the August challenge over at Journal Journey’s is “What does summer mean to you?”…
summer here in Virginia conjures up lots of lovely images and feelings…
for me it is barefoot time sitting on our back porch listening to the water fountains watching birds and bees and butterflies and the occasional furry visitors…
the parade of blooms from trees and shrubs and flowering plants that have come to us from family and friends over the years delighting us again and again…
summer is full of warmth and sun along with the occasional rain shower to make the warm pavement steam and freshen everything up…
when our boys were school age summers meant I could stay up late with no worries for early morning preparations and sendoffs…
when I hear the tinkling music from the ice cream truck in our neighborhood it makes me feel giddy and sad all at the same time touching the little girl in me…
now with our empty nest each day is like summer in a way with few schedules to keep and flexible hours to mostly call my own (with Loving thanks to Mr Magpie for that XOXO)…
had some Pixlr Express fun above with a photo of blank lined pages from my art journal adding a quote and some of their “stickers” (Pixlr is the free and easy software that I use to add a border and my name to photos too)…
this journal started back in August 2012 with my SPIRIT spread here…
then in October I created these pages…
I really had fun on my latest pages above using stencils and spritzing assorted inks then adding scribbles and rubons and a few paper collage elements…
♥ thank you for your visit and I appreciate each and every comment very much ♥
Magpie's Nest ~*~ Patty Szymkowicz 
oh you brought a bit of lovely summer to this miserable winters night…..beautiful photos patty….
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AMAZING post dear Patty ..and I really love this spread!
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A perfect evocation of Summer. Beautiful journal pages.
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A wonderful, inspiring spread, & beautiful photos Patty! I love the raindrops!
Thanks so much for the tip about Pixir. I just tried it, brilliant & so easy! I’ve been wanting to add a watermark to my photos for ages, but didn’t have a clue how.
Happy weekend to you,
Alison xxx
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As usual dear friend you use words so well!!! Thanks
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summer is always full of memories of fragrances, sounds, ‘vibes’ for me too. Such a wonderful summer post. Thank you! xox
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yes, memories of the ice cream truck are fond ones for me 🙂 i love those 2 facing pages with the bird and butterfly. sweet
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Love the summertime! my favorite season of the entire year! and August has it’s own special brand of character. It is the mellowed out version of summer and I dig!
That ice cream truck!! I miss having those tool down the streets. Kids don’t know what they are missing in some places of the world. Ahhhhh, Thanks Patty for a brilliantly happy filled post!
~DAWN
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What a lovely post Patty! Gorgeous journal pages. Your porch looks very inviting with the soft glow at night. We don’t have ice cream trucks here. I’ve only seen one once in my life when I was about 6 and I think he was lost since we were fairly rural at the time. 🙂
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I adore your back porch. Now THAT is a back porch/patio!! I love how warm and cozy it feels even in the heat of the summer. However, one thing you forgot was the snake (grin).
We used to have an ice cream truck in our neighborhood, then all the families with kids moved away. Now there are lots and lots of kids in the neighborhood again, so the ice cream truck is back with his carnival style music you can hear blocks away. So fun to see the kids run out and get a special treat.
What a great way to celebrate summer! Loved the art, too. Seeing your journal makes me want to play in the one I got a few years ago and never touched!!
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I think you touched on almost everything I love about summer, my friend. In our parched desert, we had rain yesterday which made the evening so lovely. Now, I await our trip to the MD shore this week where I can commune with my first love, the ocean. Your colors have captured summer, perfectly! xoxo
Karen
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The clarity of the raindrops is mesmerising.
As for your pages – so lush.
I will wish for you (and Mr Magpie) many more summer days and evenings for you to enjoy, whether relaxing on your porch or searching out beautiful and interesting places for you both to visit. Just remember to share all with us 🙂
Wishes
Lynne
P.S. Such a clever way to share a quote.
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Such a wonderful post! You do such deep things, Patty! I love how you really pour yourself into your words. It is so lovely. Happy summer! I totally get what you said……… very special.
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Lovely summer word pictures…and real pictures too. It was good to go back through your links.
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I would love to spend an evening sitting with you on your lovely porch – it looks so inviting.
Love your summer images, pretty journal pages and the ice cream van!!
I’ve just returned from La belle France where the summer temps were high 30’s – whew!!
Back home to the reality of mid winter and the cold – let’s call it bracing I can cope better with that!
Shane ♥
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Your pages are always fabolous dear Patty. Beautiful colors, stencils and images…especially the bird.
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Such beautiful photography and the cool colors of your journal pages remind me of our lovely and unusual cool mornings and evenings we are having. Can you believe this is August? Enjoy! xoxo
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Love the combination of photos, sketches and reminiscence in your post today!
rinda
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I like pixlr too — go back and forth between that and picmonkey. Looking forward to more retirement time to play even more! The pages are lovely!
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just another great post!!!
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Patty, these pages are fantastic again. I also love the photos around and your statements on summer days.
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This is truly a beautiful post Patty. Thank you for joining in with Journal Journey’s it really is stunning Dxx
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Reblogged this on Magpie's Nest ~*~ Patty Szymkowicz and commented:
the second of August kind of snuck up on me but I wanted to participate in Elizabeth’s Second on the 2nd this month and I am trying WordPress’ “Reblog Post” feature and it will not let me imbed the link so here it is: http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/2015/08/second-on-2nd-rural-kansas.html
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I love your photo moments they always bring me a time to pause and enjoy – you capture such special times! Your journals always blow me away – they are so special you have no idea!
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It’s been years since I’ve heard or seen an ice cream truck – nice memories.
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