Posts Tagged ‘summer’
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Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
After all of the sticky heat for the last few days, the weather did finally break tonight. We had a very brief rain shower as I was making my way home from work. I had about 15 minutes to change clothes, and then I was off to dinner out on the town with some of my closest gal friends to enjoy a yummy italian meal at this lovely restaurant called Villa Banca. And yes, because all my ladies were having wine, I treated myself to a fantastic glass of chianti. Oh sure, why not?
It was so nice to get a break from the work week and hang out dishing on all the latest news and adventures with my friends. I ordered this amazing seafood dish called VB Frutta di Mare that had a medley of shrimp scampi, scallops, and crab with steamed mussels in this incredible lemon garlic basil chardonnay sauce. And wait… it gets better. It was all served over a delectable lobster cake that was like a crab cake, but only LOBSTER.
Unreal. The sauce combining with the seafood and the lobster cake was seemingly rich, but yet very light. I have no idea how they did it, but I was swooning.
What a treat. We sat and ate and chatted and ate some more and lingered and relaxed. Then finally we all headed back outside into the July heat.
Except the heat was gone.
Instead twilight was descending and it was this delightfully dry, breezy, summery night. Absolutely amazing. I walked along the Main Street in town toward my car, just savoring the meal I’d eaten, the company I’d experienced, and the fact that I was on my own but happy to be out and about. On a work night! Livin’ large!
What a wonderful way to wind down a Wednesday. I ambled slowly taking in the sunset over the Main Street bridge and the river. I watched all the passersby along the way. I paused to look in the store windows of furniture shops and sundries, not wanting to rush home.
I love getting out of the house and connecting. I love treating myself to such good food and company.
And I love cool, crisp summer nights like these. I am keenly aware of how precious they are.
Tags: gratitude, summer
Posted in The Daily Balance | No Comments »
the mid july garden
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Still reallllly hot here today. In the 90s. It’s that very humid, hot, sweaty kind of day. You try to get by wearing as few clothes as possible. I came home from work to find my tomato plants wilting. I watered and gave them a long, cool drink. Here are a few pics of what else is going on in the garden in mid July.
I planted a ton of Bacherlor’s Button from seed back in early April.
The blueberries are starting to ripen!
I cannot keep up with the cilantro. I cut and it flowers. We have been using tons!
About 2 weeks ago, I cut the garlic scapes. Now the garlic plants are maturing and soon will be ready to pull!
Hot hot weather is very tough for the tender lettuces, but they are hangin’ in!
Supposedly this heat wave will break tomorrow. I truly hope so. It has been sticky!
Tags: blueberries, cilantro, gardening, garlic, garlic scape, gratitude, herbs, lettuce, organic, summer
Posted in The Growing Season | No Comments »
balmy monday
Monday, July 11th, 2011
It is HOT out. I am declaring the obvious emphatically. HOT HOT HOT. It is ten of nine on Monday night and it’s 86 degrees inside. Yes, inside.
Steamy.
This weather makes it tough to want to do anything at all besides sit around like a lazy bones and try not to sweat too much. I caved and ordered pizza tonight because I just couldn’t bear the thought of cooking, even if it was a salad. I didn’t want to be anywhere near the kitchen. So I splurged on pizza. It will likely last me all week.
Craig is in Germany on business, and I am tending to the house. Everything is everywhere (again) as we are painting the dining room and living room, and stairway. No TV plugged in, couch is moved to the center of the living room, and I can barely find my shoes.
Soon all the improvements will be done! But for now, I will enjoy delicious pizza from a local shop. This pizza has big pieces of roasted garlic, spinach, and basil. I will savor my alone time to its fullest. I will sit on the porch and will the breeze to rustle the trees.
This is definitely summer.
Tags: alone time, gratitude, housework, summer
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raised garden bed tomatoes
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Somehow in the craziness of my camera not working over the past month, I failed to document the planting of our tomato bed. But fear not! For I am playing catch up and wanted to show you this year’s tomato project.
It all started with trying to figure out what to plant in our back raised garden bed. Last year I had cantalopes and watermelons and green beans in this bed. So this year I thought… tomatoes! And not just any old tomatoes but organic heirloom varieties!
First we had to tackle the monstrosity of weeds in the bed.
This weeding was accomplished over Memorial Day weekend. Once the weeds were out, I turned all the soil with a pitch fork. Then I added fresh heaping amounts of compost.
Craig and I trekked out to our favorite local farm/garden center and perused their amazing long list of heirloom and organic tomato varieties for sale. It was like a tomato menu, and we wanted to try everything on the list!
Photo courtesy of Lull Farm, Hollis, New Hampshire
We finally settled on a few fun varieties and got to planting.
The front of the bed is a Yellow Pear variety and a Cherry variety. The middle front of the bed are two Tomatillo plants and an heirloom variety called Green Zebra. The middle back of the bed are Romas. And the back of the bed has more heirloom varieties including a Japanese Black Trifele, Pink Lady, and my favorite name… Mortgage Lifter. Apparently the dude who propagated these seeds did so well that he was able to pay off his mortgage. How could I not sow a Mortgage Lifter heirloom tomato plant?
Right away the tomatillos started to flower their cute, bold yellow blooms.
After two weeks of on and off rain in the latter part of June, my tomatoes have gone to town, growing taller and fuller each day. I had to stake the matoes over the weekend. I used bamboo stakes that I had bought last year when I tried in vain to create a homemade trellis for my green beans.
I cannot wait to see how these plants do! I am hoping for happy, healthy tomatoes and no diseases this year. Wish me luck!
Tags: gardening, gratitude, heirloom, organic, raised garden bed, summer, tomatoes
Posted in The Growing Season | No Comments »
a july kind of long weekend
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011
Happy July to you! I hope that you are enjoying this lovely, long weekend as we usher in the month. I love long weekends. Can’t say enough about how amazing it is to have 3 days off in a row. In fact, I think we would all be happier, healthier, and more productive beings if we had 3-day weekends more often. With 3 days, you get one day to just relax and be lazy and restore your mental well-being. You get one day to be busy and productive getting things done on the to-do list. And you get one day to get outside and be active and social. Plus, I am entirely convinced that we could all get as much accomplished in 4 days of work versus 5. Maybe even more, just KNOWING that there is a 3-day weekend reward at the end of it all.
Who is with me?
Yesterday we had that sort of restorative day at home. I slept in as best as I could, but our porch painters were here bright and early working on painting the exterior. The sound of your porch paint being scraped is a tiny bit jarring. However, I will NOT complain! Finally the weather is cooperating and the painting can commence!
I used yesterday as an opportunity to finally find the USB cable for my old camera so that I finally have the ability to snap pics and download them to the ’puter again. I puttered about the yard, checking out the flowers.
Our lilies out front are in full bloom!
I love their shock of bright, brilliant orange.
Lilies are the perfect emblem of summer!
Meanwhile, I also paused to admire Craig’s handiwork. He got home early on Friday and set about hacking and trimming our front hedges. Now they are neat and tidy once again!
He not only trimmed the hedges, but he also de-weeded much of them. It was quite an undertaking. His arms and legs are pretty scraped up from all the work, and something he touched definitely irritated his skin. Not quite like poison ivy, but definitely some sort of rashy thing developing on his arms and legs. Oops. Oh the sacrifices we make to try to maintain the curb appeal! :)
Today we headed north to hang out with family at Craig’s Aunt and Uncle’s lake house. We had a blast going for boat rides and eating wonderful summer foods like pasta salad, corn on the cob, watermelon, and steak tips. Plus, I got to watch Craig go tubing. There may not be anything better in the world than witnessing the gigantic grin on his face as he is crossing the wake behind the boat on a giant tube while catching air on big waves, holding on for dear life as his Uncle skillfully maneuvers the boat to give him a thrill-seeking ride. I could not stop smiling and laughing. I laughed so uncontrollably that tears were streaming down my face. It was pure joy all around.
I only wish I’d had my camera with me to capture the action. Craig hung on and never got dislodged, though he came close a few times. And the grin on his face never faded. I do think his arms will be quite sore tomorrow.
But it was entirely worth it. Did I mention how much I love long weekends?
Tags: gardening, gratitude, lilies, summer
Posted in The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | No Comments »