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

hello october

It's hard to believe it's October already. It's a temperamental month where I live, not really knowing what you will get in any given week. There are mostly nippy, windy days with a few warm ones thrown in. There can be abundant sunshine or endless days of rain.

I'm relishing the flowers that are still blooming ~ gerbera daisies, hydrangea, Russian sage. This is the last of them. Same with the cherry tomatoes. I picked the last few today. The dried up stalks and leaves will go into the compost bin.

I take daily walks around the neighborhood, relishing the last of the blue skies and sunshine, and picking up fallen red maple leaves to use in decor. Squashes and apples are in abundance at the farm stand and make beautiful displays until eaten. I love all fall and winter veggies...acorn, butternut and delicata squash; turnips and rutabaga; carrots and parsnips; pumpkin and sweet potatoes; cabbage and cauliflower. 

It's also soup weather again! We love soup and I make many kinds during the fall and winter. This one is Kale, White Bean & Squash soup. I used butternut squash in this recipe instead of the kobucha squash that was recommended. I couldn't find kobucha squash and the recipe said butternut would work just as well. This soup has everything going for it...easy to make, warming and filling, delicious ~ and it's even vegetarian/vegan, if that's what you're looking for.

I'm still worried about Monkey. (That's him on the left, cuddled up with Zippo.) He's had about four or five cold laser treatments on his bladder to relax it so any stones would break up and he could urinate without any problems. He seemed fine...eating normally, usual activity level. But last night I was able to observe him in the cat box again (very hard to catch your cat "in the act"!) and saw that he was still squatting for about eight minutes to urinate. I called the vet this morning, but he's at another animal hospital this morning. I left a message asking what the next steps should be, so I hope to have an answer soon.

Happy weekend, everyone.

bits and pieces from comfy house

More of a random, mish-mosh of a post today. I've been on the run a lot lately and

haven't gotten much accomplished at home. I've also been dealing with a medical problem

(not the rotator cuff tear, but something else) that kinda of got swept under the rug this past 

year, but now came to light again. I received a ton of info today and will be going for a 

test and some treatments all within the next few weeks, so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed

by it all. I don't want to put too much personal information out here on my blog, but if you

want to know any of the details (and I'll warn you ahead of time: it's long), just send me a

private email (link to my email is in my profile) and I will share with you.

  

This past weekend, a friend of ours had a Halloween party and one of the games

we played was Bingo. On this round we were playing the coverall version, where you had

to cover every square. We ran out of official tokens, so we started looking around for what

we could use as tokens. At first we were using M&Ms, but everyone ended up

 eating them! Then we got desperate and used leftover candy corn, the white tops of the

 candy corn (which look like teeth!), and then we got really desperate and my friend 

found leftover party mints from her daughter's baby shower back in January.

Tim told me he needed a new pair of glittens - that the ones he bought last year got

chewed up by Mojo - one of his roommate's cute but naughty dog. I stopped at the store

where he got his pair last year and they had tons. I'm talking baskets and baskets full. They

had regular and fleece-lined and were very reasonably priced. I think I'm going to go back

and buy a pair for myself, too. This is just one of the times I'm glad I have a smartphone. I

picked out a few pairs that I thought he would like, took a photo and sent it to him via text

 so he could choose, and got his reply. He chose the red, black, and green ones. 

I filled up the bird feeder with seed now that weather is cold. It attracts mostly sparrows

and juncos, but this gorgeous red-bellied woodpecker has been visiting everyday, too.

I grabbed my DSLR camera and was able to get a decent photo through my living room

window. I love how he has a seed in his long beak.

 

I made a big pan of roasted vegetables the other day. I used broccoli, cauliflower,

turnips, butternut squash, red and white onion, fennel, red and orange peppers,

carrots and parsnips, and even a few pieces of leftover celery. It's a great way to use

 up any bits of leftover veggies. I tossed them all with a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil,

salt and pepper and popped in the oven at 350 degrees F. for about 40 minutes. I

opened the oven and stirred a couple of times while the veggies were roasting. The

great thing about this is that the veggies are so versatile. You can eat as is, make a

frittata (which I did the first night for dinner), make a rice or quinoa bowl, toss with

pasta or make veggie lasagna, put in a wrap, make veggie soup, veggie enchiladas,

or vegetarian pizzas.

 For a little something sweet, I baked this delicious pumpkin and dark chocolate cake

from Better Homes and Gardens magazine. When I bake, I indulge in just a little bit, then

either freeze the rest of send with Brian to work. This bread was delicious - and not

overly sweet because I cut back on the sugar in the recipe. The recipe calls for 1-1/4 

cups - way too much. I used 3/4 cup. Unfortunately, I only had regular white sugar in my

cabinet (poison, I know). I ran out of organic coconut sugar, which I had been using in

my baking. Shoot, who am I kidding...I just need to cut way back on sugar - period!

Well, if baking urge hits you and you're looking for a good recipe, here it is:

Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin Swirl Cake

Thanks for your visit!

just a little something i whipped up

 I made a yummy egg dish for a late breakfast today.

 This meal has everything going for it ~ quick, easy, delicious, nutritious,

AND it can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Start out by cooking one cup of quinoa according to package directions.

{Have you ever had quinoa? A lot of people think it's a grain, but it's actually

a seed. It cooks quickly (15 min.), is high in protein, is gluten free,

contains no cholesterol, and is also high in folate and magnesium. It's 

a great change in your diet and meal plan instead of rice.}

 

In a medium-sized frying pan, pour a little olive oil, and saute chopped veggies

of your choice until crisp-tender. Use whatever you have on-hand that would be good

 in an egg dish ~ onions, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes. 

All I had in my produce stash today was onions and peppers. So I went with that.

While the veggies are cooking, whisk up some eggs. This dish was for two people,

so I used four eggs.

Pour the whisked eggs over the sauteed veggies and cook over medium heat.

Use a wooden spoon to scramble the egg and veggie mixture in the pan.

When eggs are done, you can choose to serve them as is...

or, sprinkle some cheese on top. I used shredded cheddar. You can use any

kind of cheese you like, including feta.

Spoon the quinoa onto a plate and then pile the egg and veggie mixture on top

of the quinoa. Delish! A salad of baby greens would be perfect with this egg

dish, too. Bon apetit!

Won't you join me over at Elaine's Sunny Simple Life and
The Charm of Home today?