Summer | Lifestyle
It's hard to believe that we're already in September. Before too much time goes by I wanted to write down some favourite things from the summertime. It was such a good season this year. I honestly feel like this was the first summer I’ve been able to be mindfully present and be more easy-breezy about life. I won’t list all the things that were going on in our life that were forces working against those feelings, but it was such a good opportunity to live beyond my comfort zone and emphasize personal growth in big ways. I’m looking for every way to bring those vibes with me into the Fall and our more heavily scheduled routines. Summertime is a valuable teacher.
I usually only write these types of things into my physical notebook, but I've wanted to write more for this blog for awhile now and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
• Family time: Picnics, parks, grocery trips, bike rides, getting ice cream and eating it in a rain shower, playing cards and board games, swimming, lots of adventures big and small. Basically taking every opportunity we saw to take the scenic route in life.
• Painting: I have been painting a lot for work obviously but I also love that my kids enjoy it too. They have been to Ace Arte Studio twice now for painting lessons and we can't say enough good things about them!
• Gardening: We added a third raised garden bed to our backyard and I am so happy with all the growing potential. We now have raised herb and vegetable beds, a raspberry patch, two empire apple trees, a montmorency cherry tree, a blueberry patch, and some flowers. I love planning and working in our backyard oasis. It brings me such peace and satisfaction. Next year I plan to add more pollinator flowers and move more herbs around the backyard. They act as a natural pest deterrent and they look so nice. I’m currently harvesting and dehydrating my herbs to keep over winter. I usually dry them and freeze them processed with olive oil and lemon juice. They’re super nice to have on hand to mix into recipes all year long.
Those are some of my favourite things about this past summer. Of course, there are many more I could add, but these were the top three things that occupied my time!
Happy Friday,
Claire
