Herbs as in Cinque Terre

I've harvested herbs from the garden and they are currently drying. Can you believe that this is just some of what I was able to grow this season? I'm looking forward to using these in my cooking this winter...in the mean time I'm going to continue to use the fresh herbs that are still growing for as long as I can.

When I hung the herbs up it reminded me of what I'd seen in the kitchen windows of families in Cinque Terre last summer when we were there...having that familiarity brings a good feeling because it's one of my favorite places in the world and I love the people, food and culture there.

Whistler

We returned from Whistler yesterday...it was a short but sweet getaway. We rode our bikes all over the valley, had dinner by Lost Lake, spent an afternoon laying by the pool, treated ourselves to gelato and Spaghetti Factory pasta, made a delicious breakfast in the mini-kitchen in our room (the housekeeper had to have noticed the bacon smell!), and generally had a fantastic time...the husband and I usually head up to Whistler in the wintertime for snowboarding, we've gone there since the first winter that we knew each other. This upcoming winter the Olympics will be there - it's not likely that we'll go up there for the events, the prices have already started to soar in anticipation. But I digress...we had a great couple of days, it was nice to spend many hours reading and relaxing. The next time that is planned for us to get away will be in October when we head to Egypt...more on that to come!

Have a fantastic week, I'll be checking in here and there with some updates of the goings-on around here!

Heat Wave

This summer has been HOT for Washington standards. Unfortunately our AC was out for a few days of our most recent heat wave while I was spending my days sewing up a storm in preparation for the fair last week. Before the AC was brought back online we brought in the fans. The fans helped some, but Figaro was kind of wigged out by the loud fan noise, so he found shady spots to rest in. I've never heard such a whiny cat, I could tell he was miserable!But...all that heat made this flower...

Do this...

Beautiful! We don't get these when it's co0l outside in the spring and early summer!

New Items Made Last Week

This post will have to be photo-heavy and word light. I am spending this week catching up on house chores and getting ready to go away for a few days to Whistler BC with the husband and stepson. I may get a little sewing in this week, I have some ideas for new pillows that I'd like to try. I also need to fire off a few more onesies for a farmers market I'm doing this next Sunday.

The pictures in this post are some of the projects I worked on last week as I prepared for the fair...it was a very full week! I did accomplish more than I would have thought I could, a nice feeling, but it was exhausting! I have to point out though that I had a little help with the garden signs - the husband did the constructing then I did the painting, a nice joint effort!

The rest and relaxation I plan to have in Whistler will be a nice balance. I may have a few post scheduled before I go, and I definately look forward to sharing pictures of our trip when I return!

The Fair and a Pirate I Can't Stand!

The fair was a great experience...it was successful for me, not as much as I'd hoped, but I did make a nice profit. I met some fantastic people, including someone local who is interested in selling my items in her shop...something I am going to look into this week. I also gained even more confidence - it's nice hearing person after person tell you how much they like what you've made. The hard part was the long days - 12 hours the first and second day, 9 hours the third. The husband was great about hanging out to keep me company and showing up just when I needed a break if I'd been alone for a while. Another tough part was that I was close to one of the performance stages. For the most part I didn't mind the noise from the performances - there was a presentation about wolves, a group of gals who teach Zumba did their routines a couple of times, a country singer "T-bone" and his daughter sang a few times, the gentleman and his wife in the picture below also sang, there was even a troop of performing dogs. All of these shows were for the most part enjoyable. BUT...there was one performer, a pirate named Captain Arrrrrghh, who almost took my sanity. Initially he was a little funny, kind of cute. But after hearing his routine and his same jokes seven times over, I would've liked to have made him walk the plank myself. I actually like pirates - they're usually great, but Captain Arrrrrgh I could do without!

The [First] August Harvest

After the past week of getting-ready-for-the-fair craziness at our house, it was a pleasure today to sleep in and get a slow start to the day. The husband and I went out to the garden to water and check on the chickens. We ended up harvesting quite a few goodies that had ripened up in the incredible heat we've been having...

Peas, Broccoli and two types of yummy Tomatoes. We enjoyed these yellow cherry tomatoes for dinner with basil, mozzarella, olive oil and a little salt and pepper...that was the husband's favorite part of dinner tonight.

More strawberries - this is especially cool because the local strawberry season typically "ends" on the 4th of July around here. We ate these with dinner tonight - delicious.

The long wait to harvest our walla-walla onions was finally over. The husband's favorite part of gardening is the harvesting. He likes pulling everything out of the ground, nice for me because then I get to take pictures.It was hard to believe that what started off as measly little bundles of starts that I could wrap my hand around, turned into a over-full box of plump onions. I cooked one of them in red wine and fresh herbs with the chicken we had for dinner - that was my favorite part of our dinner. I especially loved putting the onions right onto warm french bread. Can you tell that I've been stuck at the fair surrounded by greasy food for the last three days?? Real food out of our garden is a huge treat for me!

One last thing I had to show off - even though it wasn't harvested - is one of my growing pumpkins. I'm growing a baking/carving variety. I can't wait to make pumpkin pie from scratch this fall! I don't usually like pumpkin pie very much, but I can't wait for this!

Here's the same pumpkin about six weeks ago...nice progress!

Pimp my Garden Gate

Do you remember the show "Pimp My Ride?" I loved that show! The husband pimped my garden gate out with a new gate wheel. It's spring loaded, this means that it rolls much more smoothly over uneven ground. It also makes it easier to latch the gate. Love it! Now all I need is a flashy paint job with flames and a flat screen on the gate on which to play video games (yeah right!)