In my mind’s eye, I visualize how a particular… sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice. – Ansel Adams
Thank you, Mr. Adams, for reminding me that the absence of color is sometimes the best thing possible – that and lots of practice is necessary!
Sometimes a closer inspection reveals beautiful detail like my feeble macro attempts with the big camera this weekend, although there was a small Cabbage White butterfly that kindly volunteered for me!
And, sometimes a closer inspection reveals nothing new, just the same old, same old. But, sometimes that same old is just the thing you need, amirite? That was my weekend…same old perfected!
I did manage to drag Steve outside for an al fresco happy hour with Toronto cocktails to celebrate Canada as they hosted the G7 err G6. The changes I made to this most excellent cocktail were as follows: I substituted Amaro for the Fernet Branca and I used orange bitters since I did not have an orange. Oh, and I used Crown Royal! It was excellent!
The cooler temperatures of the week gave way to heat and humidity on the weekend, so weeding a bit on Saturday proved to be a very good workout! Sadly, I have no pictures, but trust me when I say that the garden is growing well!
Sunday was a day of a whole lotta nothin’, which was just perfect, and I managed to fill the time with a good bit of knitting! I have about 6 inches to go on my Eavesdrop and it feels like the end is near!
I hope your weekend was full of good things too!
What a weekend, Gentle Readers! It seemed to fly by at warp speed and it contained bits of all kinds of things.
I masterfully unlocked the “Wear Your New Summer Sweater” achievement by living in my new Lucinda all weekend. Yeah, that’s right. I wore it Saturday until the temps warmed up, then steamed it to wear it to church on Sunday. I worried about the sweater not holding its shape well, but it loved being steamed and looked as fresh as it did when I put it on Saturday morning. This sweater is just so incredibly comfortable, I am pondering knitting another!
The elusive “Knit at 4AM while watching a Royal Wedding” achievement was unlocked on Saturday morning. That’s right. I was up, knitting in hand, watching Meghan and Prince Harry’s nuptials. Best knitting time of the weekend!
The “Inaugural Bee Balm Bloom” achievement was also unlocked this weekend! No blooms at all last year, so when buds appeared earlier this week the excitement began to build. I am entirely enthralled with these unique looking blooms.
And, finally, we managed to unlock the “Yes, We Got Poison Ivy Again” achievement. Yeah, we are not at all happy with this predicament. We managed to avoid the poison ivy when we trimmed all the bushes, but Saturday we tackled some newly out of control Virginia Creeper and low and behold, while pulling vines we thought were safe were actually poison ivy. This is a double-ugh worthy achievement.
Bonuses for the weekend: I made pizza dough on Friday and grilled it with a bit of salt, pepper, and olive oil. It made the perfect conduit for marinated sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. And, on Sunday I blanched some fresh asparagus and made a quick and easy salad with Cannellini beans, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon zest and juice. So good, and so easy!
How about you? How was your weekend? Did you have any achievements?
Steve had jury duty again on Monday so I took a vacation day to see all the Christmas (which was especially wonderful because it was not super crowed and I did not have anyone complaining while I spent my time soaking it all in!)
It was super cold, but the sun was out and it was truly a gorgeous day. I even managed some knitting time with a hot cuppa while I warmed up.
There is so much going on every day and not all of it good. So, every day I try very hard to have something good to focus on, I thought I’d share a bit of that with you!
Watching: The eclipse! Even though in Pittsburgh we only got a partial eclipse – it was spectacular even with some cloud cover. The changes to the light were stunning. You will be happy to know that our household listened to the directions of not looking at the sun to prevent retinal damage. This was not the case for everyone… Perhaps this should be a test for competency? And, as for the digital watching: Game of Thrones (of course!) and Endeavor! I also watched the finale of Broadchurch and honestly, I was a little disappointed. But, I won’t say any more than that for all those who have yet to watch it.
Stitching: Every single day and I am really pleased with how August is unfolding. Really pleased! I also went and got some button craft thread and my hope is that I will soon turn this pile of tee shirts into my first AC garment.
Reading: and listening like a maniac as I chase down my cover all! I am just 2 squares away and have about 18 hours of listening to do. I am eager to get them done because Beach Music by Pat Conroy just came off hold for me at the library! I am also reading the Essays of E.B. White on my Kindle and I have both books by Laurie Colwin (Home Cooking and More Home Cooking). I am almost done with Home Cooking – I should have it completed this week. This has really been the most spectacular summer for reading. Ever.
Picking: Tomatoes…so many tomatoes. That picture above is from this morning! I know, you are all probably sick of hearing about tomatoes, but this year, the volume of large tomatoes has been really quite spectacular. In past years, I have been happy with the dozen we have picked, but this year has had a bumper crop with no signs of production slowing down! Also, raspberries… I picked enough again this morning to make a batch of jam. I know these are such awful problems to have. Spending time in my garden is really the best time, I would not trade it for anything – even with the bunnies decimating our beans! There should be a “not picking” category perhaps, because outside of the handful of zucchini we picked at the beginning of the season, it has not been a good year for them at all. We have picked a sum total of zero since then and it does not look like that will change. I am not sure why they are having such a bad year, but my neighbor is not having any success with his squash plants this year either.
Eating: Tomatoes from my garden! Every.single.day! And, for those things we aren’t growing: sweet corn, peaches, and an incredible variety of peppers! August is the month where I am quite certain I could become a vegetarian.
Looking forward to: Our trip to Michigan! We finalized the dates and have our Airbnb reservation all set. It is the one thing that is really giving me something to look forward to! Why? Because…
Dreading: The end of August. The arrival of Labor Day. The return of dark mornings. Having to turn lights on at night earlier. This summer I have really tried to not “wish ahead” but rather spend more time in the moment enjoying. This has been an eye-opening practice – I am much happier with each day and I am worrying less about tomorrow, or next month, or next year. September, you can just wait your turn – there is lots of August left!
Celebrating: Sherman’s 5th Birthday on Saturday! Every day I am so incredibly thankful for him. He is a bright spot in our day.
That is a slice of what is good in my life right now; how about you? What’s good in your life?
