nature is insane

(all above photos taken by gray at parlee farms in tyngsboro, MA)


nature is completely insane.  and awesome.  insanely awesome.

every year at this time, i walk around with eyes wide open, unable to fully grasp how nature can be so freaking...cool.  i feel so blessed to live in new england, soon to be knee-deep in red leaves with the smell of campfires all around me.  the end.

xx

rosemary tincture

so what is a tincture, you ask?  well, simply put, it is a blend of an herb's essential oils in a suspension of alcohol.  rosemary tinctures have lots of benefits, the most important being the ability to not only ward off colds, but to prevent infections.  with cold and flu season right around the corner (and the runny noses are already here in gilbertland), i decided to create a rosemary tincture today and store it away for a sniffly day.  a tincture takes about 6-8 weeks to become amazeballz.  i stored mine is a dark, dry closet in my basement while it does its magic.

here's what i needed:

* 1/2 cup rosemary leaves
*2 cups vodka
*mason jar


here's what i did::

1.  gathered a whole bunch of organic rosemary from my yard.  took it in, washed and dried it.  removed all the leaves from the stems and measured out a rough 1/2 cup. 

2.  poured 2 cups of vodka into a mason jar.

3.  added the rosemary leaves to the vodka.

4. put on the lid and rid away for another day! (about 6-8 weeks)

here's a great site with more information about the benefits of rosemary and the appropriate doseages for rosemary tinctures.

next, i'm going to experiment with making homemade vanilla extract! 

kiss?!?!?!??!

 

 lulu is trying to take a nap as she leisurely flips through "pop star!" magazine (it's like teen bop for you 80's girls).  she says "mom, if your husband had braces on his teeth, would you still marry him?" and i said "yeah".  and then she followed it up in a horrified voice with "AND KISS?!?!?!?!?!"

autumn

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"

Hal Borland

my week ahead, in a nutshell

 working on (correction...watching john slave over) this beautiful vintage kitchen island that i got for my birthday!  he's making it even more fantastic----i can't wait until it's done!

 trying to figure out how to creatively use all the awesome veggies we get every week...

 trying to get back on track and eat meals that look more like this every day...

 navigating meltdowns left and right as everyone adjusts to new schedules...

 still waging my war against fruit flies....this the season, right?  i swear by my apple-cider-vinegar-paper-cone-in-a-grateful-dead-cup method.  i do the catch and release outside technique.  they are my ultimate arch nemeses!

trying to tuck love in where i can.  i'm having a tough time letting go of my babies this year!

where i'm at

well, there's been a LOT of this.  like a real lot. 

and then this happened...

oh my.  this mama is a little heartbroken and a lot-of-bit proud.  xx

veggie eye candy

there's been lots and lots of veggies to get through every week now------and they are the yummy kind that we like!  long gone are the days of garlic scapes and kohlrabi.  and since our whole CSA share is paid if full now, every week we pickup it seems like we are getting "free" food! ;)  the melon is incredible..the kids fight over the cucumbers and tomatoes.  i had a killer eggplant parm, and every week we have scrambled eggs and the most delicious roasted potatoes you can imagine.  the kids gobble up the broccoli with pasta and olive oil at least once a week, too.  the corn....oh, the corn...seriously the best corn i've ever tasted!  we all sing the praises of our CSA now!  (thank goodness because i couldn't handle the joking and eye rolls that i was getting at the beginning of the season any more!)

ten more weeks to go, too!

ryan seacrest, and on being a teen

" because of the teen choice awards, i really want to see the 'twilight' movie----i know all the characters' names...like bella, and ryan seacrest.". -grace

energy shifts

lulu's driveway drawings...the first "people" that she's ever drawn!  we were ridiculously excited about this. 

 

the energy has definitely been shifting around these parts.  even though it's still super hot and humid and very much summery, in my mind i'm planning for the fall.  it's going to be all about transitions in the month of september (actually, the kids start in late august...right around the corner!)----getting the two big kids off to school and back into their routines.  joey will be in full day 1st grade...which is huge because he was only in K for like two hours a day.  there are bus routes to get comfortable with, lunches to make, forms to sign, fears to conquer.  and then it's just lulu and i, left to fill up the hours of the day with our own kind of fun (i suspect there will be lots of kitchen help and tops eaten off markers).  thinking about boosting up my massage business, maybe taking my show on the road and doing more in-home massage.  i am looking forward to the fall, but sad to see summer go.  really, it should go down in the books as one of the best, by far.

lately, i've been painting again.  and it feels good to get back to it.  and i've had to get really creative in the kitchen, too----making some new meals and challenging myself to use all our CSA veggies every week.  in my free time (when i'm not passing out at 7pm), i've been obsessed with the really bad abc family show 'bunheads', the hbo show 'girls', and the bravo show 'gallery girls'.  it's getting harder and harder to find time to watch inappropriate television because grace is like her daddy and could stay up until 1am if i let her.  there are lots of nights that i go to bed before her!  there's no way on earth i would ever let her watch 'girls'----it makes me blush and i have to shut the shades when i watch it.

i get some alone time this weekend.  john is away for a couple of days and the kids are away with their grandparents.  i can't decide what to do.  part of me wants to plan something elaborate for myself, and the other part of me wants to get my beach chair and a good book and sit on my ass and read, uninterrupted, for a couple of hours.  maybe take a swim in the ocean.  maybe take a nap on the beach.  maybe just sit and think about nothing, and everything. 

big love to you, and you, and you.  xx

summer polaroid

soaking up
every minute
of this
beautiful summer

what about you?  xx

veggie update!

just a little visual veggie love!   the csa is picking up and we're getting lots of veggies, which mostly go right into fresh salads or are cut up and roasted on the grill.  i've also been cutting up some of the veggies and the kids will eat them raw at the town beach, where we've been spending the bulk of these hot summer days (carrots, cucumbers, snap peas).  it's been so hot and so beautiful and i feel so blessed by the bounty of nature!

best.summer.evah.

road tripping with boo, old school style (except with GPS and cell phones)

finding love in the strangest of places

hanging with em and baby lindan in maryland on the water

seeing the beauty of nature everywhere

trying new things in philadelphia

cheering on this little girl in the state championships!

there's nothing like swimming in hotel pools with your sibs

hayrides driven by puppa

taking the time to smell the flowers

visiting friends all over...  and seeing mama al in CT

hanging by the pool...and at the beach...and at the farm

watching hubby make some stomach-turning cocktails at the big 4th party

celebrating our 11 year anniversary on the water in newburyport...no kids and not a care in the world!

a couple of crafty projects for some loved ones

family time at parker's maple barn

amusement park with friends!

letterboxing

a little dress-up time

our seventh year of vacationing with this beautiful family

sitting around the fire, just being