grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Summer Favorites: Porch Time!

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Porch Time!

This is the first in a series of posts (irregular at best) about my favorite summer things. I’m starting with PORCH TIME!

I think of our porches as additional rooms, the best rooms, rooms that provide extra space and extra peace, whatever we need in the moment. A bit like Hogwarts’ Room of Requirement. In case you truly have been living beneath a rock, the Room of Requirement only appears when someone has a true need. It stands to reason that porches are always there because we always need a spot to rest and read, write and think, and watch the world go by.

See how that works?

I like my porches to reflect each season and holiday, and Independence Day is one of my favorites. Fourth of July is the brightest spot in summer, the top of the Ferris wheel, the cherry on the hot fudge sundae, the pre-party to my birthday shindig. And in my patriotic opinion, a splash of red, white, and blue goes with everything. Seriously, there’s no better place to drink coffee in the mornings and wine in the afternoon. Continue Reading

Summertime, and the livin’ is joyful.

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Summertime!

With the turn of the calendar page, summertime is here! And I’m dropping in with the happiest of greetings.

“Today’s the morning you’re gonna rise up singing. Spread your wings and take to the sky.” Yes, I’m taking liberty with the lyrics of George Gershwin’s jazz standard composed in 1934 for Porgy and Bess. It’s the perfect song to kick off the official start of summer. Don’t you agree?

Tell me, what are some of the things you LOVE about summertime? Traditions, foods, memories you hold tight. Simple things that fill you with the ease of summertime living.

As for me, I plan to do a series of posts highlighting my summer favorites. (I’m sure they will be sporadic because I’m trying to keep my head down and finish a solid draft of Book Two. But hang with me and they will come, I promise.)

Cheers to the first official full day of summer. Do something that makes you joyful!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:
Summertime, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

mid-June Garden Shenanigans

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mid-June Garden Shenanigans

Since I returned from Iceland, I’ve been writing like a fiend. Between all the words, I garden. That’s pretty much it. Weeds, y’all. They are thriving. I know my garden as well as I know the manuscript I’m working on. Because when I say, I garden, what I mean is, I crawl around on my hands and knees looking between flowers, pulling weeds by hand, studying the landscape and what’s changed in my brief absence. (Much like scrubbing the lines of my writing, pulling weed words. See what I did there?) I’m here to announce there are some mid-June garden shenanigans at work in my flower beds.

For real.

It’s as though the tiny garden gnomes said, “Hey, she’s gone for two whole weeks! PAR-TEEEE.”

And they have been.Continue Reading

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!