Eat Play Snooze

Southwestern BC is in the midst of  a heat wave and I, for one, am enjoying sweltering it out in weather that reminds me of childhood summers. I come from the Kootenays where summers are hot, winters are snowy and spring and fall are seasons of their own. Even though I have lived most of my adult life at the West Coast, I have always found it a little unnatural to pack a  sweater around in summertime and to be chilly sitting outside on a midsummer night. So, I'm loving the heat and especially loving the summer lifestyle. The temperature in the Fraser Valley went up to a whopping 39 degrees on Sunday so we sought shelter under some big, leafy trees and enjoyed a breeze from the river and a potluck birthday picnic with friends. Here are some  summer scenes:

Time to eat: A big umbrella keeps the food shaded. A blanket buffet!

Potatoe Salad, BBQ chicken, hard-boiled eggs and pretty plates. Netting keeps the flies away.

Something to read...or perhaps nap.

My summer feet - dirty ones, just like the ones I had when I was a kid.

Some pretty summer feet - birthday girl and birthday presents.

Birthday cheesecake, hand made table(ground)cloth, summer roses in a jam jar.

This was a day of lingering contentment. Time spent with friends - talking, playing bocce, napping, reading newspapers and much good eating. Our theme: Eat, Play, Snooze.

Next month: an autumn picnic - featuring sweaters, campstoves and barnesgirl's percolated coffee!

The Pleasure of Picnics

Not wanting these lazy summer afternoons to pass us by, hubby and I have been practicing our picnics by lunching in the backyard. I think there is a certain art to the spontaneous picnic. Partly, it is just being willing to move outside and sit on the grass instead of on patio furniture and partly it is having picnic accessories on hand to make it easy.  Here are my eight tips for the perfect backyard picnic.


1. Have a really great and sturdy basket handy, so you can pile things out of your fridge and into the basket.

The view from under our magnolia tree

2. Use real plates and cutlery, I like real glassware, too and little plates with french sayings on them - after all you have a sturdy basket!

3. Use cloth linens - the cuter, the better - cotton or linen with embroidered fruits and veggies on them do nicely. I also use odd linens that I buy in second-hand stores for picnics.

4. Bring a really great picnicky looking blanket, preferably scratchy wool. (ours comes from Wales and can endure almost anything).

5. Set up under a tree so the food can be in the shade and gazing upward with a full tummy is dreamy, leafy pleasure.

6. Keep the food simple - bread, sliced sausage or cooked chicken, pickles, sliced cucumbers, cheeses (and grainy mustard for a gourmet flourish). Berries for dessert.

7. Bring a jug of lemonade.

8. Share your feast with the love of your life. Berries taste better hand-fed, and even the most mundane conversation becomes poetry in the shade of  a magnolia tree!

Swooning over the Moon

Ah, summer! The consummate July evening included grilled chicken, fresh corn on the cob and grilled asparagas with pepper & lime. Yum.

Hubby and I sat on the deck and watched the Fraser River flow lazily by. Afterward, drinking lemonade and eating blueberry-peach shortcakes we watched the moon rise above Mount Baker. Good food, big love, and Mother Nature serving up romance by the moonfuls.

Lucky, lucky us.

Picnic for Two

One of the great luxuries of happy idleness is the sit-down lunch at home. We spent much of last week having our deck substantially rebuilt. While it is not completely complete (I am also advocating not having to finish everything we start...) it is close enough to done that we set up our table in the remarkable May sunshine and ate outdoors. What a pleasure to bask in the finally-warm sun, look out over the river and enjoy a simple lunch. Next week, my husband embarks full-time on the writerly life - our picnic for two is a foretaste of a shift in lifestyle - one with space to breathe and eat and write. Egg salad al fresco.