Personal

I've noticed a trend in the blogs I read both in the posts themselves and confessions buried in comments. Burn out, over-work, stress, busy living.

Here's my confession: I am coming off from a month of that myself. Unfortunately, I feel in good company (like I mentioned above). The intensity of jamming all the goodness of summer living into two short months together with usual family and life obligations can lead to summer burn out quick enough.

Been there, done that. Moving on.

Later this week I may have time to write about the busyness, the burn out and melt down. This is a cycle I go through sometimes and I am not immune to the temptations to over-schedule life. But I live and learn.

And I swim. Granted, I don't swim as often as my children would like. They like nothing more than me joining them in the water, however I'm mostly a beach mama with an occasional dip to cool off. 

We had a wonderful time visiting our friends in NH this weekend and they took us somewhere special, an honest-to-goodness secret swimming hole. A little pool made with a small rock dam in a fresh flowing river. Sweet. 

The kids loved it immensely and it has raised the bar significantly for swimming experiences. I think it will be one of those "this is good but nothing like that swimming hole in NH" memories. 

Life has been busy (ok a little crazy) but we're still making memories, eating well and staying healthy. Now I'm ready for a little rest and of course more swimming. 

This weekend is fourth of July here in the States. Being that we are Canadians we don't make a big deal of this holiday but have always appreciated Damien getting a day off from work!

Despite the fact that we're not big flag wavers I was inspired to pull together a red, white and blue bouquet this week. Problem is I don't have any red flowers. At one time I had a gorgeous red blanket flower (Gaillardia, an awesome garden perennial by the way) but it died back one winter and I haven't replaced it.

So this is all I was able to come up with. Blue hydrangeas, a white chrysanthemum of sorts and red raspberries - all from our garden.

When we came home from our vacation the raspberries were ready to be picked and we have many white berries that will yet ripen. Raspberry season is one of my favorites and this fruit especially brings many memories to mind, both in the picking and eating. 

This weekend as Americans celebrate freedom with parties and fireworks (hopefully we will take in some of both) I feel so grateful for all I have been given.

Memories of loved ones and a wonderfully supportive family, a lifetime partner and friend, beautiful daughters and a sunshine boy (whom I'm keenly missing right now). The blessing of being born in one free country and the privilege of living in another. The food on our table from both near and far and this snug and safe nest I call home. 

What do you appreciate during such celebrations?

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Next week I will be drawing a winner for my soap giveaway from the May and June participants of Friday's Flowers. I will be drawing another winner in August from the July and August participants so please join in.

If you are participating in Friday's Flowers linky list please consider the following:

• Your post should have a photo of a bouquet in it. I'm not going to be a rule task-master about this but the idea of Friday's Flowers is to bring them into our homes, or share them with others; to enjoy the bounty of summer's blossom both indoors and out.
• Your post should link back to this particular post on FIMBY. You get that link by copying the URL address from this window. If you are new to html you can contact me for assistance.

If you're just visiting today and want to know what's going on please read this post. Use the linky feature below to share your bouquet blossoms.

Pick some flowers, arrange 'em pretty, take a photo, post it to your blog, visit Friday's Flowers to share it with us.

Sunday night we arrived home from an eight day camping vacation in the Gaspésie region of Quebec, Canada. This is the same area we visited after this past Christmas. 

Monday was spent as post trips days go: a bit of laundry, a run to the produce stand, some time in the garden, processing trip photos, finding my menu mojo, crafts for the kids (Brienne spent the day making these adorable gnomes) and slowly cleaning up and putting away gear. 

It rained and we puttered the time away mostly indoors feeling a tad bit melancholy. My parents joined us for the later part of our trip and took Laurent home with them for a grandparent visit. We miss our brother and my boy. The house is too quiet without his boisterous energy and infectious grin. 

The garden is green and overgrown. Raspberry canes bent to the earth with the weight of fruit, unruly tomatoes needing to be staked, peas popping off the vines and sodden strawberries moldering (unpicked and overripe) beneath their green canopy of leaves. 

It will take a couple days and I'll be back on my feet but until then I feel an awful lot like staying in my pj's all day.