Things I Love About Summer 2

The Sunlight in my new office...

Things I Love About Summer

My Beach Bum

The Garage Sale That Never Was

We painted signs, we put out things, we waited hours, and only one person showed. She did not get out of her car, simply looked and drove away. Goodwill here we come...

Bird in the Library

I came home last night to find another bird in the house (yes you read that right). I have no idea where they are coming from or how they are getting in. I found the first one in Raine's room sitting on the sill gazing longingly out the window. I caught him and let him go but later noticed that he did not make it. Last nights addition was found on top of my Harry Potter books in the library. I captured him with the butterfly net and put him back outside. He flew away so I think this one will be fine. If the universe is trying to tell me something I am not getting the message. I had no idea that last week when Raine turned into the animal protector that she would attract real animals into the house but her green butterfly net sure has come in handy.

Raging River

So I'm sure you all remember that little creek that runs behind my house well yesterday it became a river. A raging force that was capable of moving almost anything in it's path. It became muddy and angry and beautiful all at once. You see yesterday we had torencial rains that amounted to about 4-5 in throughout the state and there were flash flood warning everywhere. To say I had an intersting time getting home last night would be putting it mildly. As I got out of my car I could hear the water from the house and it is about a quarter mile away. I decided to explore and get some pictures so everyone could see. Please excuse the poor quality as my camera does not have the abilty to take clear pictures of water moving at this speed.

Puppy Love

Our next door neighbors dog Wren loves Raine and was so excited to see her yesterday that she ran across our yard at lightning speed and tackled her with kisses...

I'm so Corney!!!

Yes I really did make her sit in the middle of our corn for this shot, but isn't it so cute!!!

Cooking With Melanie

So this weekend I didn't have Raine and being in the mood to create I decided to try out a few new recipes that I've been eying for awhile. The first one was a Zucchini Risotto that I came across on another blog by the name of Beyond Salmon, you can find the recipe here...( http://beyondsalmon.blogspot.com/2008/04/zucchini-risotto.html )

I substituted the 1/2 cup dry white wine for 1/2 cup chicken stock as I do not much care for the taste of wine and only ended up using 3 1/2 cups water as opposed to 4. This was the first time I have ever made or even tasted a risotto and all I have to say is "Wow". It takes a little work to make this dish but the pay off is fantastic. It is so creamy and flavorful, completely worth the effort. I highly recommend it!!!


The second dish I made was White / Wheat Blueberry Pancakes and Homemade Blueberry Syrup. Both recipes courtesy Nigella Lawson from her book Nigella Express. I used the syrup recipe as is and slightly modified her pancakes by adding 2 more tablespoons of sugar, replacing 2 of the four cups unbleached white flour with whole wheat, and throwing in fresh blueberries at the last second. Both came out well, the syrup was Divine and so easy to make and the pancake felt wholesome and healthy without compromising any of the taste. I made a big batch and sent over a breakfast in bed basket to my neighbors who admitted that they hadn't made pancakes for themselves in years and thoroughly enjoyed the treat. I love feeding people and practically skipped over to their house at 8:30 on Sunday morning matching blue basket in hand. I can't wait to make them for Raine this weekend...

Strength

So strong is the child that I have brought forth. Both in mind and body does my (not so) little one show that life holds no obsticles that she cannot defeat. She is breathtaking to behold with her confident smile and wildfire wit. I sure do hope that the world is ready, because she's growing up fast and goddess help the ones that stand in her way....

Berry Beautiful

Meet "The Animal Protector (er, er, er)"

I'd like to introduce you to the "Animal Protector (er, er, er) (Her pronunciation, not mine)." She is a spunky superhero with great powers. She can talk to the animals and saves them all from harm. She wears a purple across the chest pack that holds lots of "important stuff", pink sparkly sunglasses (so she can better spot her friends), light pink all-terrain crocs and carries a bright green butterfly net (for the safe transport of all wildlife). I met this amazing superhero last night as she showed up on my stairs and with one hand on hip and the other holding her net high into the sky shouted, "I am the Animal Protector(er, er, er)!!!!!!" This great superhero then proceeded to deposit ALL her stuffed animal friends throughout the house in various spots of peril (atop the desk, the bathtub, behind the TV, everywhere). Then the rescues began...A cute raccoon was saved from the top of the stairs by being placed in the net and brought back to his habitat (her neon pink covered cheetah bed). Her mission was going great and all of the animals of the house were sure to found when all of a sudden there was a commotion outside. Our friendly neighbor and his daughter were in the barn picking up there picnic table and just like that she was gone. I do hope she will soon return as there are quite a few animals that still need her help as I had to rescue a bear myself from the bathtub just this very morning!!!!

First Harvest

Yesterday Raine and I were weeding in the garden near the tomatoes and we found our very first ripe ready to eat orange tomato. The picture to the left is of another grouping that is almost ready as I could not get you a picture of our first harvest. Raine took one look at it and grabbed it off the vine. She then glanced at me with a great big smile and popped it into her mouth. I laughed out load and said, "what about the blog", she gave me a great big tomato seed smile and told me to tell you "It was so sweet!!!"

Job Hunting

So for those of you who know me know that I am a bit of a workaholic and though I only work a 50 - 60 hour week on average I used to work a lot more. As of late I have been thinking about picking up a part time job on the days that I don't have Raine and last week I finally decided that it is a good idea. I put in applications at Target and Price Chopper (Grocery Chain) for evenings and weekends and am still waiting to hear back. I haven't applied for any jobs in quite a few years as I been with my current company going on 7 years and was surprised at the process. It seems that in most places paper applications have been eliminated and you apply online or at a kiosk at the front of the store. They ask you the standard set of questions about employment history and background but they also ask anywhere from 50 - 100 odd ball questions. I guess this is a quick way to filter and weed through applicants but they sure did have some funny ones. I 'm hoping for an interview this week...Wish me luck!!

Among the Trees

My weekend did not turn out to be what I had hoped as I had great intentions toward 3 days filled with accomplishments and new creative endeavors. Instead by Sunday I had a cold, a bored child and only one room finished. I was grumpy, she was restless and the house was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic so we decided to give in and get out. We ended up taking the ridge trail by the house and clocking the mileage as this was one of the things I had on my to do list. We put on our hiking boots, backpacks, and handkerchiefs and were off. It took us all of five minutes before the stress and heaviness of the day fell away. There is just something about being in nature that just sets everything back to right. Your mind stills, your soul settles and you remember how to breathe...

I very much miss the ocean and mountains of my past but I am so enjoying the beauty of my present. Raine is a child full of love and light and I love to just watch her grow. She understands her surroundings with a clarity that defies her age and when I see her among the trees I see why it is that I believe we are of the earth. She becomes a part of it immersing herself within the landscape so completely that it is hard to tell that she has ever been anywhere else. I love that she enjoys it as much as I do and am thankful to have been her choice for a mother. My words can only give you an idea of what I mean so I included a few glimpses of our escape...enjoy

Evening

What A Life!!!

Summer Evenings

In the garden our corn and tomatoes are coming up nicely. We are going to transplant the pumpkins, squash, watermelons, broccoli, and lettuce this weekend.The herb garden is also taking off like mad, though there is some kind of bug eating my basil. It was so lovely out last night that we made a simple dinner that could be picked at while we played. It was great and I didn't even have to dirty a pot. Any of you washingtonians feel like showing up for dinner and a tour, we're eagerly awaiting...

Taking Time To Smell The Flowers

Sunday Mornings

Picture this...Early Sunday morning in the kitchen in our pajamas and matching pink crocks. A big deep blue earthen bowl between us and a counter top covered in organic flours, sugar, cinnamon, eggs and fresh strawberries. We worked as a team cutting up the berries and adding them to our bowl, chatting quietly in the soft morning sunlight the cats (also present) soaking it up in the windowsill. Raine did the mixing and I prepared the pans. Into the oven three loaves of strawberry bread went, one for our neighbor, one for work, and one to share for breakfast with the daughter of my heart. It was a morning that I will keep locked in my memories until I am well into the crone stage of this life, one that I will think of and smile in those quiet moments, and one that I know she enjoyed just as much. Sweet, Simple, and Homemade with Love, A Perfect Day...