Summer...You're not technically over yet!

It's been a while since I wrote a Friday's Musings post. This could take some work, so please pardon me if I mess up!

Something that came to mind as I toured our gardens while encouraging our puppy to do his business is that summer ISN'T really over yet. In the past week I've heard many a parent utter the infamous "Come on now, summer is over..." But according to my calendar, it's not over until midnight Monday, September 21st. And I'm none too anxious for it to come to an end this year. Oddly enough.

You see, I'm one of those people who love all the four seasons that my part of the world offers. Usually as we near the end of one season I'm joyfully anticipating the next to roll on in. There's something different about this forty-third summer of my life, though. Hmmm...I wonder what it could be?

Perhaps my tipsy-turvey summer has me analysing life a little more aggressively these days. Or, could it be that the weather wasn't optimal enough for pool enjoyment these past months, and just this week I've gotten really into doing my laps for exercise. The girls going off for their annual week at horse camp was later this year, too, perhaps that messed with my internal calendar. I could come up with a scroll of possibilities, but I won't bore you with all of them. In any case, I intend to enjoy the last seventeen days of summer. Swim as much as possible, tour our gardens and continue dead heading and weeding until the colors fade and become like the earth, then I'll welcome fall and all of it's glory just in time to see my most favorite season approach in all it's splendor--Christmas.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. Phil toiled over the flagstone patio and path all summer long. Doesn't it look awesome?

We also stained our garden shed. It took three coats this time. Why? you might ask. Well, see the shutters? We purchased that high-quality stain from the pre-mixed sale bin. Did the first coat of the whole garden shed in that...and hated it. We teased about waiting for our neighbors to drop subtle hints about how hideous it looked. They must have been away on vacation or hiding from us that day. Neither Phil or I could stand looking it any longer, so out we went and paid optimal price for a color we could live with. It took two coats of the darker shade to cover the pooh shade. The shutters are a reminder for us to never settle for a pre-mixed sale unless it is very close the original color we had intended to purchase. A lesson my arthritic fingers will not let me forget...ever! (I'll leave the back garage door story for another day--three coats seems to be the theme of summer 2008.)

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Word of the Week:

Verisimilitude

Meaning, by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary: The quality or state of appearing to be true or real.

Sample Sentence: Authors may utilize redundancy to bring verisimilitude to a piece of dialogue.

(Note: I learned that tidbit from William Brohaugh's Write Tight instructional book that I'm currently studying. Cool, eh?)

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May we all enjoy the remaining days of summer, and if you had a tipsy-turvey summer like me, my prayer is that God would infuse a little more peace into your coming seasons.

Blessings,

Eileen