Summer Love

What do you love about summer? The long hot days that stretch into the night? The parties, festivals and picnics? I know one of my highlights is the food, especially the fresh fruit that is in abundance this time of year. I love berries the most: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries! I found this recipe on Fine Cooking.com and thought I'd share it with you. I've subscribed to this magazine for years now and look forward to every issue I receive. I now also have the extra resource of their wonderful website. Check it out sometime! If you know me on FB you know I often share recipes there, but I'll occasionally share them here too... they are too good to not share! This one look particularly versatile: Fresh Berry Syrup - Fine Cooking

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As a follow up, we had a lot of fun at the tractor show yesterday. We are having to go back this morning to pick up some tractor parts we found yesterday (a hitch and wheel weights) from a wonderful fellow from New Hampshire. Don't worry about me! I managed to get to several stamp/scrapbook stores in Madison as well, so I got a few stamping supplies too. It was indeed a well rounded day.

Enjoy,

just don't get it

ok. i really should just go to bed now instead i'm blogging again. tgif. the economy is going to hell in a hand basket. at least that's what the news has to say. very depressing news on the economy today. difficult to be upbeat on that. especially when filling up the gas tank, like i had to do today. i'm always on the look out for a bargain, especially when it comes to art supplies. sales are the way to go now-a-days. we are heading down to illinois on sunday. there's an antique radio show there. it's supposed to rain, but hopefully it will not be a wash out. we already have the tickets to go. 

good news: the peonies are starting to open as of today. that means summer is here. the irises are starting to bloom today too. even the siberian irises. i just love them. daffodils and siberian irises are my favorites. don't get me wrong - i love just about all flowers. especially my orchids (which are still blooming), but daffodils and siberian irises are the top on my list.  yesterday and today were HOT & HUMID. yesterday was worse of the two days. tonight its actually mild enough to have the windows open. there was more of a breeze, but it has subsided it seems. tonight i made for dinner, chicken breasts on the grill (my favorite) along with asparagus and salad - more of our CSA veggies. we've eaten most of them. we get the next delivery in a week. can't wait. i did give the rhubarb to a woman that i work with - i'm not all that fond of it and it's on my list of foods to avoid. besides, i don't need any more sweets than i already eat. 

tomorrow marc will be busy for the majority of the day so i will have plenty of time to get some things done around the house and some art project time too. finally. i did do some creative work this week, including making a tiny scrapbook (keychain sized). it was very fun to do. i'm not really into the whole "scrap" thing, but i did love this. i have another one to make. maybe i can work (its not really "work") on that and/or the pet projects i've got going on. i'll try to post some photos this weekend.

good day

i can't believe it's monday already. the weekend just flies by every time. yesterday was mother's day, so besides everything else to do, we had marc's mom over for dinner. it was nice though. i made chicken marsala, with asparagus and buttermilk mashed potatoes. for dessert, i had made carrot cake with vanilla cream cheese frosting. delicious. i use fresh, organic products whenever i can. i am using up the organic carrots i got back in december from the csa i belong to - they are still delicious! i cannot believe how many carrots i get through that place. i still have quite a few left actually. i guess i'll need to make more carrot cake. 

 i did get a little bit of time in the studio yesterday afternoon. i had gone to artist and display art store on saturday, and again on sunday - as i found out they had a big sale going on. when they have a sale, its usually a good one. i got some textile paints by jacquard, some golden fluid paints (on sale), golden acrylic medium & glaze (on sale), some brushes (on sale), some collage elements, and a book on acrylic paints which covers color mixing. i am working on painting more right now, but my bernina is calling me. i must sew and quilt again. it's been too long. yesterday i did some painting on fabric and coffee filters. i like working with coffee filters. i'm saving up tea bags too and want to incorporate them into my work. my problem is that i get pulled into too many directions with my work. which technique to use? they are all so cool and fun! one thing at a time. even when i find techniques that work for me, i'm off to try the next one i read about and off i go - in search of supplies and materials. all i need is more time to dedicate to my new found techniques. develop them, nurture them and then incorporate them into my work. i am looking forward to the upcoming workshop with beryl taylor. i have another favorite artist to add to my list: judy coates perez. I'll put a link to her artist blog on my blog. excellent & inspiring stuff!

11:00 p.m. another busy day it's been. i almost forgot that i had made a lunch date with my friend, linda, today. thank goodness for outlook reminders at work! i'd forget my head sometimes. i can't function without my calendars, online and of course, my franklin planner. it's my bible, so to speak. my life is coordinated in it. dinner was a simple soup, made from ingredients on hand & in the pantry. i can usually whip something up if i put my mind to it. it's when i'm running so late with work that we go out to eat. quicker to run to the restaurant than cook a meal. more tomorrow. i'll pay for my late night tonight, tomorrow. i'll be exhausted.