Summer is Here!!

Hello and Happy Summer!!


Fletch is thrilled because now the days will start getting shorter (very slowly) and we will be inching towards Fall.  Truth be told, neither one of us are thrilled with the sticky mess that Summer can be sometimes.  Fall is the favorite season for both of us...and we are already planning a camping trip for (hopefully) early October.  But, we will enjoy having Summer produce (both from our garden and from the various farm stands and farmer's markets nearby.  And we will enjoy sitting on the patio (if it's not too hot and humid...).


Knitting progress has been slow:

I think the foot is about halfway finished now.  Not too much longer - I should definitely finish it this weekend.  I'm anxious to cast on a new pair...or a sweater...and get back to my Winter Sea shawl.  At the same time, I've been just enjoying knitting and not worrying about finishing anything on a deadline...making no promises to myself or anyone else.  Rather, just enjoying the process.  It feels good!


That's also how I'm approaching Book Bingo this year.  I'm keeping a record of what I've read, but I haven't even seen if anything matches up to my card yet (except for one book - The Crane Wife - which I do know matches one square).


My annual physical yesterday was good (yay!!) and now I'm booked for my mammogram on Monday (unpleasant, but necessary).


Colin is coming for dinner again tonight - he is planning to grill some chicken thighs with a mustard and shallot rub as well as some corn on the cob.  If weather permits, we will have a fire to celebrate the Solstice.


Wishing you all a relaxing end to the week!

A Little Visitor!

Hello All,


It feels as though the humidity has finally dropped some!  Mailing was out of town on business yesterday, so Colin stopped by after work for dinner.  The cold shrimp and pasta salad were perfect for the warm day.  And, after dinner Colin and I took an hour walk along the River Trail in Valley Forge.  We saw a few people, but surprisingly there was no one (and no boats) on the river.  All was pretty still.  We were home by 8:30 and as Colin pulled out of the driveway to go home I once again hopped in the shower.  I took a glass of wine out on the patio to relax (and to dry my hair) after my shower, and look who showed up:

Mr. Toad!  It was just the other day I was commenting to Fletch that I had not seen any toads yet.  When I was a kid I loved to catch them.  Now I don't like to touch them, but I do enjoy seeing them.  Fortunately Tyg is never interested in them.


Other things that have recently appeared:  our trumpet vine has the first blossoms.  hoping the hummers will appear soon!  The Seven Sisters Rose we brought up from Virginia years ago is blooming too.  I'll try to get some pictures.  And we noticed that the poison ivy vines are already turning red!!  There are a lot of these vines climbing the trees in our woods and surrounding properties.  The vines at the tops of the trees are changing.  It seems early.


I did knit 10 rows on my sock at lunch yesterday, but nothing last night.  And, I'm about half-way through Coming to my Senses which I am enjoying, though I wish it were more about food.  Still, because it is about Alice Waters' growing up and starting Chez Panisse in the 60's/early 70's it is a fun read.


I've got a somewhat busy day ahead of me with a break mid-day for my annual physical.  It's nice to be mid-week!

A Little bit More From the Weekend

Well Good Morning!


Whew!  It has been steamy.  Yesterday I went out at lunch and drove to a shady spot to read.  Windows were down and there was a slight breeze, but my phone was telling me it was 98 degrees!  And it was around 90% humidity.  A sticky mess.


We did have a fairly strong thunderstorm move through last night which was nice.  The rain smelled So Good!  And, it managed to drop the temp to the 80's (at 10 p.m.).  Oy vey!


Meanwhile, my brother in Boulder texted me pictures - they were getting a second hail storm (the first one was a month or so ago and stripped all the peaches from their trees!).  He sent a close up shot of the hail - too big!







Hoping they did not have too much damage to their gardens.


Meanwhile, I did a little knitting last night, but not much...so nothing to show you.  Instead I prepared dinner for tonight - cooked shrimp that we will have cold and made a big pasta salad with broccoli, chick peas, peppers, carrots, radishes, black olives and scallions.  A cold dinner will taste good!


Going through the pictures on my phone, I found I did have a picture of Hawk Falls - the first, short hike we took on Saturday:

Right behind some branches in front of our faces was a drone!  That may be the first one I've seen (probably not the first one that has seen moi - lol).

And here is a close-up shot of the Mountain Laurel.  Such pretty, delicate flowers.  Some were very, very pink and others were more white.

And, finally, I mentioned that Mailing had made a Tagine (This is the recipe she used) for dinner. 

This dish is so very, very tasty.  I will definitely be making this sometime.

Wishing you all a calm and peaceful Tuesday.