Summer.  I love the word.  I love the season.  Even in the hottest part, there is just something about summer that has always inspired me.  Maybe it’s because I was born in the summer.  We will blame it on that.

My question today is:  What does summer mean to you?

In my mind, there is something almost magical about summer.  There is something beautiful about the plants and bushes that always come back, year after year.  There is something beautiful about clothes hanging on the line and coming back in smelling like sunshine. (Mr.  ..if you are reading this…a clothesline is still on my wish list.)

When I was growing up…summer days spent with my mom were always an adventure.  She just had a way about her…and still does…that made every moment of every day fun. I look back on those days now and realize that I incorporate some of that into the lives of our children.  That makes my heart smile.

One of my very favorite things about summer?  Old yards.  Do you know what I mean?  I do not have an old yard…yet.  Old yards are yards that have been there for years and have been lovingly planted and tended.  Grandma yards.  That is what they are in my mind.  Today….I am sharing with you…one of my favorite places of all time.  To me…this is the epitome of “farmhouse.”  From the yard to the porch to the little fence…this is just me.  This home is on the way to my mom’s house.  I’m not sure if anyone lives there anymore but….to me…it is beautiful.

I could go on and on about the way that the river draws me in the summer or swimming or round bales here in the Ozarks or most of all laughing children that are home for the summer.  I will save that for another day.  Today…because you are my sweet Dirt Roaders…I am sharing some of my summer heart and my all time favorite farmhouse.

Smiles!

Hey Friends!  It’s Friday…you did it!  Do you have big plans?  The older I get…the more I love having no plans.  Is that crazy?  I crave quiet moments and peace.  Quick…pass me the Geritol. ha!

Are you guys getting winter weather?  If you are…and you are longing for spring, I’m sorry.  It’s not snowy here.  It’s just very rainy.  We can use the rain though.  It gets very dry during the summer in the Ozarks, most years.

Maybe you are going to cook something to tingle all of the taste buds in your family?  That would be fun.  Or maybe you have a stack of cast iron that needs to be seasoned.  That sounds like work…but I enjoy it.  When I was just a new bride I would come home from work and start supper in  our tiny little kitchen and relax.  There is something about the kitchen that does that for me.  I am an old soul…I guess.

Maybe you have a little DIY planned.  We have a little room painting on the agenda…but not this weekend.  I’m getting excited about this little project that is brewing though.  More about that later.

If your weekend is full of laundry,  I’m sorry.  Don’t spend all of your time working on it.  Or if you have to at least read a good book between switching it out.  Or go outside and build a snowman in between.  (I’m sorry if that is a reality in your neck of the woods.)  Or you could lay on the couch and eat bonbons between loads.  That sounds relaxing.

Whatever you do, Dirt Roaders, don’t forget to reflect on the blessings that God is giving you.  Maybe you can find a small quiet corner in the middle of the chaos and reflect on all things wonderful…and take deep breaths.  Stress…strain and worry are not a part of His plan for us.  Don’t forget to relax…no matter what your weekend plans are.  You are important…..God said so.

Okay…okay.  It wasn’t as bad as all that.  Pretty bad, but not that bad.  Would you like to hear about it?  Of course you would.  You’re here, ain’tchee?  (Sorry…it’s the Ozarkian coming out.)

Last spring the birds were singing and the grass was…um…greening and I was in the mood to plant flowers.  The greenhouse is one of my happy places.  I love all of the growing things and the sun warming my face.  The only thing is…it costs money to go to the greenhouse.  I try not to go too much.  This actually has nothing to do with the story because the flowers came from Wal-Mart.  hmmmm…..Where am I?  ha!  Just kidding.  Onward…Dirt Roaders.

So I was at Wal-Mart with the Mr. and I spotted these beautiful, faded, purplish-bluish pansies.  When I saw them I thought of country roads and little grandmas with aprons and all things cozy and farmhousey.  I knew that they would look amazing in the old wash tub that Mom gave me.  (There is the junk that we were waiting for.) I also have a thing for old wash tubs.  Greenhouses and wash tubs, who knew?

We bought the flowers.  I was so excited.  As you can tell, it doesn’t take much.  I planted them in the wash tub.  There they were sitting on our front porch…right by the door. So quaint…my little pansies.  I could sit in our porch swing and enjoy their beauty that seemed like something from yesteryear.  Right up my alley.

Until.  Yes…the next day or maybe two..(it was so horrific I might have suppressed some of it)…I went downstairs and peeked at my pansies through the sidelight.  That was my first mistake that day.  Our stupid precious Basset Hound, Suzie had decided that she loved the pansies too.  She loved them so much that she was going to dig them out and lay her big bod…in the wash tub.  It was a mess.  A pansy massacre.

Do you see Suzie “innocently” waiting for me to go inside? Yeah…me too. (Pardon her…she isn’t very decent.) ha!

I don’t have a picture of the pansy massacre.  Oh and by the way…I was just kidding about the “dead dog” part.  We love Suzie.  She is stubborn and crazy but we love her.  It seems that, anything we put outside…our pets assume is for their enjoyment.  Sigh.  What I put up with to have a good, barking dog.  She is fierce you know.  😉

Yes…that is a dog ear in the lower left corner. She was biding her time.

Pray for my wash tub, Dirt Roaders.  This year it’s hosting geraniums…that I actually kept inside all winter.  I love geraniums.  My big geranium is in a rusty bucket and the small one is in a flower-pot.  When they bloom I will try to take a picture for you.  As long as Suzie minds her own business…that is.

Smiles and Laughter,

I have a little friend that sits on our counter.  It waits for me each morning.

It brews me a wonderful cup of energy.  The cup of energy makes me feel bullet-proof for a bit.  That sounds like a drug.  Hmmmm.

Yesterday…I went without my cup of energy.  I felt it all day long.  Today I will remedy that.  My cup of energy will be pretty high up on my list of things to do.

When did I get old enough to need coffee to function with efficiency?  Isn’t that for old people?  People with gray hair.  Oh yeah…those aren’t blonde shimmers are they?

I remember my grandparents sitting at their farmhouse breakfast table, drinking coffee out of  orange coffee cups.  Looking back…I’m sure that they were Fire King or Anchor Hocking.  Anyway, they would sit there and while their coffee was still hot they would use a spoon and get little sips of it.  They were relishing in a simple pleasure.  I love that.

I hope that I have inspired you to have a “cup of energy” with me today.  I hope that your Tuesday is amazing.  I hope that after you drink your coffee…you can leap tall buildings in a single bound.  After all, you are Dirt Roaders.  Dirt Roaders…have a way of getting things done.  😉