Grateful

Our farmers' market is in full swing now~today we got apricots, plouts, zucchini, 

tomato plants and herbs, cauliflower, and POTSTICKERS.

Double raspberry sorbet in our new $1 ice cream maker from a garage sale. 

Just raspberries and simple syrup going 'round in the ice bucket.

Slept outside for the first last night.

5 rusty buckets street-gleaned for growing herbs.

I have a husband who flirts with me, not once or twice,
but maybe 5 or 10 times a day, every day.

After 32 years.

Summer Holiday in Wales

Happiness is.....

a properly made cup of tea with milk and sugar
listening to people chat in Welsh in the shops
quiz night at the pub
real Cadbury chocolate
scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream
talking on Skype with my husband
bakewell tart
finding little treasures in the charity shops
a hot water bottle

...and walking the dogs on the mountain top, laughing about how ridiculous the weather is.

Grateful Friday

a man who willingly faces life's challenges straight on

Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR--I always learn something I didn't expect

warm welcome back to book club

little teensy sprouts 

relaxing picnic with my family

evening grosbeaks hanging out in my neck of the woods

Grateful Friday (at last!)

definitely not gambling

a comment from Delena, who reminds me that I need to be grateful on Fridays

promising business plans

orange juice with chai, cool and spicy at the same time

grand circle travel matched my haiti donation, so it was like giving double

trying to guess who is in the rock star tour bus next door to us

Perfect Weekend

How often is something "perfect?" Well, this weekend qualifies in my mind. For most of the day on Saturday we had the beach on the east shore of Lake Tahoe to ourselves. In the evening we climbed up on the lifeguard station and ate our dinner while the sunset. Perfection!

We had plans to see one of the very best young musicians, Jackie Greene, both Friday and Saturday nights. Yes, he's that good. He is gifted with the ability to write complex lyrics in wide variety of musical styles. He is a mesmerizing stage performer, and oh yeah, his voice is shear joy. He is the real thing.

Grateful Friday

Jackie Greene for two nights ~ I might get enough

Nora Ephron makes me laugh out loud

deep shadows playing against brilliant sunshine

wild asters ~ purplish pink blowing in the breeze

Digestive Biscuits with chocolate

Grateful Friday

Poor Man's Whiskey, John Prine and Lyle Lovett today!

hot banana muffins with strawberry butter

the impressive fiddle playing of Amy Farris ~ RIP, Amy, we'll miss you.

bought 2 books and a CD at the thrift store for $2.99

yeah, I'll admit it ~ Facebook

Grateful Friday

This bird feeder right outside my window

Lori's Beef Bourguignon a la Julia Child

not wearing lipstick (ever!)

My mom's apple cake, but with pears from our own tree

Brad got the glass for the greenhouse (for free),
it's really going to happen!

I Feel Just Like Dorothy

"if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!"

The gate has been locked since we moved in. We didn't have a key. Water gurgled and splashed beyond the fence, but we had no way to get there. One day I said to Brad, "Just unbolt the latch from the wood and buy a new one."

What we discovered there is a true miracle in our lives. Lush, cool, with towering cottonwoods. The water is just cold enough to give me shivers when I first put my toes in. The birds flitter back and forth. This is luxury beyond belief in the desert of Nevada. And it was there all along.

Grateful Friday

The tomatoes have finally gotten to be too much!

Sebastian has his first tooth ~ he's growing so quickly

My niece and her husband are happily wed

new little sprouts--onions, peas, radishes, potatoes, lettuce, spinach & more

Grateful Friday

I can feel the perfume of these lilies 15 feet away, as soon as I go out the backdoor

Jamie Oliver cookbooks--he opens my eyes (and nose and mouth) to new ways of eating

prescription sunglasses--I couldn't make it through the summer without them

fresh ground nutmeg

"pirate" mode on Facebook--what a riot!

Grateful Friday

He really is the cutest thing in the whole world

fougasse bread
with olives, sun dried tomatoes,
roasted red peppers, and mozzarella
made by me

star gazing on warm summer nights

Grateful Friday

I need a bumper sticker like this!

a brilliant blue dragonfly on my knee
the scent of the lemon blossoms on my little tree
Mother Earth News
Tuesday Evening blues

Grateful Friday

the tri-color blooms on my new buddleia (butterfly bush)

using up all of the food in the frig

listening to Brad sing along
while he works in his office

looking forward to: high sierra music festival
and really good food

Grateful Friday

mint refreshing my drinks

roses in full bloom now

eating spinach out of our very own garden

looking forward: spending time
with my cousins and their families
at the reunion

Grateful Friday

thunderstorms and rainbows

Jorjah-B wrote a blog about my blog

cherries are ripe

met up with two different Bobs from the past

looking forward:
first farmer's market of the year
garage sale weekend in the neighborhood
Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women

Grateful Friday

summer rain
nothing's sweeter than desert rain

garden sprouts

new sandals (Clarks!)

a very private
anniversary party
for two

looking forward: Coloma Blues Festival this weekend
visiting my mom next week

Grateful Friday

laughing like a maniac
when my son and his friends froze a bumblebee
and tied fishing wire to it like a leash!
when he warmed up again
he flew around and around in a circle
(no insects were hurt during this program).

party aftermath:
remembering conversations, laughter, and compliments
while cleaning up

Here are the links you lovely ladies asked for:
morello cherry crumble
limoncello

Grateful Friday

teeny, tiny, little bitty sprouts

staying home

The Way We Garden Now by Katherine Whiteside
(sweet little book with hand drawn illustrations)

deciding that the only things that matter right now are taking care
of the garden,
the kitchen,
and Brad

Grateful Friday

found this heart shaped seaweed on the beach
soft focus on picasa 3 makes every photo look good
driving the jeep instead of the clunky explorer
daily trips to home depot for gardening supplies
my next door neighbors' house got painted--definitely improved my view

looking forward: BBQ chicken for dinner
and sleeping out for the first time this spring