Amy Artisan

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Month: July 2014

Currently…July

July 31, 2014 / / 0 Comments

As this month draws to an end, the days have been a bit cooler – I even heard the local meteorologists say it was more like mid-September. The month seems to have run the full gamut of weather & temps – but I’m liking the hint of fall that has appeared (& am well aware it is fleeting). As the calendar marches on towards August, here are a few of the things that filled my July days…

Sunflowers just cut from a local farm field...happy Kansas gal!

Sunflowers just cut from a local farm field…happy Kansas gal!

Reading…making good progress on the stack of books from the library and continuing on in the summer reading challenge…although I think it’s safe to say that I won’t have 25 read by August 6th…

Watching…way more World Cup than I’ve ever watched before…enjoying the return of Under the Dome…other summer escape TV shows – The Last Ship – Covert Affairs – Royal Pains – Manh(a)ttan…when Mom & Dad were here, we watched Joss Whedon’s recent film adaption of one of my all time favorite Shakespeare plays – Much Ado About Nothing…

Crafting...utilizing my big tin of Crayola crayons & markers (thanks Mom!) to decorate some birthday gift bags…not much progress on my Brewers crackerjack cowl – I need to “power through” some of their losing streaks & come current again…

First peaches of the season at the farmers' market...

First peaches of the season at the farmers’ market…

Cooking…Saturday morning produce runs to the the farmers’ market & local farms make cooking a lot of fun. Among the go-to dishes in rotation: Fruit Custard for breakfast (the recipe I found online left a bit to be desired, so Mom & I have tweaked it…that deserves it’s own post); a pot of green beans & new potatoes seasoned with some bacon or ham; roasting corn on the cob in the oven; stewed tomatoes and okra; keeping the mason jar of Danish Cucumber pickles replenished in the fridge…

Earthbound stars...prepping okra for a simple supper

Earthbound stars…prepping okra for a simple supper

Traveling…no big trips this month, but enjoyed being a local tourist while Mom & Dad were here to start the month…

Looking Ahead…August starts with the kids birthday bash weekend back in Marinette…also, planning another WI trip later in the month for a bit of delayed vacation fun…it’s about time to do some canning to be ready for holiday gifts and more…it won’t be long until football season…planning holiday gift knitting…

Linking up with Leigh Kramer for the monthly “What I’m Into” round-up.

What are you into these days?

Summertime…Reading…Challenge…

July 19, 2014 / / 2 Comments
My current reading queue...

My current reading queue…

If it’s summertime, it must mean that it’s time for a library reading challenge! I remember many a childhood summer filled with assorted challenges hosted by the local library – many a trip to the library to pick up a new stack of books – many a delightful hour spent reading (or devouring) an assortment of books and subjects. I chuckled when I saw that my local library is hosting a summer reading challenge for kids AND adults – of course I signed up. The adult goal is to read 25 books – we’ll see what my summer holds. My library book stack in my spare room & my hold requests list are looking like this goal can be attained – although, as I look at the tracking website, they are only counting books until Aug. 7th – really, summer is more than 8 weeks here…

Since last diving into books on the blog, I’ve read quite a bit. Some of these are in my summer reading challenge – others are just “normal” reading progress. From my recent reads, these are the ones that are at the top of the list:

  • The Dead Don’t Dance by Charles Martin; When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin; Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin – A “new to me” author I discovered via another blog. Nice stories that have uplifting themes to them. I’ll definitely be working my way through the rest of his books. These are a nice change of pace…and maybe even a good emotion reset, when needed.
  • The Prodigal: A Ragamuffin Story by Brennan Manning & Greg Garrett – A modern retelling of the Prodigal Son parable. A good story of a timeless tale. Now, I think it’s time to finally read Manning’s Ragamuffin Gospel that has been on my bookshelf for a couple of years.
  • The Director by David Ignatius – A new espionage thriller where “the director” referred to is a new CIA director brought in from running a successful tech company to revive a struggling agency.
  • The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman – I stumbled upon this series via another blog. It is a fun variation on the spy/thriller genre that I enjoy. A widowed grandmother in the 60’s is bored and offers herself up to the CIA to be spy.
  •  That’s Not in My American History Book (audio) by Thomas Ayres – A fun, trivia filled walk through some of the more obscure parts of American History. As I listened to the author read this book, I was taken back to my AP US History class – in addition to teaching “the basics” that we needed, Coach Walker loved this type of history. I still remember several of the lesser known history facts that he imparted to us in class 23+ years ago. In fact, some of the stories told here weren’t new to me because of Coach Walker. In my collecting of random facts, I think I have a new arsenal of American History info for the next trivia encounter. #bringonBWWtrivia

Other recent reads: The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs; The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry; A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick; Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberley McCreight; The Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder; The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

Recently Abandoned: The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall – I started this as an audio book and just couldn’t get into it. The description sounds like a fun “kids book” read – but evidently I can’t do this as audio – I really don’t need the reader doing the girls in assorted high-pitched/whiny voices; Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – This seems to be everywhere as a “must read” these days. And yet, I just couldn’t get into it. I may come back to it at some time…but for now it is time to move on to the other books in the stack that beckon me…

As you can see from the picture above, I have lots of books at hand to keep me busy in the coming weeks. What about you? What are you reading this summer? What are your summer reading memories?

P.S. Here’s a summer reading challenge we can all do: Pages4Progress. Visit this site to log the number of pages you’ve read and dollars will be donated towards ensuring primary education is available around the globe. It just takes a few moments to share your page count and join in the every growing total.

Once again, I’m linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy for the Twitterature round-up. (And most likely adding to my to-be-read list as I check out other blogs…)

Family…History…Fun

July 15, 2014 / / 2 Comments
It was a treat to host Mom & Dad here for a bit of a vacation to start July. Over the last couple of years, it seems like Mom & Dad visits have included quite long “honey-do” lists tied to moving. This time, the focus really was on fun and exploring the area. #localtourist
Amish covered bridges...this time with sunshine

Amish covered bridges…this time with sunshine

On Thursday, we were “back” to Amish Country for the day. We enjoyed wandering through some of our favorite shops and went for a lighter lunch option of delicious sandwiches at Kitchen Kettle Village instead of the full family style meal. After “introducing” Mom to a fabulous swivel rocker at one of the furniture stores, she is now contemplating it as her Christmas gift – I don’t blame her, it may be the ultimate chair. Of course, I had to show them the covered bridges that I found the last time I was over there.

Exploring Valley Forge

Exploring Valley Forge

We decided that July 4th would be a good day to explore Valley Forge National Historic Park.  Even the few bands of winds & rain from Hurricane Arthur didn’t stop us from a fun day of exploring this slice of American History. We picked up the Audio Tour CD at the Visitor’s Center and set off to explore the park. The audio tour was excellent – I’m sure that I’ll use it many times as friends & family come to visit. Along the way in the park, we stopped at some of the sites to further explore. While there were July 4th activities planned throughout the park, we didn’t experience large crowds to make us question our decision to be there on Independence Day – the way the park is laid out, it is easy to “find space” away from other visitors. Towards the end of the driving tour, the Washington Memorial Chapel is an amazing piece art that captures the revolutionary history.

A gorgeous day for a canal boat tour

A gorgeous day for a canal boat tour

On Saturday, the plan was to head north to Easton – it is a beautiful drive along the Delaware River and I needed to do some gift shopping at the Crayola Experience store. As I looked to see what else there was to do in Easton, I discovered the National Canal Museum was nearby – so our plans for the day expanded. While small, the museum was filled with history about the Pennsylvania canal system and fun interactive exhibits to help kids (& adults) understand how it all worked. After touring the museum, we enjoyed a 45 minute mule-pulled canal boat tour. The weather was perfect for this. Since the day was spectacular, after lunch we took a more extended drive along the Delaware River as we meandered home.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dad’s birthday is early in the month, so early in the week I picked up a birthday cake from a great local bakery & we enjoyed it nightly. We also celebrated with a great Sunday brunch at the historic William Penn Inn that is nearby. When we weren’t out exploring, it was fun to just hang out at home – indeed, we are a family that can easily spend time together “just being” – reading a book or something online, doing puzzles, knitting – together in the living room.

As is always the case with family time…it was over much too quickly!

Currently…June

July 3, 2014 / / 0 Comments

No doubt about it…summertime is here! As the calendar switches to July, the forecast ’round here is “full on heat wave” – ugh. As I look at ways to “beat the heat” in the coming days, here are a few of the things that filled my June days…

  • Reading…a varied selection of books is on my Kindle & nightstand…a long overdue Twitterature round-up is planned for July to briefly discuss the last couple of months of reading…these days, most of my active reads are in the paper version vs e-reads…
  • Watching…another UK business trip provided an opportunity to catch up on several recent movies: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Labor Day, The Muppets Most Wanted, 20 Feet from Stardom, Lone Survivor…being in the UK as the World Cup started meant that I’ve watched more futbol this month than ever before – including the England – Uruguay match in the hotel bar
  • Listening…no new tunes this month…but the Need to Breathe album is definitely in frequent rotation…
  • Crafting…I got behind on the Brewers Crackerjack with vacation & travel but am still knitting my way through – World Cup watching has been a good opportunity to catch up.
  • Cooking…Sunday Supper with my WI family was the cooking highlight of the month – to slip back into our routine was so comforting & relaxing for all of us. We went the easy route with the menu – boboli crusts that we topped: pizza margehrita style & bbq pork style; my “famous” spinach salad; strawberry pie. It was great fun to have C & B help me prep in the kitchen while the boys played quietly in other rooms & V took a nap on my sofa, under my Wisconsin Wanderings afghan.
  • Sipping…again, some proper pints in the UK – and I love that cider is normally on tap there!…the hot weather around here means my Tervis tumblers are in heavy use with iced tea, iced coffee & infused ice waters…
  • Noshing…family style Pennsylvania Dutch cooking & delicious Philly cheese steaks whilst hosting family vacation…lots of tasty morsels whilst in the UK – more delicious fish & chips, a tasty Indian spread, delightful mandarin sorbet, banoffee pie…loving the return of good, local, fresh produce
  • Walking…continuing to get my steps in for the Global Corporate Challenge…my Saturday in London was my high day, so far…
  • Traveling…my new suitcase stood up to the travel rigors of my most recent UK trip
  • Voting…in the ESPY awards – Mercer over Duke as the best upset of the year
  • Looking Ahead…Mom & Dad will celebrate the 4th & Dad’s birthday with me here in PA – adventures are being planned…

Linking up with Leigh Kramer for the monthly “What I’m Into” round-up. What are you into these days?

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