House Proud – Put More Summer Into Your Life, Sun Media Papers

“There’s just so many summers babe, and just so many springs.”  Don Henley, Last Worthless Evening

Every time the warm weather returns I hear this song lyric in my head along with the heavily-Facebooked quote, “It’s later than you think.”   This year the drum beats have been louder than usual.  Perhaps it’s because I’m hitting a milestone birthday in the fall.  Or maybe it’s just that I’m finally getting smarter about using my time wisely.  

So this year I’m determined to wring as much enjoyment as I can out of the summer despite a work schedule that requires a 3:30 am wake-up and a bedtime that puts me under the covers earlier than most toddlers.  I set out to find some new – at least to me – ways to put some more summer into my world.

I’m buying a hammock.  On a recent trip to Mexico I rediscovered the joys of lying around on this suspended, rope bed.  Getting into it is tricky and I wouldn’t recommend trying it while wearing a skirt.  But once you’re in, it’s bliss for reading, napping or just enjoying the sounds of nature.  Mine will go under a shade tree so I can fall asleep without worrying about getting burned to a crisp by the sun.

Our back deck needs a coat of paint again this season.  I’ll relent this time and roll on another layer of grey but once it cures, I’ll be laying down an indoor-outdoor rug.  Korhani makes a line of rugs that’s inexpensive, beautiful and environmentally responsible.  With a little luck, it will also help keep the wood from losing its lustre in the hot sun.

Evenings will be much moodier with some torch lights for ambience.  They don’t have to be pricey to look good and light the way.  Once it’s dark all we’ll see is the flame.  I might even choose simple citronella candles on tall holders and see if they really do keep mosquitos at bay.

A lack of storage space has always been an issue in our home but I’m going to make room this season for a set of outdoor dishes. I’ve always just schlepped our regular, everyday dishes out to dine al fresco but a proper summer set in a whimsical colour like lime or cherry will give dinners on the deck a sense of occasion.

Every year I look for an Inukshuk for my garden and I can never find one made of stone that’s the size I want.  I’d like it to be about knee high which would be rather heavy.  So this year I’m going to make one myself.  I’ll have to find some proper-size stones and lug them to the garden in my wheelbarrow.  I’ll whip up a bit of cement mix and create my own Inuit stone figure right where I want it to stay.   I love the human-like look of the legendary trail marker and think it would look appealing among my hostas, ground cover and hydrangea trees.

Finally, my husband has agreed to install a clothesline in our back yard.  It’s not just because electricity prices keep going up.  There’s something comforting about leaving sheets to dry in the open air and you can’t get that fresh smell anywhere else, no matter what Downy tells you.  Fortunately, we have a deep yard and I envision a long line I can fill with everything but unmentionables on laundry day.

These new additions to our lives ought to give me even more reasons to stay outside and enjoy our too-short summers.  After all, there are just so many of them.