how you embroider like a lady

Because it’s too damn hot to sit any other way. Also: Sneak preview of something I’m working on for the shop! While I was trying to get a bird’s eye camera shot of myself (no easy task, I tell you), somebody snuck up between my legs for a surprise hug.

What a sweetheart.

Hey! Hey you guys!

I have an idea! Let’s blog about every thing that isn’t sad and/or confusing!

Bean sprouts are probably some of the best things in the world. Just yesterday morning these gigantic babies were still under the soil. Bean sprouts are just so dramatic and satisfying. I also like how the seed is part of the sprout in a way much more obvious than in other plants. (Those two bottom fake-leaves are actually bean-halves. Totally awesome.) I’m growing three variations of garden beans this year; one green, one yellow, and one deep purple. Those tall babies in the background are corn, obviously.

Also, this just made me realize I should blog about the specific ways I overcame the magnificent massacre that was last year’s garden. Noted.

Jeanette gave me this awesome dollar-store candy bracelet the other day, and I loved it. Huzzah for awesome lady-friends.

Grady prettymuch tries to copy everything her Grandpa does. When he took a wee grass-nap, she tried but only lasted about 30 seconds. Toddlers must never lie down! Did you know this? In any case, I am obsessed with this photo.

Norm! I heart Cheers so much right now. I’m watching it all the way through (as it’s available for instant streaming on Netflix) and it just brings me so much happiness. Currently in season 8, which came out the year I was born.

Smooshy sleepy baby. There is nothing better in the world than holding a sleeping baby. (Excuse my near-boobage; Grady fell asleep atop me while I was wearing a bathing suit.)

Straight from smooshy sleepy baby to fancy drinks? I suppose so. I made this strawberry gimlet thing and am super proud of it. ‘Twas delicious.

AAAAH I LOVE HER SO MUCH IT HURTS. Also, I like how she kind of makes intellectual faces while watching Bubble Guppies.

Squee, bathtub baby! She has recently decided that bubbles are the most delicious things, so we don’t do bubble baths any more. So I thought I’d capture her last bubble bath for a while.

The birds & the houseflies

This photo, unlike most I share here, is current. I am at this moment sitting outside in the mini-hammock, knitting a fair-isle beret & listening to grady’s babbles, the manic songs of birds & the synchronized flight/landing of a nearby swarm of flies.

Sometimes it bugs me how lagged my blog posts are. I know it doesn’t matter, but I just wanted to post something current.

(written from my phone, obviously.)

It all takes so much time.

So, I promised pictures. Here’s the best I can come up with:

The accomplishments of Summer 2010. I suppose.

I’ve finally begun to tackle my pile of almost-perfect clothing. Half of it is skirts that need shortening. That fuzzy sumptuous lump in the upper left corner is Winston’s groin. You’re welcome.

This image was supposed to be vertical, but I’m far too lazy to change it. I’ve pieced my first quilt, and begun hand-quilting it. The quilt is 5×6′, made of fifteen blocks with a fly-by-night border on two of the sides. I’ll give it a proper post eventually, maybe.

I love this fuzzylump. He’s such a jerk most of the time.

I’ve been on a hat-making rampage for a while now. I wish I were capable of working on one rampage at once. Anyway, this is a lovely bulky wool beret. It’s from a book, and I have no desire to link you to the pattern. I think I’ll make every hat in the book, so when that happens maybe I’ll let you know where it’s from.

This corner of my magnet board is pretty devoted to embroidery. Clockwise from the bottom left corner: a color-your-own Toulouse-Lautrec that I’d love to embroder (it’s so sensuous), a Bowie cross-stitch pattern, a beautiful drawing of a fox that local artist Jess Smart Smiley has given me permission to embroider, a drawing of feathers that I’ve been hanging on to for months, a swarm of jellyfish from a SpongeBob Square Pants book that I think would be great embroidered and hung in Grady’s room, my kitten calendar, a bunch of peacock feathers from a long-forgotten thrifting trip, a fedora, and the pamphlet for the International Peace Gardens. I know. I’m so interesting right now. Don’t let the excitement throw you into a panic.

Gross. Everything is gross. No more words.

afternoon of June 25

Fragrant honeysuckle outside the window.

Sweet baby sleeping on my bed.

Good book waiting to be finished.

Fat cat hogging all the carpet.

Beautiful backyard asking for a hammock.

Bowl of cherries to be frozen.

All as zombie-bowie supervises. Not too shabby.