After the extreme heat of the last week or so the weather this weekend was just perfect! From midday Friday on I have been able to have the windows open at home and enjoy the summer breezes through the house. While the weekend didn’t contain a lot of “big” things it was full of lots of simple pleasures.
Simple Salad – On Friday I turned the stove on once to boil some chicken breasts & then enjoyed a simple and delicious chicken salad throughout the weekend. (Here’s the “recipe” – 3 parts diced chicken, 1 part golden raisins, 1 part roughly chopped walnuts, mayonaise to moisten, salt & pepper to taste.)
Simple Sweet – Breakfasts & desserts this weekend were easy yummy yogurt parfaits (vanilla yogurt, fresh cherries (pitted) & a bit of granola).
Simple Knit – While I have many projects on the needles right now my weekend knitting was focused on the current baby blanket – one of the baby boys was born last weekend so I need to get this blanket finished quickly.
Simple Sounds – As I’ve mentioned before, Pink Maritini is my favorite band. They recently released a live concert to be broadcast on PBS stations during the pledge drive. While I didn’t see the show on my local station, I was able to purchase the concert on DVD when I became a member of the station. The DVD was waiting for me in my held mail.
On Saturday evening my good friend Elaine came over – she travels for work as well so we hadn’t seen each other since before the holidays (yikes!). Indeed, we exchanged Christmas (2005) gifts. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant for dinner – because the weather was so nice we sat outside. As dinner progressed a bit of rain moved in but as others fled inside we continued to sit outside and finished dinner with a few raindrops. After dinner we came back to my place to chat & had the Pink Martini DVD as background.
On Saturday I finished reading the Yarn Harlot’s latest book, Knitting Rules. This was a fun read and refresher about knitting basics. When this book was released I looked forward to seeing when she would be coming to Chicago. Unfortunately her tour schedule and my work schedule are in conflict – she will be at My Sisters Knits on Monday evening when I’ll be back in Chattanooga. Chicago Knit Bloggers, I’m looking forward to reading your accounts of her visit.
After church today I braved the crowds to check out the brand new Target that just opened about 4 blocks from my house. This land was once a shopping center that had a Venture, then a K-Mart and then it sat empty & in disrepair for a while. Driving by today you would never know the previous life of the property – this Target covers the entire plot of land with the parking on the ground level & the store above. Of course everyone was checking out the store today – it is a great addition to the neighborhood. The only downside to the visit was because it is brand new there were no “clearance” end caps to check out (or maybe that is a good thing, because my cart always tends to fill up when I see those).
User error (mine) in booking my flights to Chattanooga means that I don’t head south until early, early on Monday morning – instead of being enroute to the airport right now I’m enjoying the sounds of the neighborhood & summertime breeze through the open windows. A few simple summer things!
What simple summer pleasures have you enjoyed recently?
July 23, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Simple summer pleasures are just the best. I love my simple summer hair – just let it air dry outside!!! 🙂
July 23, 2006 at 9:18 pm
Sounds like you had a great weekend! I think what I love most about summer is taking my kids to my parents, going to the beach, and watching the kids play outside. Summer just isn’t long enough!
July 23, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Your weekend sounds perfect. I bought some lounge chairs for my backyard recently and one night my dad, sisters, and I ate ice cream and warm cookies while lounging in my back yard at dusk–simple, lovely summer pleasures.
July 24, 2006 at 11:42 am
What a lovely weekend! My simple summer pleasures are reading the Sunday paper down by the lake and taking an afternoon nap in the hammock.
July 24, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Right now, after several weeks of traveling, my simple summer pleasure is to sit in front of the internet while eating a TV dinner. After all the people I’ve seen and fun I’ve had, it is very good to just sit still at home.
July 24, 2006 at 7:11 pm
Your “simple pleasures” sound great! What a lovely idea.
I’m too growly still to think, but I’ll have to give this one some thought. Did I mention lovely idea?
July 25, 2006 at 5:41 am
Ah, the simple pleasures! 🙂 I am right there with you. They bring me so much joy: dining al fresco, looking at the sky, reading and knitting my Saturday away… 😉
I love yogurt parfaits too – perfect with fresh berries and cherries!
xo
July 25, 2006 at 7:08 am
Sounds like a lot of “simple” fun!
I wish Yarn Harlot would come somewhere in the vacinity of here, but I don’t think that will be happening!
July 25, 2006 at 11:56 am
I love not having to wear shoes inside, having the sunlight after dinner to go for a quick bike ride around the town green, having the windows open to catch the breezes as you said, especially when the flowers are in bloom and the breeze is perfumed. When our privet hedge blooms, the smell is just incredible.
I’m still waiting for my favorite thing, to read a fast summer novel by the pool or on the beach, which will hopefully come next week! Also to stop for an ice cream cone. I’m not a big fan of ice cream, so it’s a summer treat for me.
July 25, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Thanks for stopping by my blog to read about the Harlot. So sorry you missed it! And my simple summer pleasure was standing outside waiting to have her sign my book–the weather was perfect, the street was too cute, the flowers were beautiful, the breeze was blowing. All in all an event beyond compare.