Thursday, June 16, 2016

The best time - EVER

It’s here…it’s finalllllly here. After months of this….

                                      And this….


Summer has finally danced her way into the cold corner of Michigan that I call home. I love summer. While love is a mild adjective I’m not really sure of an appropriate stronger one. I love summer for many different reasons. But one isn’t the lack of a crazy day job. I miss my kiddos – not the adults but the kiddos.

Here are my top five reasons I love summer….

#1 - I get to hang out here ....
#2 I get to play here 
Hubby, Daughter, and grandson waiting to be pulled 













#3 I get to spend hours with him

#4 I get to sit here and read while drinking martinis














And finally, I get to write. While I write during the cold winter months, the words seem to flow easier when I’m not huddled in a blanket using my laptop as a heat source. I have BIG plans for this summer. Since my word of the year is reinvent (a concept I read about in insert book title), these next three months are key to make that happen.  I’ve rough drafted four projects since January. Now the next three months are going to ‘hard’ butt in seat months of edits and getting them ready to submit. I’m hoping to draft another two in the fall but one is more realistic since fall is a super crazy at the crazy day job.

And a bonus reason I love the summer is all the super yummy fruits we grow here at the ends of the earth Michigan. Here is one of favorite… A super easy strawberry salsa perfect for an appetizer, snack, or served as a dessert topping with cake or ice cream.

What you need:

  • 1/2 ounce balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 ounce honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 pound strawberries, diced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
  • zest of 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)



What you do:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, honey, salt and pepper until combined well.
  2. Add diced strawberries, chopped basil and lemon zest and stir together until incorporated.
  3. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.
  4. Serve with pita chips, corn chips, or as a dessert topping. (Cinnamon pita chips are wonderful with this salsa!)

I'd love to hear about your favorite time of year and why

2 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Definitely Not summer. I'm a cool weather person (not Arctic cold) but the last couple of days in the 50's and 60's are good days. I like the lower to mid-70's but then it gets dicey for me. I don't tolerate humidity at all so I can do hotter in dryer climates.

Love the water pictures. But here in Oregon, I prefer the rugged coast with waves crashing on the rocks. I think I'd do well in winter looking out at your lighthouse with a hot cup of brandied tea or Irish coffee (made with decaf).

What was the name of the book that spoke about "reinvent"? Sounds like a Deepak Chopra book or maybe Wayne Dyer.

Diana McCollum said...

What part of Michigan do you live in? I lived in Gaylord, MI for 2 years and in Pinnconning, MI for 2 years, moved back to California. And then back to Mio, MI for 5 yrs. and back again to Calif. Now live in Bend, OR. We did a lot of fishing on the great lakes, Huron mostly. Loved the cherries from Travis City. Mio, MI weather was great. Almost no humidity and average temp was 75 to 80 in the summer. My kind of weather. What is the name of the book on Reinventing? I'm reading a good book now called "Grit" by Angela Duckworth. She tells many examples of Grit. The one I like best is about an average student who wasn't smart enough for the gifted program because of his IQ. He asked for more homework, spent time after school and during lunch working on math, & surpassed the gifted math students and his teacher demanded he be tested again, he was advanced to the gifted program even though his IQ was still average. Great blog post.