This and That

This has been a hard summer for farms and our CSA had a very rough start. But, the last two weeks we have received a huge share, especially beans which seem to like the weather we have had. Faced with the deluge of beans I decided to make some spicy dilly beans. There were some beautiful purple beans in the batch we received but unfortunately they blanch green. They did leave the brine a beautiful light purple. These will be a nice treat in the midst of winter.

I managed to emerge from my guilt trip despite the continued heat wave which has made me lethargic and unproductive. Yesterday I took bigguy and a friend bowling while TT was at playgroup. It was a really fun place with neon lit lanes and a huge arcade as well as laser tag. I want to have a grown up night there! I also took the kids to the lake today and we had a really nice day. The water was nice and warm and surprisingly it was not crowded- perhaps others are suffering from my lethargy!!

I know these last days before school are fleeting so I am going to try and make them special in small ways so that they will be memorable. We are going camping tomorrow for the weekend despite the risk of Hurricane Bill skirting the east coast, I am optimistically hoping that the forecasters are right and it will only bring rough surf.

Summer Guilt

I feel summer guilt today. It is 90 degrees, bright and sunny- not a cloud around. It is a perfect beach day. Why guilt then? Well, I just want to stay inside in my air conditioning and read magazines or blogs. I do not like 90 degrees- ever. We just returned from vacation on Saturday and I had to work on Sunday so I also am drowning under mounds of laundry and bags to be unpacked. I have managed to do some of the laundry but other than that not much. I know this weather is so fleeting, soon it will be fall and then winter and I will be dreaming of a summer day at the beach, but I just cannot do it today. There are going to be many nice days this week but we have brief commitments each day that make beach going out of the question. That may be adding to the guilt.

I guess we all need stay at home days to do nothing special- probably do not do enough of that anymore.

Felted Purse

I started this felted purse last winter from a stash of yarn I had bought several years before. Of course I ran out just short of completing the tabs to attach the handles so I had to improvise and cut the tabs in half. Not exactly how I wanted it to look but it works. I cannot even recall what pattern I used to make it. I am looking forward to using it this fall and winter although I in no way want to rush the summer by.

I am in desperate need of a new knitting project, will have to explore my yearn stash tonight and get something going. I tend not to knit too much in the summer unless it is a non wool item.

Hoping to pick blueberries tomorrow-nothing like fresh blueberries right off the bush!

Summer Bounty

It has been a rough vegetable gardening summer for us. We had a very rainy and cool start to the summer and we also battled with animals who found our garden a tasty snack bar. We only have two small raised beds so if they eat two or three plants that is a significant portion of our garden.

But, I was surprised yesterday when I went out to our cucumbers and picked a load of them as well as enough pole beans for dinner. There is something so satisfying about growing your own food and you certainly cannot beat the taste of something just picked. Bigguy and TT both grabbed the fresh cukes and ate them, Bigguy finished off three of them. I used mine in a cucumber sandwich, just a little mayo and salt and pepper-what a treat.

I grew the cucumbers in large pots this year as I had had very little luck in my raised beds. I do wonder why they come out in such funny shapes. They are the pickling variety but they seem to get fat on one end. I will have to try and research this. I am working at the CSA I belong to today and will ask one of the farmers if I see them.

2 Years !!

Today marked two years since we adopted TT. We first met her on July 30th and the adoption became official on the 31st. All those months of waiting and we were given such an amazing gift.

She is a spirited child whose personality grows more every day. I am amazed each day when she comes up with new words and especially when I catch her singing little songs to herself. Now, there are also the hard moments- like multiple time - outs in a morning for repeatedly misbehaving but luckily they seem to be less frequent. She has changed our lives in so many ways and we feel very lucky to have her as part of our family.

When you are in the midst of two's it does seem endless some days but then I look at bigguy and I think- not 9 years old already. We just celebrated his birthday last week. He is changing so much, becoming so mature in many ways. But, there are still moments , like last week at the zoo when he wanted a stuffed white tiger. I know soon he won't want any stuffed toys but that tiger slept with him for several nights before his sister scooped it up. He, being the great big brother that he is let her have it, but for a few moments he was still my little boy.