still summer (wordless Wednesday)
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Category Archives: summer
wordless Wednesday: sandy toes
creative movement
I registered the little birdie for a “Creative Movement” class this fall. Not that she seems to need much help in this area especially when she’s inspired by Lake Michigan’s crashing waves, but I think she’ll have a BLAST. She’s such a natural little dancer that I sometimes don’t want to dance in front of her in fear that she’ll be influenced by my movements… or lack of.
The class requires that she wear pink tights, a pink leotard, ballet shoes and pull her hair back. She is ridiculously excited about this part of the class. Who IS this girl again? Did she really come from me? Boggled.
How was your weekend, lovelies?
this week
We thankfully felt a bit of September on our skin this week and as I write this, I’m still wearing fuzzy slippers, a fleece jacket and clasping a hot mug of coffee. Ahhhh. With the cooler temps and plunging humidity levels, we’re all sleeping better at night and I have to believe that the week has been a lot more easy-going and less edgy because of it. 85 with 80% humidity really takes it out of you, eh? I even told a few people last week to remind me never to be pregnant in the summer again. And today, I’m feeling at ease. 60 degrees and a full night’s sleep will do that to a mama at 29 weeks.
With a bit more pep in our step, we had a full week of nesting and playing…
- painted the front porch of 605 with my Dad and watched the neighbor cat walk across it
- grilled more pizza
- enjoyed our first backyard tomato (“Mama, it’s RED! We can pick it!!!!”)
- ate my body weight in fresh peaches and the season’s last sweet cherries
- sorted through more baby clothes, shoes, toys, diapers
- swam with the evening’s long shadows
- began to transform the guest room into a cozy space for little birdie #2
- moved one of the guest beds into Wren’s room and she decided to sleep in it (!) instead of her crib
- shopped for a leotard, tights and ballet slippers for the little birdie’s first dance class
- paid off my car loan (yesssssssss!)
- started planning a mini babymoon/anniversary getaway for late September
- made a peach pie and a fresh green bean salad to take to my Grandma’s 90th birthday party tomorrow
Happy weekend to you! Any big plans? May you enjoy some relaxing moments in your nest. XO
rain, finally!
Go fly a kite
blueberry bonanza
Happy August, lovelies! We started the morning out with an early blueberry bonanza to beat the heat. Apparently, I just can’t eat enough fresh blueberries because we picked some last week too, but my supply was already getting a bit low. They’re just soooo good right now. I’ve been eating them by the happy handful every day. And no, I haven’t turned into a Smurf yet. Yet!
Truth be told, the little birdie isn’t a great blueberry picker at this age – maybe next summer. She loses interest in picking after about, oh, 60 seconds. But she loves to run up and down the rows, check in with her friends (err, boss them around), and occasionally, pop a big, plum-sized one in her mouth. Pure northern Michigan summer!
She also had a great time with her good friend, Cora. And they didn’t even fight over anything today! Girls are so funny: one minute they’re pulling each other’s hair out over a toy and the next, they’re hugging and laughing. Or holding hands…
How are you celebrating the arrival of August and beating the heat in the midst of these dog days? Any great blueberry recipes I just HAVE to try? Send ’em my way. Until then, we just eat them straight out of the bowl! mmmmm.
Cyberspace friends, thank you so much for your thoughtful, thought-provoking, understanding and encouraging thoughts regarding my anxiety over the arrival of little birdie #2. Your support and advice means a lot. Thank YOU.
summer knees
{this moment} beating the heat
farmer’s market bounty
The little birdie and I had a blast at yesterday’s Traverse City farmer’s market, which is open on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Although it’s smaller, I prefer the Wednesday market because it’s not as crowded. As you can see, we loaded up on mid-summer’s bounty.
We were pleasantly surprised to find a quart of local strawberries because that’s all Wren could talk about on the walk downtown and I didn’t want to disappoint her by telling her there wouldn’t be any so I just kept saying, “what about cherries? I bet we can find some delicious cherries…” But we DID find some strawberries (actually Wren saw them first!) and they’re the best we’ve had all summer. Like little candied jewels.
I was happy to find some pickling cukes because we just ran out of the huge batch we made last fall and it doesn’t seem right to have an outdoor summer meal without that pickled crunch.
And the blueberries! I’m not a huge fan of blueberries hidden in pies, but a fresh, flowery blueberry? Yes, please and thank you.
To round out our color palette and crisper drawer, we grabbed some of the season’s first apricots, a quart of beans and, of course, cherries. You can’t live through summer in northern Michigan and not have a constant supply of fresh cherries, right?
Speaking (err, writing) or summer in northern Michigan… have you seen the article in Bon Appetit about Mario Batali and his love affair with the food, people and land/waterscape of northern Michigan? “Traverse City is the antidote to New York City.” Woah. Click here to read it.