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the answer is, a LOT!
while my mum was staying with us, she planned a little trip up to the white mountains of nh for us and the kiddies, with storyland (an adorable little old fashioned amusement park) being the main attraction. we spent an afternoon, and then the whole next day there!
it was a lovely treat to do something so special, and with granni too!
oh summer, why must you leave us...?!!
me and my gals love to learn about how other times/people/cultures live, so on our summer wishlist was a visit to a shaker village. mum was with us, the girls donned their prairie outfits in anticipation, we knew little about the shaker people when we got there but had a very interesting time learning and wandering through the village experiencing the school house, chapel, living space, workshops, sugar house and my personal favourite - the laundry room (where photo taking was forbidden...hmm...). i loved the simplicity, dedication and order that seemed to be their lifestyle and it was fun to be in the spaces and imagine what it may have been like to live there.
(watching a broom maker do his thing)
mum and i swooned over all the old buildings, amazing rustic farmhouse style furniture and household items (the laundry sinks! oh!) and of course the gorgeous country setting as it is so different from anything we have seen in australia. definitely worth the long drive there and a place i'd love to visit again...i have a feeling there would be more to learn and discover in nooks and crannies with each visit.
one of the best bits of summer here has been our first ever successful veggie patch! pathetic gardening attempts in previous years were hindered by hungry kangaroos, pesky rabbits, drought, space issues and general laziness. feeling inspired to give it a go this year we were thrilled with our little crops! seriously we just put seeds into the ground and stuff grows? like magic?
lucky for us, this property has several berry bushes and fruit trees - mrs squirrel aka my mother spent most mornings picking blueberries, blackcurrants and raspberries and then freezing, jam-ing and sauce-ing to her hearts content. toast and jam anyone? my personal favourite is the white raspberries. so sweet!
being our first real time managing a veggie patch theres a few lessons we've learnt along the way, like - maybe next year we'll plant more than 6 carrots (at least breakfast was taken care of on this particular morning), and maybe we don't need 48 heads of lettuce to all be ready at once (lettuce soup? don't go there!), and that weeding can really rob you of a good chunk of your day!
it has been so exciting though for all of us to pick our own grown goodies and work together outside (with the mozzies!) and plan for what we will do next time round. oh yeah - this is the kind of living i want us to be doing :)
this summer has flown by! i've been so busy and tired from the busy-ness! micky was away at a conference the whole month of july, my mum came for 5 weeks as well as various friends coming and going. last week my man and i got to escape together for the night to portland maine, just the two of us and had a lovely, slow-paced, yummy food, walking on the beach, time for talking trip. it was so rejuvenating.
it was exactly the inhale/exhale that we needed.
i have lots of pictures from summer (and more!) ready to share here, thanks for sticking around during my summer blogging coma!
xo
(ps not pregnant! just a baggy dress!)
if you are anywhere withing the vicinity of plum island, ma this friday and would like a dreamy day of beaching and art-ing then check out wishstudio.com for details of this lovely retreat i'll be part of...making colourful scrappy end of summer-beginning-of-autumn skirts!
