This summer has been full on go basically since school got out and I’ve loved every minute of it.
We’ve had a wedding.
I’ve hosted my sisters, their significant others, and a niece and nephew at the cabin for the days after the wedding but before the 4th of July.
I’ve packed my son for his first “mini-week” camp excursion. I drop him off tonight. I’m a bit nervous, but he’s wanted to go ever since V came home last year and he’s sharing a cabin with some buddies from school. So…we’re giving it a try.
We’re also celebrating Violet’s birthday with her classmates today because I’m a real whiz at scheduling things.
We’ll celebrate Violet’s actual birthday on Saturday with family (after I pick Abram up from camp), and then Violet is off for her own week of camp on Sunday. Her birthday present is a bedroom redo (paint, wallpaper, new light fixture, closet organizer) so I’ll be working on that the week she’s gone.
Knitting: I finished two pairs of socks that were gifts due in June. I finally got them blocked and ready for giving this week. I’d usually feel terrible about this, but I’m hoping the recipients understand.
Watching: I finished watching The Office and powered through the fourth season of Orphan Black.
Reading: I’m behind. I have the Miseducation of Cameron Post on the bedside table, but I haven’t actually gotten around to reading it. Or much of anything else.
Cooking: I made this beet salad with the beets and arugula we got from our CSA. It was a little futsy but I could have eaten the whole thing (and pretty much did because everyone else was claiming they didn’t like beets). For my first time attempting anything with beets, I was pretty impressed. I also managed to clean (with the help of Abram) a bunch of gooseberries, red and black currants (also from the CSA) because I was going to make a crumble with them, but after spending over an hour de-stemming and top-n-tailing, I just kind of lost steam. They’re in the fridge if I can get up the energy. I’d hate to waste them, but, eh. I also made this chicken/tomato/pasta dish one night. I had leftover basil (again from the CSA) but not much else fresh. Thankfully, I had some chicken in the freezer, pasta in the cupboard, and I just used canned tomatoes. It turned out well enough that the kids have asked for it again. And I’ve made a few quick and dirty stir-frys. Basically, I’m trying REALLY hard to use up the CSA produce (except for the kale. I’m completely fine donating the kale.) because a few years ago I felt like I wasted almost all of it.
So I have lots of other bits and bobs and goals and projects I’m working on and I’ll have to get around to sharing them at some point, but it might not be until September when things slow down, if they slow down. Hope all is well with you! What have you been watching, reading, making?
Your photos are beautiful, Kate — the light coming through your knitting bag … !!
I’m honestly amazed that with everything that’s going on in your life that you managed to get a post up!
I envy you your CSA, even though I know how hard it is to keep up with the veggies. Kudos to you for making such a concerted effort to use them all up 🙂 . That salad looks SO GOOD! It seems like all I’m cooking these days is Indian food! A couple weekends ago, I made a vegan version of butter chicken which was loved by (mostly) all.
I’m knitting socks for my husband and socks for me. A pair for my daughter just left my needles. I finished the baby sweater and need to finish the ends and block it and sew on the buttons. The due date is in two weeks so I’d better get a move on…
Reading a biography of Beatrix Potter (Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature). It’s somewhat slow. And long. Sigh.
We’re not really watching anything these days. Now that it’s summer, our 12-year-old seems to have nearly the same bedtime as us. We did sneak in the documentary What The Health. We both thought it was really good. But we’re the choir, so I guess that’s no surprise.
I hope all goes well for Abram during his week of camp. And Violet’s too. It’s hard to let them go, but it’s got to be such an amazing experience for them. And what a lovely thing for V to return to a re-decorated room 🙂 .
The CSA is the acknowledgement that I am not a gardener but LOVE fresh grown vegetables. We do have some amazing farmer’s markets but I can never seem to align my schedule with one, so this is what works for us (for now). I added on a fruit share this year, but I don’t know if I’ll do that again. I feel like trying to fit in the veggies is hard enough and obscure to me fruit (like gooseberries) that I can’t just pop into my mouth is too much work. I was sad that I didn’t have enough of the black currants to make jam. But they only would have made one jar and that seemed like a LOT of work for one jar.
Congrats on all the socks! You’re cruising! Can’t wait to see pictures of the finished baby sweater. The preview was beautiful.
Hope you are having a wonderful summer!! It’s always good to hear from you!
Well, things are going the same for me, which is why I’m a whole week behind in my reading. 🙂 I just love that photo of Violet. Such soulful eyes! She is growing up fast, isn’t she? Of course, they all do. I woke up this morning from a dream that my daughter and son were children again. It felt so real.
Like you, there’s been a whirl of family activity, which will continue until the middle of August–right about the time I go back to work. Will’s boot camp graduation was the kind of event that you remember forever. So many feelings I haven’t even begun to name them, much less sort them.
Back home now. Going into work for a bit this morning. Bought a tomato plant, hoping to not kill it. Knitting dishcloths–I like feeling competent, and I can do those easily while watching TV. Trying to sort my craft/project room. Feeling all kinds of feelings having my son home, but for only a week. Also have Cameron Post on my nightstand. It really is a good book, one of my favorite from the project books. (Oh yeah, that project I abandoned. More feelings I haven’t named/sorted.) But I’m not re-reading it. Reading a dark book I found strolling the library shelves. Enjoying summer fruits and vegetables. Trying hard to figure out how to get through my days with more light than dark. Doing OK, most days.
It really does sound that you too have so many good things going. I’m so glad! The world has so much dark in it – it’s wonderful when we can find or create light.
Congratulations to your Will! I can imagine all sorts of conflicting mom feelings about that graduation and having a child in the service, but such an accomplishment.
I’m jealous of your tomato plant but I’m also 100% certain I’d kill it.
And lastly, yes. She’s growing up so fast. Too fast? I was looking through pictures from when we first moved to this house (almost 5 years ago now) and I want to cry at how young they were – how much time I had with them. And now…it feels like that clock speeds faster and faster.