I don’t know how to sum up the past month. We just got back from vacation and have yet to settle into a routine. With four weeks before school starts there’s still plenty of time for summer activities, yet the clock is ticking! I hope you’ll enjoy reading about our July adventures… and maybe leave a comment about what you’ve been doing so far this summer.

Read

In July I made progress on my pre-reading for school as well as some educational philosophy. Two readalouds we squeezed in were Prince Caspian and The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue. The kids went through a slew of picture books, but I didn’t keep track… here are two I remember: Lightship and If You Go Down to the Woods Today.

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Buy

• I knew some of my kids needed bigger bicycles and I finally buckled down to search and found two nice used bikes for $50 each. Now the girls have to practice changing gears.
• I finally popped into a fabric store that the kids and I walk past almost every time we come home from the library. It turned out to have at least one very friendly saleslady and lots of pretty quilting cotton, among other fabric and supplies. I bought some Anne of Green Gables themed material to give to a friend.
• I found a retro style electric kettle on clearance at Aldi when I was in the New York.

Do

• The girls went to a library program called Wacky Wednesdays, where they did fairy-tale themed crafts; they hope to continue in August.
• I took some of the kids to the Hottest Street Sale, where the main downtown street in Owen Sound was closed to traffic. Not only were there sale tables set up on the streets, but free popsicles and candy, live music, and demonstrations like gymnastics and square dancing.
• Unexpectedly we were able to go on board the HMCS Oriole, a sailing ketch of the Canadian Navy, when it visited Owen Sound.
• Free noontime concerts are again being held at the farmers market; I was glad that I could take the kids to hear an orchestra.
• We spotted a mink down by the river!
• Andrew took the kids to see Canada Day fireworks by the river, then at the end of the month I was able to watch a display in Ogdensburg, NY.

The biggest event of the month was our trip to northern New Brunswick to spend a week at Bonaventure Lodge! We gathered with relatives from Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Virginia — some I hadn’t seen in more than a dozen years. We stayed right on the ocean (Chaleur Bay — see photo above) and enjoyed the beach, good food, and spending as much time as possible together. We also held a graveside service for my Grampie who passed away in January. On top of time with relatives, we were able to reconnect with New Brunswick friends who drove up to Bonaventure to spend the night. All in all, the kids and I were away for two weeks and had more fun and made more memories than I can possibly write about here.

Eat

• At the beginning of July, the kids and I picked 25 pounds of cherries from one tree in the churchyard across from our house. We made cherry pie and jam.
• Juliet and I had tea (with sandwiches and cookies) at the Billy Bishop Museum, her birthday present from Andrew’s parents.
• While we were at Bonaventure some of the men went night fishing for sea bass and we got to enjoy the fruit of their labour for Sunday dinner the next day.
• Two of the friends who came up to visit brought amazing layer cakes: one with raspberries and amaretto, the other with coconut and pecans.

Meditate

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.” – Ecclesiastes 3:9-13

What are some of your July favourites?