Organized For Summer

Side Door Mud Area

 I don't have a proper mud room in my house but we do have a side door through which the muddy people are encouraged to enter: from there it's a short flight of stairs down to the laundry room.  The muddy people usually do as they please, though I am the exception to that rule.  I use the side door when I'm in and out of the garden.
I also like to sort of set it up according to season.  As summer approaches I've hauled out the red gingham picnic cloth and napkins, the fly net, the old picnic basket and my market bags.

Red and yellow: side door colour story.

 I have a dust pan and brush at the ready, there's something about summer that sentences a homemaker to constantly brushing dirt up off the floor.  Well there's no mystery to it, it's the in-and-out between garden and house.
 When The Rascals were little I kept an old laundry tub of soapy water next to the garden door.  Of course they usually ended up turning the tub of water into a habitat for their plastic animals, or using it to fill their water guns!

A dust pan and brush hanging from a bit of that green twine.

 If June is the introductory month to our short summer it is also a month hectic with end-of-year school activities.  My older daughter has her high school graduation tonight, then there are the field trips, retreats and exams.
Last week we had a school carnival for the littlest rascal which meant we wouldn't be home until 7:30.  I prepared the dinner ahead of time so that we could arrive home and I only had to run for the bottle of sauvignon blanc, dinner was ready to set out on the table.

Hectic June evening?  Here's your dinner:

Sauteed kale.

Salmon roasted with olive oil and parsley.

Roasted vegetables: asparagus, cherry tomatoes, fennel.

I added some fresh bread and butter to the table and it was done.  My oven has a delay start timer which is genius, do you have one of those?
Tonight we're having a late dinner out to celebrate our daughter's high school grad, I still haven't figured out what to wear.  The important thing is my daughter has her dress ready, it's this one.
She's wearing it with gold shoes and a gold bracelet.

How's your June looking, hectic?
xoxDani