Open Contest Memories of Summer—2025

[Esc_Quaily]

One of my favourite memories of Summer 2025 is sharing my successful courgette/zucchini harvest with friends and family. My 6 y/o helped me to grow them too.

I had such an abundance of them I gave some to my neighbours. One whom I'm close with had just started a new job. She took her batch of yellow courgettes to work and cooked up a courgette feast with one of her vulnerable, difficult-to-engage client to share with everyone at the centre that my neighbour works at.

The courgette leaves, I dried and crushed and added to my quail coop. I even harvested the caterpillars for the wild birds in my garden. Nothing got wasted from my courgette patch.

It's my favourite summer 2025 memory because I like to feed people. I like to share. I like to help my community. I'm especially happy that my neighbour reported that the cooking session with her vulnerable client made her more comfortable with the others who attend.

 

[peafowl_Lover]

My favourite memory of the summer was hatching eggs under a broody hen for the first time. Only one hatched and of course he's a cockerell. Now he has a brand new coop, a run that's in the making and 5 lovely new ladies!

 

[DuckLady]

My favorite 2025 summer memory is celebrating mine and my husband’s twenty fifth wedding anniversary by revisiting the place where we honeymooned.
(Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island)
This trip was our first time returning in twenty five years.
It brought back many happy memories, but we also made new happy memories with our daughters who traveled with us.
Our family stayed at the same hotel where we had honeymooned previously.
A priority was to visit the same fudge store where we loaded up on yummy fudge.
My husband jumped for joy to visit Fort Michilimackinac.
He remembered the “wall gun” displayed in the armory.
We all enjoyed seeing Mackinac Island and visiting the Grand Hotel. My favorite part of the trip was the carriage ride around the island.
The drive across the bridge brought out a little nervousness in myself and the girls, as the bridge was being painted and there were partial lane closures.
We toured the lighthouse, the lighthouse museum, and the Coastguard ship - Ice Breaker.
The whitefish at Skalawag’s tasted amazing!
When it was time to head home, we were tired. We took our time driving and stopped in Indiana overnight to rest.
It was good to be home, see our animals and give them love, and to sleep in our own beds.

What a wonderful trip! And so much more meaningful to make memories with your daughters on top of your own memories!

My favorite memory this summer is going to New York City with my mum. It was an unplanned expedition that worked out perfectly in so many ways. We left at 3:30 in the morning and arrived in NYC just after the rush hour traffic. Over the next two days I managed to figure out the subway system on my own, got my mom to talk to a Coast Guard recruiter, and saw everything from the Statue of Liberty to Fort Washington. On the way home we stayed a night in Philadelphia, and I got to show her around (I’ve been there once before). We ended our journey with a walk along the pier and a delicious chocolate milkshake in Baltimore before driving off into the sunset toward our house.

There are so many pictures it was hard to choose just one...

St Patricks' Cathedral, NYC
View attachment 4215695

What a magnificent cathedral! Those unplanned excursions make the best memories!

One of my favourite memories of Summer 2025 is sharing my successful courgette/zucchini harvest with friends and family. My 6 y/o helped me to grow them too.

I had such an abundance of them I gave some to my neighbours. One whom I'm close with had just started a new job. She took her batch of yellow courgettes to work and cooked up a courgette feast with one of her vulnerable, difficult-to-engage client to share with everyone at the centre that my neighbour works at.

The courgette leaves, I dried and crushed and added to my quail coop. I even harvested the caterpillars for the wild birds in my garden. Nothing got wasted from my courgette patch.

It's my favourite summer 2025 memory because I like to feed people. I like to share. I like to help my community. I'm especially happy that my neighbour reported that the cooking session with her vulnerable client made her more comfortable with the others who attend.

The best part of gardening is sharing. The people you share with will always remember that fondly!

My favourite memory of the summer was hatching eggs under a broody hen for the first time. Only one hatched and of course he's a cockerell. Now he has a brand new coop, a run that's in the making and 5 lovely new ladies!

Those memories of the excitement of a first hatch will always stay with you. I will always remember my first one and look back on it often.

 

[BDutch]

After 3 years of trying to expand my flock of 6 bantam hens with 2 more pullets I finally succeeded last year.

4 times I bought fertilised eggs when I had a broody. And last year I added an extra coop (children’s playhouse) to avoid roosting troubles amongst older hens and new family members.

Finally it all worked out well. So I was rather pleased to have a chick-fuzz-brake this year. On the other hand I missed the fluffy tiny chicks too of course.

This summer was great for 2 amazing things.

A great garden party for family and friends. ^^ The invitation with chickens on the side of the road.

Followed by a vacation in the French Alps without flock worries. With amazing views and sunsets.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

@Blue Raptor, you should enter this!

 

[thecatumbrella]

- JUST KIDDING, IT'S AN ENTRY AGAIN -

I had a fun experience with my mother this summer. We played through a video game together for the first time in over 30 years. Back then, she'd do all the hard stuff, and I'd be in charge in exploration/puzzles. This time, we switched. It took us a few months to get through the story, and it's a nice memory that I'll always treasure. Especially since we'd take breaks to play with the many bantam chicks that came through my house this year. Baby chicks just love grandma!

My favorite part is that we were playing a peaceful, space exploration game, yet my mom was constantly holding out for some unforeseen violence or conflict. Broadcast waves from an escape pod? "It's going to blow!" A friendly character gestures with a staff? "IT'S ATTACKING!"

 

[Birdlove2011]

My favorite trip this summer was celebrating my husband's 40 birthday on a cruise to cozumel. My husband had always wanted to go on a cruise and experience what it would be like. I was always on the reserve and didn't really care for cruises. However, I told myself that this trip was not about me but him so I booked us a cruise spontaneously for his Birthday. I surprised him with it when I got home and he thought I was lying... lol. I ended up having to show him the booking in order for him to believe. So after penny pinching for months just so I could afford the drink package it was time for our trip. My husband had a blast. When we arrived to board it was like watching a kid. He was super excited and I was relieved because all my planning was coming to fruition. As this was my first cruise to I found sharing that part of the experience the most memorable. Everything was a first for us-getting on a large ship ✔, eating endless food ✔, swimming in the ocean ✔, shopping the streets of cozumel ✔, endless drinking ✔, gamble without a limit ✔ ( lol came back with 200 but I'll will leave what we invested out ), oh and we did not get sea sick!! ✔. All in all it was a memorable trip for us both.

 

[Perris]

Several things experienced in summer 2025 have left a big impression on me. One is Chatsworth, in Derbyshire. Long recommended to me as a place worth visiting, I finally got there. It is magnificent, inside and out.

For example, a library to linger in

while someone tinkled the ivories

and extraordinary examples of the decorative arts whose quality can be appreciated even if one's personal preferences tend more towards the Bauhaus

(that wall covering is embossed and painted leather). And this, apparently, was what it looked like in 1703, shortly after completion

And finally, their farm shop was selling eggs in cartons very similar to those I use, and for £2.75, which is reasonable

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

This year I set out to grow as many big, vining crops as I could reasonably fit - melons and squash were on the list - and in my minuscule space that meant either going all out with trellises or getting eaten by my squash, Little Shop of Horrors-style.

To that end I did some research, and one of the cheaper, more durable options was making trellises from cattle panels. But how to get them home? I don’t own a pickup or anything else I could use for hauling. Most places wouldn’t ship, wouldn’t ship except in quantities far exceeding my needs, or had a price tag attached to shipping that made cattle panels much less budget-friendly.

What I ended up doing was renting a truck. My schedule meant I had to rent the more expensive box truck (rather than a pickup); this summer was the first year I ever drove something that size. There were a few issues (thank you to my lovely neighbors for helping me get the door unstuck!) but finally the panels were home.

My next problem was that the cattle panels were more than double the width they needed to be. That set off a search for bolt cutters - it turns out a lot of those don’t list the gauge they are good for. But after multiple hardware store visits, I finally located a suitable pair. The new trellises were cut to size and thus began the wait to see if they would actually work out.



The pole beans staked their claims first, and as of this writing seem to be perfectly happy with the setup. But pole beans are lightweight; I’d bought cattle panels because they were supposed to be sturdy enough for melons.

The melons in question took their good sweet time getting established; the entire month of June was cold and rainy, and they may have gotten overshadowed by the peas planted with them as well. But they did finally take off, and were perfectly happy to climb skyward with a little coaxing. (Side note, I recommend hair clips over twist ties for holding the plants in place until their tendrils find a perch. They’re easier to find and move.) Aside from the space savings, I also found the trellises have an added bonus: once the vines start climbing, they can get sunlight more hours per day in my sheltered, low-sun garden. I don’t know if the softball-sized melons currently hanging from the plants will make it to harvestable size by the time the plants die - the weather is consistently cool and summer is running out - but as for the trellises, they’ve been working beautifully.

 

[DuckLady]

View attachment 4215873After 3 years of trying to expand my flock of 6 bantam hens with 2 more pullets I finally succeeded last year.

4 times I bought fertilised eggs when I had a broody. And last year I added an extra coop (children’s playhouse) to avoid roosting troubles amongst older hens and new family members.

Finally it all worked out well. So I was rather pleased to have a chick-fuzz-brake this year. On the other hand I missed the fluffy tiny chicks too of course.

This summer was great for 2 amazing things.

A great garden party for family and friends. ^^ The invitation with chickens on the side of the road.

Followed by a vacation in the French Alps without flock worries. With amazing views and sunsets.

View attachment 4215886

That does sound like an amazing summer! I have always wanted to travel our own Route 66, but have never gotten around to it.

I had a fun experience with my mother this summer. We played through a video game together for the first time in over 30 years. Back then, she'd do all the hard stuff, and I'd be in charge in exploration/puzzles. This time, we switched. It took us a few months to get through the story, and it's a nice memory that I'll always treasure. Especially since we'd take breaks to play with the many bantam chicks that came through my house this year. Baby chicks just love grandma!

How fun! I sure enjoyed doing things with my mom!

My favorite trip this summer was celebrating my husband's 40 birthday on a cruise to cozumel. My husband had always wanted to go on a cruise and experience what it would be like. I was always on the reserve and didn't really care for cruises. However, I told myself that this trip was not about me but him so I booked us a cruise spontaneously for his Birthday. I surprised him with it when I got home and he thought I was lying... lol. I ended up having to show him the booking in order for him to believe. So after penny pinching for months just so I could afford the drink package it was time for our trip. My husband had a blast. When we arrived to board it was like watching a kid. He was super excited and I was relieved because all my planning was coming to fruition. As this was my first cruise to I found sharing that part of the experience the most memorable. Everything was a first for us-getting on a large ship ✔, eating endless food ✔, swimming in the ocean ✔, shopping the streets of cozumel ✔, endless drinking ✔, gamble without a limit ✔ ( lol came back with 200 but I'll will leave what we invested out ), oh and we did not get sea sick!! ✔. All in all it was a memorable trip for us both.

Cruising is fun! I have been to Alaska twice and hope to go somewhere warm next. I'm glad you went and had such a wonderful experience!

Several things experienced in summer 2025 have left a big impression on me. One is Chatsworth, in Derbyshire. Long recommended to me as a place worth visiting, I finally got there. It is magnificent, inside and out.
View attachment 4216230
For example, a library to linger in
View attachment 4216232
while someone tinkled the ivories
View attachment 4216233
and extraordinary examples of the decorative arts whose quality can be appreciated even if one's personal preferences tend more towards the Bauhaus
View attachment 4216234
(that wall covering is embossed and painted leather). And this, apparently, was what it looked like in 1703, shortly after completion
View attachment 4216235
And finally, their farm shop was selling eggs in cartons very similar to those I use, and for £2.75, which is reasonable
View attachment 4216238

Oh what a fun trip! And that library! Couldn't you spend days in there?

This year I set out to grow as many big, vining crops as I could reasonably fit - melons and squash were on the list - and in my minuscule space that meant either going all out with trellises or getting eaten by my squash, Little Shop of Horrors-style.

To that end I did some research, and one of the cheaper, more durable options was making trellises from cattle panels. But how to get them home? I don’t own a pickup or anything else I could use for hauling. Most places wouldn’t ship, wouldn’t ship except in quantities far exceeding my needs, or had a price tag attached to shipping that made cattle panels much less budget-friendly.

What I ended up doing was renting a truck. My schedule meant I had to rent the more expensive box truck (rather than a pickup); this summer was the first year I ever drove something that size. There were a few issues (thank you to my lovely neighbors for helping me get the door unstuck!) but finally the panels were home.

My next problem was that the cattle panels were more than double the width they needed to be. That set off a search for bolt cutters - it turns out a lot of those don’t list the gauge they are good for. But after multiple hardware store visits, I finally located a suitable pair. The new trellises were cut to size and thus began the wait to see if they would actually work out.

View attachment 4216267

The pole beans staked their claims first, and as of this writing seem to be perfectly happy with the setup. But pole beans are lightweight; I’d bought cattle panels because they were supposed to be sturdy enough for melons.

The melons in question took their good sweet time getting established; the entire month of June was cold and rainy, and they may have gotten overshadowed by the peas planted with them as well. But they did finally take off, and were perfectly happy to climb skyward with a little coaxing. (Side note, I recommend hair clips over twist ties for holding the plants in place until their tendrils find a perch. They’re easier to find and move.) Aside from the space savings, I also found the trellises have an added bonus: once the vines start climbing, they can get sunlight more hours per day in my sheltered, low-sun garden. I don’t know if the softball-sized melons currently hanging from the plants will make it to harvestable size by the time the plants die - the weather is consistently cool and summer is running out - but as for the trellises, they’ve been working beautifully.

View attachment 4216268

Love your garden! I discovered cattle panels this year, too. They sure are fun to wrangle, aren't they? But they are handy and make for a lovely garden!