Red's Roundup: June 2021 - Red's Lil Schoolhouse

Our first month of summer went by WAY too fast, as usual. We are soaking up every day though, and so thankful to be out and about a lot more than last year. Our June is typically filled up with family birthdays, our wedding anniversary, Father’s Day, our town summer festival, visiting family, and all the other fun beginning of summer activities.

We find ourselves working in the garden, picking mulberries, visiting parks and ice cream shops, spending time with family, and enjoying slower days. I REALLY love the slower pace of summer, and not telling everyone to hurry up and get ready, hurry up and get on the bus, which can seem never-ending during the school year!

I hope you enjoy my June Roundup of favorite things!

Garden Gloves – After realizing my old gloves were allowing more dirt in than they were keeping out, I decided it was time for a new pair of gardening gloves. I picked up this pair and I like them a lot! They were well designed with a breathable patch on the top, velcro around the wrist, and they are cute! Although I hated to get them dirty I remembered that is what they are for!

2. Fresh Peaches – We bought a half bushel of Georgia peaches from our friends at Cortum Farm & Co. this month. They were delicious and it was so much fun making fresh peach crisp, peach smoothies, eating sugared peaches over ice cream, freezing peach pie filling for later, and of course, eating juice ripe peaches sliced! Fresh summer peaches are one of my favorite foods, so it was a treat to have them here and I am so glad I have more in the freezer!

3. Jade Roller & Gua Sha – My allergies hit me pretty hard this past month and I felt extra puffy a lot of days. I love to keep my jade roller in the refrigerator and roll the cold stone under my eyes, forehead, and anywhere on my face that feels puffy! I added the gua sha stone to my routine as well, as it helps work the muscles on our face that get saggy as we age. Some of this is inevitable, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to try to help!

4. Growing Slow – Have you ever read a book, article, or quote, and feel like it was written exactly for you? That is how I feel about this book! Written by a fellow Iowa girl, Jennifer Dukes Lee shares how there IS another way to move through life, without always feeling rushed or behind. If you need a reminder that slowing down is not only okay but necessary, I would encourage you to read this book!

5. Welly Bandaids – My kids are fairly accident-prone (or just typical kids!) and we need bandaids a lot around our house! These Welly kits are so cute and we like the quality of the bandaids. There are a lot of different tins they come in, and there are also refill kits. Each one of our children has a tin, and we buy the refills as needed.

6. Insulated Tumbler with Straw – I have been drinking smoothies quite a bit this summer, and I realized I have been using the same cups for 6 years now! They have been used hundreds of times, and are still in great shape. These cups prefer to be washed by hand (although we’ve forgotten a few times!), and we use this straw cleaning brush to make sure to get the straw clean. There are many great qualities about these cups. A few nice features include the fact that they are insulated, the perfect size for my smoothies (3 cups/24 oz.), have a thick straw, and additionally, they are super durable! We have both blue and purple, but they come in a variety of colors.

7. Liquid Lash Extensions Mascara – After discovering tubing mascara a couple of months ago (LOVE), I have been trying different brands to see which I like best. They have all stood up to the test of not rubbing off during the day (which is amazing). Each of the formulas and applicators are all a little different. In my April Roundup, I shared two brands of tubing mascara I had been using and loving. I still like those, and they are nice because you can buy them at the drugstore, but I like this Thrive mascara even better! It goes on easily, even when I want to apply more than one coat. After a full day of being outside, sweating, working in the garden, it still stays in place perfectly all day! It is more expensive than the drugstore brands, so I trade-off between a few different kinds.

8. Live Music – we recently attended a live music event in our little town and it was so much fun! It has been such a long time since we have heard live music, I forgot how much I enjoy it. My favorite antique shop Board & Batten opened another store featuring local art. It is called The Gallery by Board & Batten. They host live music for guests to sit and enjoy, or walk around and admire all of the amazing art! If you have a chance this summer, try to attend a live music event!

9. Jumpsuit – I found my summer uniform! Jumpsuits or rompers are an easy, one-piece “outfit” for summer. This one has pockets, adjustable straps, a fitted waist, and is super comfortable! I bought the black one first and liked it so much I went back and bought one in the green “stonewall” color too! I love how they can be worn dressed up or down, by adding simple or elevated shoes and accessories.

10. Pineapple Bowl Planter – This is such a cute plant pot for inside or outside. I recently used it to make a succulent pot for our deck table. It is a nice size and looks heavy but is not very heavy. The pot also has a removable plug for a drainage hole. I like to use mostly neutral plant pots to let the plants be the star of the show, but I also like fun textures and shapes! This is a good one!

11. Outdoor Rug Runner – I had been on the lookout for an outdoor runner that would span the width of both sides of our sliding door. A runner is a nice way to ground the space, and pull the whole area together. The white “+/x” sign design on a charcoal gray background is neutral, but fun. I put a small coir mat on top next to the door that opens. Both ends of the rug slid under my plant pots, which helps it from blowing away!

The doormat on top of the runner was one I had from a previous year. I think any coir doormat would work on top of this cute runner!