lavender.

the thing about lavender is you just can't work around it without feeling good.

it's so pretty, and it smells so good even when you barely brush against it, and it attracts bees. and with the decline of the bee population in the last few years, anywhere i see a great gathering of bees gives me hope and makes me happy.

i knew the lord of the ring was really the man for me when we were in my favorite store in my favorite seaside town and not only did he love the store too, but he picked up a big book about provence and pointed to the huge field of lavender on the cover and said

"that's what i'd like my yard to look like some day"

the thing about lavender is that you don't have to give it a lot of attention, or attention really at all, and it will still bloom. year after year.

but the more attention you give it, the more it will reward you. you can see your care being given back in spades. and as a gardener who knows very little about gardening that's a really big deal.

it's a bit like mothering, seeing your work in action in a positive way.

so i cut some lavender today. the beginning of harvesting as much as i can from my dozen or more bushes. there's so much and i've invited a few people to come and cut some too.

i'll dry some and use them to make the sheets smell good and the drawers and a closet or two. i'll cut my favorite two bushes and put the bunches in my vintage maple syrup collection buckets. i'll give some away.

and yet there will still be too much. i won't be able to use it all. no matter what, my little patch always gives a big bounty.

lavender is a generous plant that asks so little and gives so much.

and we could all use a little more of that in our lives.

x.

be here now. because fall is still 61 days away.

i found these miniature fire king casseroles at a sale a few days ago.

how cute are they? i know, right?

and the best part, besides their size and their fabulous shiny orange glaze, is that they were only 1$ apiece! score!

the thing is, now i'm ready to be done with summer! because all i see when i look at these little casseroles are meals based on perfect for fall dishes.

individual servings of homemade macaroni and cheese with a crunchy buttery breadcrumb topping.

or individual lasagnas with a heavy meat sauce and melty mozzarella toppings.

or, and this is where i really get excited, french onion soup. individual bowls filled to the brim with soup made of a rich broth and slow caramelized sweet onions, and topped with a thick slice of hearty bread and blanketed in cheese.

and it doesn't help i spent all day yesterday on curriculum tweaking and lesson planning.

so now when the weather outside still suggests beach days and balmy evenings i'm thinking of bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils, the promise of brand spankin' new textbooks, and soups and stews and casseroles that involve first the stove and then the oven and apparently a lot of cheese.

what would ram dass have to say about that?

x.

because i'm cool like that.

i turned twentyseventeen yesterday.

i baked myself a red velvet cake with pink frosting and ballerinas.

just because i can.

and the duke said

"did you know, mama, that you were born the same year led zeppelin had their world tour? that's so cool!"

indeed.

anyhow, enjoy this virtual slice of cake and be sure that i'll keep you more than posted on the coming travails of my life as a twentyseventeen year old.

i think this is going to be a very. good. year.

x.

hi!-atus.

hi!

apparently i'm taking a break while i work on a project here in real life.

i'll be back monday.

enjoy your weekend!

x.

summer.

ye gads it's the middle of the summer already!

so far the summer of 2008 has yielded;

house drink ~ mojito (for the big guys)
house meal ~ humongous, beautiful salad chock full with crunchy colorful veggies, topped with grilled chicken and sesame ginger dressing (the boybarians are about to put themselves up for adoption if we serve this again- but we love it!)
favorite snack ~ otter pop (for the shortys)
theme song ~ gone hollywood by supertramp (the boybarians)

we start back to school the first of august (just with latin and math) so i feel that waning days of summer push to get all our fun in!

though even with school, we'll have plenty of time in august for fun, and in fact have our annual island camping coming up!

i'm trying to be a better summer parent this year. planning things in advance. finding new things to do. keeping us occupied. keeping us in the free or low cost budget range.

to that end;

i always forget about the free movies. once a week in most towns across the country they offer an early free movie at your local theater. you have to get there early and still pay gobs of money for snacks, and the movies are fairly old, BUT it's a new experience and something to do. an anchor for the day.

also, we are trying to take advantage of more free outdoor concerts. there are a couple of cool venues in our area that offer such things, and we're finally taking advantage of them. a little picnic, a little music, front row to the sunset, sounds pretty good, huh?

we've been going on the bike trail a fair bit, and eating/cooking outside every night. that's summer in a nutshell right there.

there's an amazing boutique ice cream shop in a town not far away that we've never tried. i'm imagining the ice cream isn't cheap, but the shop is very close to a park and on a cool walking/browsing street. so that's on the docket.

also, we haven't had a beach trip yet. an umbrella, buckets, shovels, a cooler filled with drinks, and some snacks and there's a great day right there.

there's putt putt golfing that isn't free, but pretty low cost and fun. and there's always an opportunity to win a free game at the end.

there's also bowling, which is oddly TOTALLY EXPENSIVE, but if you get a group together it's do-able and quite fun. plus, they bring you pitchers of beer if you ask them to. score.

the drive-in movie is a summer favorite. if you bring your own food and drink it's not too bad money wise and more than worth it for a great summer experience. there is quite a nice little drive-in that's a bit of a hike from us, but totally untouched from back in the day, and pretty family friendly.

and if all else fails, or you're done with the summer fun, the heat, the going from here to there, the tour de france is on t.v nearly every day for weeks at a time.

and some days that's all the boybarians need. the drapes in the back room closed against the heat and the glare, an otter pop, and the tour de france complete with the honeyed tones of phil ligget's commentary.

happy summer!

x.

oy.

here it is tuesday already and i've promised you so much and delivered so little!

now you know how my kids feel!

kidding.

kinda.

okay, mostly kidding.

anyhow, i managed a wine blog this afternoon mainly because i chose to drink wine in the cool of the shade rather than actually doing what i am *supposed* to be doing.

though not the champagne i've been promising for a month, because that would be too organized and show follow through and forethought, i think you will enjoy it anyway.

cheers!

x.

because that's just how he rolls.

oh i have so much to say. revealing what the second lesson learned after darwinism was, a play by play on the road trip we just took including the absolute mind blowing experience of the homies and saints vending machine, and expounding on the joy that is the arrival of summer.

BUT

i am experiencing just a touch of depression a smidge really, and that always makes me lazy and anxious and makes adequate and charming recall impossible. but thankfully it's mild and already passing! yea omega-3s!! i love you beautiful flax oil, you elixir of the gods and crazy people! (p.s. my family loves you, too)

SO

i will leave you with the following and be back on monday.

wingman wears socks all the time. pulled up to his knees. all kinds of socks. solids, patterns, white athletic socks. don't know what to get wingman on that special gift giving occasion? a pair of funky socks and he's happy. seriously. and will wear them until they get holes in them, and then wear them just a little bit longer.

he even wears socks with tennis shoes and shorts. in the summer. when it's hot. and he pulls them all the way up.

this sort of evolved because a few years ago we hit a snag in the sandal buying process and started too late and had no choices and so it ended up that we bought a pair of sandals for wingman that just were never comfortable. they had too many straps and some weird pully string thing. so he stopped wearing them.

then last year he was in between sizes and no sandals fit right. they were too long or too strappy or too poky or too black. and so we didn't get any. and he wore shoes with socks pulled all the way up to his knees all summer. happy as a sweaty footed clam.

so when we got home from our trip it was time to gather the necessary items that the duke needed for camp. and while getting the duke new water shoes (he's just hands down refused sandals altogether because he doesn't like them) i saw a pair of sandals just like the ones i knew wingman used to like, on sale, and in his size.

i brought them home and lo and behold he loves them! they're the right color! with the right amount of straps! they aren't too long or too wide or too poky! and they fit perfectly!

and he wears them with socks pulled all the way up to his knees.

new wine blog this weekend! i know i know i still owe you the champagne blog and that's coming. that AND the new wine blog! fun fun fun!

x.