Giveaway

Simple Summer Giveaway

Once upon a time,

long before the stifling heat of summer

was cooled away by the invention of air conditioning,

something beautiful happened…

seaside

A phenomenon that whispers throughout story and history alike:

Summer came.

Heat stifled.

Sometimes, it was so dire that people had to clear out– vacate.

It was a matter of health in cities,

so they packed picnic hampers full of simple food and piled in rowboats, carriages, trains, early-model cars.

They made for parks, campsites, cabins, seaside cottages and shanties…

whatever they could. For a day, for a week, for a month–

they simplified. They lived.

Shoestring budgets and all.

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It wasn’t flashy– but it was restful. Restoring.

Just think of it:

Rose Campbell and her cousins (in Eight Cousins) claim an entire island. Campbell’s Island, where there are things like “merry breakfasts”, “fishing expeditions”, chowder cookouts, play-acting… and it’s the highlight of their lives.

JO

The March Sisters, too– take a look at this note from the beloved Teddy Laurence:

Dear Jo, What ho! 

Some English girls and boys are coming to see me tomorrow and I want to have a jolly time. If it’s fine, I’m going to pitch my tent in Longmeadow, and row up the whole crew to lunch and croquet, have a fire, make messes, gypsy fashion, and all sorts of larks. They are nice people, and like such things. Brooke will go to keep us boys steady, and Kate Vaughn will play propriety for the girls. I want you all to come, can’t let Beth off at any price, and nobody shall worry her. Don’t bother about rations, I’ll see to that and everything else, only do come, there’s a good fellow!

In a tearing hurry,

Yours ever, Laurie.

Emma Woodhouse, of course, had her longed-for outing to Box Hill, where the beautiful (if fateful to her ego) picnic took place:

Box Hill

And then there’s Grace Livingston Hill. The author who, I’m convinced, invented the “hamper of simple foods” and managed to plant her characters (who’d inevitably fallen on hard times) in a shanty, barn, or cottage where the sickly among them could breathe fresh air and peace, and the plucky heroine could transform her surroundings into a beautiful haven.

It’s in the spirit of all of these things that I feel a pull toward a simple summer.

I saw this pillow and I thought– that. I want that to be my bucket list this summer.

pillow-sun-text

Because, while our society may not be in the practice of vacating to the seaside for a month at a time– that may not be practical or possible with resources, commitments, schedules, budgets…

 you know what?

Moments add up.  Even on the busiest of days, snippets can be carved out.

Simple moments. Poured into, made to matter.

campfire

Yesterday I stood in rainwater with bare feet. I caught a raindrop in my tea and sipped it down. Silliness, probably– and 30 whole seconds of it– but these are the things on my heart lately– moment by moment, pouring into simple.

I feel a tiptoeing excitement, a hope at the tapestry of the summer before us.

Would you celebrate with me?

There are two things you can do:

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one:

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Using the form below, enter the Simple Summer giveaway. 

The prize?

A kit to launch your summer into sweet simplicity.

It includes…

Two of my all-time favorite Grace Livingston Hill books, replete with beautiful simple summers.

They are out of print, so I’ve traveled the world (wide web) to offer these up to you– books with a heritage, but in wonderful condition:

The Enchanted Barn, and Patricia.

This pillow cover, beckoning with the invitation–

Let us lay in the sun 

and count every beautiful thing we can see.

A new pair of vintage-inspired binoculars, for taking note of the beautiful things. Watching birds, clouds, dancing aspens.

A new vintage-inspired watch-locket necklace… so time can adorn you, not own you this summer. So you can stop it whenever you like.

And a $20 Amazon card so you can complete your simple summer kit however you’d like: a picnic blanket, perhaps? An iced tea set? Readers and friends came up with such great ideas when I asked them about simple summers over on Facebook. Iced tea, picnics, bonfires… whatever it is you envision for your simple summer, may this gift card help achieve that. 🙂

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two:

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(Just for fun– you don’t have to do this to enter.)

Share your Simple Summer moments in the coming months on your favorite social media platforms using the hashtag

#SimpleSummer 

It’d be such a delight to share each other’s journeys in that way. 🙂