what july held for me...

can you believe there is only one more day left in july?  why does time seem to move so quickly?  for some reason, to me, it seems like summer started just a week or two ago.

but here we are on the cusp of a new month and to me, a new season. 

unlike years past, my july has been very full this year:

-two days of "putting up" corn (freezing it for later use)

-multiple trips to the farmers market

-moon gazing

-harvesting, eating and preserving things from my own tiny little garden (why it is that this brings me so much happiness i don't know, it just does. so i'll keep doing it for as long as i can)

-working in my tiny little garden, tending/weeding/watering in the early morning before the sun gets too high and the heat too heavy

-seeing things from new perspectives

-lots of kitchen experimenting (baking fails and successes, finding ways to preserve/use what grew in my tiny little garden)

-picking up the knitting needles again (and a couple of practical magic viewings)

-a little bit of doodling, one completed painting and lots of play in my foundlings journal (what i call scrap/junk art journals)

-lots and lots of walking... 

that is quite a bit of what july held for me this year. good things, grateful things, memories i will cherish.

if you've been with me here for a while, you'll know that the coming month is, well, let's just go with 'not my favorite'.  i'm trying to make friends with august instead of calling it hell month. ;-)

for now, i hope to take some of the bliss i've found in july with me into august.  we'll see how that goes.

does anything stand out for you from july? is there something you are looking forward to in august? i'd love to hear about it.

thanks for being here and reading my words, i truly appreciate it.

love & magicks

~*~

 

ps...look at that little carrot up there! i pulled it this morning and almost jumped up and down in excitement! i can't wait to have it with dinner. :-)

 

wildlife...

the wildlife around here is something else.  there's the bunny that has no fear of humans, the rat snake that slithers from my house to the neighbours, the baby bird siblings that like to sleep in my spider plant at night. there are loads of dragonflies, cardinals, crows and hawks.

yesterday i saw my first butterfly of the season and trailed it around the yard. then there is this guy...the little chipmunk, otherwise known as the tomato thief.

i love watching them all.  even the little tomato stealing cutie.

what's the wildlife like in your area?

love & magicks

~*~

 

 

 

code orange...

i missed my walk this morning and i can really feel it in my body.

we are in a code orange air quality warning.  ever since i went out to water the garden early this morning i've felt like i have grit or sand in the back of my throat. so, an inside day it is.

that bunny has been hanging around since the spring.  he/she started off really tiny and is not afraid of people.  

a few days ago i was in the kitchen checking on something and when i turned around i found that second guy just outside the back door. we stopped and stared at each other for a while, then he took off to the tomato jungle.

my 9-10ft tall sunflower (the only one of the 20 or so seeds i planted that sprouted) is finally blooming.  i was expecting it to be one of the super large heads since it is so tall. but it has about 8 or 9 smaller blooms coming out.  

anyhoo...just a random little post from the garden.  i'm still picking lots of cherry tomatoes every day, sometimes twice a day.  there has been knitting, practical magic watching, and even painting.  

how has your week been?  anything fun going on?

thanks for stopping in...

love & magicks...

~*~ 

 

in my kitchen...

it's seems like all my time lately is spent in the kitchen.  i've made a promise to myself to not waste food and to find uses for everything i can.

i've made cherry bread (it fell when i took it out of the oven too soon) using my grandmothers recipe that i shared here. this was actually my second loaf as i forgot to add sugar to the first attempt but didn't realize until after baking. ick!

what was left of the julia child white loaf was turned into croutons.

a small attempt at homemade salsa. i haven't tasted it yet, so we'll see.

my version of nachos for dinner the other night. i use this taco seasoning recipe from Heather of NorthRidge Farm. i make a big batch and use it quite liberally.  i really like it and prefer it to store packets.

and today i froze the rest of the cherries for future use and roasted the most recent harvest of jalapenos and cherry tomatoes to use in chilli making in the winter.

if i'm not making something, i'm cleaning up from making something.

the other day i tried cooking a london broil and used this recipe for it.  i'd never made london broil before and i think i must have used the wrong type pan as it took a lot longer to broil and was still pretty rare (which i didn't really mind). the flavor was amazing though so i'm pretty sure i'll give this another try at some point.

anyhoo...this is what i've been up to lately. and it has been fun.  i've also been doing a lot of walking and piddling around in the garden.  oh! and last night i picked up my knitting for the first time in a year (or more?). i kept feeling like i needed something to keep my hands busy while i watch tv or am just sitting quietly listening to an asmr video on the utubes.  i've found that the rainy/thunderstormy/ocean waves crashing sounds really soothe my frazzled nerves.  so when i'm feeling anxious i'll pull up one on my roku for background noise while i'm working around the house. 

well...this is enough rambling for now.  time to go find some dinner and pull out the knitting.

what have you been up to lately?

hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

love & magicks

~*~ 

 

homemade and homegrown...

 

- there have been lots of open-faced sandwiches with homemade bread. some with chicken salad and homemade pickles. some with peanut butter, banana and homemade cherry jam.

- i made a second batch of jam over the last few days.  it is yummy!  

- there has been tomato picking in my nightgown at dawn and eyeballing the lone sunflower survivor to see how quickly it is growing. i think it is over 7 feet tall at this point and maybe closer to 8.

- i'm riding the doombus every day (my term for cleaning/clearing out things)

- i feel like i'm drowning in cherry tomatoes. i'm putting them in salads, on nachos (with homegrown jalapenos), with ranch dip and other veggies and just popping them like chips. :-)

- long walks

- boho dresses and hiking boots

- a little bit of art making/playing

- there have been early mornings and late nights, along with horrible nightmares that leave me shaken all day

- flowers and journaling and wish making and reading...

that's my list of ten things on tuesday...

love & magicks

~*~

 

 

friday in the garden...

 just a few things i've found in the garden this week.  i'd all but given up on the cucumbers as they seemed to be going dormant. but today i found lots of little flowers, raggedy though they are.

on a walk this week i found a leaf the red/green/orange colors of autumn (but didn't take a picture). so when i found this yellow leaf tonight, it seemed strange.  it is way too early for autumn to come in down here.  we're spending our days in the 90's. sweltering even early am just as the sun comes up.

i pruned my rose bush early june, maybe late may, and she has been gifting me multiple blooms. unfortunately, the japanese beetles live near by and love to feast on my roses (and the sunflower leaves).  i pick them off whenever i find them. but the are good at hiding from me.

the black-eyed susans are blooming and the tomato bushes are loaded.  i pick a large handful of ripe tomatoes every day.  i've been gifting some to my neighbor, but i think i'm going to have to start freezing some as i just can't eat them fast enough. although, i'd like to try making homemade salsa.  i think i have everything i need except fresh cilantro (mine has already bolted and is going to seed).

anyhoo...that's where i've been a lot this week.  in the garden and in the kitchen (cherry jam, blueberry bread, julia child's white loaf bread).  i haven't tried the jam yet (tomorrow for breakfast now that i have that jc bread).  i still have to do something with the a load of cherries in my fridge (they'd been seriously on sale).  i'm thinking cherry bread and more cherry jam.  at the very least, i can pit and freeze them for use later.  the fruit bread is my Grandmother's recipe and is very easy.  You can substitute pretty much any fruit, at least, i think so.  in the past, i've made banana, apple, peach, pumpkin and now blueberry.  

that's enough of my rambling. i have a few things to do before i head to bed.  i'm trying to get up early, early in the mornings to get the garden watered, tended and get in a walk before it gets too hot.

thanks for stopping by...

love & magicks

~*~

 

full of possibilities...

 

i read something this morning in a little email note from Michelle GD that landed in an odd place in my thinking.

    i needed to get out of my own way...

    my feelings are not my thoughts. i am not my thoughts...  

i spend a lot of time in my head.  i always have, even as a child, even when i shouldn't have.

part of what leads me to do, then stop, then do, then stop again and again, is being in my head. 

when i read the note that contained the above, i realized...i am in my own way.  i am the thing that stops me from living the life i want, doing the things that spark a light in me, being the human i am meant to be.

i need to get out of my own way...

while i was thinking about this post, composing a bit in my head (as one does) i kept thinking about how i've spent the past couple of weeks.

i've been doing things.

things that need to be done, things that i have put off due to anxiety about the effort it takes to do them, things that make my life easier, safer and filled with vitality, things that make me happy.

little steps, lead to bigger steps, lead to long walks along paths that are filled with fun, happiness, whimsy and love.

little things like bringing home new plant babies, finding adorable friends in the garden, the amazing beauty of growing things and turning an afternoon snack of peaches into a treat fit for a party.

i realized all these little steps were taken after getting out of my own way...

my feelings are not my thoughts...

i am not my thoughts...

despite what they say, despite how they try to trick me...

i can step out of my own way at any time and live my life.

such a simple thought, but full of possibilities...

i hope this first day of july finds you happy, healthy and safe.

sending you love & magicks...

~*~  

 

ps...to those who have been commenting, i say thank you.  it means a lot. i've been trying to figure out how to send a response. but i'm a little out of the loop. :)