Summer vacation

This certainly has been a busy summer- I looked up and saw that I haven’t even had time to write a blog post! These past few weeks have just flown by (which is a big surprise, based on past experiences). After making a “Summer Schedule” late this spring I thought I had all my bases covered, but we haven’t even had time for the things I was making time for!!! Here's a brief look at my summer thus far:

We had a Birthdays’ Party (for the both of us- our birthdays are one day apart), which included Mushroom Cakes (they were sooo cute! and tasted even better!); Chips and Dips; little Rolled Sandwiches and a Poked Cake (!!!), petit Croissant and hamwiches and a lovely Fruit Tray one of our guests provided (which was demolished in record time it was so good!)

We went to ComicCon as volunteers, and had a marvelous time!

This was the “floor” Wednesday Night- it’s the commercial part of the convention, and it’s only a fraction of the crowds you will find on thur, fri, sat and sun because it’s Preview night- this crowd is mainly the volunteers, vendors and exhibitors.

And this is the restaurant where we recovered every night- Con can be an ordeal, and you only survive by taking care of yourself! The Meyer Lemon-Buttermilk Panecotta is divine! And the Pesto-Chicken-Goats Cheese Pizza is the best thing on the menu- aside from the Gnocchi, which is okay but lifted into the divine by the mélange of yummy vegetables it’s served on…

This is a very tired little garden- it’s the end of July, and very hot right now- and only going to get hotter as the summer wears on I’m afraid. So, the feedings of Liquid Seaweed have increased to ever two weeks, the watering happens in the cool of the morning (so they don’t steam and wilt in the heat of the day), and a good cleaning is on the books for this weeked- I’ll take all those pots over to the side of the balcony and sweep all those cobwebs, dead leaves and dirt away and make it all fresh, happy and shiny.

On a slightly side note- the tomatoes and zucchini are coming along just…not very fine. It’s too hot, and the pot isn’t big enough for the three of them. We have tomatoes and zucchini, just not a lot of them. Once the harvest comes in I’m thinking of switching over to beans and carrots for the winter, maybe some lettuces too. Interestingly enough, the mint is going gangbusters, even with all the heat…

Then there’s all the movies, walks, library trips, dinners, crafting and game nights (yaay! game night!) that just filled the month right up to the brim with fun, activity, healthy eating and more fun. And so I find myself on the eve of August saying good heavens! it’s time to get back to work (thank goodness), offering a toast of gladness to a month of successful fun, frivolity, and successful endeavors- and looking forward to another month of all that and more…

hey, you faeries get offa that tomato- it’s not ripe yet!!!

Summer Time Happenings

Well, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? Sorry about that. This summer has been hectic- to say the least. But it’s been a good hectic! Birthdays and Gaming and movies and crafting and reading and…oh, just everything! But most of all,

happy times! ( I know! It’s the first picture of me on this blogspace in 3 years! yikes…)

This week is the first yearly overhaul of the closets in our home. And it’s been great! Why didn’t I think of this before? The hubby has taken on the task of clearing out and reorganizing all the closets, cabinets and storage areas for the first time this summer.  He also carved out a new crafting nook for me in the bedroom, so now I have a place to work when we throw games in the evening. If I’d known how much use that dining table was going to get this year…ah well.

The kitchen is well and truly broken in- it has been a year after all! The Hubbs put the under-counter- cabinets to better use (they are really deep- perfect for storing all the holiday dishes) and I finally moved the appliances around after staring at all the cramped counters for months- it’s funny how I never think to just move whatever’s been bothering me! I put the one’s I use sporadically on top of the refrigerator, and moved the few things I do use all the time into better positions down on the counter tops and voila! Instant new kitchen!

On to the outside closet… It was a mess, all filled up with boxes and bins and my old/new bike parts, toolboxes, recyclables, a fan, the vacuum cleaner- well, it was a mess out there. Its’ also where my BIG bins of wood working supplies are, and I couldn't get to them safely. So after a good three hours of shifting and lots of kitty supervising…it’s a wonderful storage space again! All thanks to my husband, who spent his morning cleaning instead of taking his usual bike ride. He says it was just as much work actually, so he may do it weekly from now on…not!

Today it seems it’s time for the rest of the closets in the house to get their overhaul, and the main craft/dining/entertaining area to get some attention as well, so it would seem this really is the summer of the clean! I have some organizational posts planned for next week- sorry the posts are so few and far between this month. The “book” editing has taken up what little of my time the cleaning has not taken up this month, and the Faeries have finally taken a stand and tied me to a chair, taped a paintbrush in my hand and forced me to do some more work on the Lady Mages’ House. Hooray! Now if they can just wave their little wands and fix the camera!

Until then my friends…

Two birthday's, three movies, 4 dinner's, and an iced tea...

Last week was our birthday- my husband is a year and 2 days older than me. Oh, it's a party alright. Now I need a vacation- and about 10 of these:

It's been too hot to do anything around here lately. So I haven't. Done anything. Well, unless you count the skirt I whipped together for my birthdy- pics later, it's in the wash, taking a cool bath, cause it was a paaarty-animal! I made it out of a "vintage" pillow case and some quilting fabric scraps. Oh, and perfecting my vegetarian-nofried-refried-black-beans recipe was a cinch, so I guess that counts, too. So, glad I'm back, as are the faeries. The walls of the faerie mage house are up, and the paint has been chosen. The faeries all have their brushes and are making an horrendous mess in the workroom, so I'd better go sort them out before they discover acrylics work on real houses, too. uh, uh-oh. I think they heard that...