Summer is like a big sigh.  It feels good.  Makes you want to breathe more.  I ended this past winter thinking to myself that I need to try to remember the smallest details, especially with Iz.  To enjoy the simplest pleasures and remember how they make me feel, and even how Iz feels.  I tried to make a list of things that I thought would be important, but quickly realized how futile that is, life just happens and enjoying it, and remembering to enjoy it makes me cherish our little family even more.

We spend quite a bit of time in our little garden (or le jardin as my mom would call it and I know call it too!).  I swore up and down last fall that I would keep a garden journal this year, and well, this is as good as it gets!

I planted these all in early May, our Micro Spicy Greens, Spinach, Arugula, Rainbow Chard, Mesclun and Peas.  Everyday we eat from this garden.  I’m about to plant more greens for the next round.  I should have done it about 2 weeks ago, as this little garden is just about done.  Note for the journal.

This bed was planted almost a month later, on June 14 and everything except the Purple Queen beans are starts from my lovely neighbor.  Eggplant, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Pepper, Zucchini and the beans all the way in the back.  Hopefully by the end of this week, my tomato garden will be finished.  I plant heritage cherry tomatoes, and they have all sprouted from the cherries I didn’t pick, but fell to the ground last season.  I have 6 different varieties, we’ll see when they fruit what I have left!

Iz is becoming a pro at eating from the garden.  She tries it all, and has spread her picking habits to the lawn, where, thankfully, she asks if she can eat something before popping it into her mouth.  We’ve eaten the clover and sorrel, and she’s got quite the taste for all these greens.

Our peas have started to bloom.  Iz is thrilled, since we planted these from seed on May 7, everyday she asks if she can go to the garden and eat the peas.  Soon – we are almost there!

A surprise radish.  Surprise because I didn’t read the package carefully.  Micro Greens Spicy Mix from Botanical Interests.

Peonies leave me just speechless.

We have about 7 lilac bushes, and the smell on the warm day is enough to sweep you away.  The butterflies love it and we sat and watched hundreds of them for a few days flutter in the warm yummy air from bunch to bunch.

Now that we are moving, I find myself taking pictures of everything.  I love this place and just don’t want to forget what it looks like.

This is from our walk this weekend.  It’s our usual walk, out the door, turn left down the road and walk to the bridge and look at the water.  It’s quite beautiful, and all 3 of us just soak it up.  At least this weekend we could go for a walk, it’s warming up a bit.  We’ve all been sunk in Feb Funk these past few weeks.  Eager for spring and ready to be outside all day long.  Fresh air and sun is good for Feb Funk.

We’ve been talking since October about giving Iz her Great Aunt Carol’s doll house, first for Christmas and then for her birthday. Well, we finally did it. In celebration of February.  There will be more pictures later as we paint the whole thing, redecorate and start furnishing.  I’m quite excited about making rugs.  And did you know that Ikea has doll furniture?  Of course – we’ll have to update the phone (we won’t we’ll leave it there, it’s just too cool for school).  Iz is thrilled with it.  The cat loves it and has slept in all 8 rooms already.

I’m almost finished with another pair of PJs for Iz.  She’s going to see Dan Zane’s Friday night for a Pajama concert.   I’ll be popping in the buttons, holes and waistband.  She loves them.  Fresh PJs to beat that Feb Funk.

I’ve been thinking a lot about meal planning.  It’s not coming to me too quickly.  Slowly but surely.  Saturday we made tacos.  It was perfect.  Fresh veggies, ground and browned veggie protein crumbles (doesn’t that sound delish?), yummy taco shells and taco sauce.  Iz loved it, but decided she’d need another since the first crumbled in her hands.   I love our sushi roll nights, and taco night will certainly be added to the monthly meal planning.  Any tips on the meal planning?

Then, yesterday, I heard funny noises outside the kitchen.  I thought there was a large critter in the new part of the house, but couldn’t find anything.  I walked outside and found one of these calling loudly.  It flew away as I took a step near it.  I went inside to get the camera, and when I came back, there were 2.  Sitting on the pool. Looking for food? water?  I thought they were turkey vultures, but everything I find says the white head means they are from Africa.  Anybody recognize them?

We had a birthday to attend to this weekend, for a 4 year old. I’ve quietly promised to use things I have on hand. I found a aqua with yellow dot coverlet while thrifting and a scrap of this red dot and thought they’d work well together (and you know about my aqua and red thing of late…) and I had the All For One Bag pattern from Besty Ross Patterns, just waiting to be stitched up…

I initially thought I’d line it, but instead did a little French Seam Action on the inside, and I am super pleased. I’ve got a few more presents to make and I’m going to stick with this pattern. I think I’ll make the handles 2 inches longer, it was a little tight going over my shoulder (but not a 4 year olds…and she LOVED it!).  And in case your were wondering the pattern was fantastic, the directions were a breeze and it was a really fast sew.  It’s a great shape that’s super versatile.  I’m making a wool one next. (stay tuned for pictures)

The party was fun. It’s the first time we actually got in the car and Iz said, “Mom! I had a lot of fun!”. She pretty much always has fun, but it’s the first time she’s said it without me prompting.

Lui led the drumming. Iz was pretty pleased to see her. (she always is)

We spent time jumping off the bench, sliding tummy side down, head first down the slide. Oh the outdoors.

The day before, it was sweltering. It was so hot, none of us could get comfortable. We spent the morning in Northampton picking up the last of the LuckyStitches furniture at the kung fu studio, then dropping it off at the new location. It was hot. We left Haydenville, on our way to Ashfield for the Fall Festival. The drive on 112 is pretty breathtaking. I think the drive anywhere in New England is pretty amazing. The leaves are changing colors, looks like the trees are catching on fire, but not fully inflamed.

This year was different, Iz is more independent, wants to do so many things on her own. There is no casual strolling, but more following, running and insisting on hand holding when the crowds get to thick or the walk gets too close to the road.

Our little kitty had fun, she got to ring the bell, act like a kitty and see tons of her friends (that’s a funny thing about living where we do, we get to see our friends every where we go, not like the subway, where you barely recognize people from day to day).

We had to leave, it was too hot and too close to nap time. After a bowl of mac & cheese, we headed for the car. But it never goes as smooth as that. The power of distraction is key to happiness sometimes, and Iz was thrown into the air with every step, Rob got a great upper body workout, and she happily got into the car, where after we got going, she fell asleep.

It was a really great and productive weekend. The roof is almost finished. I made a lovely bag, and Iz got to spend both days outside playing and playing. And she got to hold Annabelle.

Dear Grandma Whitty,
Just wanted to let you know that the finches have found their new bird sock. THEY LOVE IT! Mom and I sit at the window many minutes throughout the day and look at all the mama and dada birds eating the thistle. There are some really fat gold finches and some very tiny purple finches.
Thank you so much.
Love,
Iz

Well, not yet actually. (The above photo was taken at Yankee Candle, where we took Grandma Whitty one day during her visit. It snows there every 4 minutes, even in the summer. Santa even walked by on his way to lunch!)

It was a joy and a thrill to have Grammie and Grandma Whitty here for some time each. Now that we have Iz, we realize how wonderful it would be if we all lived closer and didn’t have to drive for a day, or fly for hours to spend quality time with our families. Grandparents played an important role in each of our lives, and we want that for Izzy too, and it will happen, it will just be different from what we remember. We’ll spend time writing emails, letters, making presents, sending things in the mail, taking pictures and maybe we’ll even make a memory box of our family. Tangible things Izzy can hold on to, so when she wants to think of her family, they are right there with her.

We did put in 2 vegetable gardens via the Square Foot Gardening Method and even though I planted late, the beans are up, the lettuce, the zucchini and peas! My tomato plants are blooming, and last night we had our very first pesto of the year from the basil we planted. Iz is a big help as a weed puller. We are still working on not yanking plants, it will come!

These are the zucchinis. I really need to thin them out, but I’m not sure how to do it…(any ideas? do I just pull them out? snip the leaves?), and I kind of feel guilty. I feel so lucky that they are growing! My little blackish-green thumb is a little nervous…

Some family pics:

Grandpa and Iz, originally uploaded by zannestar.

We got to visit with the grandparents on Lake Ontario this weekend. Iz loves her grandparents. Grandma, Grandpa and GiGi (great grandma).

We stacked rocks on the beach

Stood on the side as the Henderson Memorial Day Parade went by! Izzy collected a bag of toys! (actually candy – but she hasn’t discovered that yet…so we are hoping for a bit of time before she knows what candy is…)

Sang and danced for Great Grandma

And sat in a box next to kitty in a box.

On the way home, we got to drive through the windmills. We want one in our back yard. One of these would make enough energy for our town. And it sure is windy at our house.

seattlestorm06, originally uploaded by zannestar.

We spent a few days in Seattle last week and after being there for 24 hours, the power disappeared. There are blogs about the storm and reports and all that info stuff. We had no idea how bad it was when it was happening. We were driving on the insterstate a bit before the power went out and couldn’t see when huge trucks would go by – the puddles were so deep.  We were really fortunate to make it home!  It is just about a week after the storm hit, and the reports say that some of the population won’t have power through the holidays. bah humbug. We were fortunate to spend the few days with the best of friends and family. We really just wanted to hang and watch movies…maybe next time.  We did get to spend a few hours with old friends and family after driving for a bit and finding a Thai restaurant that didn’t have a line down the street.  Target was open, only with generators, and it was packed!  Of course – where else would one want to be?  Since we were traveling, I only bought diapers and wipes , but if I had a huge suitcase with me…well..we know what would happen…

]]> http://www.zannestars.com/2006/12/20/seattle-storm-of-06/feed/ 1 http://www.zannestars.com/2006/11/27/girls-go-for-a-walk/ http://www.zannestars.com/2006/11/27/girls-go-for-a-walk/#comments Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:06:56 +0000 zannestar http://www.zannestars.com/?p=71 .flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

nature walk, originally uploaded by zannestar.

We live close to the Chesterfield Gorge and it is an amazing place to walk with the kids.  We must have spent over three hours there today.  The weather was fabulous (will winter ever arrive?) and it was a perfect morning to spend outside.