Just Checking In . . .

The weather outside is . . .
crisp, sunny, blue skies. For the most part, it has been such a mild summer. "Mild" in a good sense. 70's most weeks. Just perfect.

I'm listening to . . .
The hum of the fan. I'm hiding out in the bedroom where I just put Mace back to sleep. He might sleep for another hour or so before rising for the day. I think I'm also hearing the stirring of children in their bedrooms.

Watermelon mint frosties

In the kitchen . . .
We are still keeping it simple with our dinners. Lots to balance in life. Best to keep things simple. The fresh produce is starting to really grow in abundance though, so its a fun time of year. Time to find ways to put that abundance to good use! We've been eating out of our garden quite a bit. Yum! Blackberries, raspberries, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, just a smattering of peas and beans, some lettuce, etc. Last week we rocked it with the dinners! We had three in a row that were absolutely delicious!

Doug must have raved about this salad about 5 or 6 times. Even all the kids were quietly eating. I found two recipes on Pinterest that were similar and sorta put them together. Chicken, pecans, goat cheese, strawberries, blueberries, red onions. And then a simple homemade Dijon vinaigrette.

In the garden . . . 

Well, I already told you what we've been eating out of the garden. The berries are quite a hit. We are excited to be digging into the potatoes again this year. And this year we planted a ton of them so I think our supply will take us into the fall. Even winter maybe. We are doing much better with the tomatoes this year. I noticed they are finally starting to ripen. I look forward to making some salsa with those since we also have some peppers and onions.

The garden is a weed jungle again this year. Not quite as bad as last year but still quite full of weeds. I know I'm always talking about the struggle for balance and getting it all done but tis true. I can't/shouldn't complain. Life is just full. But we'll keep plugging along every year with this garden and hopefully get a little better every year. I'm thinking we should slowly transition to a whole slew of raised beds. I think that would help us significantly with the weed problem. We had raised beds in our last house and it was quite nice. My hope is to build a couple a year.

Around the house . . .

It's a bit crazy. I started tearing into the garage last week in hopes of doing some organizing to prep for a fall garage project. We are hoping to build a shelving system out there. I do hope it pans out. I also unloaded everything from our downstairs storage closet. I've been going through ALL our storage bins. Sorting, sorting, sorting. It looks like a bomb went off. I was making excellent progress until I got sick with food poisoning last week (not enough time to tell that story this morning). Bah! Stopped right in the middle. I'm back it though and will finish up that project this week.

I'm reading . . . 

All Things Bright and Beautiful  by James Herriot. I've read some of his classic animal stories for children but this is the first time I've read on of his books for adults. He was a country vet in Yorkshire, England in the last century.

Learning, learning all the time . . .

The three older kids have been taking daily swimming lessons for the last two weeks. What a smashing success! We have definitely found a family activity that is loved by all of us!

Nutmeg is still doing some pre-schooley things. It's not as focused as I had hoped but oh well. Life happens. It's sufficient though. She finished "D" week a while back and is now on "E" week (or I should say "weeks.")

D is for doing dishes.

D is for dolls, dancers, and dandelions.

Mr. Mace . . . 

He's over seven months old. Can you believe it? He's army crawling all over the house. This past week he found his tongue and has been crinkling his nose up all funny. I'll have to get a pic sometime. Funny guy!

Plans for the rest of the week. . . 

This morning (oh my, I had better get a move on!!) we are meeting a bunch of friends at the park. This is the last week of Basil's baseball. Pretty much the rest of the week is open. My time will hopefully be dedicated to getting this house in order, continuing to get ready for school this fall, and finishing plans for our big trip! 

Slip N' Slide fun last week: