Happy summer, everyone, near and far.
Our children’s school let out last week with two of the loveliest moving-up ceremonies I’ve ever seen: Jack graduated from Pre-K to Kindergarten, and Louise is now somehow heading into sixth grade, which seems impossible considering she was recently small enough to fit inside my beach bag.
Louise has also completed her second weekend of Junior Lifeguards, which she’s gradually warming to as the Atlantic itself warms up. It took her several attempts—and a good deal of determination—to pass the swimming test required to join what is one of our town’s greatest institutions.
Junior Lifeguards is essentially boot camp for children. There are rescue drills, relay races, endless exercises, and a remarkable culture of older teenagers mentoring the younger ones, all run by the professional ocean lifeguards. Many of those teenagers eventually become guards themselves.
I’ve watched Louise grow visibly more confident in just two weekends.
“I’m the slowest one out there,” she told me afterward. “But I’m doing it. It’s not so bad.”
That may be the best sentence anyone says all summer.
Before we get to this week’s Meals & Moods, I thought I’d give you a little preview of what’s coming around here.
Coming This Week
Crafting a Summer Rhythm - Every summer requires a little negotiation. There are beaches to visit, gardens demanding attention, books that absolutely must be read in hammocks, children mysteriously requiring feeding three times a day, and somehow…work. I’m trying to find the rhythm that lets all of those things coexist without ending August wondering where summer disappeared.
So this week I’ll be writing about building a gentle daily rhythm for summer—one that leaves room for work, rest, spontaneity and the glorious idleness that is becoming an endangered species.
I’ll also share my own list of small summer rituals I’m determined not to miss this year.
The Clothesline Era Has Begun - Our wonderful handyman, Darwin, has built me a proper clothesline in a quiet corner of the back garden. My tradwife aspirations have officially been fulfilled.
The practical reason is simple: we go through approximately fourteen million beach towels every week, and it seems ridiculous and environmentally sinful to tumble-dry every single one. But there’s also the pleasure of line-dried sheets. The whites dancing in the breeze, the smell, pulling back tightly tucked linen at bedtime and pressing your face into cool cotton that has spent the day in fresh air.
I increasingly believe that one secret to happiness is beautifying the ordinary jobs that must happen anyway: washing dishes, making beds, hanging laundry. If they must be done, they may as well become tiny daily pleasures.
I’ll share everything I’ve learned about line-drying—from practical tips to why Europeans have been right all along.
A Sun Room for a Long Table
The architect returns next week, which means I have homework. I’m deep in mood boards, measurements and impossible decisions that somehow involve where a door will go, while pretending to understand construction budgets.
If there’s enough interest—and enough progress—I may take you behind the scenes as we imagine transforming the back of the house into a sunny room built around one very long table.
Now, Meals & Moods
If you’re new here, welcome to my favorite weekly ritual.
Meal planning calms me down more effectively than almost anything else.
I make tea, gather a small stack of cookbooks, sit in my sunny corner, and scheme.
This week’s twist is that I’m looking for cookbooks small enough to carry to the beach.
Three winners:
10 Minute Suppers for Children by Poppy Fraser
Tiny, practical, cheerful and reassuring.
The Biddesden Cookery Book by Mirabel Guinness
A gift from my friend Lucy Guinness, who knew I’d fall for its charming illustrations by Roland Pym even though I’m not sure I’ll actually attempt the old-fashioned English country cooking.
The sort of cookbook that makes you want to prep twenty things on a Sunday.
Meals & Moods
Monday - Surf camp begins.
What’s usually my comparatively peaceful Monday has become Camp Mom. Jack has tennis. We’ll pick peas together in the garden. I’ll probably forget somebody’s towel.
Family: Dinner and music in Montauk.
Mood: Salt in our hair, trying to remember that summer isn’t something to accomplish
Tuesday - Deep Decluttering Day
The children’s bedrooms have reached the archaeological stage. I can retrace the last two weeks of our life according to the book and toy layers.
Children: Jill’s lamb meatballs with prunes and bulgur wheat, Cucumber sticks and watermelon.
Grown-Ups: Chilled English pea and mint soup, Grilled skirt steak with chimichurri, salad.
Mood: A good tidy always
Wednesday - Midweek Beach Day
Nothing ambitious. One long swim. Bike to beach with a paperback. The sort of afternoon that reminds you why you worked so hard in February.
Children: Veggie burgers, potatoes, peaches.
Grown-Ups: Grilled local fish with lemon and herbs, zucchini, salad
Mood: Drift.
Thursday - Architect Day
Equal parts imagination and spreadsheets. Michael and I inch one step closer to having a bathroom with a usable shower.
Family: shrimp over creamy polenta, avocado salad with herbs. strawberries and cream.
Mood: Measuring tape in one hand, calculator in the other.
Friday - Family Outdoor Cooking Class, Devon Yacht Club Fireworks
One of those evenings that feels like childhood even when you’re the grown-up.
Family: Grilled sausages with peppers, potato salad, green salad with peas, ice cream sandwiches.
Mood: Summer Holiday
Saturday - Fourth of July
A festive lunch at a friend’s house.
Children coated in approximately three pounds of sunscreen.
Family Cookout: Cheeseburgers with all the fixings and side. Peach crumble.
Sparklers.
Mood: Americana
Sunday - Day of Rest
No rushing. No ambitious plans. Perhaps a nap disguised as reading. Perhaps a ride on a friend’s picnic boat.
Family: Roast chicken with lemon and herbs, potatoes, green beans, salad, simple peach shortcakes.
Mood: Exhale
Recipe: Softshell Crabs with parsley and garlic
Coat crabs with a little flour
Sautée whole garlic cloves with olive oil into golden in. pan.
Add crabs and cook four minutes on each side.
Plate crabs.
Then deglaze pan with a 1/4 cup white wine and add chopped parsley.
Pour sauce over the crabs.
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I’m 70+ and in a running club. These days I arrive home from Club Night and say I was way behind the main group but at least I’m out running. Consistency is key - keep turning up, enjoy it all. Things can only get better for Louise.
Also … UK visitors to USA World Cup are reporting back that USA folk have been so friendly and kind. Everyone was expecting foreigners to be treated with hostility. Food portions are enormous though.
Soft shell crabs are the best! I may have lost my beloved husband but I did manage to get the summer curtains hung and water my roses. Now that I'm cooking for one I'm following your lead and making my menu list for the week. Tell Louise I was a champion miler in swimming because though I was slow at the shorter distances I was the only one who could finish a mile! Happy Summer!