Dear buddies-o-mine,
Joining Jen at The Bolin Bunch for her 10 on the 10th link-up. These posts remind me of Laura’s 3 Things posts (hope they will return in September) and the TBB Asks posts that were once hosted by The Blended Blog. Last month, we shared 10 things we wished we could tell our high school selves. Today we are talking about 10 summer must-haves.
10 Summer Must-Haves
Had to put on my thinking cap for this one, girls. Which is why I like this kind of post. Makes me think. Which some days is harder than others!
Quiet Time on the Patio…
Bible, devotional, Morning Pages notebook, purple pen and breakfast. Started doing this last summer but had forgotten about it this summer until my sister suggested I sit outside and read. Isn’t it a shame that I couldn’t remember/think to do this on my own?! A rare morning shower (rain) has kept me from starting my morning from the patio poolside today.
Our Built-in Grill…
not just a summer must-have as we grill year-round. Grilling is a sneaky way of getting PC to help cook dinner. I preheat the grill and put the steak or burgers on then my Prince kind of takes over. We grill at least once a week. Tonight it was New York strip steaks.
Peaches…
we both love peach wine so a couple of years ago, planted a peach tree in hopes of making our own vino. Followed this recipe I found on Pinterest, waited patiently through 2 phases of fermentation only to have the final product taste a whole lot more like moonshine than peach wine. The next year, we had an abundance of peaches but decided rather than make wine with them, we would eat them. Sounded like a plan but we couldn’t eat them fast enough. I wound up pitting and freezing a bunch, giving a lot away and baking more peach cobbler than either of us wanted or needed to eat! But here we are again this summer, waiting for our peaches to come in. There is nary a one yet on the branches of our tree, though. Hope we aren’t left peachless this summer.
My Snorkel and Flippers…
Ariel, I’m not! But I do love to swim. And since I don’t have legs that turn into a tail in the pool, I wear flippers and a snorkel to enable me to swim faster and longer. Hoping to enter a triathlon next spring that involves swimming, biking and running. Further hoping they will allow me to swim with my snorkel, mask and flippers. A girl can dream!
Distressed Boyfriend Shorts…
my daughter Brennyn bought the cutest boyfriend denim shorts at Target. They are such a flattering fit that I decided to look for a pair here. But our stores always seem to be behind the times. I had no luck finding Brennyn’s cute shorts but did find some distressed boyfriend denim shorts in boyfriend wash (whatever that is) at Loft Outlet. I feel 16 again. May not quite look that way but these shorts make me feel fun and young and will be my go-to shorts this summer.
Baseball Tees…
to wear to PC’s games. Don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this before in other years. But by golly, I am on top of my own game this season.
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Small Umbrella…
not for rain. We only get 9″ annually and most of that in the fall. A parasol. Some shade from the hot El Paso sun. For PC’s games, I either need to take my little umbrella, or pray that Don and Marg, the coach and his wife, have brought their tarp.
Water Bottle…
before I had my first cervical spine surgery, I was diagnosed with stage II chronic kidney disease. My nephrologist has instructed me to drink at least half my weight in water each day. So I take my Contigo (which means ‘with you’ in Spanish) leak-proof water bottle everywhere I go. Not just in the summer, but 365 days a year. But in the summer, my water bottle is never more than an arm’s length away. Something has worked, because my nephrologist has released me!
Books and Our Virtual Book Club…
summer used to be the only season I had time to read a real, grown-up book from cover to cover because the rest of the year I was so busy reading children’s books. I miss those days of book orders, lesson planning and reading the new books in the library. Hope to spend more time this summer working on lessons for our Teachers Pay Teachers store, Library Lovin’ Sisters.
Starting last summer, though, I hosted a virtual adult book club with a group of gals on Facebook. That group has grown to over 50 members this summer and we are on something like our 12th or 13th book. Just finished The Gown by Jennifer Robson and have just started The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. If you are looking for a laid back book club to join, holler at me. We would love to have you.
Bucket List…
have been doing seasonal bucket lists for about 3 years now. And I still get excited about making a list with each new season, thinking about new activities to try, places to visit. You can check out last year’s list, here. In fact, I should probably review it, myself. Because on 06.21.2019, I will be sharing my 2019 summer bucket list. Would love to have you join our link-up party with a summer bucket list of your own. So mark your calendar and start putting that list together.
All of these things spell S-U-M-M-E-R for me. I am looking forward to a bright summer here at home. With PC’s questionable job situation, we won’t be vacationing anywhere beyond our own backyard. So I am going to need to get creative with my bucket list! Fun, free things here in El Paso.
Your Turn
What would your summer must-haves be? Are you putting together a summer bucket list? If so, hope you will join us on 06.21.2019 when a great group of gals and I share our lists. If you aren’t a blogger, you can always leave your list in a comment that day and then update with us on 07.21.2019 and 08.21.2019.
So very thankful to PC and my brother-in-law John for figuring out how to get rid of the links that were causing the security warning on my blog. I am so glad to be back to normal. Whatever that is! I just know it doesn’t include a big red warning message.
Thank you, sweet friends, for sticking with me through thick and thin. I appreciate your support and your friendship.
Hugs and kisses,
Hi Leslie,
Love reading your summer musts…just little things like this gives insight into one.
I must have…
porch time
camping time
family time
craft beer(brother’s microbrewery is opening soon! Excited for Twin Barns Brewing)
Not 10, but interesting to see that all of my “off the top of my head” choices had nothing to do with “things and stuff”. Time is the most valuable commodity-
Have a great week!
Nancy, what great summer musts you shared. I am really getting into craft beer. Often prefer it to wine these days. Congrats to your brother on his microbrewery. What fun!! We had big dreams of making wine…planted grapes, they died. Planted grapes, they died. Planted a peach tree and it died. So Bunny Run Winery never got off the ground.
This is such a fun list! I love that you have your own peach tree. I have bbq and books on my list too. And just got some distressed shorts that I have yet to wear!
Our poor peach tree is full and lush with leaves but nary a peach. I put fertilizer down today but I think it may be too late for this year. You need to get your bootie into those distressed shorts. You won’t want to take them off. So comf!
Excellent list! I love the quiet time on the patio! Such a great list Leslie. I am working on my Bucket List for next week – thanks for inspiring me to get plans down on paper and outta my head!
xo,
Kellyann
I am so glad that you and Jill joined me for the summer bucket list. I hope they will prove to be good experiences for you both. It’s a relief to me to have things on paper so I don’t have to keep trying to remember them!
Too many peaches to eat sounds like a great problem to have! If not wine you could try peach sangria. I lost momentum on my Spring bucket list so will have to shift some things to the Summer one. Thanks for the reminder.
Oooo, peach sangria. That sounds like a must-try. I have several bags of peaches frozen from last year, that we could try to make it with. Thanks for that great suggestion.
I’m trying to do better with bringing a water bottle places! I know I need to drink more water. I also need to get started on my summer bucket list. I have a couple ideas in mind; need to get those written for next week. 🙂 And yes, all the books!!!
-Lauren
I drink Crystal Light flavored water to make drinking my H20 a little easier. When I was doing 21 Day Fix, we were discouraged from drinking anything with artificial sweeteners but it seems that nothing is safe! I decided to take my chances with Crystal Light.
I have that Mother In Law book on my to read next list. My mom AND dad both have I think stage 3 kidney disease and my mom’s just came up on her bloodwork surprisingly a couple of years ago. Kinda scary how that can happen and she isn’t sure why. It was kind of after her major car accident she had and she isn’t sure if it was from some of the strong pain killers or what. Such a bummer though and she worries so much about it. My dad just has overall kidney/bladder issues, SO his wasn’t a surprise. I really need to sit out on the patio in the morning to do my devotion! I feel like by the time I do my workout and shower, the kids are already up and we get busy doing other stuff. My neighbors have a peach tree and those peaches are SO much better than the store ones!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
I had never thought about the possibility that my kidney disease might have come from a fall. I have never taken many pain killers, not even Tylenol, but maybe the fall did something to damage my kidneys? I have high calcium, too, which is how they caught the kidney issues. Your poor dad! He has had a time.
Hope you enjoyed Disney and are home unwinding now. Try sitting outside on the patio just for 15 minutes before the kids get up. It is so restorative!!
I keep going back and forth about having a fruit tree. I love to bake, but I know how they can attract bees and can be a lot of upkeep! So you are a purple pen person too? I love my purple pens and get kind of protective of them!
Our peach tree is accidentally by the pool equipment…the tree was there first. I think the equipment, when it is running, scares the birds so we don’t have a lot of trouble with them getting our fruit. But looks like this summer there weren’t be any fruit!! Thankful to have my frozen peaches from last year’s bumper crop.
All good choices. I’m just glad for all the nice warm weather we’re having and yes even if it’s labeled hot!!!
We are on our 7th day of triple digits. And had a rare rainstorm last night giving us humidity that we never have. Feels more like Houston or Dallas than El Paso.
Such a fun list! I love the idea of baseball tees for your husband’s games. Cute.
I need to read more. I haven’t picked up a book for fun in over a year. *grumble*
Boyfriend wash jeans? Hmmmm…
I need a water bottle, especially now that I’m running again.
So proud that you are running again. I can’t run and hold anything very well so I do my drinking before and after my runs. I do love my Contigo, though. It really is spill-proof when it is in the locked position. I have tested that feature several times when it has turned over in the car.
If you are looking for a good book, The Mother-in-Law is an interesting read. Thought-provoking and entertaining. I read it quickly, which never happens.