Tag: summertime

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, day in the life, family friendly, mom life, nature12 Comments

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great holiday weekend if you are in the U.S., or just a great past few days if not! We had a pretty relaxed few days, with the exception of our July 4th celebration with my family. We actually celebrated on the Monday instead of yesterday and it was nice to have yesterday as a rest day. Because we needed it!

I have not seen a few of my cousins or their families since the fourth of July party last year! My cousin has been hosting and his house is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for parties, and the day is just so perfect and filled with laughter. Wyatt (and by default Billy) spent hours in the pool, where the kids just swam and splashed and used squirt guns, while the rest of us adults caught up with each other in the shade. Other dads did duck in and out of the pool, as well as a few moms. I loved being able to hang out with my brother and cousins – we had an hour or so where it was just the five of us sitting around the table, chatting and laughing and remembering. And all the food!! So much food. Everything was delicious but my sister-in-law made some sort of ooey gooey peanut buttery thing and oh my gosh, it was amazing.

The weather was a bit unpredictable – we would have a few hours of straight sun, then a stray rain downpour would unleash itself on us all. The first few the kids just kept on playing in the pool, and the last one was just crazy and we all ran off for the various areas of cover. Billy and Wyatt and I ended up in the best spot – we headed for high ground and the pergola covered patio – also where all the food was.

Tiny Bebe girl met the next youngest little, my cousin Mike’s youngest son. Little kiddo was slightly alarmed to see his mom holding a different baby. Lol.

By the time we left, full of sun, memories, food, and pool time, we were exhausted and ready to clean up and put on our pajamas. It had been a fantastic day though.

Saturday and Sunday were so rainy! We did do some fun stuff over the weekend leading up to the holiday though, despite the storms that kept rolling through. Between the rain and the air quality (again ugh) we were stuck inside but we made good use of it, playing board games and reading and completing our tiny art for our library’s tiny art show!

I am not an artist but I had fun anyway. It was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon, painting our “submissions” to the show. Billy and I have a few details to add to our paintings but I will be turning them in later this week and they will be displayed in the library the whole month of August, along with everyone else who registered. From left to right – Wyatt’s sun and moon, Billy’s Panda King isopod, and my little brown snail. Lol.

All this rain has been good for the garden and the plants though!

We managed to squeeze in one bike ride before the rain and air quality got bad this weekend. And we took lots of drives and ate lots of watermelon.

And that was that! How about you all? What have you been up to?

Hello July!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn hygge11 Comments

“Summer was our best season: it was sleeping on the back screened porch in cots, or trying to sleep in the tree house; summer was everything good to eat; it was a thousand colors in a parched landscape…”
― Harper Lee

Summer should be whimsy. Summer should be about these small things that stick with you forever, and feel like those endless lazy days, filled with what you love, surrounded by all the life and color that summer brings. Listening to the songs of crickets on hot nights, watching the fireflies perform their flickering dance in the twilight, the sweetness of a strawberry straight from the garden… these are summertime thoughts. I was watching the YouTuber Desi last night, and she talked about how we all have glimmers, which are small little things that make us happy, that give us joys, that glimmer in our soul. The sound of a storm rolling in with the distant thunder booming, picnics in the park with my family spread out on our blankets with books in the shade of the trees, butterflies flitting here and there in my yard, landing on the flowers I have planted for them. The scent of my lavender, the buzzing of the bees, watermelon, walking barefoot, taking Wyatt on his bike rides. Summer road trips and northern Michigan. Planting sunflower seeds and watching how tall they grow. Iced cold tea, that has been brewed by the sun.

I try to make sure that Wyatt has all these experiences that will become his glimmers. I try to expose him to the world, to nature, to different places and people and things and sights. I know some things that he loves, like seeing and hearing a blue jay call outside, riding his bike, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing in his little play house while I garden around him, picking peaches, going to the library, spotting the moon, playing with his cousin Mermaid Girl around a backyard fire, swimming in his grandma’s pool.

One summer when I was a little kid, my mom and dad set up a giant tent one year in our yard. I loved taking my books and notebooks and pencils out there and just spending hours in there reading and writing and drawing, like my own little hideaway. I am actually going to have Billy put one up today in our yard, so that Wyatt and I can hang out in there reading and playing games and drawing, building new memories for Wyatt while I live out old ones.

I often wonder about what will stick with Wyatt as he grows older, become a core memory, those memories that are forever memories; will it be our moon parties we have with his cousin? Those nights around the fire? Watching our butterflies emerge from chrysalis and the tadpoles turn to frogs? Ice cream dinners or movie nights at home with popcorn his dad made?

Desi also made something I thought was sort of cool – a summertime mood board, filled with these glimmers. So I made mine. It is sort of neat and wild to think about how these small things that fill people up, these little shimmery glimmers, will be different for everyone. As soon as I post this, I am off to the other room where my husband is drinking his coffee and Wyatt is watching cartoons, to ask Billy what are his small things of summer that make him smile.

What about you? Any you want to share?

(And If you make a mood board and want to share, let me know! I am so curious and intrigued!)

Stephen King Summertime Reads

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading7 Comments

Stephen King and summertime go hand in hand for me. So many summers of my young adulthood were spent reading his books, scaring myself silly. I will always associate summer reading with Stephen King. I haven’t read as many of his books in recent years, I just can’t keep up anymore, but I do have a few on my list for this summer, that I hope to read. This list however, is of Stephen King books that I have read and loved and will always make me think of summer.

First up one of my two all time favorite Stephen King books – Bag of Bones.

I think this one flies under the radar a lot, and does not get the appreciation it deserves. It is fantastic, the story of a grieving man who retreats to his summerhouse to try to heal and write again, as he is a writer unable to write. While there, he meets a woman and her daughter, and..a ghost. I am all about a ghost book. I read this entire book out loud to Billy one summer, years after I had read it for the first time. There is a made for tv movie, but don’t watch it and don’t compare it to the book. The book is by far superior!

My second book on the list is my other favorite – another underappreciated King book, in my high opinion!

Joyland! I really can’t say it better than I said it in 2016 –

I loved this book so much; I didn’t want it to end! The feel of it was classic top of his game King. It put me in mind of Bag of Bones. Thinner, and The Body. The story was a sentimental and nostalgic coming of age story; there were triumphs and revelations and a bit of sadness too. The story is told from the point of view of Devin as a wistful older man, looking back at this summer, a monumental one that changed him forever.

It was weird reading this a bit, as two of the characters are named Erin and Devin, and my name is Erin and my brother’s name is Devin. Lol. I don’t usually encounter them too frequently in books, especially Devin, much less in the same book! (If you want to see my review that is on my old blog, click here!)

Ok the next ones are pretty classic!

Is there any horror fan out there who can think of summer without thinking of It? My cousin Brian and I read this the same summer and completely terrified ourselves!

These two go hand in hand! The Regulators, written under King’s pseudonym, and Desperation. Both are the same story, parallel universe type stuff, about the same monster. My brother and I for years and years would respond to each other in the language of Tak like complete nerds. We still do at times lol, most often thankee sai which is more Dark Tower. Anyways, I digress.

The next three were all part of compilations as either short stories or novellas.

I swear, this story is one reason I absolutely am terrified of swimming in open water. And I can’t see one of these rafts afloat in a lake without thinking of this story!! Originally part of Skeleton Crew, chockful of terrifying short stories…

Also known to my generation as the movie Stand by Me with River Phoenix (sigh..my young girl heart had such a crush). The story is just as compelling as the movie, and is another coming of age story like Joyland. Such a summertime Stephen King memory for me, especially renting this on VHS and watching it at slumber parties as a kid. Originally part of the Different Seasons book, which is one of my all time favorites of King’s as well.

Oy this book was so good but so terrible and made me cry. Why am I including it?? It is just sad. I could never revisit it now as an older person with a child. It would break my heart even more than it did before! However, I couldn’t leave it off of this list. It was originally published as part of the Bachman Books.

As for the books that are on my summer TBR, I have added the following two:

I am not a baseball fan, but I am a fan of baseball movies and stories. Blockade Billy just sounds so good and I am intrigued, what could be the secret in this one!! And 1922, eeek! I will probably not sleep for a few nights.

And since June is audiobook month, I’ve added Billy Summers to listen to – starting now!

I would love to reread Bag of Bones and Joyland this summer as well! I own all of his books except for those that came out in the past seven years, I think I may have to revisit my Stephen King collection after this meander down memory lane..

Some Sort of Domestic Flurry

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

I had originally intended to keep going at school like we have been, regular school days, the works. But this week, with getting ready for vacation, I let it slide. And I may continue to let it slide, I think we both need a real break, but more on that in another post. Regardless, no school has happened this week nor will it. We have been busy though!

Getting ready for a trip is so much work! I have my list made of hopefully everything we need, and started assembling it all on our dining room table. I have to work systematically. I will load everything on to the table, then pack it all up once it is all together. This is just how I roll and function best. So as I have been accumulating and gathering, I have also been working on other little projects as well.

First, I made soap! Melt and pour, but it turned out so cute and it smells so good! I used this recipe with a few additions – Coconut Citrus Sorbet scent and Kermit Green Mica for color, both from Brambleberry. I picked up my other supplies from Amazon. I also told Billy I wish I could have taken that photo next to a pond in our yard, hint hint.

And since we are going away, I am trying to use up and give away vegetables and strawberries from the garden so they don’t go to waste. So far the garden is only producing romaine lettuce and the aforementioned strawberries, but with this heat the romaine will bolt and the strawberries – well I can’t leave them behind. They are seriously the best strawberries ever. Sweet with a hint of tart. Just perfection. So the other day Wyatt and I went out and harvested the ripe ones. Or I did, while Wyatt ate lettuce and played. This was our biggest haul so far and I had to keep fetching more bowls and containers!

We ate some fresh, and then added some to pancakes. And I made a strawberry bread that is delicious! I am not the best baker at times (and pretty messy too), but this one turned out pretty darn good. I actually just ate a slice for breakfast, and it was quite yummy with my coffee. I sat on the porch looking at the fog and listening to the birds while I ate it, and it was a nice peaceful moment.

I also made two loaves of sandwich bread. We are trying to find a good, quick recipe and this one wasn’t too bad. Although, my loaves are very unattractive. It tastes amazing though, so I think I will keep working on it! I simply can’t post photos of them, so I will post these garden photos instead. The very first bloom on my David Austin Munstead Woods rose that I treated myself to with Christmas money a year ago. Sigh. It was a good pick. And then a Peck’s Skipper sitting on a leaf.

Today, my plan is to catch up on blogs and paint with Wyatt and read some books and finish packing. Oh! That reminds me! I finished the kids book Gone-Away Lake and I absolutely loved it! I think I will definitely read it as a family read aloud this summer. It is super cute and enchanting and whimsical and quirky, and full of nature! It reminds me of a fun, wild and free, perfect summer for childhood, and I definitely recommend it! It is more of an elementary read but I could see a little bit older kids enjoying it as well. I actually enjoyed this book so much that I immediately requested the sequel, Return to Gone-Away Lake, from the library.

What have you all been up to lately?