Saturday morning in the playhouse

Last Saturday I escaped from the real world.

Well, maybe it wasn’t a real escape, and maybe it wasn’t for very long, but I did get in on some good pretending and make believe.

I spent some relaxing time in the playhouse loft with Joshua and Olivia, while their parents attended a wedding.

The best part of the deal was trading our identities for awhile.

I was the mother, Joshua was the dad, and Olivia was our sweet child.

We had a splendid tea party with the three bears (and a few extra bear friends).

We enjoyed a little quiet reading time.

And we hung out with some really interesting people.

The pleasant temperature outside only added to the enjoyment of the day. 

Don’t you agree that everyone needs a little magic and escape time once in a while?

JoAnn

 

A Beautiful Day at the Farmers’ Market…

Every summer should end with at least one visit to a local Farmers’ Market.

My daughter, Michelle, and I love to go to the Saturday morning market in down town Salt Lake City, held in Pioneer Park.

We try and go every year.

Here are the reasons why we like to go:

The produce is freshly picked, beautifully arranged, reasonably priced, and delicious.

It is local and supports vendors in the community.

The smells from the produce, food booths, and fall air all mixing together are sweet, tangy, spicy, musky, and a little foreign.

People watching is never dull.

We experiment and try something new for lunch, chosen from the many different ethnic vendors sharing their native dishes.

Entertainment is free and different.

Freshly squeezed lime with mint drinks are worth the splurging price of $4.00.

It is a fun bonding time together.

And…

It’s kind of a welcome mat for fall (my favorite time of all) and the harvest season.

Do you have a Farmers’ Market near you?

Hope your week is pleasant and exciting!

JoAnn

Summer’s Memories

Labor Day weekend usually marks the official ending of summer vacation.  I’ve noticed lots of Facebook posts of friends’ camping trips, canyon breakfasts, picnics, reunions, and other celebrations (last chance outings) going on today!

The air is changing.

Fall is right around the corner.

We have one week of school under our belts and things are looking pretty promising for a great year.  I have a cute class and I’m feeling almost organized.  Now, if I can just keep the kids from moving in and out….

I haven’t kept my blog very updated this summer (guilt), so I’m combining a lot of activities into one big post.

I hope the pictures will tell a story of a busy, but nice summer. 

I love spending time with my family!

It wasn’t a very long summer, and we didn’t go anywhere exotic, but some great memories were made!

What things do you like to do in the summer?

JoAnn

P.S.  Farmers’ Market….we’re hoping to get there this coming weekend!

Oh, to be a fly on the wall!

This summer we spent a few days in Logan, attending the Utah Opera Festival, along with Ken’s father and three of our children, Katie, Robbie, and Brittany.  Ken’s siblings usually all go, but this year they couldn’t make it, so a few of our kids got to fill in.  We really enjoyed ourselves.  (The Prophet of our church, Thomas S. Monson, also attended one of the performances we were at.)

We were lucky enough to see “The Student Prince”, “Oklahoma”, and “Les Miserable”.  They were all well done.  We love live theater.

I didn’t pull out my camera once.

I did take a few pictures just before we left to come home.  This magnificent house is located a few blocks West of the theater we were at.  It is one of those places that I like to drive by whenever I get a chance.

I have never been inside, but it looks like it could be quite charming.  I don’t know who lives there, or if it is owned by one family, or divided up in rentals.  (It looks like a one family home to me.  I hope it is!)

It also looks quite huge.  Look how deep it goes back.  I love the second story deck and the rooms above the garage.  It reminds me of the house in the movie “Pollyanna”, with the big trees reaching up to the third floor windows.  It looks like it would require a staff of workers to keep it all up.

I’m afraid I’m doomed to be a curious house-stalker since I don’t have any connections to the house, but wouldn’t it be fun to take a tour inside?  Or maybe live there?  Oh, to be a fly on the wall! 

A girl can dream.

I wonder if it is listed on the Historic Register?

Do you have houses that you like to stalk? 

♥

JoAnn

P.S.  Wish I had some of those yummy Logan Bluebird chocolates right now!

P.P.S.  Dear Lucky Family who lives in this house, please forgive me for parking in front of your house with my camera hanging out the window.

So, what did I actually do with my summer?

Summer vacation is pretty much over for me.

My “free” time is about to end.

Gone!

(Insert violin music!)

Last week was spent putting my classroom back together; tomorrow starts a week of trainings and meetings; and on the 25th school starts- kiddos and all.

My sister-in-law knew I’d been busy and asked what house projects I had accomplished during the summer.  I  all I could think of was one little thing.

But I’ve been so busy!

So . . .

I decided I needed to document my efforts to prove to myself that I had accomplished something useful.

Our patio furniture had seen better days due to sun damage, water exposure, and maybe being left out a little too long in the fall.  The fabric was literally falling apart.

Before:

After checking out the cost of replacement cushions (times 7), I decided to try recovering them myself, after all, how hard could it be?

I found this fun outdoor fabric on sale and figured it would be a simple little project.

I cut the old covers off to use as patterns and thought I was good to go.

Well, it wasn’t as easy as it looked and I ended up taking forever to finish them.  The hard part was getting the side strips not to pucker.    I also had to go back and buy one more yard of material (which wasn’t on sale anymore), but if you don’t look too closely, it looks all right.

After:

I knew I’d done more projects, so I walked around the house trying to find some evidence of my summer labors.

My sister Linda and I had done some “shuffling” as we moved things around to different places in the house.  (It is so helpful to have someone with fresh eyes help you make little needed improvements.  Thanks, Linda!)  These curtains changed from a bedroom to the dining room.

Before:

 

After:

We gathered up all the bright dishes we could find in other places and moved them to the hutch.

Everything got a good deep scrubbing, too!

I spent a lot of time working in the yard.

Our rocky-hard clay soil makes it difficult to keep things healthy, but we have really green thumbs in the weed department.

Our grow box garden has done really well, however, and the Black-eyed Susan’s seemed to flourish.  (O.K., the vegetable garden is my husband’s baby.) 

Did I get to all my desired projects, you ask?

Unfortunately, the answer is no.

The bedroom with the missing curtains now looks like this:

It will be a little harder finding time to finish things up now, but my husband will do the patching and painting. (He is removing chair rail molding.)

Do you have summer projects, or do you spread them out during the whole year? 

Well, my early morning workshop will be here before I know it.  Time for bed!

Hope your summer has been rewarding and fun!

JoAnn

 

A creative “do” and a happy smile…

 

I’m hunting for some pictures of my grand kids to put in a photo collection that I want to hang on the wall in a bedroom.

This picture of Brooklyn caught my eye…not for the wall grouping, but as a good reminder that a happy smile is the most important thing we can do to be beautiful.

Brooklyn was quite pleased with her own hair styling.

Don’t you agree she’s priceless?

JoAnn