Frecklewonder

summer lovin'

gosh, where have i been?! i totally flaked out on color week. things got so busy for me, and once i was away from the ol' blogginz for a day or two, it was that much harder to get back into the swing of things. or, maybe it was that much easier to stay away and enjoy all things summer? you know how it goes, right? well, before i knew it, a week turned into almost two. whoops! and then i sat down to hit the blog this afternoon, and all of typepad was down. go figure. i couldn't really complain though. we have been having EXTRAORDINARY weather these past few days, so instead of sitting in my little dungeon of an office, i went back outdoors. you know, typically here in central virginia, right about this time in the summer we are doing all we can do to not melt into a puddle of sweat. i didn't check the temps today, but i'm guessing we didn't break 80 degrees. HUH? at night, it's been a cool 58 or 60. and just yesterday, henry and i went over to my momma's to take a dip in the pool, and we bailed after just 20 minutes. it was too chilly! can you imagine? it's july 24th. what gives. summer, what happened to ya? i won't argue with it though. it's just odd, and you know how i end up gabbing about the weather here sometimes.

so this amazing weather has brought with it some amazing blue skies. the kind that i call my FAVORITE. the ones that remind me of being out west. a dark sky blue with huge, thick, puffy, bright white clouds and a bright sunshine. i love that kind of sky, and have found myself laying in the grass, just looking up at it lately. 'course we haven't had rain in weeks, so our once lovely, soft green grass has turned to a brittle, brown, icky, rough + tough grass, so i opt for the chaise, which works just fine.

another place i like to relax lately is this little spot on my front porch. the view (in particular, this time of year) is a real stunner. there is a very large community garden directly across the street, full of rows and rows of zinna (now in bloom), and so many vegetables and herbs, you wouldn't believe it. i will try and post a photo soon. also, we have some really nice sunset views from this spot. and the 'skeeters haven't been too bad this year, which is a whole other thing to be appreciative for.

our hood had it's annual summer extravaganza last weekend, which was a total treat. since we moved in last august, we were first timers to this event. the daytime fair thing was sort of your typical greasy food, pricey ride kinda deal. henry didn't have any interest in riding anything at all, and was pretty much focused on getting his mitts on some cotton candy. really, i think that was why we went there at all. well, that and the funnel cake that we gorged on. you know how funnel cake is so yummy, and then 5 minutes later you feel like you want to hurl? how come we never learn from that want-to-hurl feeling?

also, they were giving free rides in the hot air balloon, but we didn't stick around for it. henry had a friend with him, and we all had to get home for dinner. why? because they were having FIREWORKS later!!! this was, by far, my most favorite part of the day. i love fireworks, but what really sealed the deal for me this time around was two things: #1. we walked through our neighborhood about 10 minutes until we reached the golf course--yes, we actually live within walking distance of a golf course, who would have ever thought. certainly not me-- ok, so we walk our lovely little walk through the neighborhood, to find a pretty good sized gathering of families with lawn chairs + coolers + blankets set up, and kids playing with lighted frisbees and such, and the setting is so picturesque, i wish i would have snapped a photo. it was like a small town in a movie kind of scene. lovely houses everywhere, amazing, soft green grass, tree lined streets, and a big opening in the sky to watch the fireworks show. on top of that, there's #2. an ICE CREAM TRUCK came toodling down the street. i mean, did ya READ my post on ice cream trucks?!?!?! good grief. it's kind of an understatement to say that i was completely smitten. it was such a nice night, and the fireworks show was quite an impressive 35 minutes. oh, and henry had his first push-up pop, and matt and i had a klondike bar.

i happened to discover this amazing vintage RAIN BIRD sprinkler. not only is it a real vintage treat, it's called RAIN BIRD, and it's incredibly sturdy and wonderful, and i know i will sound like a huge dork, but i love it. henry has been loving to play in the water while i try to prevent our yard from croaking all  together.

so i hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. we've got just over a month. i can't believe it's going by so quickly!!! seems like all the stores are stocking up with school supplies and fall merch, which i guess happens every year, but dang. i'm still stuck in summer mode.

thursday::black, brown, white

a black and white photgraph of my mom and my grandmother that sits on a table in my living room:

a little thrifted wooden dish and some brown trinkets that sit on the same coffee table in my living room:

some black + white shoes,  a score from my adventures today:

a little wall hanging, also found today:

my eyes. they're not blue, like a lot of redheads eyes are. they're brown.

and finally, my cats. doing their thing. that's lucy (top) and lola (bottom).

***

sorry to be so late with this post, but it was an amazing, great, busy day. more on that later! tomorrow, i'll be here with ORANGE. one of my favorites.

wednesday::green

the upside down tomatoes are doing very well:

and we are picking cucumbers daily now:

we also have a cherry tree in our back yard, here's how it looked in early june:

i scored this box of wooden letters on a recent thrift run: (you might notice that they were used for the new logo on the shop page?)

a little drawing henry did a while back: (kid art happens to be one of my favorite things on the planet.)

and finally, our cat lola, just chillin' in the hood of matt's sweatshirt. something she did a whole lot of last winter, in fact.

tuesday::blue

a picture from last summer's trip out west. this photo was taken in the badlands of south dakota, some 1300 miles into our journey.

a few very goofy pictures of me from a couple years ago, fresh after a new haircut. these photos make me miss a bob, just a little bit. (and also that fab 60s dress with the big bow, darn.)

some favorite vintage apple fabric, i've used this one rather sparingly, cause i never had much of it to start.

and finally, one of my favorite pictures of henry. here he is last spring, after we thrifted this fabulous vintage child sized schwinn ($3.95!) and shined it up real nice. this summer he is actually tall enough to ride it.

monday::yellow (late start)

I wanted to participate in Andrea's color week postings, though, I'm a day, ok two days late. What can I say: I was completely consumed by this most recent Summer Shop Update.

I can catch up, I think.

So, Monday was YELLOW:

some work in progress on my sewing table:

a page from a favorite vintage kid's book:

my breakfast one day over last week's vacation:

and a little lunch/thrift mission with my buddy, henry last week. we often hit this diner for milkshakes, pre-goodwill:

tomorrow I will catch up with blue and greens.

cheers!