Currently…August

Ah, AUGUST…a month of… local heat waves 3 and 4 of the summer (and maybe the start of 5)…some mornings that had the slightest hint of crisp and the promise of cooler days ahead…birthdays and anniversaries of many dear ones…seemingly endless summer produce at the farm stands…in the midst of it all, these are the things that filled my days…

A farm stand bouquet to start the month

Reading…working my way through the lofty vacation reads stack…after finishing up my recent Civil War read, I transitioned to baseball & World War II for my next narrative nonfiction – The Game Must Go On: Hank Greenberg, Pete Gray, and the Great Days of Baseball on the Home Front in World War II by John Klima has kept my attention while diving into the way that professional baseball survived during the war…no surprise that I didn’t get my summer reading challenge finished by the arbitrary end of summer that the local library decided upon: closing time on Tuesday, August 18…but I did achieve 12 books this summer before month end…August travel provided a lot of reading time…

Reading on a rainy Sunday morning in WI with Willie Bear at my feet

Watching…Wallander was the Netflix series to start the month…Doc Martin was a fun show to work through later in the month…The Astronaut Wives Club was a fun summer series…it won’t be long until Sunday afternoon football is back in rotation (time to figure out football knitting)…

Never too old to have fun opening gifts

Celebrating, Part I…On the front end of my work trip down to Florida, I was able to stop in Georgia for a weekend in the ‘Ville…it has been years since I have been with my sister for her birthday – it was fun to enjoy her birthday celebration in person instead of via photos sent via text

A bit of summer crafting

Crafting…breaking in new colored pencils with some coloring books…knitting a few more dishcloths (you can never have too many on hand)…working on a new infinity cowl for me with some local-ish yarns…

Supper one evening – a nod to British breakfast: eggs over baked beans

Tidying…#konmari action in the kitchen means I’m taking stock of stockpots and food stocks and everything in between…it’s really amazing what items that once were “must have” items are exiting the house because they don’t spark joy these days…

Pan fried zoodles & homemade tomato sauce

Cooking…late in the month I started another Whole30 & I will be sharing some of my recipes in September…but I resumed many of the food prep/meal concepts at home early in the month…the key to success really is prep…hard boiled eggs in the oven become quick meals/snacks during the week…chopping & cooking up a package of bacon on the weekend provides a quick addition to meals and snacks throughout the week…mason jar mayo is a great base for dressings and dips/sauces…several times in the month, a quick supper involved throwing a couple of fried eggs on top of whatever was in the house…pan-fried zoodles with homemade tomato sauce was a delicious Sunday supper…

Jam & Pickled Blueberries ready to put up

Preserving, Part I…A heat wave Sunday afternoon was spent canning with a friend and her daughters. After many years of “canning solo” in my kitchen, it was fun to have the girls help with some of the activities and see their reactions to the alchemy that is canning. In a couple of hours we made a double batch of a favorite Cantaloupe-Vanilla Jam and tried our hand at Ginger Pickled Blueberries.

WI weekend fun

Celebrating, Part II…a trip back to Wisconsin to celebrate the kids’ birthday – a total of 42 candles was celebrated among the 3 of them…in addition to the party, the long weekend was filled with just general fun of hanging out together and ended with Vicki and I enjoying a spa day & discovering a great restaurant in Appleton before I flew out on a Monday afternoon…

Putting up tomatoes for the winter months

Preserving, Part II…A plethora of tomatoes at the local farm stand provided several opportunities for “putting up” tomatoes for the cooler days…for the freezer, I made several batches of the go-to tomato sauce recipe that I picked up at the Italian cooking class I took in Assisi in July 2011 (must share this simple recipe!)…for the cupboard, a batch of spicy tomato jam was put in jars and put up for the winter and for gifts…

Airplane & airport scenes

Traveling…eight legs of air travel between the 2 trips: early in the month, a work trip down to Florida with the detour to the ‘Ville on the way down…later in the month, the Wisconsin adventure…

Starting the WI weekend off right with yummy root beer & frozen custard

Looking Ahead…as we turn the page to September I’m starting a new weekly planner calendar to try to keep more on top of things…no definite travel plans are booked yet but several things are blocked out on the calendar in the coming months…

Linking up with Leigh’s monthly “What I’m Into” roundup. What are you into these days?