So it's been about six weeks since I've posted a blog and during those weeks a full spectrum of amazing experiences have been felt - fun, not so fun, happy, sad, work, play, and - my all time favorite - work mixed with play. I mentioned to Jay this morning that I might try to post a blog and I didn't know how to cover all the experiences this last half of summer. In his wonderful way of counsel he said, "You don't have to try to do that. Just pick up with today."
Good advice and I'll try to follow that but first.....
I decided to just take a trip down memory lane through the wonderful world of my cell phone pics and here are a few that managed to get uploaded to this post.
We discovered a great little Italian restaurant - Giardini Trattoria - on an unlikely stretch of two lane road exactly 17 minutes from the lake house. Loving Italian food like I do, I have now been there multiple times with various folks and have always come away happy. One of the neat things there are little journals on each table titled "A Day in the Life of Table X". It's fun to flip through the pages and read what people share about their experience there. Some write funny things, others share their innermost thoughts and some just draw a picture. It's only fair to share your own experiences too. Joe and Mary, who own the place, will no doubt enjoy reading the joy in the life of each of these tables.
After going to Lake Lure and the Chimney Rock area for my entire life, I finally bought a one year Pass to the Chimney Rock Park. KC, David, Jay and I went up for a look at the amazing view and the boys were stunned that I had never taken them there.. I'm a little embarrassed myself but seldom did we go to the lake without a team full of boys and I was always worried that someone would take a dive off the edge. I worried a little bit this time too, but we all got out of there alive.
July 4th at the Lake was a big time for all and we even had a little corn shucking time on the deck. Dad's corn came in in a big way on the 4th and somehow some of us managed to get to Lattimore, pick, shuck, silk, blanche, cut, bag and freeze a whole bunch of corn. Then it was back to the lake for July 4th fireworks.
Hickory Nut Falls at Chimney Rock park is a quick hike from the Rock and I've enjoyed that with Carol and others a couple of times since we bought the season's pass.
Devin caught a good shot of Simba cooling off in the crazy summer heat. Simba continues to give us joy. We think he is part Corgi and part something that loves water.
David and I tried to slip off on a kayak ride and Simba jumped into the boat. Simba loves to swim and he doesn't love to be left out of anything. Gotta love his spirit. Life is all a party for Simba.
That season's pass at Chimney Rock has more than paid for itself. Carol, Leah, Summer and I took our Tarheel selves up one morning for hiking and the view. Then we settled into the lake house for some old school scrabble. Leah and Summer are some pretty smart cookies and that made scrabble a real blast.
Speaking of Tarheels, I caught up with Deb and Anne who were Carolina friends back in the day. We hadn't seen each other in way too long and so we met up at the Mint Museum's Halcyon Restaurant to catch up. After three hours we only caught up through the 80s so I'm looking forward to another meet up before too long.
David IV was back in town for another wedding and so we had a quick Sunday Lunch with Jay, Devin, KC, David, Sister, Dad and Mom. Loved everything about it.
In the heat of a summer day I turned Jude on to Happy Hour at Sonic. EVERY day from 2-4 Sonic has happy hour and you can quench your thirst with a cheap Diet Cherry Limeade. Awesome.
The only gardening going on in the last half of summer at my house is herb gardening. This is because herbs are weeds and they love to be hot and dry. They also can hold their own during a war with other not so desirable weeds. One atypical cool morning recently I took time to weed the herb garden and found a new supply of mint, basil, oregano, chives, leeks, thyme, etc. Jay's serano pepper plant has been producing all summer and so have the jalapeno and cherry tomatoes.
Is there is anything better in the summertime than a fresh tomato sandwich?
Carol shared via facebook an interesting method for preserving herbs. Since the herb garden was in full swing I deided to give it a try. This is awesome. You cut up herbs, mix together things you like to cook with, and then put them in ice cube trays with olive oil and freeze. When they are frozen you pop them out and put into freezor bags. When ready to use, you just put an herb cube into a pan to saute, or you can mix into hot pasta or whatever.
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I experimented with 2 different combinations. I put italian herbs together with olive oil for cooking. I also put mint into water to freeze into ice cubes. Both worked great. The ice cubes make a tall glass of ice water minty and I'm pretty sure it would make cocktails more fun. But I haven't tried that yet. Honest.
The italian herb cube is melting in the middle of a saute pan with some boneless chicken breasts. This along with a salad made a fast meal the other night. Herb cubes are the ticket. I had to go to the dollar store to buy ice cube trays and much to my dismay they did not have the old metal kind with the handle, but these new fangled ones are inexpensive and easy to use.
This artwork hangs over our kitchen sink and so I get a lot of opportunities to think about it.
When David IV was in second grade he drew a colorful stained glass window with an angel sporting a crooked halo. I thought that was sweet because we used to talk about crooked halos when the boys were young. Because even the best little angels sometimes make a mistake and the halo slips over. After all, nobody's perfect all of the time. Crooked halo is code for "I love you unconditionally". I love David's drawing and it makes me smile no matter what the season.
Here's to a summer filled with a rainbow of experiences and a life filled with unconditional love.
