B's Backyard: Summer Has Started!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Summer Has Started!

For me it didn't feel like summer truly started until the Independence Day weekend. Spring and early summer were full of cool, rainy days and I was preoccupied with a pretty heavy workload preparing for the Episcopal Youth Event held in the latter part of June. I enjoy hard work and the event was a great success. I snuck in my days away from the job and managed to get some gardening and camping in as mental health days in my work-a-holic weeks. But it just didn't feel like summer yet.

I don't know about you but I really loved those lazy summer days when my kids were little and we had nothing to do but play all day. Ah, to be so young again.

This Minnesota family does still take summer very seriously. We've added two motorcycles to the fleet this year. Arthur purchased a used Kawasaki Ninja 250. I bought a more familiar 1974 Yamaha Enduro 250. It's fully restored and feels just like the two Enduro's I learned on when I was a teenager in the 70's.

As soon as EYE was over I got us started on some projects. The holiday weekend weather cooperated and last week we started all manner of things. I have a new clothesline tree in the backyard that has already provided me with sheets that smell of sunshine. I LOVE that. And we scraped all the weedy pea gravel from between the house and garage to create space for a new patio. It looks great. (Pictured as Blog Background)

During a summer in which I have no boat for the river I will require some creative distractions to avoid being Mrs. Crankypants. Motorcycling, camping, and my backyard will have to serve to keep me distracted. Although Capt. Steve and Princess Kathy have already provided some excellent boating. And last weekend on the river with my hometown River Rats in Galena, Illinois, was a fantastic time.

As I type I'm on Day Four of my three week vacation and am attempting to post a Picture of the Day for the entire vacation on FaceBook. Here's today's POTD.