Country Living

I received my September issue of Country Living in the mail a few days ago, and it is perhaps the best issue, ever. I have at least 10 page corners turned down, and I'm still not finished. I'm savouring it. And for me, that means that it's really, really good. It takes a lot to slow me down. They have a new format, which is fine - I do think that the new logo reminds me of Country Woman magazine's at my grandmother's house in the late 80's. But what's inside more than makes up for that.

Above is the simplest way to make honey butter. I usually just kind of mash it together, but this seems like a nice way to have some done up ahead. It is pure decadence on a popover; I'm sure it would be equally yummy on toast, or just about any other vehicle. Sweet and salty is my crack.

Some other lovelies from the issue:
Linens stretched over frames. I've always liked fabric pieces stretched, but hadn't particularly thought about table linens. Or other textured fabrics, especially in the same colour as the wall. Mmm, possibilities!
And I really, truly love this chair. Even at that rakish angle. Gorgeous. Adam doesn't think it would be comfortable, and I probably wouldn't be able to touch the floor, but it's beautiful.
And look! Instructions on how to make your own. Or, if you're like me and know that it would take waaay too long to get around to it, you can order one like mine from here. Seriously, if you enjoy lots of the same things that I do and you're not a subscriber already, you should pick up a copy of this issue - I don't think you'll be disappointed. OH! There is an INCREDIBLE complete renovation of a six-bedroom farmhouse that is amazing, too. And I haven't even finished reading it!
And lastly, (I took all of these pictures while sitting in the kitchen, having a cup of tea in a quiet house, (!) hence the lack of effort get get up off of the chair to get out of the sun or try for better angles. What a lovely day!) I bought these windchimes today. (For half price, of course.) Our yard is beautiful to see, smell, and feel, and now to hear, as well.

'round these parts

Phillip and I picked raspberries this afternoon. Yum.
And this is the perpetual state of P's box.
These weeds remind me of the pink licorice allsorts.
I usually try not to post blurred pictures, but this was the closest I could get to capturing Thomas' funny, wiggly hair. I call him Patches sometimes; his hair isn't quite evenly thick over his sweet little head.
P jumped from the picnic table seat at least a hundred times yesterday afternoon.
As usual. Thomas just watched in awe.
For the auntie who lent us the ubiquitous Bumbo - it really is great, and Thomas loves it. Thank you!

contrasts

I made these oatmeal & raisin cookies sometime a few weeks ago. They were delicious, but super fall-aparty, and a wee bit too sweet. One thing that I did with this batch, that my mother-in-law does often, is to take some of the batch of dough, form it into balls, and freeze them. They can go directly into the oven at a lower temp (25 degrees lower, and baked for a wee bit longer) anytime. It's a smart way to double a recipe and have some on hand for when company's coming. (Oh, and that's Adam's hairy wrist, not mine.)

At the other end of the eating spectrum, I made my first green smoothie today! We had a giant bag of swiss chard in our CSA basket this week (you have NO idea how happy it makes me to be able to type that!) and Adam can't eat it. (There's a long list of things, and some of the others are mushrooms and spinach. Hardly fair!) So I was trying to figure out what to do with it, since I really don't care for cooked greens. Purely a texture thing - I love the earthy flavour. So I whizzed a bunch up in the blender, along with some cucumber, some blueberries, and water. And a wee bit of maple syrup, because we were out of bananas. Not bad at all, and Phillip loved it. So I'm definitely going to play around with ingredients (I think avocado would be delicious and nice and smooth) and let you know when I come up with something perfect.

Do you make green smoothies? Maybe I should say 'smoothies with greens'? Any suggestions?

I hope that you're having a lovely week!

squish sqwaash squash

Squash are something that I've never grown in the yard before, although we eat lots of them through the fall and winter. Last summer, I tried growing some at my parents' house, but the deer got to them approximately the day after I looked at them and said, "I think I'll pick these the next time we visit."

We have about a bazillion teeny-tiny squash on the way (the largest one so far is about the size of my fist) and I couldn't be more excited. Phillip loves how fuzzy the leaves and blossoms are, and so do I.

This is usually the scene around here: Phillip is a blur, and Thomas just quietly looks at him with fascination.

I spent most of a day at home with the boys today, while Adam is doing a portrait session with a couple. I am not used to this, and every time it happens, my respect for moms who look after children primarily or entirely by themselves grows exponentially. It's the little things, like being able to pass a baby to someone while you pee, or pause to drink a glass of water that I take for granted much of the time. This certainly isn't to say that that's all that Adam does - holy smokes, quite the contrary. He is an amazing dad to our boys and is ridiculously patient and gentle with them all of the time and he does so much stuff to make things go smoothly, it's amazing. We've settled into our two-parent routines for meals, bath and bedtimes, and without having a new one-person routine in place, things feel a bit chaotic when I'm on my own.

So, at the end of the day I'm feeling two things:
1) I can't help but feel guilty for letting Phillip watch a video (we don't have a TV, so he is occasionally allowed to watch videos on the computer) while Thomas is sleeping, just so I can have a few minutes to whip the kitchen into enough order to get supper ready. I feel as though I should be having him 'help' me, or have designed a beautiful and clever activity for him to do, to keep him occupied. Maybe this would be a more reasonable aspiration when he's a bit older - right now, I know that no one would get anything accomplished, and I would end up frustrated. So I think I'm over it.

2) Triumphant! Both boys were sound asleep by 8:00, which is a little bit late, but fantastic. At 7:30 I didn't think that there was any chance whatsoever of that happening, so the day was a success.

I hope that you've had a lovely weekend. Yikes! It's August! Well, happy August.