summer days

(Lake Michigan)

(Phil on his 15th birthday, 2003)

Howdy! I can't believe how quickly this summer is flying. Here we are near the end of July already. I've been enjoying the long, warm, sun-lit days. Early mornings with iced coffee on the shaded patio are the best way to start the day. Or, if I'm feeling motivated and it's not too hot, a walk to the lake feels pretty darn good, too.

Can you believe we've been in our house for 32 years now? We moved ourselves with the help of a friend. And then Brian went right back to work. That left me alone to unpack and set up the house. Not fun with being four months pregnant and having a two-year old. No surprise I ended up sick and vomiting. Those were the days! Still so grateful after all these years for "Comfy House". It is our nest. 

We may have a small plot of land, but July means being surrounded by hydrangeas and bee balm, coneflower and garden phlox, cosmos and salvia, and fresh herbs. We're growing cherry tomatoes and a couple of varieties of peppers this year, too.

I thank You God for most this amazing day;

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;

and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes.

(e e cummings)

Clementine has had a couple of UTIs in the past month, both resulting in vet ER trips : lots of worry, lots of money. She seems to be on the mend again, despite now being in stage 4 kidney disease. My sweet girl...she sleeps snuggled next to me every night.

Phil's 34th birthday would be tomorrow, July 21. 34!! How do you envision your child at that age when they didn't live past age 21? His birthday will always be celebrated by me and Brian. He made us parents. He is still our child and always will be. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't think about him. 

Ending on a sweet note...if you're looking for a super yummy, easy-to-make dessert that doesn't have a lot of sugar, you've gotta try King Arthur's Hot Summer Spoon Cake. Best served warm with vanilla ice cream. 😊

How has your summer been going?

the start of may

The month of May is when spring really jumps into action here in Illinois. Inspired by my friend, Kari at A Gracefull Life who has been sharing beautiful photos of her walks on Instagram, I purposely noticed the beauty that surrounds me on my neighborhood walk today. I normally do pay attention to that stuff anyway; I'm always pulling out my phone to take pictures when I walk, but sometimes my same ol' neighborhood walk gets a little boring. Not today!

 Around my own yard, a few perennials that say SPRING to me are bleeding heart...

vinca...

and bishop's cap. All three have that delicate, romantic look about them.

This past weekend, the weather was sunny and warm, so I spent a lot of time on Sunday getting herbs and herb seeds planted in pots...

and more herbs such as basil, two varieties of thyme, and rosemary planted in the backyard herb garden. 

 I planted two pots of dahlias and sweet potato vines, too. I still have coleus and tomatoes to plant, but those are going to have to wait until it's warmer. We're in for another cold snap this weekend. Can you believe it's going down to 28 degrees Friday night? I've been bringing in my pots of flowers into the garage and covering my herbs with a sheet at night.

I had a helper while planting, too. Clementine loves to be outside, but I don't let her roam freely. She only gets to go on the front porch with me. If she starts to step off the porch, I bring her back into the house.  I ordered her a mesh cat tent on Amazon, but I haven't put it together yet. I'm hoping she likes it. She can stay safely in her tent on the porch when I'm outside, without me constantly having to guard her every move.

Speaking of cats, I ordered this art print online from Bed, Bath & Beyond and then got the frame on Amazon. Isn't it cute? Sorry the photo didn't turn out well; I kept getting glare from the plexiglass in the frame.

Here's what my big kitchen wall looks like now with the new print ~ and oh yes, two more plates around the gather here sign.

Here's an older photo I found when I only had two plates around the gather here sign. That sign seems rather sad nowadays though. No gathering around our table lately, except for Brian and I. 

Have a good weekend ~ stay safe and well!

please don't rush summer

I've already seen posts all over social media about fall and even - *gasp* - preparing for Christmas!

I just don't understand the rush. It is only the beginning of August. We have over six weeks of summer left. I am not thinking about pumpkins, leaves changing colors, cool days, Halloween, or anything even remotely associated with Christmas.

Maybe it's because I live in an area that has long, dark, cold - even sometimes brutal - winters. It makes us appreciate summer even more.

Our lives are always so rush-rush as it is; why do we find it so hard to slow down and be mindful of what is going on around us now? It's so easy to get in that mindset of what is coming next instead of being present in the moment - whether it's rushing the seasons or even the activity of our everyday lives.

To me, August is the epitome of summer. Everything here in the Midwest is so lush and green and brilliant flowers abound. The roadsides are filled with Queen Anne's Lace, Purple Loosestrife, and some kind of small yellow wildflower that appears in late summer. If the humidity is low, the sky is a brilliant blue and if the humidity is high (which it often is), the sky is dotted with fluffy, cotton candy-like clouds.

I also crave a lot of light and sun, and this is the season to revel in that.

I love when I'm in the kitchen making a meal and decide I need fresh herbs, and being able to slip outside and snip herbs from my containers or little backyard herb garden. Even better when I do it with bare feet. 

And then the fresh produce...another reason I wish summer lasted a lot longer. We are surrounded by corn fields here in northern Illinois. Of course, most of it is GMO and used for animal feed (one reason to buy grass-fed beef, if you can), but two of the local farm stands here carry non-GMO corn that is picked fresh every day.

My own tomato plants are doing terrible this year and I've heard the same comments echoing from others in the area. We think it's from the erratic weather. At the start of summer, we had a deluge of rain to the point of local flooding. Lately, it's been a dry spell. Can't seem to get that nice mix of dry and wet weather. So I've been getting my tomatoes (and peppers) from the local farm stand, too. This is the only time of year I eat raw tomatoes. I can't stand the waxy, tasteless supermarket ones.

I have a friend who gardens on her farmer friend's huge plot of land. My friend is out of town right now, so she had posted on Facebook that she needed people to come every few days and pick veggies. There were about seven of us who volunteered, so my friend set up a schedule for picking.

Brian and I went yesterday morning and came home with onions, swiss chard, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, beets, carrots, zucchini, one little cucumber, and a ton of green beans. And a couple of sunflowers for the kitchen table. (Yes, she said we could help ourselves to those, too.) Last night we feasted on corn-on-the-cob, sliced tomatoes and steamed green beans. It was a perfect summer meal. Nothing tastes better than vegetables that were just picked that day. I remember when I was little, my grandma grew yellow tomatoes in her garden. I had never tasted one before. She told me how they were a bit sweeter than red tomatoes. She picked a yellow tomato and brought it inside, sliced it up and sprinkled with a little bit of salt. We feasted on the juicy slices, still warm from the sun. To this day, I still prefer sliced yellow tomatoes over red, and I always think of my grandma when I eat them.

On the evenings where Brian's home from work, we walk down to the lake and watch the sunset. Such a beautiful way to end the day.

Oh, the summer night, 

Has a smile of light,

And she sits on a sapphire throne.
(Bryan Procter)

Happy Wednesday, happy summer.

xoxo

herbs and leaves

The temps finally dipped enough two nights ago where we had a hard freeze. I was amazed to find yesterday that the parsley, sage, rosemary and not thyme, but chives, were still intact and actually looking vibrant.

I know these fresh herbs aren't going to last much longer, especially with tonight's temps going down to 16F, so I gathered what I could.

I froze the herbs using an easy method from Cathy at My 1929 Charmer. Click here for instructions. I know you can finely chop herbs and then put them in ice cube trays with water, but that limits what you can do with the herbs. Sure, it's easy to drop an ice cube into a pot of stew or soup, but what about when I want fresh rosemary for roasted potatoes? Now I can just reach into a freezer bag and pick off what I need, no water involved.

Even the parsley flower buds were put to use...I love the lacey look in an old milk bottle.

The hard freeze made all the difference for the trees. Just a couple of days ago, Brian and I were marveling at all the leaves still clinging to the trees, and yesterday the leaves were fluttering to the ground like raindrops. The huge maple tree across the street is now completely bare, but it sure left a colorful carpet on the ground.

I had put all my leftover baby pumpkins and gourds on a bench in my side yard for the squirrels and with the falling leaves, nature made this beautiful vignette. 

Brian had the day off work a couple of days ago and we took one of our little day trips. We took a walk in our favorite park along Lake Michigan. See how beautiful the trees still were?

And then there's last night's waning light through the now-bare trees, which has a haunting beauty all its own.

It always makes me a little sad to see the bare trees, but then I read somewhere that said we can now see more sky. I try to look for the positives.

It's a cloudy, windy day but I'm bundling up and heading out to the grocery store. I need fresh veggies to make a pot of vegetable soup this afternoon. There's nothing like the aroma of a pot of soup simmering on the stove on these blustery days. And now I'll be able to reach in my freezer and get fresh herbs to use in my soup, too. Doesn't get much better than that.