Today's letterboxing

I had to share this because the stamp is so beautiful.

Here's the view:



Here's the stamp:

And here's the vantage point (with 2 adorable models, if I do say so)

Biscotti and coffee

the breakfast of champions!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day, Thursdays get like that. I feel the pull of cooking most on Thursday and I don't know why. I should figure out how to harness that.

I pulled the rest of the chard out of the garden yesterday morning because it was bolting over and over again, clearly summer has set in. So the kids and I pulled it up, cleaned it and I made chard soup with it. But one of the ingredients in my chard soup is sorrel, or if sorrel is unavailable, juice from one lemon. Well I only had one left and didn't want to waste the zest, so of course I needed to bake biscotti. I also made a summer vegetable stew with some garden gatherings and had enough zucchini left over from that to make zucchini bread. Since that is a good breakfast over here for Z who refuses to eat eggs, or pretty much most breakfast foods except for toast or bagels, I made a loaf to put away slices for breakfasts.

I also needed to make cornbread to accompany the chard soup. So my oven was on for 3+ hours on a hot day. Did I mention I have no air conditioning? But there was dinner when we came home from our playdate and there was breakfast this morning and leftovers for lunch today and biscotti for DH to take to work, have for Shabbat treat tonight and a couple to have with my coffee this morning.

I have never had a garden like the one I have now. I have planted a few things here and there over the years, but this is my very first garden and I am overjoyed with how it is working. I love going out there and picking what is fresh and ready to use to cook with. So much more inspiring then the grocery store.

Off to the zoo

We headed off to the zoo today for another school summer outing. This one was poorly attended. Is it strange that the only people who seem to show up at these are the people who were in Z's class last year? The whole school is invited. Maybe I need to get a life. Well, another one anyway.

Here is B watching the giraffes:

"Where should we go from here?"

I have another of us feeding the giraffes, but mostly it focuses on my big ol' butt, so you shall be spared.

Going on an Expotition

...but not to the North Pole. Actually it is what Z calls Letterboxing. Today we went on a letterboxing expotition that had 3 boxes along the trail. Well it was supposed to...

1st box:



I forgot to take a picture of the squirrel hole in the tree where letterbox#2 was supposed to be. But this bent over tree is where letterbox #3 is supposed to be.



It was located in a place the person who left the letterboxes calls "Hawk's Nest Village" Here's a sample of what you see when you look up. There are quite a few of these.



And here are 2 boys resting on a fallen log after a long hike and a fruitless search.

Photos by Z

So sometimes the kids take off with my cell phone and take pictures. And I trash most of them because they are pictures of fingers or blurry undecipherable things. But a few I save and they give me a peek into their perspective.

Here is a photo of B walking through the garden taken by Z.




And here is one of Z's cars in a very funny (to me) pose.


"Hey baby, can I check your oil?"

School at the beach

Well a School Community Day at the beach anyway. It is really wonderful that Z's school tries to keep up some level of community even over the summer. They have a Wednesday Beach Day every week until school starts and we all meet up at the beach and play with school friends.

It is notoriously difficult to get pictures of kids at play anyway, add sand and hats for sun protection and you get a vague idea of what the kids look like LOL.

Here is Z and his classmate playing:

And here is the back of B's head as he watches his big brother and friend playing at the water's edge. Can you guess where we took off to about a minute later?

And, just because it amuses me, Here is the chard I got out of the garden the other day:

We ate up every bite of it. It took a few days.

The Fairy House and other sundries

So much going on and so little time or opportunity to write. My dad and his wife were in town (Hi!!) this past weekend and it was wonderful to have them here. Unfortunately for them, the day they were due to arrive, I dragged myself to the doctor for a combo corneal abrasion/eye infection which left me unable to even leave a darkened room for 2 days due to pain (unless you count the doctor visit) I still can't go into heavy sunlight for an extended period because my eyes just wear right out

Today we went to the park and I sat in the shade and the boys played around me. They rode their bikes, chased birds and made fairy houses. Here is one:



Z has also taking a liking to tree climbing, mostly because there is a very climbable tree at one of the parks we frequent. For my Dad, here is photographic proof of him in a tree! LOL



I promise a longer post soon. With non-cellphone pictures!