it's raining today -- but a nice break after yesterday's 95 degrees and 150% humidity -- it was the kind of day where you walk outside and are immediately covered in sweat - i felt bad for the guys out pulling honey. we had to take them more water towards the end of the day -- that's saying a lot since they each take out a gallon+...
i've been busy this last week -- when i say that, what i really mean is that my fingers have been busy, and my computer has been really busy -- the last couple days have been spent selecting and editing photos and making books.
one of them is for these two love birds --of pictures that i took at their engagement shoot:
we had a quiet weekend. i didn't take any pictures...
i scrapbooked most of saturday. it was a pleasant experience and a great way to spend the day -- simply amazes me that i accomplish so much more scrapping on a queen size bed than i do working at a table.
ordered wedding project supplies--now to wait for them to get here.
starting to feel the time crunch for all the things i want to get finished before the end of summer. pressure is good.
my hot water heater stopped working yesterday. jon has been trying to fix it today. sad. i need to shower. going to have to trek to the warehouse bathroom like everyone else. boo.
i hadn't been through my reader in about a week -- i had 457 blog posts to "read" -- too many. the sad part was that out of all of those there wasn't much that caught my attention...
two things:
- i am obsessed with homemade granola - store bought i don't really care for - but homemade, barely sweetened granola goodness -- yum. this year it has been one of my most favorite things to eat. my wonderful mother sent 2 giant bags of homemade goodness with us to eat while in montana - it is packed with dried fruit, seeds and nuts... i savor every mouthful (helps to make up for my brother shoveling it -- he's always in a hurry to eat as much as possible...).
mom's gift of granola...
this recipe caught my attention today because -it's for granola - it's gluten-free - it doesn't have multiple sugars or a lot oil -- i am planning on making it when i get home or run out of granola - whichever comes first -- gluten-free girl's homemade granola
- "the happiness project" by gretchen rubin -- it's "an account of the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier." -- i browsed through her blog a little this morning and it has a lot of great things -- my favorite for today -- her twelve personal commandments -- i think i will make some of my own. -- it will be at the top of my book list, but first i need to finish "eat, pray, love" by elizabeth gilbert
week one of montana time -- really, only one week -- it seems like it has been longer than that...maybe...
i kind of took the week off...so let's recap
last tuesday-
- wake up at 3:45am, load up last of the bags & lulu, pick up sister, kaitlin -- off we go
- 7:00 - traditional huckleberry's stop for breakfast food and walk lulu
- 10:00 - missoula - and the last starbucks i'll see for awhile -- i love love iced soy carmel macchiatos
- drive along listening to "pride and prejudice"
- happy happy til, oh we're in montana now-- tut tut it looks like rain
- stop in butte for gas and to check on the my tarped load after i remember that the only thing in didn't wrap in plastic was lulu's 3 bags of dog food -- visions of wet, moldy food dance in my head -- enter my favorite item ever: duck tape -- you are amazing!
- drive off in the t-storm and go over butte pass - truck shudders every time i use the brakes - which would be often, when driving down a 6% grade and passing semi trucks in the torrential downpour - lovely
- traditional stop at wheat, montana for a sandwich - check the dog food, duck tape duck tape, potty break for lulu, answer grandma's call, phone husband to complain about stupid montana weather always greeting me with a storm...
-billings= husband+costco+olive garden
made it - wind blown and rained on -- hooray for duck tape and bungees
-last leg of the trip -surrounded by giant thunderstorm (look straight ahead, now turn your head all the way to the right --that's the span of lightening coverage we were getting every 2 minutes -- oh and then look to your left -- see the lightening over there too) - dislike dislike dislike -- did i mention that the road we are traveling on is in the middle of nowhere...
-arrive at summer home just as the rain does - unload truck -- dog food is safe -- hooray!
wednesday - wake up to utter chaos. take deep breathes. stop and stare while trying to choose first step to restoring order. night comes - along with t-storms and tornado watch.
thursday - hello windy weather - hello storms - hello tornado watch and severe thunder storms. wake to no power--doesn't come on until after noon.
friday - 40mph wind all day long - 50mph gusts -- read about tornados that were north of us thursday night.
saturday - sleep. pancakes. camp meeting via internet. hulu--catch up on the entire current season of the bachelorette. sunshine until the evening --then t-storms, imagine that...
sunday - fathers day. call father. clean trailer top to bottom. cook. take mattress topper off of bed and hope for a good nights sleep on a not-so-soft bed. enter tornado watch&flash flood watch. severe t-storms arrive at our door around 7:00pm... 9:30 - look at news and watch you tube video of tornado in billings (3 hours away) that afternoon. sign up for weather warning text messages in hopes that it will wake me up if there is a tornado warning at 3am.
monday - wake to sunshine and lovely sky. talk with friend who called to see if we were swept away in the tornado. have a lovely morning til noon. tornado watch. flash flood watch. severe t-storms. look at weather radar and practice deep breathing and meditation. continually and obsessively check weather for rest of the afternoon in hopes that storm will cease or change direction. 6:00 - husband leaves to move bees to a different location 7:40 - ominous clouds are here -- looking around me and watching giant cloud to ground lightening headed my way. two tornados on radar south west of us and heading our way. make a "tornado escape" plan. 7:45 call husband to see if he is alive - yes, alive and traveling home in a lightening storm -- sweet. listen to local weather station and check radar while ignoring brother and sister who happen to still love storms. storm arrives -- popcorn with your lightening show anyone? look at radar. say thank you prayer to god for my area being in the narrow gap between two horrible storm cells for the second day in a row...
taken after the storm passed us on sunday night - wanted to document how large it was
tuesday - sunshine. all day. cook. clean. go to the library and come back with 9 books. i must say that one of my favorite things about this town is their library...it's like christmas for summer reading. shelves of westerns. mystery. romance. christian. almost every series you can think of... labeled too. amazing. oh, of course there is non fiction and classics too, of which 3 of my books were chosen... talk with local ladies at the library about stormy weather and tornado watches in 5th wheel trailers. begin novel.
wednesday (today) - not gonna lie, basically all i did today was read. finish novel. watch movie based on book -- horrific, especially with novel fresh in my mind. clean. cook. curse weevils eating away at precious alfalfa. husband goes to move bees. blog.
whew.
so that is the last week. if you made it through this far...
i think i am ready to blog more regularly again. this spring has been crazy and i just needed a break... i will try and post some "catch up" pics from this spring soon
1. a weekend with no plans is the best kind
2. friday night burger, fries, and onion rings --because my roommate loves me -- for dinner. tradition is good.
3. pooches in the back -- bridger is not a fan of riding outside -- poor boy was not as excited as lulu --
4. running to watch the sunset at my favorite spot in town --
5. went to vespers to hear the a cappella group Rescue
6.slept in -- or at least jon did -- had lunch with the parents -- walked lulu downtown and met some new friends -- she (lulu) did... she meets new friends all the time --this time she met ali walker -- a local photographer who was taking pictures of feast walla walla -- and also some of lulu... i don't know if she was able to get a good shot as all miss lulu was interested in doing was trying talking to her...to see if she could get a pet or two... -- i didn't get any pictures on our walk -- but ali, who takes beautiful photos, put some up on her blog - check it out! (and if you do... we sat right in front of that sign for walla walla wine works and listened to the great live music that was playing while drinking our favorite san pellegrino limonata)
7. watched cute comedy with husband -- who is home for a bit! -- management
8. laundry, cleaning, menu planning, grocery shopping, exercising, eating
9. lots of cooking today -- because on saturday -- while jon was sleeping in -- i was able to read and browse through my books...
loving the kind diet -- even more than i did a few months ago -- read through it again saturday...i just love the way alicia writes- she makes me laugh, plus, all the recipes i have tried have been delicious so far. this afternoon i made "moms granola" -- i am on a granola kick right now -- oh yum!
you can also catch alicia at her blog: the kind life
today i made the lentil dahl soup to have for lunches this week -- i really loved it -- but i also love curry... i also tried her house bread -- i think i am going to have to try it again, as it was overbaked, though still edible, just a little crusty -- i think i formed it too long and narrow... we'll see... sometime, soon hopefully, when i am seattle -- i will stop by and visit the flying apron and try the goodies for "real"
10. catching up on blogging and project 365 --
so good -- so hard not too eat too many...
the bag is home to stay for a bit...and the husband too!
this is the question that i have asked myself all day as half the day i have thought it was friday and the other half have known it was really thursday...
right now:
1. watching a disneyland commercial and am almost ready to go again -- really, i love it that much
2. watching a commercial for how to tame your dragon and am quite excited for our spring break field trip
3. survivor! -- anyone for some beach dragon chi?
4. gonna kick my cold out of the house this weekend-- dinner tonight was accompanied by "grapefruit cold zap" from "the big book of juices and smoothies" by natalie savona --my most favorite juicing/smoothie book ever -- juice 2 grapefruits, 1 lemon, 1 inch of fresh ginger, and 1 clove of garlic
yum -- do you love garlic and ginger as much as i do?
instead you watch "harry potter and the half-blood prince"
instead you surf the net and blog
instead you eat little dark chocolate hershey kisses in pretty purple wrapping
due to being absent this weekend and the busy of monday - i didn't get to posting my menu -- and i haven't had time to plan other than a quick scribble -- welcome to the real world -- but i still thought i would share our rough menu for the week-- lunches right now are left overs + pb&J -- breakfast - smoothies&oatmeal--dinners:
monday - slow cooked lentil soup with kale, quinoa, and whole wheat toast
we came home from florida to our new heating system
kim has it all scheduled and everything -- lovely
my bedroom stays warm now -- more lovely
some have asked about a resource for finding out what produce is in season when...
i used the list from "cooking outside the box" and from "the family kitchen garden"
i found this book this fall at our local library and fell in love with it -- it has tons of pictures and is very user friendly. to my christmas list it went, and a christmas present it was. super great resource if your new to gardening.
i found it by googling "seasonal product chart" - there are a few others, however, i like this one because it tells you by state.
also, check your local farmer's market -- ours publishes a map and list of local farms, along with a calendar showing what produce is available when and by whom.
i accomplished almost all the items that were on my to-do list -- the two that i have left might still get done before i go to bed.
in case you haven't noticed, we are really enjoying the holiday season over at our house. i love coming home to all the cozy.
thursday nights are pizza night -- tonight we ordered from a local chain... lots of red garlic sauce, half pineapple and half mushroom... and of course, a big bowl of salad with homemade ranch. after a year of making homemade salad dressings, i have been ruined on anything bottled. it is so easy. just buy a shaker jar, or two... and find one or two recipes you can't live with out. for us, it is mom's ranch recipe and a basic italian that we make from better homes & gardens cookbook -- which is one of my top "go to" cookbooks for all your basic cooking needs...
tonight we are choosing recipes for our bake day this weekend. there are millions of delicious looking recipes out there... i think i will make some of these
