August Lately: Lazy Days of Summer? I Don't Think So!

Thank you for your suggestions to save my table cloth. I picked up some oxy clean at the store yesterday (looked for blueing, but couldn't find any) and will try it tonight.

The boys and I have been busy. Between nearly-constant temper tantrums and sibling squabbles (they're 3 and 9. Someone PLEASE tell me it gets easier!) we have managed to squeeze in lots of fun summer stuff.

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunny day, despite the thunderstorms that had been predicted. In the morning we made grape juice popsicles and took a nice long walk. After lunch and swimming lessons, we decided to make some mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Word to the wise- don't try to substitute table salt for rock salt in your home ice cream maker. It won't work! We'll try again tonight with rock salt and hopefully we'll have success.

Spaghetti and home-made meatballs with bell pepper sauce and fresh mozzarella on a blanket in the back yard with blueberries for dessert. Heaven. Pure heaven. I love summer!

This morning I washed and pressed some more of my recent thrift finds. These were from a grab-bag of fabric that I got for two dollars:

The light blue is actually this nifty seagull print:

And I'm also excited that my latest fabric splurge arrived. I love everything about these prints. I'm very much into blue and green right now, so I just had to have them. The one on top was a freebie that the seller threw in because of a delay in shipping my order (which was not her fault). Now, if I could just find my muse and keep her around for a few hours...

Have I mentioned the color-iffic swap-o-rama? There's a link in my side bar. It's a very cool crafty swap where each month you get a new color theme and a secret partner. Besides sending anything from candy to craft supplies in the designated colors, you also have to include one handmade item. You can visit your partner's profile on flickr and swap-bot, and check out their blog (if they have one) to get a feel for what kinds of things they like and really customize the package to them.

I joined just after the aqua blue and brown packages were sent, and was totally bummed that I missed out on that theme. Luckily for me, a lovely gal named Lori saw my post about it in the group and asked if I'd like to do a personal swap since we both missed out. Yay! I'll be sending it out this week Lori!

I just got my swap partner for August, which is a rainbow color theme. This will be an interesting challenge since this person has very different tastes from me. Hooray for creative challenges! Maybe just the thing I need to get back into creating mode.