Summer is not over! On this I heartily agree with Jody. I’m glad she wrote about late summer (and new potatoes) so eloquently, because she reminded me that I also wanted to reflect on this time of year. Perhaps we have a similar perspective because our years of homeschooling allowed us to flow with the feeling of the air around us, rather than to have our energies diverted away from the real and natural seasons of the earth.
In my micro-climate there is precious little summery feeling to begin with, and no matter what the high temperature of the day, if the thermometer drops below 60 at night, and we wake up to fog that hangs on until noon…well, it’s hard to be content with that.
BUT if the tomatoes are coming to the peak of production, and we get a day that starts out sunny and stays warm through the dinner hour — Praise God for SUMMER! That’s how today has been, and it’s very comforting.
My dear goddaughter gave me a present of her hippie Garden Doll. The story of this doll — why she was made and why she was given — is meaningful to the giver and me, but essentially unexplainable to anyone else. For that reason I didn’t plan to share her here. I didn’t want her to go where she might not be appreciated; she’s that special to me that I feel protective of her.
You will think I have been reading too many Rumer Godden books. Perhaps, but I think they have done me good. And I decided after all to show her picture because her face is like the sun, so appropriate for her theme, and makes her perfect for a summertime gift as well.
Maybe Soldier son brought some heat with him from his home in the Sacramento area this morning. Did you know that people sometimes call our state capital SacraTomato? It’s a good place to grow tomatoes. He drove over to help us with various home maintenance projects, and afterward he suggested we have bacon-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches for lunch. It was National Bacon Da
y after all. Just lucky the weather cooperated.
He helped pick the lovely red fruits I have been neglecting, and we assembled those sandwiches that are also a sign of summer. They are not worth eating if they don’t contain homegrown-quality tomatoes.
Just a few days ago Maggie told me, “Grandma, it smells like summer in your house.” Really?? Wow, what a surprise for me, and almost a rebuke for my discontent. We didn’t try to analyze that perception of hers that warmed my heart the way I was wishing summer would warm my body. I will just hold it in my mind’s treasure box along with the image of Garden Doll.
Just so you know, summer extends well into September in this place. So next month won’t be too late for me to tell you about The Summer Book and another one of Tove Jansson’s that tells a summer story. October will be soon enough to move on.
After the hubbub of the wedding and the excitement of being a bridesmaid, after playing with cousins and chatting with numerous aunts and uncles, after her dad and brothers departed for home and school, our granddaughter Maggie and her mom Pearl stayed on for another week.
This hedgehog that had been given to her grandpa had not been named, so Maggie created a contest to choose a name for him. She gathered suggestions from all the family into a teapot and after a few days she had Grandpa choose his favorite. He picked Charles, but Maggie calls him Charlie. He looked on during many of our fun times.
My father scorned Meyer lemons. Growing his own lemons made him, and all of our family, partial to the intensity of a Normal Lemon. If anyone wants to give me lemons, Meyer or otherwise, I will never turn them down, but I also prefer what I grew up with.
To make the glaze, using a fine-meshed strainer, sift the powdered sugar into a small, non-aluminum bowl. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk to break up lumps.
e I whipped some heavy cream and slowly drizzled the syrup into it at the end when it was getting nice and thick. I froze the mixture in custard cups, and ate one of them the next day. It was quite delicious!
Gladsome Lights 