I’m back and ready to pick up where we left off—where was that, exactly?  Happy Wednesday!  Summer is not quite finished yet.  The summer weather here in SoCal has been manageable overall.  We typically get really hot in September, just when I start to think about cool weather, fires in the fireplace and turtleneck sweaters!

Labor Day marks the ceremonial end of summer, but there are still a good few weeks to enjoy the season, even after the three-day weekend ends and schools begin their calendar year. This year, the last day of summer is officially on Sept. 22.

As I mentioned on National Ice Cream Day (third Sunday in July), I’ve worked hard on relaxing during my off hours.  I know it’s weird to say I have to work hard to relax, but it’s the truth.  As my mother used to say, “Karen, sit still!”

This is what I’ve been up to…

I did a lot of gardening, made plenty of time for entertaining friends and family and actually relaxed a little more than usual.

I shared the patio garden reveal back in March.  I wanted to update you with it’s progress.

March 30, 2016: Newly planted patio garden

June 22, 2016:  My, how you’ve grown!

The heliotrope and Polygala ‘petite butterfly’ have filled in nicely.  Yes, I share the garden with a variety of caterpillars who have been munching on the leaves of the heliotrope as you can see on the leaves in this picture.  The delphinium are getting ready to bloom for the second time and the iceberg roses are photo bombing this image (in the background). They’re such show offs.  😉

About the time I feel as if maybe I’m pretty good at gardening I try my hand at planting a few tomato plants and this happens.  Gardening can keep you humble with the frequent occasional failure.

I don’t usually plant edibles, except for a few herbs.  I have only one spot in the yard that gets “full sun”.  So this year I planted 3 small tomato plants in the large clay pot (above-right), in the sunniest location we have.  Did I over water?  Possibly.  The leaves started turning yellow and then shriveling up.  Experts on growing tomatoes [in blogland] weigh in, please.  I’d love to be able to grow a tomato in this planter.

Here are the other tomato plants, they seem to be surviving.  They are in the ground. Wish me luck.  We’ve already seen evidence of a critter taking the green tomatoes off the vine and sampling them!  {Note to self: This is why I buy my produce at the market} 🙂

One of our close friend’s had a milestone birthday and we hosted a small dinner party for him.  It was very fun and since he’s the first to hit this “milestone” birthday, we teased him unmercifully about age!

I used the Portmerion Botanic Garden dishes, my wooden handled flatware, and my green and white plaid napkins for the summer party.

The handsome guy with the apron is our guest of honor.  We found the apron HERE. It’s a fun gift for a guy that enjoys grilling!

Recipe and table settings for summer entertaining.

We logged in some wonderful family time, complete with our Austin son and family.  Seeing the cousins enjoy themselves while the “adult kids” caught up warmed my heart beyond measure.  Icing on the cake!  Olivia, our 5 years old granddaughter marching and singing, which tickled Fae our 1 1/2 year old! {bottom picture: Fae at our local park—playing at the “cafe”}

We celebrated with long time friends (almost family) at the wedding of their oldest daughter in a spot that is so swoon worthy—add a romantic wedding and I’m a puddle of warmth and emotions.

Congratulations to the wonderful couple and best wishes to our dear friends, Gretchen and Stu!

I read a few books and by far, my favorite was Eligible: A Modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld.  It was a fun read that stayed mostly true to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

This pretty much sums up summer.  My day job is great and I enjoy the challenges and the camaraderie it provides. What have you been up to?

Karen♥