Now, there’s just no way around it. There’s not much summer left, and we’re moving towards cooler days. Most of the perennials in the garden have now withered, and are just waiting for next spring, when they will come back with full strength as they do every year. A few are still hanging on by their fingernails, but now it’s just a matter of time. One stubborn shrub has started to bloom again, pretending that we have everlasting summer in Denmark. But hey, that just isn’t the case, and I for one love our changing seasons – though I do find it particularly hard to let go of summer.
Some things still lend a hand in keeping the garden colourful, though. A month ago or so, Ronja brought home two sunflowers that she had planted in a pot at kindergarten. One of them is blooming now, and the other one isn’t far behind. Looking at them definitely does give you a summery feeling!
The apples on our two 4-year old apple trees are almost ripe – I think they need a week or two still to be perfect, but a few have fallen to the ground, and they have been eaten with much pleasure! Those apples are so crisp and juicy – the perfect snack apples!
Ronja had a wonderful birthday – or rather she had three of them. Besides the kindergarten visiting Friday, we had the family visiting Sunday, and as her real birthday was Saturday, we celebrated then too with a traditional birthday morning, a visit to the National Museum, and her own choice for dinner. And what does a 4-year old choose, when she gets to pick anything? Spaghetti with meat sauce…

Ronja had so many wonderful presents, and she was really happy. She has been playing with all of them (no, literally) since – she didn’t get a single one that wasn’t appreciated. Mads and I gave her a puppet theatre, which we are having lots of fun with – it came from this shop:

Now, some of you will remember, that I recommended a toy shop in Amsterdam not so long ago, and now I’ll recommend one in Denmark (this probably goes mostly to my Danish readers, sorry about that). It’s an online shop, and it’s by far the best online shopping experience I have had for a long time! Klodsmajor.dk not only has fabulous toys for all ages, the service around the purchase is also just impeccable. They will wrap your gift beautifully at a fair price, they ship quickly and include a nice personal note with every order. If you wish, they will handwrite a birthday card and ship the present directly to the recipient, and you can still be certain it looks wonderful! I have recommended them far and wide, and I have used them or seen them used several times – it just always lives up to the same high standard. Thumbs up, Susanne!
Now finally I want to say a belated thank you to Wondermommy for awarding me these prices:

It’s so kind of you and greatly appreciated! At the moment, I’m only going to send them on to one blogger – I’m running out of time for today, so I hope you don’t mind! However, Amy over at Habitual continues to inspire and entertain with her wonderful style in crafts, her beautiful photos, and her personal and well narrated daily adventures. I was sorry I didn’t nominate her the last time I had the chance, so here you go, Amy – two in one!