Slowing Down For Summer

Hello again!

Here we are on the other side of summer (well, yes, technically, there are still a couple more weeks... but there's something about Labour Day and that first day of school that feel far more final than a number circled on a calendar).

How was your summer?
Did you soak up all that hot weather goodness?
Eat armloads of peaches and melon and tomatoes, dip in the lake, roast marshmallows over a friendly fire, leisurely read a good book (or one of those oh-so-good-because they're oh-so-bad ones) under a tree?

Over here we've been soaking up the sweetest slowest summer on record. Well, after being busy as... you know whats.

After moving at the end of July (big thanks to whoever scheduled that delightful heatwave to hit just as we were packing!), I spent much of August finishing up two book projects. But we'll talk more about those at another time! Then we hit the road for a leisurely road trip around Ontario... during which I took not a single picture - can you believe it? But we wound our way (or should I say, ate our way) through Prince Edward County to Kingston to Ottawa through Algonquin Park and Muskoka and back. Ontario is full of some mighty fine trees and lakes and sunsets (and chip trucks) you guys!

But in between it all, we've been spending plenty of time hanging out in the garden with the flowers, the birds and the bees...

And the chipmunks! They're my favourite!

It's been a summer of finding quiet moments. Pausing to take it all in. The sound of wings fluttering past. How the spider spins his web, the chipmunk dives head first into his hole, the blue jay squawks if you haven't provided him with the perfect peanut and the bumblebee collects pollen with unbridled enthusiasm.

And, of course, daily admiration of the morning glories who climb all over each other (and whatever else might get in their way) in an unofficial contest to see who blooms the brightest each morning. They all do.

This summer has been equal parts chilly and downright tropical. But temperature ups and downs are no match for zucchini-filled summer baking to warm up and tromping through icy streams to cool down.

I'll be sad to see Summer and all her bright colours and heat-heavy slow days go, but, at the same time, we're excited for the crisp breezes, cozy smells and fresh beginnings of Fall.

How about you? How was your summer?