10 Things I Love About Summer

# 10. Running around scantily-clad outdoors.

Seriously, maybe this should be #1.







#9. An emergence of interesting creativity.

Exhibit A.


And genuine creativity- Exhibit B.



#8. Staying up LATE!

...Let's have a shout-out for night owls! Holla'!



#7. Strawberries.

Fresh. Hood variety. Mine. Need I say more?



#6 Yard work.

Okay... not so much fun, sometimes, but definitely rewarding!

Doug has to mow the lawn with these crazies following right behind. Daddy even instigated a ritual lawn mowing conga-line that they mimic. It's great entertainment for Mommy. My favorite part is when he backs up and they all go over like dominoes. (Unholy glee.)


These guys are showin' some love. They surprised us by coming to fill-in yard holes for us on a Saturday morning. It was truly awesome. At least a day's worth of work done in an hour, plus some good fun! Can't beat it! And now it looks less as if we are testing missiles in the front yard.


Pretty sure Doug just won this contest... for whatever that's worth...
...Oh my gosh, really, if I had known this face was possible on my beloved, he may not have made the marriage-cut...



#5. Sibling rivalry.

Okay, not really my favorite, but an honest part of summer, no?
This is open, bruised skin from the combined ministrations of Evie and Bun-Bun. Seriously, that thing looks innocent, but it packs a punch. Sterling showed the neighbor and he asked Sterling if his Momma had walloped him. :) ...Well, not yet anyway...



#4. Fresh flowers.

I really wish your computer screen had scratch and sniff, because the lavender with this scent of rose is intoxicating. This rose bush is the only one that survived the yard razing. Can't wait until the planting phase begins around here, but there is much more work to be done before that day! I'm just thrilled with what I find actually growing around here.



#3. Fresh local produce.

We got 20# of fresh Bings last weekend and we ate- oh, lots! But I also canned some for fall-time Cherry Apple Crisps and froze some for smoothies. Really looking forward to the apricots coming up soon!



#2. Prolific herbs in my cutting garden.

There are no words to describe my euphoria when I cut some fresh herbs for dinner. It gives me warm-fuzzies... and happy taste buds...





#1. Fresh strawberry crêpes avec crème fraîche (click for link).

Maybe I could have linked this in with fresh strawberries, but no. This one needs a ranking all it's own. I don't generally love strawberries, but I am excessively partial to these and Doug can put these suckers down! I put the recipe link up there so you can see what I'm talking about, but please, use real strawberries, people.



Happy Summer!