8.04.2012

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

Wow, what happened to summer break?

I know it's over, because our daughter, the teacher, went back to school on Wednesday.  She taught high school science for six years, but after three years of religious formation, she's now teaching high school religion.  Who says religion and science don't mix?   This girl is equally right and left brained, so I know she'll somehow link Atoms and Eve.  

She got all these school supplies for about thirty bucks at Toys R Us.   There's going to be a lot of coloring and pasting in religion class.  



Another sign summer is fading is that our garden, which was hearty in June....

...is now...well...not so hearty.


All we have left are green tomatoes, brown leaves, and several dirty plant tags.  I hope the 'maters ripen, because that gives me an excuse to buy bacon.  'Bacon' is not normally a word we speak in this household.



We had a little mishap in the steamy heat this summer.  My PT Cruiser had a flat tire.  OK, I swiped a curb too close, and the tire sprung a leak.  A really fast one that deflated the tire in about two minutes.  My girl and I were in the Kohl's parking lot, so we didn't have to push the car off the road, thank God.


We did the best we could to change the thing.  Well, the religion teacher worked hard while I took pictures.


We eventually reached the limit of what we could do, then called our Knight in Shining Armor, who took a break from jousting practice to get us back on the road.


I'm grateful to have a man in my life who can fix most anything, and I don't mind calling on him.  If this makes me a weak, dependent, I'd-rather-take-pictures-than-change-a-tire kind of woman....I'm OK with that. 


With the donut tire on the Cruiser, the Knight advised us to head straight home.  We said we'd finish shopping first.   It just made sense.  The car was just sitting there, not driving on the donut.  The Knight just shook his head and galloped off.

My daughter and I had a girl's night this summer as well, where we house-sat for a friend.  We watched Step Mom and ate glorious summer cherries and cleaned the friend's linen closet.  I also did sock curls on my girl's head before she got her hair cut the next day.

Sock curling (not to be confused with Olympic curling) is something I found on Pinterest.  We Googled it to learn more and then laughed our way through the process.



The great thing about the socks is they're soft to sleep on (and they give you a Basset Hound feeling.)  In the morning, we had loose, soft curls.  


Which are now gone, because teachers can't be fiddling with long hair during the school year.  But, boy, did we have fun.  

Another thing that got a summer haircut was our backyard scrub oak.  It had grown higher than the house and was taking over the roof.  It took about five hours to trim it back from this...

...to this.  


I'm thinking our garden will do better next summer, now that the oak isn't blocking the sunlight.  One can always hope.  

One final summer pic.  Here in Florida, there is a strip of land called Merritt Island.  On this magical piece of soil, the best mangoes in the U.S. grow.  In mango season, you can drive along the island and find baskets of mangoes for cheap.  

I have to be careful with mangoes, because I'm allergic to urshiol, the allergen just under the mango skin.  (For that story, click: HERE.)  But, if I scrub well after the peeling process, I'm in mango heaven.  I picked up a few Merritt Island mangoes this week and have been over-dosing on them since.  

Aren't they gorgeous?  I think the snake tempted Eve with a mango.  They flourish in tropical gardens like Paradise (the LOST survivors were always eating mangoes,) and apples can be resisted.  They're OK, but they're not mangoes. 

And, so the summer fades into the school year.  Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  


18 comments:

Lilly Forever! said...

Wow Mare, what a summer you have had! You should be so proud of your daughter, such a bright and beautiful young woman. Ugh - the flat tire - those are always bad news! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

renae said...

Oh say it isn't so! It's only the beginning of August. It's first weekend.

Ms. Ball it is far too soon to be talking about school starting and fall being upon us! hahaha.

hey - tell me this same post in a month ok. It's 92• at it's 6:20 pm here in Utah and we are still enjoying summer and ... I haven't got all my spray painting done yet!!!!!!

:D

Plant Seeds of Happiness said...

oh my gosh I L O V E mangoes!!! and I will not fix a flat tire I too have a knight for those duties. I am glad you got some daughter time in and what a great movie to watch I love that movie & cry so much thru it that well I CRY thru it LOL. Enjoy the tailend of Aug :))

Dana said...

That BLT picture has me drooling! We also rarely have bacon, even though we love it. Yesterday in the grocery store, clerks were giving out samples of BLTs--wonderful!

Happy Sunday!

Jaime said...

Sounds like a wonderful summer. One of the houses I lived in had a mango tree in the back yard. My husband & I were in heaven.

Cari said...

Mangoes=heaven on Earth. Way to find a way past the allergy!!! We do smoothies with them all the time, yum! I must say, I am jealous of your green maters. I LOVE fried green tomatoes with a little Balsamic Vinaigrette. More than mangoes, even. I will admit, I would not have even tried to change the flat and would've called everyone and anyone to do that for me. Yes might be weak, meh. So good for you ladies for trying. I could probably do it, I just don't want to, lol!

Tamera Brose said...

Yesterday was the hottest and muggiest it has been here this summer. Friday wasn't much better and yet, even with the heat, all I could think of was how soon autumn would be here. I'm hoping our tomatoes ripen before anything happens to them. I have big plans and some of them include bacon. The students in your daughter's class will be fortunate indeed.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

My dad loves mangos they are his all time favourtie fruit me I can take them or leave them........lol Hubby loves tomatos and grows his own too but since we are in winter he doesn't have any of them.......and they are expensive to buy at the moment on Friday they were $8 a kilo.
Any lets move on to bacon I love bacon......love it you hear me love it.....lol The hair turned out great never heard of sock curling......When it comes to changing a tyre I leave that to people who know what they are doing which isn't me............lol

Michael Ann said...

I just got 5 big beautiful tomatoes from a friend's garden. Had a tomato and mayo open face sandwich for lunch and it was SO GOOD! I know, I'm sad summer is coming to an end too. I work for the school district too. Every girl needs a knight in shining armor!

Marie said...

You've had a busy summer! My son starts school in a week. A little earlier than the county, but he'll be finished early May so he likes that.:) Maybe next year we'll have a garden. :) We love bacon and I don't buy it often, so when I do it doesn't last long!

Lynn Proctor said...

i like having a knight like that too-i have never had to change a tire--wow i am surprised a little curb swipe would do that--see what i mean about tires, they need to make stronger ones!! those mangoes do look great----and love that oak tree-enjoy the embers of summer :)

Karen Jones Gowen said...

I like how you capsulized your summer so well in words and photos! I've never heard of sock curlers. I want to try it!

Joyce said...

I enjoyed this snapshot into your summer. I love mangoes too, and while they don't grow here they are fairly easy to find in the market so I buy them often.

Danielle L Zecher said...

I like having a knight too. We can't all be good at everything! :-)

Your mangoes sound divine. I love them too, but am absolutely horrible at buying them. Any tips on how to pick them out?

Melanie said...

Poor garden, but yummy mangoes! I miss them on my diet. It's so nice that you and your daughter got to spend so much time together. I'm jealous.

Joanne said...

Thank God for those knights in shining armour! Those sock curlers are hilarious, but I am totally going to try this with my daughter! Love your Blog! Thanks for all those cool comments on mine.

Kate OMara said...

It's always fun to read your blog. Please accept this award.


Pick up the blog award at http://whenkateblogs.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-liebster-blog-award.html

Anonymous said...

"Atoms and Eve" ... very clever!

Does Joan make a mangoe pie?