Pizza Friday

Arinn and I created some delicious pizzas tonight...even the dough was homemade!

A Playdate

Ben, Arinn, and the girls stopped by this evening. The dogs got some much needed exercise and attention, while Anna & Jane entertained us with belly laughs and lots of squealing.

Rainy Days & Long Naps

Need I say more?

A Summertime Sandwich

...avocado, crispy bacon, a farmer's market tomato, and melted cheddar cheese between two slices of wheat toast...

"There's nothing finer in life than true love and a home-grown tomato." ~Gary Ibsen

My Favorite Herb

I wish this picture was scratch n' sniff so you could experience the delectably spicy scent of my basil. Anna Lou planted the seeds in April, and had such a bumper crop that she shared a few with me. They are thriving on my front porch, and soon will be adding their deliciousness to pizza, stir-fry, and tomato and mozzarella sandwiches. Mmmmm!

Hugs

Tonight I was treated to a delicious dinner of chicken & penne in a vodka cream sauce followed by lots of love from my favorite girls. Lucky me!

A trip to the Farmer's Market...

began like this,

and ended up like this.

Delicious!

Nectarines in a Bee Bowl

While words have always been my thing, I've discovered that the posts I enJOY most are the ones I can capture in both words and pictures. I'm having so much fun with our little point and shoot camera, playing with color, angle, light, and shadow. Though I've yet to taste these nectarines, I've been savoring their presence on the counter all day. I love how their color matches that of the bowl, and their sweet smell is lovely.

A Gift to Ourselves

Before we left my parents' house last week, Lee and I took a spin through our favorite shop. It's the one place we have to go each time we visit. This photograph was hanging in the stairwell of the gallery at Christmas, and we fell in love with it. It was still there when we ascended the steps last Thursday, so we brought it home with us. Our walls are so full in this little house that there wasn't a space to hang it. Wrapped in brown paper, it's been waiting for a place in our new house. This morning I decided that I didn't want to wait. I took another picture off the wall, unwrapped the barn photo, and hung it in its place. All day long I've been enJOYing this little piece of home.

A Childhood Treat

I have fond memories of visits to Ditty and Pete's house. Gini and I would swivel back and forth in the black vinyl kitchen chairs, bouncing them off the sides of the table much to the dismay of any grown-ups nearby. After lunch we'd ask for chocolate ice cream and milk. I'm not certain who came up with the idea for scoops of chocolate ice cream bobbing in a glass of cold milk, but it was (and is!) delicious. I enJOYed the icy, creamy, chocolatey treat tonight after dinner. Mmmmmm!

It's the Little Things

Most days my JOYS jump out at me, and I have no trouble coming up with a blog post. Some days, though, I feel like I just don't have anything worth sharing. Yesterday was one of those days. What to do? I found myself reliving my day, trying to recall all of the seemingly ordinary moments that brought me JOY. In that moment I realized what a gift this blog is to me. Had I not been searching for some blog material, I would have missed the opportunity to be grateful for the morning sun washing over the pages of my book and the luxury of a few minutes spent reading before getting out of bed.

Much like yesterday, today was strewn with little gifts along the way.
...a strong wind on a hot afternoon walk, strawberry jam and homemade bread warm out of the toaster, driving our clean Jeep home from the car wash, bittersweet Ghiradelli chocolate chips sprinkled atop strawberries and vanilla yogurt, leftovers waiting in the fridge for dinner...

Moonlight on the Water

This morning...

as the sun streamed in our bedroom window and the dogs lay sleepily beside me, I reached over and took my book off the nightstand. Although there were quite a few things that I needed to get accomplished, I let myself savor a chapter before even sitting up. What a glorious way to begin my day!

Strawberry Jam

Arinn and her family went strawberry pickin' yesterday. She invited me to share in a jam-making session this afternoon. After the jars were filled, we sampled spoonfuls of the warm strawberry syrup from the bottom of the kettle. We even drizzled it over little bowls of strawberry ice cream. Lee and I can't wait to slather the jam on warm toast with butter. Thanks for a fun and delicious afternoon, A!

Homemade Focaccia

I brushed the dough with olive oil and kosher salt. Then I rubbed it with minced garlic and Italian spices. The focaccia came out of the oven crispy on the outside & scrumptiously soft in the middle. A perfect accompaniment to our grilled chicken salads for dinner!

Going Green (and Yellow)

When we returned home last night, my spring issue of MerriMail was waiting for me. Inside was a yellow jute tote adorned with cherry blossoms...a reusable shopping bag to be used for errands and whatnot. I foresee it carrying library books to and fro, packages and letters headed for the post office, and Target purchases.

The arrival of my new jute bag was the extra nudge I needed to invest in reusable grocery bags. I picked up five green bags at the check out today. Arinn has been singing their praises for weeks now. I must say that I agree!

Home

Sauerbraten, Spaetzle & Red Cabbage

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. This is the first ever guest blogger on Joy Jottings. A trip to wonderful and wild would not be complete without inclement weather. So, as usual, Mother Nature dialed up rain and flash floods across the area for our drive to the "Outlaws". A busy day let me tell you. I had to take a nap before dinner which was awfully taxing. The highlight of our day, after hydroplaning, was a wonderful German dinner fit for the Desert Fox. I was admittedly suspect of this dish called Sauerbraten. Feel free to correct my spelling. A delicious beef dish and a favorite from Claire's childhood, it was a sweet and spicy roast with red cabbage and some sort of pasta/dumpling with an onion raisin gravy. No meal would be complete without a sixer of red wine to wash it down. It was a fitting dinner from the homeland and went well with the unseasonal weather of rain and 44 degrees. Get Some!Thank you to my super cute guest blogger who stepped in when I was so full that I couldn't even think!

The Past Few Days

Wildflowers along the highway

Freshly cut iris in our bedroom

Playing with Carter

Why I Write

"--What is it you do in those books? Inman said.
--I make a record, the woman said. Draw pictures and write.
--About what?
--Everything. The goats. Plants. Weather. I keep track of what everything's up to. It can take up all your time just marking down what happens. Miss a day and you get behind and might never catch back up."

~from Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

I often wonder why I feel compelled to write. Why do I fill stacks of blank books with streams of words, newspaper & magazine clippings, pictures, letters, quotes from my reading?

...it's a place to dump all the jumbly things inside my head, it's how I make sense of the world, and where I find peace...
...it's a record of my journey, a reminder of where I've come from, and who I am becoming...

...it's a place to collect life's meaningful stuff, the words and pictures that have been significant to me along the way...

Like the goat woman quoted above, it's my record of everything and the story of my life.

A Special Gift

My little pal, Anna, drew an elephant family just for me. Aren't they the cutest? I particularly love the tails and trunks. Anna is quite proud of their ears.

Little Yellow Posies

Daddy picked them for me,

they're sipping water from a vase that Gini painted,

and

they open and close with the rising & setting of the sun.

Cut & Paste

I've collected a few interesting tidbits over the past few days...stuff I want to save. I spent a little while this evening adding the following to my journal:

*two posts from a blog I love about family & homemaking

*a postcard from Arinn

*an article about growing blueberry bushes

*some additions to my "to read" list

*a love note from Lee

After a couple of days...

they're finally friends.

A Weekend Visit

We're enJOYing some family time.