Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Musings - October 2019

October is always a transitional month. It starts Q4 and is the run up to the holidays with a side of settling into school. I decided to settle into a "get moving" theme for the month with street named perfume, road called lipstick and some adventure.

Books: Travel month! So, in addition to finishing Buying Signals by Nikki Rausch,  I picked up a new book, Hello! My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins. Both of which I ADORED as business books by smart women and am telling everyone about.

Kindle Unlimited. 
- All 3 of the Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill books by B.R. Kingsolver
- Winter Hours by Mary Oliver

There were other books during the travel, but I didn't get them all finished. (Pictured but they don't count yet.) 

Gratitude: Couch snuggles. Local coffee shops that remember what you like. Kittens! (They are a year old now. Maybe I should call them "young cats"? They are big - over 9lb each - but have baby faces and are so cuddly. Kali especially likes to come talk to me about all her woes in the morning. It's so cute!) October blue skies. Dinners with friends. Orange trees. Discounts at nice hotels. Soda fountains with alcoholic drinks. Unexpected water and fire shows. Art and wine.  And buying yourself a bouquet because you just damn want flowers.

Listening: My own thoughts. They are B-I-G right now. And during a LONG driving trip, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, which you can rock through at 1.5 speed and not miss a thing.

Perfume: It's October. Time for a change. I went with the new mini bottle of Magazine Street that Strange Invisible Perfume is offering. (And it became part of my weird travel theme.)

And I nearly forgot! I tried out perfumes! Skylar is the brand (clean perfume, made in the USA.) And... on me, it had ZERO sillage. I loved the easy packaging. I loved the fresh scents - and they were just as described. I loved the mix suggestions. (Arrow and Meadow were my two favorites   - possibly because they were the ones that stayed on - and I liked them better mixed.) But if it doesn't stay on my skin but 30 minutes - it's a bust as a fragrance.  
- Isle - Clean, Dewy, Fresh
- Coral - Fruity, Floral, Flirty
- Arrow - Spicy, warm, seductive
- Meadow - Floral, Chic, Beautiful
- Capri - Sparkling, Citrus, Sweet
- Willow - Woodsy, Cool, Lush
That said, I'm still tempted by the pricepoint on ordering Arrow and Meadow as a duo.....

Random: 
1) I now know the historical meaning of Bar and Grill - and it's not what you think it is. That meaning is also very well suited to the Kingsolver book.

2) I rented the cutest car for a business road trip. I wore Magazine Street perfume and Kismet's Country Roads lipstick on the trip to be on theme.

Recipes: Oatmeal cookie update! We've discovered I had inadvertently modified the standard recipe - and we like it more! (Here's the link to what we started with.) We've done it up with the blueberries and with chocolate chips. Both good.  

 Here's my recipe (and yes, use this order to put it together):
- 2 sticks butter, very soft 
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 cups oats (old fashioned or quick cook)
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- nuts,  dried berries or chocolate chips to taste

 Mix well before you get in the eggs. (I mix after vanilla extract. I also mix after flour. And again after oats. I use a fork.) Add beaten eggs 1 at a time. Once throughly mixed, spoon onto parchment lined-pan in even amounts. (It makes about 18 cookies for me - but we make BIG cookies).

 Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. 

Self-Care Overview: 

 I've been wearing Country Roads lipstick the second half of the month. It's part of my travel theme. (See top image for color.)

 Soap of the month was Morning Dew. (The label says... lily of the valley. hyacinth. wisteria. spring blooms poking though the ground after a fresh soaking rain.) Very feminine and fresh. I took it with me on 3 trips (Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, St. Louis).
Keeping the Face Young Skincare...
Day - I killed off the Juice Beauty oil early in the month. So full switch for day to Mad Hippie's Vitamin C Serum then 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream and then top my whole face with light application of Pacifica's Super Flower Power Rapid Response Face Oil.  Seems to work well with either quick Bare Minerals powder or with full-on Juice Beauty CC Cream + finishing powder.

Night  - There was some travel. When I travel, I tend to use my DHC Beauty samples as night as lotions and to try different products. I also take my DHC Oilve Oil Cleanser and Face Wash during travel. (I love my various cleansing balms, but when I travel, I don't want to use the hotel washcloths on my face - who knows what those were laundered in?!? And balms need a face cloth wipe, for sure.) On non-travel days, at night, I've been using the African Botanics's Cell Recovery Serum all over plus African Botanics's Fleur d'Afrique Oil topped with either 1) Sweet Briar Hydrating Nectar by Heart of Gold that came in the Boxwalla box in August or 2) FlowerSpice Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturizer from the April box. Nearing the end of the the African Botanical Cell Recovery and I'm sad. (Not a pricepoint that's friendly to my current life.)

 Confession - I still haven't figured out how to use that Grommage Gel from the August box. Never seems to work for me.

 As always, we wait to see who says I look young. (I think the best was the Earthwise serums for that.) And NO! The Meijer store kid just clicked "over 40" as I bought my wine.

Stress: Big life things are in flux. Change is a wave you've got to learn to surf. Oddly, knowing that and making CHOICES (feeling empowered) helped a lot with my stress this month.

Things 13 Said: Did. She's become a tater-tot thief. To which she tells me "Who counts their tater-tots?" Me. The answer is me because you steal them.

 We went to visit her 19 year old sister at art school. We surprised her at work - and then stayed there as she works at a hotel! (Cute space, too and walking distance to lots of things.) 

 The 3 of us tried rock climbing as our fun adventure. The girls were naturals! (I'm more of a natural anchor. But I did give it a college try.) And if you have never done it - it's hauling your entire weight up by your arms while balancing on small stones, then trusting a rope to not drop you to your death. I'd do it again. 
Watching: Designing Women on Hulu! Blacklist on Netflix. (Is it weird I want to BE Reddington when I grow up?) Schitts Creek on Netflix. And my spirit animal, Jessica Wong, is back in play with Fresh off the Boat.

Take- away - Some times you have to set boundaries with other people. But, you get to define the boundaries of you. Maybe it's time for you to stretch those boundaries!
Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...

*Juice Beauty is a staple in my beauty cabinet. I stray, I try other things - but it's my favorite "foundation" (I used the CC Cream) and great skin care. If you like Juice Beauty too, here is a link. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links which helps support this blog.

- Skin Care by Juice Beauty
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Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Musings - July 2019


This was a slow month, but it goes by quickly and with it the summer brushes up into fall - just a hop, skip, and jump from the end of the year.


And, the garden is in! I've got segregated the eds a bit - an herb bed (image), a strawberry patch (image), several tomatoes and a crazy amount of hot peppers. Three beds in total. I did not even try cucumbers or squash due to the late start. I officially bought plants July 1st and put it in July 2nd. By July 3rd it had tiny thumbsized hop-toads bopping around the plants. 


 In contrast, we put in Isy's garden over a month ago. She and I already did our first weeding and a garden adjustment session on July 4th. She's already eating strawberries from her garden, and we've planted her blackberries for next year. She also found raspberries on her new property and those are producing as well!  

 I did manage to do a tiny harvest from our wild blackberries and the strawberry patch (image). The tomatoes have been slow but we're harvesting herbs already - and one jalapeno.


 Books: I've officially finished out all the currently available Lainwich Witch books - a 21 book series from the improbably named Raven Snow. (These are the book equivalent to Schitts Creek - light, entertaining, and not like your life. Bless her for writing them. ) Kindle Unlimited is the bomb. Boom.

 Also on Kindle Unlimited I started a new series by Ashley Beasley. Excellent world building. Bramble and Blood. Birdsong and Bone.

 Next up, via the Kindle Unlimited, Olivia Swift did a series of cozy mysteries - 6 total - called Blooms, Stones & Bones. Easy reads. I made it through the first 2 one weekend. Enjoyable. Although I do wish the author - who is British and lives in France - wouldn't set them in the US. Her English is very English and sounds quite off in a number of places to an American reader. Her geography is also a little wonky.

 Create Your Own Luck by Susan Hyatt was my inspiring read of the month. I love Susan's podcast so this was fun to read. My beach read was from the Little Free Library, Priam's Lens by Jack L. Chalker (pictured top with the other beach read I didn't finish) which was not his best work. 

 Gratitude: Cold showers on hot days. Catalpa trees blooming still in July (such a slow summer!). Cardio drumming. Fireflies and night skies. Beach passes. Mohawks on puppies (image). The Henry Ford Museum - which rocks.

 Listening: Dave Ramsey. Don't Quit Your Day Job podcast. Rich Coach Club podcast. And all the cardio drumming songs which have invaded my head in an endless loop!

 Perfume: Most days were still Ofresia by Diptyque - until I killed it off mid-month. And I've been working in a little of the Willow and Water from the Library of Flowers - both creme and spray. I need something new - and at a friendly pricepoint - soon.

 Random: Guilt trips only work when you let the travel agent book them. Decline the trip.

 Recipes: I've made that chocolate chess pie at least once a week. And triple fruit cobbler 3x a month. But nothing new.

 Self-Care: I swear the last week of June, the switch just flipped and now it is full on SUMMER. Hot. Humid. This has meant some changes in skin care routine.

 Day - I started using the Boxwalla box from 5Yina - the Lucent Beauty Duo I got last month for days. And I love it. It's completely perfect for the hot sticky summer months. I'm adding Farizad's Veil from Earthwise Beauty to the oil as my first line of sun protection. Some people may not like a mix-in, I adore that I don't have to layer on another product or skip something I like so I don't over-layer products. 

 Night  - That has been a toss-up. It really depends on how much I've been sweating (did I work in the garden, did I go to the beach, did I do cardio drumming) that day. After a cleanse with either my Miscellar Water or a coconut cleansing balm + face wash....
- For sweaty days, I've been using the Siam Seas' Sai Clear Skin Serum  (all over) I got a few Box Walla boxes ago with the April box's FlowerSpice Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturizer around the eyes and on the neck. I love the whipped texture of the Flowerspice product and how it sinks in. (And Flowerspice's Midnight Beauty oil is now on my wish list!) The Siam Seas is a little gritty and as the amount in the bottle lowers, it's gottten harder to pump out - but it's light and does a nice job keeping the skin clear.
- For beach and regular days, I've been using the African Botanical's Cell Recovery Serum  all over plus Fleur d'Afrique Oil (same brand) around the eyes and at the neck.

 And we wait for someone to mistake my age -  by a lot.....

 Stress: Relationships are still hard. (And here's the thing with that - sometimes the problem is in your mirror with all those expectations. Beans, I hate that!)

 Things 12 said: Not 12, but 19. I asked her what she wanted for dinner - she said, "The blood of my enemies." I could NOT stop laughing because she's always the peacemaker.

 Watching: Binged with 19 on Umbrella Academy. And finished Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. The new Charmed - killed of Season 1 -  less engaging than the original and the writing seems scattered. The Good Witch - all the seasons which are less "witch-y" than I'd expected. (And I've never seen the movies - so I'm a little out of sync.) Basically, it's Stars Hallow with coincidences. 

 Take- away - Time goes faster than you think. Make sure you are spendign yours in a way that you'll enjoy remembering. 


Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...

*Juice Beauty is a staple in my beauty cabinet. I stray, I try other things - but it's my favorite "foundation" (I used the CC Cream) and great skin care. If you like Juice Beauty too, here is a link. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links which helps support this blog.

- Skin Care by Juice Beauty
Follow my blog with Bloglovin  - A new way to follow!
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Sunday, December 2, 2018

Musings - November 2018

Hello! November is always my favorite month with Thanksgiving near the end. I hope yours was good!

 Ours was fantastic. I made all the things (pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, yeast rolls, corn muffins, yellow cake with blueberries and a lemon glaze, corn casserole, vegetarian dressing aka stuffing)! And then 12 made her famous deviled eggs and pigs-in-a-blanket. Guy took care of the roasted potatoes, ham, and turkey plus made something called "spicy tomato fritters". We also put out a bag salad which was fairly well-received- mostly because I felt like we needed more food without butter and bread as the main components.

 Books: It was a fantastic month for reading! I finished 10 books over the month, thanks to the holiday and catching "plague":

- The Colony by John Tayman   - this was the book I picked up from the Puerto Rican book exchange at the hotel last month. It was dense reading, as many good non-fiction books are! It was filled with personal accounts of the leper colony on Hawaii.
- The Divine Secrets of the YA-YA Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells  - which I'm late the party on and have never seen the movie. It was a very enjoyable read from my local Little Free Library and made me want to hunt down the other 2 books! (Which are sadly not on Kindle Unlimited.)
- Lynchpin by Shannon Mayer via my Kindle Unlimited which was not super exciting or illuminating but I'm a finisher.
- While I had plague, I ran through the whole Blood singer series by CT Adams after finding Book 5 at the local Little Free Library the week before. Thanks to the awesome digital option - I was able to download the others to my Kindle for instant gratification. (Blood Song, Siren Song, Demon Song, The Isis Collar, The Eldritch Conspiracy, To Dance with The Devil, and All Your Wishes.) 

With these books, I've clocked in 54 books for the year! And there is a month - with business travel and a week off - of the year to go! One of my friends suggested counting how much I read a year to see if I read one book per week, a common goal; I'd never done that before and my reading tends to ebb and flow as I have time. These results are surprising to me. If asked, I'd have said I didn't have time to read that much! 

Gratitude: Time with family and friends. New ventures. Guy's ingenuity. Family adventures. Remembering self-care. 

Listening: All the podcasts. Dave Ramsey podcasts. Chalene Johnson's podcast. Bacon Marketing podcast (yes, by the guy from last month's book.). Christy Wright's Business Boutique podcast. Susan Hyatt's Rich Coaches podcast. Hirsh Marketing (which I ended up unsbscribing to due to lack of meaningful content).

Perfume:  Diptyque's Ofresia. It's  reminiscent of a garden but I'm not sure I like it for "winter" . And I've been using that Carolina Herrara lotion, Good Girl, for quick days. (I'm so stuffed up I can't smell. So, I've been careful about using fragrance sparingly.)

Recipes: We made a ton of things for Thanksgiving! (See above for the list - here's a quick shot of the stove the day of as I baked.) I didn't create anything new but we tried vegetarian stuffing (dressing but not in the bird) and yeast rolls - those were new and well received.

Earlier in the month, we made Day of the Dead bread due to 13's interest in his Spanish class. I had not worked with yeast in a while. He did not realize how patient he would have to be. It was good exercise for him. (And why we had yeast rolls for Thanksgiving - I had left-over yeast packets to use up.)

 And I made up "bottom of the refrigerator salad": shredded broccoli stem, cut up raw brussel sprouts, shredded carrots. Topped with chickpea crumbles, red pepper and tomato. Dressing: orange juice, ranch dressing and a bit of horseradish. Super nutritous and filling!


Self-Care: Last month I mentioned my slight soap obsession (hello, Villainess Soaps). Well, I opened up the full sizes with Pearl Diver in September and Krakatoa in October. This month I popped over to a different brand, Michigan-based, Cellar Door Bath Supply Company. Let's start with awesome ingedients, beautifully packaged, and the hands-down BEST confirmation email I've ever seen. (I loved them so much - and they are such a great price point - I gave a number of them away as gifts.) 


And this month I finished out my favorite  (sale) mask and the Lumene cream while I continued to try face oils on a schedule. Yes, specific oils for evening and morning. Every day. It's a continuation of last month with just a few additions and a switch out. For the month. I grouped them in the top photo by day and night:
- Day -I'm sampling Juice Beauty's Stem Cellular  Anti-Wrinkle Booster Serum around the eyes. And I've gone back to being totally Juice Beuaty for the day. Serum, oil, eye cream, CC cream. While I like to experiment - that pretty much is my standard and it serves me very well. 
- Night -Same as last month until I ran out of  Lumene Vitamin C night cream mid-month. I've kept using  thelayer of Predire Eye Care Ant-Aging Night Serum. (And NO, I did not pay retail for it! I picked it up for about 1/10th that price on a Vegas business trip last fall.) And I'm still using Little Barn Apothecary oil. The  substitution is the 100% Pure Multi-Vitamin serum. It's very active but not super moisturizing, so the night oil helps with that.

And I'm loving Kismet's Country Roads lipstick for color!


Things 12 said: Well she didn't say much funny because she was sick for a bit - but she kindly passed it on! And it took me O-U-T for better than a week. 


Watching: 007 is back on Hulu. (Hello.) And I hadn't caught up with this year's Criminal Minds. But now I have! I also found the perfect "plague" binge - Schitt's Creek is light and funny. I'm 2 seasons in!

Random: 12 and I were supposed to go to a glass class but she had basketball (she's trying out for 7th grade basketball, even though she's only in 6th grade) so, I took 13 to the glass class. After he got over being the only male in the class, we had fun. We made some awesome ornaments!

Take-away - Let it go. Because whatever happened, it wasn't about you. It was about them. When you hold it, you allow them to anchor you down. (See post from my book on the left.) 



Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...

Juice Beauty is a staple in my beauty cabinet. I stray, I try other things - but it's my favorite "foundation" (I used the CC Cream) and great skin care. If you like Juice Beaty too, here is a link. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links which helps support this blog.

- Skin Care by Juice Beauty
Follow my blog with Bloglovin  - A new way to follow!
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Saturday, September 1, 2018

Musings - August 2018

There is something luscious about the close of a month, and the start of a fresh new page. Let's recap August, shall we?

 Books:  Digital books are my new jam. Especially with the Kindle Unlimited! I did the maths and figured out I need to read 2 digital books from Kindle a month to hit my "break-even" on the monthly fee being "worth it".  So I started the month by actively looking for 2 and realized I'd not read the latest Alpha and Omega book from Patricia Briggs - I actually tried to buy it and Amazon said "You already own that."! Quelle surprise!  Burn Bright was a very good afternoon of reading! 

Then, I devoured just a few of Shannon Mayer's Elemental series books (Recurve, Breakwater, Firestorm, Windburn, Peta, Rootbound, Ash, and Destroyer ) over a late month weekend as I tried to hit that Kindle Unlimited break-even. I actually ended up reading a total of 10 digital books this month! After I found a hardback sale copy of Patricia Brigg's Fire Touched -  which I thought I'd already read it based on title, the summary revealed I'd not and explained the knowledge gap when I'd originally read Silence Fallen - I then had to re-read my digital copy of Silence Fallen just to make sure I was solid on my knowledge of Mercy's world.

 And, people - I FINISHED THAT ECONOMICS BOOK!!!! (Local Dollars, Local Sense - that I started back in February. Oyi. Dense reading that one.) I've passed it on to a friend in economic development because I think she will get a good bit more use out of it than I did.

Little Free Library check in - If you are wondering if I ever return books  I borrow to the Little Free Libraries (July post), yes I do! I usually flip them from the one I got them to the other one as to help move the variety around. (Beach to town, town to beach.) Plus I've passed over 9 of the physical books (so far this year)  I've read to the LFLs (plus an additional dozen books or so I had around the house since I'm trying to minimize). I've also passed 4 others books directly to friends.  

So far, I've read about 41 books this year. The goal was not a book a week but that's about what it is averaging. Except, I'm basically binge reading and not reading weekly. 
Gratitude: Space - mental and emotional. The ability create and share that the internet gives us - AMAZING! People who reach out for reasons, other than to ask for a favor! (Love those emotional connections.) And homemade pie on an average Friday.

Listening: The Art of Manufacturing podcast. The Art of Charm podcast. I have to say AoC is very "Guy Talk". I'm not sure women could get away with doing some of what they say. (Apparently one of the hosts is a famous rock star? I'm not interested enough to check but okay.) And SO MUCH Dave Ramsey. Sometimes you just got to hit the refresh button on what you know to get yourself back in the mindset. That was a definite theme to the month.

Perfume: Finished out Hard-Core Happy! Still working through that ginormous bottle of Love + Toast's Paper Flowers, but I'm on the dregs.  And I added a new purse perfume from Lily B, Peony Rose & Mandarin Musk. Looking forward to opening up something new next month!

Recipes: Sometimes I don't even make recipes. I just go out to the garden and gather things, chop them, put them in bowls and serve them.  That's what has been happening lately with fresh garden tomatoes and garden pineapple sage plus onions, salt, pepper (+ avocado if we have it). Jericho (18) and I call it NotGuacamole  and she claims it's better than the real thing! We devour it with chips.

 Honestly, I think any garden cut-up will do with chips! I've also done fresh garden tomatoes, onions, garden green pepper, garden jalapeños, and left-over black beans with a bit of chili powder and lime. Perfect over chips or dipped with chips.

 The garden is a fantastic snack source!

 I also made faux Indian from our garden. Sauteed fresh tomatoes from our garden with some onions and a bit of garlic. (EVOO.) Once the tomatoes popped, I added a can of Lite coconut milk (because that's what was in the cupboard. A can of drained chickpeas. Fresh curry (helichrysum ) plant minced and fresh basil - both from the garden. Served over rice. (Guy added some cooked pork to his.)
Self-Care: Hot summer days call for a refreshing toner spritz. I found one at the local farmer's market which is hand-crafted and perfect. (Witch hazel, aloe, and a touch of tea tree and lavender.) I had it in the picture for the June Musings. And I have a few others, like the one pictured in this month from Garnier. When it's humid, that it is a lovely refresher in the afternoon or evening.

 My love affair with the oils continues. I've added a treatment oil from Juice Beauty to my mornings.

 Also - ALL THE SOAPS! I may have gone a little soap nutty. And they did not help me since they sent me samples!(Picture is giant so you can see how sumptuous the package was.)



























Here's the story....I found this awesome place called the BathHouse Soapery in Arkansas on Instagram. And they are so cute! I want to visit their shop in the absolute worst way. (I also want to visit the Red Twig Farm in Ohio next May but I digress...) And then I found BathHouse's "step-sister" - Villainess Soaps in a post. OMG. Such luscious scents! I suspect they aren't essential oils or naturally based but are synthetic so I can't recommend this as a green choice. They aren't as creamy as ZumBars. But ohhhhhhh they smell so pretty and look just beautiful + the packaging is amazing. And they didn't just send 1 sample or 2 samples. They send 3 soap sliver samples (I ordered 3 soaps - Pearl Diver, Krakatoa, and Strychnine.) 3 tiny vials of scent to try. And 1 lovely travel sized little jar of skin balm. I'm in awe of how cool this all is and the extras. Retailers take note: little extras mean a lot!
Watching: Citizen X (and my love for Gerald McRaney knows no bounds. That man is a seriously underrated actor. And whomever did Sharon Stone's outfits was brilliant.) And, apparently my NOLA theme continues from last month (Preacher Season 2, and Clock and Dagger) with an early month total binge of Queen Sugar. Maybe I need to visit NOLA again! 

 I've also been catching up on Harlots and Handmaiden's Tale - so that's another theme going on. And yes, I am watching a lot of stuff this month! I had some time free up - and I'm working on a few things....

 Random: Sometimes you just gotta step away from the train-wreck. I did that this month with a volunteer thing. It was tough as I'd been part of it for 10 years - it was part of my identity! But, maybe I was holding it back and it will grow into something better without me. Time will tell.
There are points in the year that seem like natural re-set points. January. Spring. Beginning of summer. Start of school. And so I used that seasonal set point to  create something new. A new book for busy women. A bootcamp style 7 day book to help you take back control of your life. Check out this and my other books at this link to Gumroad.

 One Sunday this late month, I went to #NotMyDaughter's church.(20, Israel). We have very different faith journeys. Hers is very literally Biblical while I have a much more historical view of the Bible's teachings. Her faith walk is very important to her, so I thought it important to respect it by knowing this part of her world. I was honored that she would share it with me despite our faith differences.
Take-away -  Sometimes we don't notice because life can seem monotonous but our lives are in a continuous state of change, even is small. You can enjoy the changes or fight them. Your choice.



Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...
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Saturday, July 28, 2018

Musings - July 2018

Books: I am still making my way through a very dense book on local economics. (Although I did kill off that book on Queen Elizabeth!) And so, to distract myself, I raided both the local Little Free Library (Empire Falls by Richard Russo which was enjoyable but pointless - and I guess that's the point of a beach read) and the beach Little Free Library (And The Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass which was extremely pointless and not enjoyable) plus I hit the bookstore for another from JR Ward's series, Blood Fury. It was fine - just like the rest of the series but they have achieved a boring, formulaic sameness.

 Gratitude: Books. Fireworks. Fireflies. Good vets. Kittens. 

 Listening: In the car, driving, podcasts are my jam. I probably have 10+ I listen to at least occasionally. But sometimes I binge: Chalene Johnson. Dave Ramsey - this month. At the office there is usually a lot of Pandora happening.

 Perfume: I slacked off a bit. There have been so many mosquitoes I did not want to do ANYTHING to draw them!

 Recipes: My ex-mother-in-law made the best broccoli-mango salad (from a Better Homes and Gardens recipe). I had occasion to make it for 4th of July as the broccoli in our garden has been very prolific. And it was very well received by adult kidlets, but even 11 said it was "pretty good".

 The garden was overflowing with peas and mint and basil. So I did what any sensible person would do. I made pesto!

 Garden Pesto:
- Equal parts mint, basil and peas (I used 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup cashews (I had left-over  purchased for the broccoli-mango salad)
- 1/2 cup good Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup good olive oil
And blend....

 Jericho (18) doesn't eat peas. but this pesto she ate on crackers until we finished it all.

 I also found the easiest Southern Living recipe for quick cobbler ever. Which I modified to be even easier by using frozen berries.

 Quick Cobbler:
- 1 stick of butter (melted)
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp of almond or vanilla 
- 1 egg
Mix. It will be thick. You will end up using a spoon to cover the fruit. 

 You can use individual cups or you can use a shallow pan. I use a bread pan. And I put in 3 cups of Triple Berry frozen fruit (I almost always have that in my freezer - store brand, nothing fancy). Then I top the fruit with the cobbler topping. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until golden on top.

This might keep for a few days but I wouldn't know because it doesn't last in my house! We serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. And we served it about 3 times this month.

 Self-Care: I have been all about skin care. Cleansers. Serums. Oils. Creams. I've hit the age where I don't mind eye crinkles or laugh lines but hate those wrinkles on my forehead. Instead of searching for a magic cure, I should just probably wear my Frownies more often!

 But this month I added a Juice Beauty serum and oil to the morning routine. Perhaps that will help.

 Things 11 told me:  As she was playing in the beach donut I got her, after I said it was for her, but she wanted me to use it, she said -  "Too bad. Sometimes you have to share."
- "Is this garden fresh?" is now her standard query to any vegetable because obviously the ones from our garden taste best!
- "The secret ingredient is venom." is now her standard answer to any recipe inquiry. That one, I may have started.

 Watching: Preacher (Season 2). Cloak and Dagger.

Take-away - Time slithers. In summer it seems endless like you have forever. But there are only so many days in summer and so many summers. Take the time to make the most of them. (Preferably with wine and people you like!)

Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...
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