~Summer~

After fall, summer is my next most favourite season. The long, warm days, all that sunshine, iced tea, lemonade, ice cream, B.B.Q's, Canada Day, fireworks, swimming at the lake, building sandcastles, sitting around camp fires. What's not to love about summer?

Picnics are a great summertime adventure. Pack all your favourites and head out to the beach, lake, or park. Sandwiches, potato chips, strawberries, watermelon, iced tea, and lemonade are all great picnic foods. Don't forget to take a blanket or tablecloth along with you!

Find out when strawberry season begins for your area and plan to go pick some of your own. Take the children along and teach them how to find and pick the perfect strawberry. They love to go picking! While not all fields will allow children, many will and it is a great experience for them. I remember taking my niece and hearing her constant cries of "Is this one red?" The picking took twice as long but it was also twice as much fun and something that she still remembers and talks about 7 years later.

One of my most favourite things about the summer is B.B.Q's. Somehow the food just tastes better when it is cooked on the grill, especially potatoes! While a roast takes longer to cook on the rotisserie over the grill, it's terrific taste makes it well worth the wait! Backyard parties are a favourite of mine. If you are in need of extra space for chilling beverages, why not go beyond the norm. Forget the cooler and try something new. Empty and clean the birdbath, line it with plastic and it is big enough to hold a punch bowl and glasses, surrounded by lots of ice. Clean and line your wheelbarrow, fill it with ice, and this too can act as a cooler. Sap buckets or florists buckets look great filled with ice and hold bottles beautifully. Clean, line and fill a planter with ice and it will hold pitchers of lemonade, iced tea, or anything else you may dream up. Below is a recipe for "Sun Tea" that you might enjoy trying!

Sun Tea

~Ingredients~

1 ounce tea, bagged or loose

1 gallon water

1 sunny day

Fresh mint sprigs or citrus slices for garnish

Place the tea in a lidded jar that will hold at least 1 gallon. Fill the jar with a gallon of water, and tighten the lid.

Place the jar in a sunny spot outdoors, and allow the tea to brew for 4 hours.

Garnish with mint or citrus before serving.

I love candles all year long! After spending so much of the winter indoors, it is always nice to get outside again. I love to sit on the deck and just enjoy the stillness of the night and the magic of the stars. Somehow, sitting in the candle light just makes this experience a little more enjoyable for me. Minnow buckets make great luminaries when you place a couple of candles inside. The light shines through the various holes and casts a great glow. Or, you could fill some terra-cotta planters with sand and add pillar candles for light. You may change the look of these by adding a hurricane shade.

Another neat and inexpensive thing to try is fish bowl or rose bowl decoupage luminaries.

~Materials Needed~

Glass container, rose bowls or fish bowls work well

Tissue paper

Decoupage medium

Paint brush or sponge brush

Aerosol acrylic sealer

Pillar or votive candles

Cut the tissue paper into small pieces, varying shapes and sizes, Apply a thin layer of decoupage to one piece of paper, using paint brush or sponge applicator. Position paper on outside of container; gently smooth into place with fingers. Continue to apply paper randomly, overlapping, until the entire container has been covered. Don't forget to cover the rim too! Once you have covered the entire container, spray lightly with the acrylic sealer, allow to dry completely and then apply a second coat. Place pillar or votive candle in centre of container and you are all set. Enjoy! If you wish you could use smaller bowls to line a deck rail and then use a larger bowl as a centrepiece.

Another neat idea for a fish or rose bowl, is to wrap it in sheets of mylar and tie a bow around the top using wired ribbon. Place a votive or pillar in the container and when lit, you get a terrific shimmery effect! Shabby chic to the max!!!

Special thanks to Grace,

~Happy Summer Everyone~

~Home~

~Robinson's Heart Warmers 1998-2002~