Obligatory Summer-is-Over Post

I left after class today to catch the bus, and apparently the temperature dropped 15 degrees between 2 and 6. Oh my god.

I actually miss my summer job. Not the whole repetitive thing where you stand in the sun for 9 hours and yell at children, but all the friends I made. Corny, I know.

Things I learned this summer:

-children + turnstiles = the most frustrating thing you can ever imagine.

-if you work with farm animals all day and then get on the subway, people will move because you probably stink.

-the TTC will sometimes make you want to yell at everything and everyone. You should probably just get off the subway when it’s stuck at the station for 40 minutes and do something more useful with your time, like walking.

-at the same time, getting stuck with people you just met at work on the subway forever is a great breeding ground for new friendships!

-don’t ever try to make your hair look nice before work. HA.

-starting school will be bittersweet, and you’ll miss all your friends that went back to school like crazy.

TTYL, summer. It’s been nice.

I got used to napping under trees this summer.

The Ups and Downs of Fall: Part 2

I apologize, this isn’t going to be an “Ups” of Fall post. Not yet, at least.

We’ve been unseasonably warm. There’s no crisp air, no chilly breezes, no need for fall jackets.
There’s still plenty of customers commenting on how hot the store is.

“How do you guys work in here?” they ask while fanning their faces.

We always have to laugh and shrug it off, while thinking to ourselves,
“We don’t have a goddamn choice.”

—

The vegetable garden is on its last legs. We’ve already ripped out most of the tomatos and cucumbers, leaving a sad empty box left.

We’ve still got some jalapenos to harvest! Although on this particular plant (there are 4), it looks like the peppers are getting scorched by the sun or something. Oh well. When you yield 500 peppers, losing a few is no big deal.

The  herbs! My occasional foodie tendencies cannot be satisfied without the use of fresh herbs. This year I had basil, chives, and curled parsley. I moved some of them inside and either dried or left the rest to self-seed. Hopefully I won’t have to replace the basil yet again this year. That stuff dies too often (totally my fault.)

Why I love old houses: Windowsills like these.

The curled parsley didn’t taste very good fresh, and of course this was the crop that grew the most. I’ve got about 12 bundles of it hanging to dry in the shed. Hopefully no one needs to use the ladder over the next few months (or they’ll have fun untying these all).

I pulled these guys up and they were huge. I didn’t touch them all summer. Nothing got dead headed, cleaned out, or picked. But still I had enough to sell at the farmer’s market, if I wanted to.

Now why couldn’t the basil be that way?

Sigh

The Ups and Downs of Fall: Part 1

Bittersweet. Summer is over. The days of Birkenstocks, short shorts, and freedom from snow, sleet, and ice are gone.
Fall brings dark evenings and ugly Christmas decorations way too early. (I’m not lying when I say that where I work
has had old Christmas decorations for sale since the end of August)

To sum up my summer as quickly as possible:

Took the ferry to Toronto Island

Fed some goats in Waterloo

Saw the falls for the first time in a few years. Super-tourist mode!

Tried to be artsy waiting for my super-delayed flight at the Montreal airport.

And then, PEI!

Drove home from PEI. This is on the Confederation Bridge looking towards New Brunswick.

The Blink 182 Concert at Molson. Amazing fun.

Gluttony at the CNE

…and now, it’s Fall. And it’s raining.

I don’t think I can bring myself to write an “Up” part to Fall just yet, hence the “Part 1” of this post.

But, I promise, the next crisp, beautiful Fall day, “Part 2” will appear.

RIP Summer 2011. You were awesome.