Good Morning to You

The heat, the crazy heat is finally retreating. Last night however I slept most fitfully because of my sad unhappy heat hating feet. Boy howdy are they ugly right now! Risking a "too much info" moment I will share with you that I have eczema on my feet and if it is really hot and I am super stressed...my hands also. My poor, poor, flintstone feet. They are rife with unhappiness and so much ugliness. This is one of the main reasons why I stopped yoga a few months ago. I got sick then stressed then my feet grew barnacles. It was icky and uncomfortable and now I am doomed with these house guests of sorts who won't GO AWAY! My feet, they look frightful. Really frightful and then they just hurt. If you have eczema, you know what I am talking about. Wearing shoes has me wincing with each step. I hate wearing socks but the socks go on to protect them when I'm home and when the heat hits triple digits well...yeah. Anywhoo, I'm not complaining, not really, more like bitching because I didn't get any sleep and I can't wear any pretty shoes. The mourning dove on the bird clock just sang it's melancholy song so I am assuming it is seven in the morning which is a great time to be up. I however have been up since five or so yet I didn't stumble out of bed until six. I'm a groggy, groggy girl right now but the mister opened the bedroom shade and if you look in from the living room it is almost like a small spotlight is lit upon the bed, the sunshine is so pretty.

Today I start a new class at school. It is a required class and doesn't sound nifty like a class on Women in Art or Play, Language and Literacy. It does however sound like I may gain some useful skills like clarity in my thoughts and voice. It is a class on communication and while I'm nervous about what I may have to do, I am excited to continue with the process of finishing up my degree. I may graduate next year! Go me! I wish you all a lovely week and if I were any less groggy I would have written something a bit more musical than an ode to my icky feet. Happy Day!

The Week in Review: june 16-22

Hello! Hello! Hello! Last week was the first week of summer vacation with the kidlets so it was super busy. Long days and lots of fun and then the weekend arrived and it got HOT, HOT, HOT! So hot that my days off were wasted slugging about like a wilted flower. It was too hot to do anything. Luckily, this week will cool off a tad. Usually the heat here starts off hot and then gets hotter, not the other way around. That way, by the time the triple digits hit we're sort of used to it. Click here if you are interested in the details of the week in review.

Happy Solstice!

Well, it is official. Summer is here and boy howdy was yesterday hot! Our garden is getting a little on the burnt side but it's all good. We're growing cucumbers and since we have so manny the mister has been making pickles. Fun! Happy Summer, happy solstice and keep cool if yer hot and keep warm if yer cool! We're off to the beach for a picnic breakfast!

the week in review: june 9-15

Birthdays and school and garden stuff...oh my! Hope y'all had a most happy week! Clicky click here if you want to see the mosaic with commentary...

friday's flickr fix june 13

I love flickr and I adore my flickr favorites. FFF is proving to get more and more difficult as more and more people opt not to share their photos. I get it, I do but it still makes me sad. The above photos are lovely, aren't they? To view the duet in a larger size check it out here. The photo on the left is by fluffscupcakes and the one on the right is by *Zara.

Happy Friday folks!

Birthday Brouhaha

There is a large slice of homemade apple pie sitting in our fridge mocking me. I cannot eat it but I want to. It is the mister's birthday pie from a friend of ours. She made him a most excellent pie. It was good, really good, so good I think I need to leave the house until the mister comes home from work and eats it before I do. Lucky for me I have to go to work but still that pie is singing my name, it is taunting me.The mister had a birthday on Tuesday. Because he is a man who wants for nothing (other than a Vespa) I decided to gift him with ice cream. It is after all, his favorite food. Usually I bake him a batch of gingerbread, his next favorite sweet, but this year I decide to put the ginger in the ice cream. I found a custard based recipe online and felt it was something I could handle. The making of ice cream, for some reason, has me all convinced it is difficult.. I am certain I will screw it up somehow. Our fabulous neighbor has an ice cream maker and she assures me she will help me turn it on and all that jazz. So I gather up the supplies and successfully produce a batch of ginger custard. I had to do this the day before his birthday and of course he walks in the door while I'm doing it so I holler "Happy Birthday!" His eyes light up and if it weren't for the fact that we had to leave to meet friends for dinner I do think he would have finished the custard before it even cooled. I walked it over to our neighbor's place and she had me pour it into the pre-shilled maker thingie and we put the pink plastic lid on top. She asked me if I was sure I was ready and then she hit the ON switch. That was it. Really? That's all? Why, that is jek proof! After is got all mixy mixed up we popped it in the freezer and waited for THE day.Unbeknownst to the mister, I had invited a few people over for a root beer float party. Fresh fruit was chopped up, cheese & garlic pizza was ordered and root beer was chilled in the fridge. I brought out the glass glasses and washed them up nicely. The ice cream scoop was at the ready and waiting for the mister to arrive. The mama and sister a-go-go arrived with super gooey yummy cheese and crusty bread and we snacked on fruit and pizza outside in the garden. Tiny bowls were brought out for the big sampling and I do believe we have a winner. The ice cream was good, really good and very gingery. I added more than the recipe called for. I did it! I made ice cream. Friends arrived with cupcakes and laughter and floats; both ginger and root beer, were prepared. It was a lovely small get together full of sweetness, laughter and fizz. The mister and I ended the night with a viewing of the photobooth strips, all two-hundred plus that are tucked away in the acid free archival box he made me a few years ago.

Hmmm...forget the pie, I'm having a float!