happy 1st birthday to monkey!

 Today is Monkey's FIRST birthday!

 He's still quite the naughty adventurous kitty...

THIS is what he's spying on from the top of the fridge ~

Freddy, the African dwarf frog.

We have to keep Freddy's bowl on top of the china cabinet

so that bad pussycats don't get him.

 

 And then there's Monkey's mama, Clementine.

Here she is, looking so proper and demure.

Though she fits right in with the decor, don't you think?

nom nom ~ and some new kitchy stuff

Let's talk FOOD for a moment.

How about plain low-fat Greek yogurt mixed with ground flax seed and a little natural sweetener (Truvia) over a bowl of strawberries and blueberries, and topped with Kashi Go-Lean Crunch...

A yummy, nutritious breakfast or lunch!

Yesterday, I baked a loaf of zucchini-walnut bread. This recipe is healthier than the usual zucchini bread recipes out there that have a ton of sugar and fat. This recipe uses low-fat Greek yogurt, canola oil, and minimal sugar. Makes a good late morning or early afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea.

YOGURT-ZUCCHINI BREAD WITH WALNUTS

(Recipe adapted from Food & Wine)

1 cup (4 oz.) walnut halves

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. EACH baking powder, baking soda, & salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. low-fat plain Greek yogurt (you can also sub low-fat sour cream)

1 c. coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 med. zucchini)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9x4-1/2" metal loaf pan. Spread the walnut halves in a pie plate and toast them for about 8 minutes, until they are fragrant. Transfer the toasted walnuts to a cutting board and coarsely chop them, then freeze for 5 min. to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar with the eggs, canola oil, and yogurt (or sour cream). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with the grated zucchini and toasted walnuts and stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 1 hour and 10 min., until the loaf is risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool on a rack for 30 min. before unmolding and serving.

Found these gorgeous blue Bell jars at Goodwill for $1.99 each.

The color reminds me of the Caribbean. :-)

I'm currently using them to store tea bags and Truvia packets.

See the vintage yellow tray on the wall? I recently bought a couple of these ~ I have a red one, too ~ and was wondering how to display them, when I saw this great idea of hanging them on the wall and using them as a bulletin board of sorts on a Pinterest board.

I hung the trays using 3M velcro strips. They supposedly don't damage the walls when you take the stuff down.

I hung the red tray on the side of a cabinet by my kitchen window.

The wind chime is made from vintage silverware; found it at a craft show.

Now for a dose of reality. This is what my kitchen looked like earlier this morning when I was making a vegetable bean salad to bring to my mom's later, and also baking cookies for my son.

I'm delaying the dreaded clean-up!

Hope you all have a delightful and blessed Labor Day...

What are your plans for the day?

september already

How did September get here so quickly?

The summer was too short ~

especially for those of us who live in the Midwest.

I know most people love fall ~ and I agree, it can be a beautiful season

with the cooler, crisp air and the orange, red, and yellow leaves on the trees.

But, to me, fall is just a reminder that the dreaded w-i-n-t-e-r (see? I won't even say the word!)

is right around the corner.

I'm a summer girl. Give me sunshine and heat. I could take that year-round.

My husband's job keeps us here though. And we both have family in the area.

Sooo...my dreams of living in in California are just not meant to be right now.

Some of my flowers and plants are still doing beautifully.

 I love this shot I got of a bee on the Joe Pye Weed.

 

The butterflies love this purple Butterfly Bush.

The butterfly garden is in full bloom.

Impatiens overflowing in a pot on the front deck.

Little potted begonias by the front door.

 

Now here's the depressing photo. At least for me.

Fallen leaves already on the sidewalk.

"Funny" how they just appeared today ~

the first day of September.

"Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends"

("Wake Me Up When September Ends" - lyrics by Green Day)

it's been a celebratory sort of month

 August 10th was my 49th birthday.

Only one more year until I'm the big five-oh.

(Which freaks me out.)

I had no problems turning 40. In fact, my early to mid 40's were pretty good.

Until I herniated 3 disks in my lower back.

And had a hysterectomy. (At least it was laparoscopic.)

And had a lot of problems with my oldest son, Phil.

And then, Phil passed away unexpectedly when I was 47.

But, I digress. I'm not here today to focus on my "problems".

I just wanted to share a few celebratory things that have taken place

since I've last posted.

Hubby and I both took the day off for my birthday

and spent the day in Evanston (IL).

We first parked in the downtown area and walked around for a bit

before heading inside to Barnes & Noble and relaxing with some magazines.

We then went to lunch at "The Lucky Platter". This place is so cool and has awesome food.

As their web site states:

"We combine on a single menu old fashioned fountain cream soda, tandoori salmon, jerk chicken, jambalaya, spicy turkey meatballs, pumpkin soup and sweet potato fries (to name a fraction of our offerings). We stagger your palette and awe your senses with our eclectic folk art decor peculiarly American in motif."
 

 I had the Tandoori chicken over a bed of greens. Delish!

(Don't mind my wind-blown, stringy hair in this pic - yuck.)

 After our filling lunch, we went to a park on the lakefront to relax.

That, I did. :-)

Hubby and his new "Wizard of Oz" book from the Barnes and Noble trip...

Beautiful Lake Michigan...

Last stop was a favorite shop called The Mexican Shop. 

They have handcrafted jewelry of all varieties, and unusual clothes, bags, and sunglasses

that you can't get anywhere else. The jewelry cases line the store and everything in the store is handpicked by the owners from different small designers around the world. 

I bought myself this wrap-around bracelet with tiny, silver beads.

 Speaking of celebrations, I also helped throw a baby shower for a co-worker a couple

of weeks ago...

And then last weekend, I went to a lovely bridal shower. 

The bride-to-be, Nicki, is the daughter of my neighbor-friend across the street.

I have known them for 21 years.

Nicki grew up with Phil. They played together all the time when they were little.

This is the lovely dessert table at Nicki's bridal shower...

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."
(Oprah Winfrey)

blue and white

I've always love the cool, crisp combination of blue and white. 

(Wish I could change "white" to a white font!)

Summery, cotton quilt hanging out to dry...

 Bed linens in blue and white...

Arrangement of blue and white vases on the back of the toilet seat. 

(Please disregard the ugly outdated sponge paint on the walls. We are hopefully having our bathrooms remodeled in the near future.)

And, then there's my kitchen with blue and white walls ~

and china cabinet that is currently filled with 

blue and white decor.

 

Take a peek inside...

 

First shelf has some milk glass pieces; a sugar and creamer set made by Churchill, England; and a trio of birds from W. Germany.

 

On the second shelf, I have a cherished plate that says, "A Good Mother Makes a Happy Home" (Royal Crownford, Staffordshire, England); a handmade (by me) dessert stand using a pillar candle holder and old plate; a Ralph Lauren teacup; and a hand-painted in Portugal pitcher.

 

For the bottom shelf, I placed a cup and saucer caddy with teacups and saucers on it; plates and bowls from Bavaria, W. Germany; and an English sugar holder. It has a broken handle, so I turned it sideways!

 

 

Bonus - most of these china cabinet items were found in Goodwill!

 

comings and goings...mostly goings

The month of JULY has been really busy with family get-togethers and weekend jaunts. It's just one of the many things I love about summer ~ the freedom and spontaneity of being out and about.

My Aunt Bunny (no, that's not her real name...her real name is Yvonne. She's had the nickname of Bunny since she was a little girl) and her husband, Uncle Roland had a family BBQ at the beginning of the month. Here's part of our crazy clan. Others were out of town.

Left, back: Bunny (looking wiped out ~ she has CFS and I think throwing a family party was too much); cousin Dale (Bunny's son) holding son, Harlan; Beth (Dale's wife) holding son, Archer; me (pink flowered shirt) with hubby, Brian behind me...Right, front: Uncle Roland (falling asleep?!) holding grandson, Matthew; Benjy (Roland's son) and his wife, Kathy.

One VERY pleasurable part of this family get-together was getting to hold - for hours! - my new baby cousin, Harlan. My hubby said I am glowing in this picture. Can you tell I love babies?!

In mid-July, Brian and I got together with my mom (orange shirt), Aunt Suzie (white shirt), and Uncle Jim (Suzie's husband). We went out to the boondocks where there's three little antique stores in a row. Just look at all those treasures to dig through! I ended up buying two tiny, red, leather-bound antique books, a 1970's rooster wall hanging, and a vintage yellow tray.

The Midwest is so beautiful in the summer. Just look at that view of the cornfields behind the antique stores.

 Brian's birthday was last Monday and we both had the day off work, so we spent it the day in one of our favorite getaway spots: Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

The handsome Birthday Boy.

The sun was bright, the skies blue, the air not so humid...what a perfect day to sit on the patio of a restaurant right near the lake and enjoy a fresh, beautiful salad. This one with salmon was Brian's. Mine had grilled chicken and fresh berries on it, but I mixed it all up with the greens before I took the picture, so it wasn't really "pretty enough" to photograph. :-)

When we got home that evening, I gave Brian his birthday cake - a homemade zucchini-apple-walnut cake with cream cheese frosting. OK, so the frosting isn't "perfect" on the cake...but it sure tasted good!

 

Hope you all have been enjoying your summer as much as I have!

organizing makes the world go round

Well, not really...

But it DOES make you feel better.

It was Martha Stewart who said, "Life is too complicated not to be orderly."  So, I heeded Martha's advice and tackled a few problem areas in my kitchen.

Take my kitchen junk drawer, for instance. OK, I know you've seen worse, but it could use some cleaning out.

 

Ahh, much better.

My cluttered food and spice pantry. 

BEFORE...

 

And, 

AFTER...

(I'm starting to collect glass jars from spaghetti sauce, salsa, etc. and use for storage containers.)

Embarrassed to show you my freezer, but here it is in all its glory...

Who even knew I had ice cream hidden in there?!

 

Martha would be proud.