what summer tastes like...

...fresh basil pesto...Saturday smoothies...and later in the summer, if all goes (grows) well...plums!

I made the first batch of pesto this weekend with basil from the garden and it was wonderful smeared across warm, crusty ciabatta slices.  And I thought, this is what summer tastes like to me.  What does summer taste like to you?  Then, I often make smoothies but they taste even better now with a little bit of my fresh strawberry jam for some sweetness.  Little Bub loooves smoothies too so its a great way to get him to eat yogurt and bananas and whatever else I put in them.  And finally, Hub discovered plums growing on our plum tree that we planted a few years ago.  We're so excited!  :)

fresh flowers

 One thing I love about summer is that I can go out to my garden and pick fresh flowers to bring inside and brighten up little corners of my home.  I have so many really neat, old bud vases to choose from and its fun to feel like a "florist" for just a bit. 
(The only difference this summer is that now I have 1 year old chasing after me, trying to grab my flowers!)

weekend happenings...

 Friday evening:  a walk to the nearby creek to survey some of the flood damage that occurred here earlier in the week.  It was a lovely summer evening!

 Rainy Saturday afternoon:  lunch at one of our favorite places (we realized that we hadn't been there since New Year's Day!)...walking through the wet garden out front after a delicious lunch.

 Sunday morning:  baking Almond Poppyseed muffins...I love to load the tops with slivered almonds and generously sprinkle with sugar.

Sunday evening:  picking Arugula from my garden to make some mini salads to have with pizza.  Yum!

party scenes...

As I previously mentioned, we had little Bub's first birthday party last Saturday.  While the party was pretty wonderful (except for the weather being not so great), we made it through (survived!) the 1st year...that's what really matters!  And we were so happy to celebrate that fact!  :)

party prep...

It all began innocently enough with a moose stamp I happened to come across online one day several months back when I was looking for something else...and before I knew it I found myself painting plastic moose entirely a solid blue color and others light brown, painting baby food jars the same color (original idea here...although I didn't dip mine), sewing paper garlands, making moose invitations, sawing & sanding branches, making cake flags, and more!  When I first saw this adorable moose stamp I immediately thought it'd be a neat theme to springboard from for little Bub's first birthday party...it was so cute and boy-ish and being that we live "up north" and all I thought it'd be fun and inspire me...and it did!  So that's the kind of crafting I've been up to for the past several weeks.  And now that the party has come and gone, I'll have a few party photos to come too!  Phew!!!  No one told me a 1st birthday party was so much work!  ;)

twinflowers

 It was a truly wonderful summer weekend...complete with little Bub's 1st birthday bash, some fun Father's day badminton, late Sunday evening strawberry jam-making, and snapping a few photos of the sweet and dainty Twinflowers (Linnaea) now blooming in my garden.

lazy deer...

I sort of wish I could be a little bit lazy like this deer that was lounging leisurely under the birdhouse this morning.  It's such a rainy, stormy day here and curling up with a book and some tea sounds really nice.  But we have a little baby who is turning one (ONE already, I can't believe it!) and there is SO very much to do.  We're having a big party for him this weekend and I've been having fun planning and making things for it...it's just that actual execution of it all that makes me fret a little bit!  Hopefully the weather will be sunny & lovely and I'll be back with a few photos from the party to share next week!

mini fairy gardens...

 A cluster of some tiny fairy gardens I put together this weekend using 3 lovely painted pots.  The two bird planters were hand-painted by Mum...featuring a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Golden Crowned Kinglet...so sweet and dear to me!  I dug up the moss from our woods for the oblong planter and the other two are filled with my ever-expanding Irish Moss that I bought a few summers back. Hopefully the little white flowers it gets later in the summer will bloom here too!  Then I of course had to run to the nursery the next day to find a cute little gnome (not pictured) to add to the fairy mix...no fairies have been spotted yet!