Things Break

     It seems like, just like lightbulbs that all burn out at the same time, appliances and vehicles need replacing or repairing all in the span of a month or two.

In June the dishwasher began making a horrible grinding noise when it was turned on, and since it was 10 years old we replaced it.  I like the new one much better!  However, it seemed to start a trend.  Now the washing machine is broken and the repairman quoted a price to fix it that is as much as a new one costs.  So a-shopping we will go!  New things are nice, but they are also pricey so bye-bye savings!  The ice maker on the refrigerator stopped producing ice, but at least that was something I was able to remedy myself.  All I had to do was clean under the refrigerator where the coils are and the ice maker resumed operation.  Note to self—clean under there regularly!  As for lightbulbs, all the ones in the kitchen burned out the same week.  I replaced them all so I guess that I can expect a repeat of that whenever they reach the end of their life.  My van needed new tires and some other service, and the wheelchair brakes haven’t held well in a very long time; random pieces of it fall off—a footplate, an armrest, the covering on the padding.  We ordered a new wheelchair and hopefully, if insurance doesn’t hold it up, it should be delivered to our princess in October, just in time for Halloween.  We had to replace the basement door due to it rusting and the sill rotting away, thus allowing water and debris (and who knows what else—yikes!) in.

It just seems like some years are like that.  Every time you turn around something else needs attention.  Fingers crossed that the washing machine is the end of it!

Christmas in July

I don’t know how Christmas in July started, or when, but I think it was likely some creative retailer’s way to increase sales in the middle of the summer when people have better things to do than shop.  The first I ever heard of it was when my kids were young and a teacher in the summer program asked if anyone had a table top artificial Christmas tree they could borrow.  After that I started to notice it in stores, so I guess it’s like when you’re looking to buy a red car all you see are red cars, even though they have likely been there all along without you taking any notice.  This year I decided to take it out of the background of my consciousness and act upon it.

It started with noticing that I had too many baking supplies in my pantry that I bought last December and didn’t use.  Even though we have been having some record breaking hot weather around here, I decided to do some baking.  I started with Fudge Nut Bars, and while they were baking I decided that I would write a long overdue letter to my friend who lives far away.  Then I decided that to save me from myself, (if I have the cookies in the house, I’m going to eat them; all of them.), so I packaged some in a Christmas themed container and mailed them to her along with the letter.  I also sent a plate of them with my daughter to put in the break room where she works.  I reasoned with myself that everyone bakes in December, but nobody really does in July.  Since I’m not working in the summer, and we are lucky enough to have central air conditioning, I enjoy baking year round.  I still had an abundance of baking supplies and my next temptation was chocolate chip cookies.  I must confess I have given none of them away; instead we’ve been munching away on them.  I had over ripe bananas so I made banana bread, one loaf I kept, and the other I took to an indoor cookout. (Yup, it’s an oxymoron but that’s what it was due to the excessive heat.)  Then someone in my husband’s office gave him a huge zucchini, perhaps it weighed about 4 lbs., and was over 2 feet long.  I made zucchini bread with that, and some fritters.  I kept one loaf of the bread, sent one to the woman who gave us the monstrosity, and gave one to the staff at my daughter’s day program.  They were so thankful for the treat!  Then I had more overripe bananas, so I made chocolate chip banana cupcakes with vanilla frosting.  I packaged up half of them and took to her physical therapist and staff saying “Merry Christmas in July!”  They enjoyed them, and I enjoyed how they dug right in and her assistant, with a little frosting on the corner of his lips declared them “So good!”

You know, it doesn’t take much to make people happy, to brighten their day.  Home baked goods always seem to be welcomed, and especially so in the summer when nobody else is giving them out. I still have various dried fruits, nuts, and some of the chocolate chips left, and time for doing things I enjoy.  I’m guessing there’s more baking in the near future and surprises in store for some lucky friends.

Is it Summer?

I think everyone has their own idea of what you do in the summer.  Some like to spend as much time in and on the water as possible swimming, boating, waterskiing, or just relaxing on the beach with toes in the sand soaking up the sun. For others, it’s a trip to the mountains to hike, or to camp, or flying off to a faraway place to see amazing sights and experience different cultures.  Then there are those, who like me, think that it isn’t summer unless there are cookouts, iced tea, and other activities close to home.

When I was younger there were cookouts in the summer in my parents’ back yard with my mother’s homemade potato and macaroni salads, burgers and dogs on the grill, iced tea and lemonade, and toasted marshmallows for dessert.  When I grew up my husband and I took picnics to state parks and cooked our burgers on the charcoal grills there.  Once we bought our house we had a gas grill and still had cookouts.  As time went on and our children grew up we spent less and less time outside in the summer, and a few years ago I realized that unless I purposely went outside I was spending all my summer inside in the air conditioning.  But if you’re not sweating, is it even Summer? I push myself to take a book outside on a hot summer day and read in the shade, or go to the park for a walk where the smell of the hot sun on a field covered in white clover with honey bees and butterflies flitting flower to flower brings me back to my childhood when summer was spent outside.

Recently my husband and I attended a cookout at a friend’s house where we were greeted by the sight of colorful chairs arranged in a circle around a fire pit.  It was a small gathering of friends, each one bringing a side dish to share, and hot dogs and hamburgers provided by the hosts.  The sun set as we laughed and ate, and just as a birthday cake was lit for one of our friends, lightning bugs rose out of the grass and bushes creating a light show as we sang the birthday song.  It was a warm evening so we didn’t light the fire, but citronella torches were lit and we lingered there in the growing darkness merrily chatting over coffee.  It was a lovely time and it wasn’t until we were in the car driving home that I realized the mosquitos had been feasting on my legs.  They were so itchy!  Calamine lotion gave a brief respite from the irritation of the large welts the bugs caused.  While it was uncomfortable to have the bites on my legs, I wondered to myself, is it really Summer if you don’t get any mosquito bites?

Summer is such a seemingly short season, even though the days are long and hot, that we try to pack as much into it as we can.  Vacation trips, recreation, and cookouts make the 3 months of summer memorable for many.  Pack in as much outdoors time as you can so that once the cooler weather hits and your chased indoors you don’t ask yourself if it was really ever summer.