The end of my day looked like this

Keep in mind my previous posts about outside dining and this post will line up beautifully. What gave this particular one extra bounce was a picnic at Witt's place.

Simple, simple supper that boxed up with no trouble. Quiche, salad, and sliced cucumbers in vinegar. For an appetizer we spread a cracker with cream cheese and topped it with pepper jelly.
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*Target* carries the most amazing Italian sodas. We buy them and they are stored on the pantry shelf to reappear as the golden slipper for special times, such as an evening picnic. We have tried several different flavors, but tonight it was lemon.

We reclined on a blue blanket that mimicked the earlier blueness of the beautiful skies we have lived under this week. My trusty vintage picnic basket provided a tad of ambiance.

We took the time to visit the rose garden and to smell the sweet scent of the roses.

And we picked some apples atop the high branches of one of the several trees. These trees were heavily pruned this year, therefore, the apple crop was miniscule compared to last year's abundance. These shall make a nice Sunday dessert.

What simple gifts lead to the peaceful ending of a day.

Late Summer Memory

These late summer evenings are downright seductive, therefore, we bear with the mosquitoes to be outside as much as possible. Charlotte did her part by setting the dining table.


Thankfully, spaghetti sauce was made yesterday morning and set in the crock pot to simmer as we went about our afternoon activities. Charlotte's ballet lesson was at 5:00, and upon arriving home to the smell of red sauce cooking the remainder of the dinner preparations were much easier.

As the sun set, a coolness settled over us and my husband suggested a fire. The girls hurriedly managed their baths, donned their pjs, and returned with a wire clothes hanger and a bag of marshmallows.

I love memories that linger. This morning's greeting of the fireside seatings made me happy.

back home

Jumping for joy to be back home from the Green Mountain State.

So many photos I could share, but it might be like sitting down to a slide projector presentation of someone's family vacation. Just suffice it to say the main place of our travels took us to an enchanted land of beauty, and out of this world verdancy.

School has officially opened in my home and we are getting acclimated to new schedules. It's rather lined up as a Jekyll and Hyde existence right now. Great excitement of newness, yet a tugging of what we are leaving behind in the flavors of summer.

Many miles to go

Two things I am thankful for at the present.

Cars with:
1) DVD players and
2) CD players

Nine hundred miles of road travel loom ahead of us as we venture to our destination. Movies on DVD and books on CD will help to occupy some of the time tremendously.

I expect to return Saturday week. I look forward to catching up with you when I return.

A going away dinner

Alan leaves for college tomorrow, heading to a small private school in the eastern part of our state. Alan is quiet and reserved in a line of loquacious siblings. We shall miss his quiet presence.

He requested lasagna, salad, garlic bread and strawberry cobbler, topped with vanilla ice cream naturally. With good thoughts of him I prepared the requested meal, so happy to be doing something that speaks of love. Charlotte conveys her version of love quite well. Every once in a while she looks at him and with the emotional intensity that only a six year old can unabashedly state, "I will miss you Alan."
My mother's heartstrings are taut.

These photos are courtesy of Rose, taken on her new camera.

There is a silly addendum to this post, so keep looking....

Oh My!

It is obvious that we were still sitting around the dining room table while Rose, Charlotte and Mr. Putter were pursuing other things. Please excuse the loud talking in the background. And do know we run those dirty dishes through a hot wash cycle in the dishwasher! I thought you might get a kick out of a not so pretty, yet entertaining moment here in my home. Kids and dogs....you've gotta love them!

Girls' Bathroom Muse

Seeing: Bunnies here, bunnies there, bunnies on the wallpaper border edged around the ceiling on buttery yellow walls.

Hearing: Gallons of clear lukewarm water pouring from the chrome faucet. Particular sounds may trigger certain sensations or memories. When I hear bathroom faucets running, a calm settles into a level of my unconsciousness, creating soothing impressions of approaching bedtime, an end to a full day.

Smelling: Herbal Essence shampoo, "Pink coral flower with an infusion of nectarine". Not being a connoisseur of shampoo fragrances, I will gladly take their word that the sweet smells attacking my nostrils are what they state on the bottle.

Touching: A pale pink terrycloth towel, within arm's reach

Tasting: Mint toothpaste oozing from the tube. Yes, they have had training on how to close a toothpaste tube, I am thinking maybe a refresher course would be helpful.

Squeaky clean!

New Walking Sandals

I will be back with the five senses and another room tomorrow. If the truth was told I am entirely too lazy to go downstairs and get the camera to download my next set of pictures.



We will be leaving for Vermont exactly one week from today, a place I have never, in all my years, had the opportunity to visit. Those that have been there say I am in for a treat. I am thinking cooler weather, yet still probably warmer during the day. I needed a comfortable pair of sandals for walking. While I hate having cold feet, when it is warm and my feet are covered, I have an irresistible urge to undress......my feet that is! These sandals from Lands End, while not very "pretty", shall suit me well in the Green Mountain state.

I was waiting for my husband to make a short trip to the store and decided to shoot this photo. It appears I may have "something" about reflection pics lately.

Kitchen Muse

While reading a particular post a while back, here, my fancy was inspired with how she showed the five senses being enjoyed in her home that day. I thought it would be fun to do a similar thing within the different rooms of my house. Please fell free to follow along if you would like. Today it will be the kitchen:

Seeing
Chair seat cushions askew, letting you know it is far from perfect.


Empty little "jelly" jars with the tiniest traces of leftover juice left behind, on the table.


Hearing
The zebra finches twittering to one another, interposed with a sonorous melody to his "wife". I know why the caged birds sing......


Smelling
Sweet pickle spices and vinegar....tingling the insides of my nose!



Touching
Bronze faucets, hard and clean. I touch them many times over a course of a day.


Tasting
Cantaloupe, garden ripe and delicious, I believe this food should have a place at my table for every meal served at this time of year.

A very happy place.

To see and to capture

You would go too if you were invited. A salt treated pool for an afternoon of swimming in a lovely setting with good friends.

First of all, let me say I have way more camera than I need. To learn even a small degree of photography skills fascinates me, but presently I am definitely a student teaching herself. (Are there any teachers out there?) Today I took along my macro lens with the intentions of experimenting. Positioning myself at distances to take close up shots was the focus of today's lesson.

Rose has been working to save up money for her own digital camera. She made her decision on the one she wanted, and could afford, last Saturday. The number one factor for her was size, the smaller the better. But she has learned the capabilities of her camera rather nicely and I hope to see some good shots, then maybe I can expose her to using my camera.

These two lovebirds were perched on the windowsill overlooking the pool. My eye caught their whimsy and beauty. If only I could make my camera do the same thing. It is so easy to see your mistakes in the photos when you come home and download them onto the computer.

But you have, on a positive note, caught an entry of the views my eyes beheld and attempted to capture on this marvelous summer afternoon.

A time of swimming in a non-chlorinated pool, drinking ice cold water smudged with beads of condensation, and snapping picture after picture of a very beautiful world.

Saturday Pleasures

Saturdays have all kind of pleasures in store. One need not look very far.

A phone call from a rural friend Friday afternoon declaring free tomato giveaways. A morning of revisiting the process of canning tomatoes. I can't stop staring at their beauty; canned tomatoes in jars cooling on my kitchen counters while waiting for the pantry shelf. How much I will enjoy pulling them out this winter for soups, chilies, and spaghetti sauces.

What do these three items have in common? A trip to the store led to the purchase to all three, without any prior pursuit. Several years ago I borrowed the book by Susan Wise Bauer, The Well- Educated Mind, from the library. There it was on the book table grabbing my attention once again. I thought how my son would appreciate this book, so it was bought for a Christmas gift. He will like it. A traditional 8x8 brownie pan, in all my 31 years of housekeeping, has never been a part of my kitchen supplies, until now. It's about time I think. And the mug, for my morning coffee, of course. Somehow the thoughts of a woman who eats brownies and drinks coffee while reading how to improve her mind seems pleasurable.

And cucumbers soaking in a lime bath. A friend's gracious father shared several pounds of cucumbers with me from his garden's bounty. They will be sweet and crisp pickles, just right for my potato salads and egg salad sandwiches.