So I went about looking for a summer limited edition ice cream for my summer bucket list. I was having such an issue finding something and then it dawned on me, ALL ice cream is summer themed. The whole point of ice cream is “licking as fast as you can before it melts on your cone” season.

I checked the website of my local grocery stores to see what brands and flavors they had in stock. There are so many new brands of ice creams out there, I had no idea so many new ice cream companies were out there. There was a brand that caught my eye called Jen’s that looked promising. Going to their website I noticed that there were a shop that made such good ice cream the decided to share it with us non locals.

On their website they mentioned a summer treat called Lemon and Blueberry Partfait. They say it is a tart and uber creamy lemon with from-scratch blueberry jam in fresh cultured buttermilk and cream. Yum! That sounds perfect. So off to Vons to buy some ice cream.

As Summer winds down, I will miss ice cream, but heck I live in Southern California where the sun shines every day. Ice cream season is every month here.

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This year I decided to make a patriotic quilt. Generally when I make quilts I tend to lean toward Halloween (of course) and Christmas. So when I saw this pattern I really wanted to make it.

Once I had enough charms I went ahead and started to sew the star parts of the quilt. But once I got to the red and white stripes I ran out of charms. Crap. I dug thru my stash again and hit pay dirt. The quilt sewed up very fast but got a little heavy as I connected the rows together. My sewing area does not have the space to spread out a large quilt so it was a challenge but I did it with a bit of creativity.

Here my brother is holding up the finished quilt so you can see it. If you look carefully at the bottom you can see his dog’s foot. Oh that silly dog has to be in the middle of everything.

Now I have to get it quilted. I was thinking of a bright blue grunge backing. I can get it in the extra wide size so I don’t need to piece it together. For the quilt pattern I wanted something with stars or patriotic looking. I usually send my quilting to Missouri Star Quilt Company and they had this pattern which would work great.

or maybe this one

I am leaning towards the star spangled banner design. Quilting is expensive so I need to budget the cost. I usually put my own binding on to save money but it is not my favorite part of quilting.

I will post a picture of the finished quilt when I get it completed.

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Every year in July/August the Earth passes through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which last passed close to Earth in 1992.  Because it is so consistent each year it is easy to remember to catch its wonderful meteors shooting across the sky. From July 14-August 24 with a peak of August 11-12th you can catch the show.

The best time to look for meteors is in the pre-dawn hours. The peak viewing days are typically your best shot to see the sky speckled with bright meteors. To see the meteors, look up and to the north. Those in southern latitudes can look toward the northeast to see more meteors. If you are lucky enough to live in an area of little light at night you can see up to 100 meteors an hour.

Sadly I could not catch any this year as I live in an area with a lot of light. It is best to go drive out somewhere in the country or desert to avoid the harsh lights.

My Father worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was very aware of celestial events. He would bring me pictures of nebulas and interesting stars taken by NASA. One year we drove to the desert to spend the night looking up at the stars. I laid down on a cot and looked up all night. I had never had such a clear view of the sky. I remember asking my dad what that cloudy structure in the sky was. He looked at me like I was a dullard and said The Milky Way. He probably never realized I had never seen it before. I listened to coyotes howl while falling asleep under the stars. Being with my Dad I felt safe. Not sure if he got a good night sleep but it was a nice memory. I would like to do that again.

When I look at the sky, I always remember the quote from Carl Sagan which they used in the movie Contact. When asked about the possibility about other life out there, he said “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”

Carl also use to say there were billions and billions of stars out there. So it cracks me up with the classic Far Side cartoon about Carl when he was just a child. A child’s point of view is so small. As Earthlings, I think our point of view is very small also.

I for one, believe that there is life out there but may be something we could not recognize. People I know have seen unusual flying objects in the sky that are not “normal”. But so far no one admits to seeing other beings. Maybe they are amongst us. Who knows.

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I enjoy making playlists in Spotify so I can listen to tunes while driving in the car. I usually make a themed playlist for my favorite holidays but this is the first summer list I have done. I asked friends on Facebook what songs remind them of summer and also asked my siblings so I could get a good mix. I am not a summer person so I needed assistance in the proper summer feeling songs.

I think I came up with a pretty good playlist that was a mix of oldies but goodies, songs I listened to growing up and newer tunes that felt like summer.

I admit I am partial to the old 1940-1950 songs but there is not a summer playlist out there that does not include The Beach Boys.

It never hurts to have a playlist of snappy, happy tunes to make your day great!

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I think this should really be called a virtual walk thru the redwood forest. The beauty of YouTube is so many content creators make videos for all of us who want the experience but no longer have the ability to do this type of activity. I have watched videos of town/city tours, Halloween at Salem, walking tours of nature and even videos of watching streams babbling away. Most providing a sense of calm, or the awe of nature. I will have to add a tour of New England fall foliage and covered bridges for my Autumn bucket list (better write that down before I forget).

The video I chose is called Treadmill Virtual Hike-walking-Redwood National Forest Hike – 60 minutes ASMR. I chose this one because I find redwood forests so cool and calming. My soul feels replenished when I walk amongst the trees. I have been in Muir woods many times when visiting San Francisco, California.

Redwood trees can grow very tall, some up to 200-240 feet tall and can be very old. Some of these trees are at least 2,000 years old. The base of the trees can be 14-15 feet in diameter. Some of the biggest trees are up to 350 feet and 20 feet in diameter.

On this walk you can see the height of the trees although the view can make you dizzy. There are massive clusters of trees which create very shady spots on the trail. Although in some cases the sun is peeking thru open spots in the tree tops. There are beautiful green ferns growing in the shade of the trees and the hiker will stop at bridges and babbling brooks so you can enjoy the view. In one section there were several trees that had fallen. Based on their size, the park rangers cut a walk thru so you can continue on the path. So we were able to walk under several fallen trees on the path.

There were several walkers on the trail during the video. Most were respectful, but I am always amazed that a lot of people feel compelled to talk all the time. Stop talking, and feast your eyes on the beauty around you.

The video does not have music but you do hear the footsteps of the videographer which can be distracting. You also hear the water rushing when you get near streams, birds in the trees chirping away and the wind whistling thru the trees. I really wanted to take off my virtual walking shoes and dip my feet in the cool water when he stopped at the streams of water. Some places along the trail have benches to rest and admire the view. There are also some little pockets of interest where some fallen tree has created a fairy circle or a miniature hideout.

I recommend checking out this or other videos that take you on a walk or tour. For the active viewers you can do a stationary bike or walking machine. For the couch potatoes out there like me, you can watch while doing a cross stitch project.

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I saw a short on YouTube on a beautiful violet color lemonade tea drink called Lavender Butterfly Pea Lemonade. It looks so beautiful to drink and admire.

I have never heard of Butterfly Pea tea. When I made it, it was such a vivid blue color. It almost felt fake because it was so intense like a beautiful lake high in the mountains.

But what makes this tea so interesting is once you add lemon, it changes from blue to violet. If you add the lemonade slowly you can have a two color look to your drink.

To make it more special I added the lavender syrup and edible glitter. A sprig of lavender and you have a refreshing and colorful drink for the summer. I did add the lemonade too quickly and it mixed it too much, but it was still a pretty drink.

The recipe was easy

1. Steep a cup of Butterfly Pea tea, let cool
2. Add ice into a pretty glass
3. Add the tea into the glass and slowly add in lemonade making sure you do it slowly so there are two colors
4. Add a teaspoon of Lavender Syrup (you can add the syrup to the tea before adding in lemonade if you really want to separate the colors)
5. Sprinkle the glitter into the glass and garnish with a lavender sprig

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I fondly recall going on a wine trip with my sister and her husband where one of the wineries had a grove of peach trees. They recently harvested the trees and we bought some white peaches. I have never tasted anything so wonderful, juicy and perfect as those peaches. Since then, I have craved those peaches.

I recently bought a box of white peaches from Sam’s Club and have enjoyed eating a bowl of peaches for breakfast during the week. I am not sure why white peaches taste better than yellow. Maybe it is tied to my memory of that wine trip.

I wanted to make a peach dessert using peaches. I ended up eating a lot of those peaches from Sam’s club so I had to use can peaches for the dessert.

I made a Peach Crisp that I found on Instagram.

It was a pretty easy recipe. We decided to have ice cream with yummy warm peach crisp.

Ingredients

• 45 oz canned peaches, drained (about 4 cups sliced peaches)
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
• ¼ cup salted butter, softened

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Drain the peaches and place them in a 8×8 baking dish.
• In small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle it evenly over the peaches.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, brown sugar and flour. Mix it together well.
• Add the soft butter and cut into the oat mix with a pastry blenderor your fingers until it resembles course crumbs.
• Evenly sprinkle the streusel topping over the peaches.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
• Let cool for 15 minutes and serve warm with ice cream.

Recipe from Heathers Homemade Kitchen blog. Thanks Heather!

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Nothing says Summer more than the beach. The beach and more importantly, the classic scenic view with a lighthouse which is paramount to the vision of summer. When I visited my friend in New Hampshire I had the pleasure of seeing a lighthouse. Somewhere in my pile of non digital photos is that picture I took while standing on the beach. However with the magic of the internet I found a similar picture.

Did you know August 7th is National Lighthouse Day.

Here are some facts about lighthouses:

There are 779 standing lighthouses in the United States.

Michigan boasts the most lighthouses of any US State.

Lighthouses have different color patterns to help the mariner identify them during the day.

Lighthouses height range from 50 to 200 feet tall

The light from a lighthouse can typically be seen 20 miles away

The height of a lighthouse takes into account the curvature of the earth, so the higher light above MHW (mean high water), the further away it can be seen at sea. But the light should not be so high up that local sailors will not see it. This is why you will frequently get shorter lighthouses on the top of cliffs and taller lighthouses built nearer the water surface.

These days, lighthouses are run by machines and remote monitoring. The automatic sensors decide if there is extra moisture in the air, and if so turn on the fog signals. Radio signals are used to communicate with the ships. But some lighthouses are still manned by people.

Lighthouses are great tourist attractions. I can vouch for that. When I know there is a lighthouse nearby, I want to see it.

Lake Havasu’s 400 miles of stunning shoreline hosts an impressive collection of 28 scaled-down lighthouse replicas. All are actual functioning navigational aids. 

Many books and movies feature lighthouses. The below are a few movies. What an interesting backdrop to a movie. Lighthouses have such history and let’s be honest they can be a bit spooky.

The Lighthouse (1998)
Pete’s Dragon
The Vanishing
The Fog
Lighthouse
To the Lighthouse

Some of my favorite lighthouses:

A classic striped lighthouse.

A lighthouse at dusk sitting on rocks.

Split Rock Lighthouse, Silver Bay Minnesota

St. Helena Island Lighthouse, St. Helena Island, Michigan

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, Lubec, Maine

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon

Tourlitis Lighthouse, Greece

So many unusual and beautiful lighthouses that have saved countless lives. Thank you for checking out my blog and the mini lesson on lighthouses.

Finding a summer poem I would like was not so easy. Generally I am not about the hot days or summer activities. But when I saw this poem by Emily Brontë I knew this was perfect as it spoke of cooler nights and the magic of the moon.

‘Tis moonlight, summer moonlight, 
All soft and still and fair; 
The solemn hour of midnight 
Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,

But most where trees are sending 
Their breezy boughs on high, 
Or stooping low are lending 
A shelter from the sky.

And there in those wild bowers 
A lovely form is laid; 
Green grass and dew-steeped flowers 
Wave gently round her head.

The moon and all its magic works hard at night to bring sweetness to the earth come morning dew.

Such a pretty poem to be read.

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Nothing says summer like sunflowers and lemonade. When I ran to the store to grab a quick item I saw a woman coming out of the store with several bouquets of sunflowers. I beelined to the florist shop and saw the sunflowers were on sale. I grabbed a bundle knowing it would brighten the kitchen.

The flowers are so sunny and friendly.

On a recent Bath and Body works order I received a free candle and I chose a lemon scent. It was called Sugared Lemonade. How yummy sounding is that. The fragrance notes are fresh lemon juice, sugar crystals and crushed ice. The scent is heavenly. Really reminds me of lemonade.

Speaking of lemonade. I bought a bunch of lemons with the intention of making homemade lemonade. I have never made lemonade with fresh squeezed lemons. I tend to just buy the stuff premade.

The recipe was super easy.

1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Heat on the stove to dissolve the sugar. Once desolved, cool down for at least 10 minutes.

Squeeze fresh lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice. Hint: roll the lemons back and forth before cutting in half. This helps release the juice.

Add lemon juice and sugar water together. Add 5 cups of water. Chill. If you cannot wait, pour over ice and drink up. It was so refreshing.

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