This Vintage Chica

An Exercise In Thankfulness

::thankful for pretty flowers::

::and for people who make things making a difference::

::for friends who invite us over for a dip in the lake when things get hot::

 

::for friendly spiders:: 

  and peaches, and sunshine and towels warmed by the sun and so much more.

There's a little post over at Simple Organic today.

And my pretty thrifted dishes found their way over to The Stir's Summer Table Settings Series alongside some other amazingly simple but tablescapes.

We'll be gone on a little vacation next week - We're headed to Portland, Maine.  So we'll see you in a few days.

Happy Friday all!

A Day To Myself

Yesterday was a good day.

A very good day.

A day that brought an unexpected period of time all by myself.

I keep a mental list of all of the things I want to do if I the stars align perfectly and I get a few hours to myself.  Things like...start seeds for the Fall garden, sew new throw pillow for the living room, straighten the pictures in the guest room.  You know...those important little things that just never get done because you are too busy being busy.

Last Saturday morning, S announced that he and the boys were going to Busch Gardens for the day and I was not coming with them.  He knows what a homebody I am and how I really don't like places with too many people, food that costs way too much especially on a 109 degree day.

Bless him!

So how did I spend my day?

- breakfast, zucchini bread with chocolate chips, while I contemplated peeling the rest of the peaches and catching up on a little blog reading.

-I got a few jars of peach butter jarred up and added to the pantry, here is the recipe I used.  Easy is an understatement people!

- I watched the tomatoes ripen in the window, did a little more reading, and apparently spent way too much time looking at vintage inspired boys rooms

- because, then I got a wild hair to repaint the boys' bedrooms

both of them

- I am loving the results.  It isn't a huge color change, but there's nothing like clean, freshly spackled  and painted walls.  I'll show you the full update when I finish getting the new shelves up and Im excited about a little swimming inspired art piece Im working on for above Ian's bed.

What would you do if you had a day to yourself?

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Oh, and I have a new post over at Simple Organic on the health benefits of getting outside with your kiddos if you want to check it out.  There's lots of good stuff over at Simple Living Media.

Garden Surprises

We've had a mystery plant growing in the garden this summer.  The boys and I have had a ball trying to guess what it is.  Every morning we've been going out to see what new clues the new day will bring.

We have a huge fondness for vining plants that stretch out their curley little fingers.  So initially we thought it might be a squash of some sort.

This plant also has a very strong musky scent when you rub the leaves.  But the pretty white flowers make up for the smell.

Then earlier in the week we finally spotted a little gourd behind one of the cucumber pot.

Yes!

Our failed attempt at making gourd birdhouses last summer has yielded a gorgeous gourd plant this year.

And there are other surprises...new ones every morning.

- green beans outgrowing their poles

- swallowtail caterpillars on the remaining dill

- tomatoes that seem to ripen overnight

- carrots that are growing perfectly sheltered from the hot sun under the tomatoes 

- giant tobacco hornworm caterpillars

- butterflies on the zinnias 

 
 Any garden surprises for you these days?
 

Cool As A Cucumber

Its been so hot here.  And humid.  Holy moley, its been humid.

And we have had very little rain.  I have been having to water the garden twice a day to keep the green beans and tomatoes going.

Until yesterday.

The skies finally opened up and the rain poured!

I couldn't help but think of the farmers around here.  They must have enjoyed the rain as much as we did.

We sat on the porch for a long time.  Watching the beautiful lightning.  The skies changing color.  Dark blue-gray to golden to pink again.

We even spotted our first ever otter running around across the street.  We knew they live around here, but we've never seen one in the wild.  The boys were so excited!

Something about the color of cucumbers has an instant cooling effect.

We made pickles...lots of pickles.

Oh, and a few jars of blackberry preserves too.

Coincidentally the pretty flowers on my table, picked up at the local farmer's market last Saturday, are the same color.

Ahhhh, you can feel the heat melt away, can't you?

OK, maybe not.

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We are full on into swimming lessons this week, before we take a little vacation up North to Maine country.  I'm thinking we'll drive it in two days.

Anyone know of a good halfway stopping point?  Boston?  New York?

An Explosive Weekend

Sometimes I almost forget I am a military wife.  Especially when S is home for a good length of time.  I say "almost" because it is only a temporary passing thought.  Reality comes calling sooner or later.  

And we are reminded that our Papa plays a role. And Sara's too.

our Papa and his friends.

Our boys are getting to an age where they are coming to more fully understand what he does.  They watched the demonstration this weekend - looked up at him and asked "Do you do this when you are gone?  Is this how you help people?"  And he answered quietly, "Sometimes, if we have to."

This weekend my boys met men who have been injured by gunfire and have been pieced back together, still bearing the scars that will forever be reminders.

This weekend was a reunion of his friends.  His brothers in arms.

My boys will remember these men and their stories for the rest of their lives.

And this mama will continue to pray every night that her boys will never find themselves the tellers of such stories.

It was a good weekend.

We are proud.

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Most people don't know what so say when they see photos like this on a blog that is normally full of pretty garden shots and words about patient parenting.

And that is OK.

I don't know what to say about it sometimes either.

I feel like I am always torn between being grateful and proud and just plain mad that we are still in this dumb war.

But knowing that this is part of our reality.

Really, it is OK not to know.

On another note...

There is a little post over at Simple Mom if you are interested in a few things you can learn from military moms.

Wonderful Weekending

 

Hello all!

Is it really Monday again?

I love that in the summers, weekends and weekdays just blur together.

One of the boys ask me this morning what day it was and I honestly had to stop and think for a minute.

It's Monday!

We had a most lovely weekend here at the beach.

We were visited by some already friends, but now I am so excited to know them "for reals" as Zane says.

Really though, Jennifer and her family could NOT have been more fun.  The kids got along swimmingly and the husbands did too.

Its nice to know that there really is something to this whole blogging community.  If you have ever wondered if you really get a good idea of what someone is like through their blog, Im here to say...yep.  Jennifer was as warm and charming as she comes across in her blog.

Of course we could have used another day or three.  We didn't get to talk much knitting.  I could really use a lesson or two, ya know.  And I didn't even get to thank her for the CD she sent last week.  And completely left out talk about the finish of the Virtual Quilting Bee...and my poor performance towards the end.  But she shared some of her jelly (YUM!) with us and we sent her away with a little reminder of our day at the beach.

Thanks Jennifer and family.

We had a ball!

Whose next?  Anyone want to come to the beach?

Homegrown Potato Chips!

 

Every  year we try to grow something we've never grown before.  Last year it was corn.

This year we grew potatoes!

(In old rubber tires stacked three high.)

We've been harvesting a few spuds at a time by gently picking the top tire up a little and reaching in under the plant and pulling out a potato.  Potato picking just might be our new summer sport.  Its just so darned fun and the kids get such a kick out of finding "the monster ones".  

Spud is coming to an end here, but before it does, I wanted to share with you my kids' most favorite potato recipe.

Potato chips, of course!

What else?

We must really have a thing for chips.  I just remembered our Terra Chips.  But who really cares when you grow them yourselves.  Eh?

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Homegrown Potato Chips

You will need:

Knife or Mandonlin

Potatoes

Salt

Olive Oil

Iron skillet (or fryer)

Directions:

Pour about and inch and a half of oil into your iron skillet and heat it to medium high heat (at least 400 degrees).  Wait for the oil to get hot if you put the potatoes in too early they will absorb too much oil and get soft in the center.

While the oil is heating up, cut your potatoes with a mandolin on the 1/16th in. setting or with a knife as thin as you can.

Here is the *secret*...Soak the potato slices in a bowl of water while you are finishing cutting (about 10  minutes or so).

When the oil is hot, take the potato slices out, dry them off and slide them carefully into the hot oil making sure that they do not stick to one another.  Don't put too many in at one time as to make sure each potato slice is surrounded in hot oil.

Watch them carefully as they will brown fairly quickly.

When they are lightly brown in color, lift them out of the oil and onto a rack or paper towel to cool.

While they are still warm, sprinkle them with salt.

We've been enjoying them with hummus, accompanies by frozen (yes, frozen) grapes or watermelon as a yummy snack.

Enjoy!

back in the habit

A few weeks ago life got a little topsy turvy around here.

Like it tends to do sometimes.

I had no words, but lots of things floating around in my brain...disorganized.  

And I found myself reverting back to the concept that the habit project has encouraged back in March. The rules are easy and simple - one real-life photo and no-more-than 30 words posted on the day the photo was taken, posted to the habit blog. It is a similar concept to Amanda's {this moment}.

I took it easy on myself and gave myself permission to hang out in the garden, where I really wanted to be.  Not at the sewing machine, or redecorating the boys' rooms, or finishing painting the wall that is still half yellow, half white.

I should have just been a bit more patient.

Because a few days later I got a sweet little invite from emily + molly to join in their habit celebration.  Habit has been going strong for 18 months now and they are celebrating with a flickr pool of habit photos.  During the month of July, a few photos from the pool will be chosen each day and posted to the habit blog.

If you have a few minutes this afternoon, or this evening, or tomorrow, visit HABIT.  They are good people. 

And if you really want to exhale into summer, put on this song, pour a glass of sweet tea, and watch the habit photos parade past you one by one.

Happy 18 month anniversary HABIT!

Our 4th!

All together now...

Oooooooohhh!

Ahhhhhhh!

 

It was a beautiful night on the beach...our beach.

With friends.

And cold drinks.

And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that were quickly thrown together using leftover hamburger buns.

We had sweatshirts on...and it was perfect.

Hope (if you live in the U.S.) you all had a fabulous 4th!