Lest I Forget

It has been a while since I joined up with Barbara on her weekly photo chronicle of life. Here we have a giraffe, created by Jack. My kids play with toys in spurts. This past week, it has been the bucket of duplos. We finished school this week, so now it is officially summertime! Splash!! There is one kid who is not so sure the pool is fun. She is happier in her daddy's arms. A special treat for finishing 1st grade! She got right to work on playing. "oh, la, la!" Does anyone else like these toys as much as we do? Anna created a swirling flower garden. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but it is just so shiny." Daddy's tuba. This morning, I found the first squash blossom. Isn't it beautiful? 3 weeks ago, the garden looked like this. This morning, it has transformed into this. The tomatoes 3 weeks ago. The tomatoes this morning! Wow!

Literally! I had wanted to make some date syrup. I was really excited about trying this recipe. ( I know that probably makes me a little weird. Oh, well.) I pulled out the food processor, the recipe, the dates. I opened the dates. Whew! Mold on almost all of them! Sad at this turn of events, I put everything away. I was not only upset over not getting to try a new recipe, but mostly I was frustrated over the lost money. I mean, the grocery budget is something I really work on. In order to buy more organic, unprocessed foods, I have had to cut out some things. (Boxed cereal was cut much to my families chagrin. I don't really understand why, for I make muffins, pancakes, waffles, etc. most mornings. Why do they still crave the stuff in a box?) It wouldn't have been so bad if lunch had gone better earlier in the day. I bought some lunch meat, ( which is also not on the grocery list anymore) , since we had company earlier in the week and they had a little one with peanut allergies....

Outside my window... ...a kiddie pool filled with toys, water, and the echoes of yesterday's laughter. ...tomatoes in cages, the lingering scent of the plants on my hands. ...chirping birds, who best not mess with the tomatoes. I am thinking... ...that these May days are a whirlwind of activity. ...I need to keep in mind that this is Mary's month. ...an 8 month old really shouldn't be trying to walk. I am thankful for... ...hot coffee from the new perculator. ...children who like to sleep in. ...my family, both close and far away. From the lesson plans... ...only 3 days left and Anna will have completed first grade! ...deciding whether to start Jack in pre-K or Kindergarten in the fall. ...looking forward to end of year straightening and organizing of the classroom. From the kitchen... ...today I want to make some granola. ...I want to make some date syrup. ...pulling out the pasta machine to make homemade noodles for tonight's fettucine alfredo. I am wearing... my gard...

Jack has been hounding and pestering me to make some playdough for longer than I care to admit. See, I didn't have enough salt and let's just say that someone did not remember to buy more for the last two grocery trips. But today, Jack accompanied me to pick up Olivia from school and we stopped on the way home to buy salt. My cooks took turns adding ingredients and stirring the dough. They even agreed on what color to make it. Ewwww. But wait, it will look like playdough soon enough. Here's the recipe we use. It is from the Little Hands Craft Book. It only takes a minute for it to change from goo to dough. Ready to play! I stuck Therese's foot in it to see what she thought of playdough. "Lady, why did you stick my foot in that stuff?" It didn't take long to get set up on the kitchen floor. In other kitchen news, I went to a yard sale in our neighborhood on Saturday. I scored this coffee perculator for $1! We also procured 2 books, 3 toys, and so...

Beer! The young college gentleman who works at our library struck up a conversation with me the other day about his favorite beers. I've been on a red wine kick for a while, but with warmer weather on the horizon, beer sounds awfully good. I mean, what could be better than an ice cold beer after working in the garden all afternoon? Anyhoo, he asked me if I liked IPA's and of course I said.... "What's an IPA?" (It's India Pale Ale, for those of you who aren't hip enough to know that!) Back in college, any old beer would do. But now, I have a more discriminating palette, and a slightly bigger budget, so I sent Tony off to procure me some good beer. This is what he brought home..... My librarian did not let me down! Oh so hoppy and refreshing! Yum, yum, yum! By the way, this is my kitchen table. It is an old door. I fell for it the moment I saw it. I know it has nothing to do with beer, but I just wanted to share. Hope your weekend is wonderful.

I always like to take a picture of the garden at the beginning of the season so I can look back and see the transformation. Little tiny plants and rows of seeds soon become blossoming plants. Before you know it, they are heavy with vegetables. I know this doesn't look like a holy place, but I do some of my best talking with God out there, weeding and watering, pruning and picking. This year's crops: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, okra, and pumpkin. Over in the herb garden, the lettuce has sprouted. Rosemary, Thyme and Lemon Balm survived the winter. I bought a few more strawberry plants too. Jack informed me last night that he does not like "Lemon Bomb" because it explodes. What are you growing this year?

The shed before. It's such a, umm... bright color, isn't it? Our shutters, front door, and garage door were all this color when we bought the house. And after! So neutral, so...not blue! I've been waiting 18 months for this. Yippee!