THE LOVELY CRAZY

I am feeling pretty sleepy at the moment. Actually, all week I have been tired due to the fact that the mr has been snoring so loud that it wakes me up in my sleep. We both have some allergy stuff going on, but he has got it really bad and so he snores really loud. All. Night Long. And I don%u2019t sleep. It is really annoying.

Other then that, well things are just fine and dandy. HA.

The week started off with camping at Half Moon Pond State Park and oh was that place fantastic. A sweetie little pond in the middle of the woods. We got a camp site pretty much right up against the water and there were not a lot of people so it was super quite. This time of year most camping is pretty sparse as far other campers go which is just the way I like it. After setting up camp we took a great hike to another cute pond high up, went back down and did some kayaking. The mr fished, I paddled around in circles. After that we hung out for a bit and then it started to rain just pinch so we walked around until it stopped. Even the rain was lovely, especially watching it hit the water. It was just one of those times when all was feeling right and good.

And then after we ate, sang kumbaya by the fire, slept, and woke up, we made the coffee and headed back as usual.

Then life. Work, people, dinners with the littles. Picked up farm share where we are getting less and less of the sweet summer produce. I trained a person on how to load glaze kilns. Made banana bread. I also managed to spent way to much time on hold on the phone. The mr kept nice and busy spending half his time painting at one of the houses and half his time digging the hole on the back of the house which made for a slight anxious me due to all the dirt he has been trailing into the house. And best yet, I got my first PUMPKIN. Sure, it is just a little bitty pumpkin, but I got it and I will not eat it until I get a few more to strategically place around the house as edible decor. (Why not buy pumpkins that you can look at AND eat?) Plus the weather. All week, all super great. So yeah, a good hardy week.

Yesterday was Jackson%u2019s 18th birthday! (Happy Birthday buttface!) which just sounds freaking crazy. Sure he is not my kid, but I have a nephew that is now a legal adult. That just seems wrong but it is what it is and I am just tuning into a old lady. Ha. And so we partied family style with food and cake and absence birthday cards (thanks to the mr). We jokes (many to dirty to mentioned) we laughed, we ate, then we left. Early because being a Saturday night the boy (man) had his own parting to do. And I am old so I needed to go to bed.

Back to Sunday. Today we head to Gifford Woods State Park. Really excited about this one. Just last week the mr and I heard a story on VPR on how there are very few parts of the forest in VT that have any old growth (over a hundred years) left and there is old growth forest at this park. I am hoping we get to see lots and lots of big ass trees!!!! What more can you ask for? Maybe a long ass nap on the drive down there. Jeez I am tired.

Internet links from the week.

-There is hope yet. Young People Lead Millions To Protest Global Inaction On Climate Change.

21 Comforting Dumbledore Quotes To Make You Feel Slightly Better About How Shitty Everything Is Right%u00a0Now. Thanks Dumbledore, I needed to hear this.

-There is a spider that has been living in our bathroom for a least a few months. They don%u2019t bother us so yeah, we just let them be. Why You Really Shouldn%u2019t Kill the Spiders in Your Home, According to an Entomologist

3 Tips to Keep Apples Fresh for Much%u00a0Longer. Always a hassle. I always want to stock up on a years worth of fresh apples but know that they will not last THAT long.

-Pictures of how people store books always makes me happy. UPDATE: BOOK SMART.

Speaking of books, I just finished this one and it was really good. The writing, the story. Just a good book.

You can%u2019t be productive without routines and rituals. Here%u2019s why. I am all about routine and ritual, like crazy stuck on them to almost a fault. I sometimes think I need to get out of them%u2026.

-Tell me this isn%u2019t freaking cute as hell. Stop and Smell the Flowers: Dick van Duijn Captured a Squirrel%u2019s Floral Delight

The Woman Who Convinced Me That Everything Bad Is Actually Good. Going to take a look at this book for sure.

-I want to go see this DRIED FLOWERS CAVE.

Pictures from the week

First official week of summer plus #popsicleweek means we all have to make popsicles. It is not a option, it’s a must. The question is what kind of popsicles to make.

Well here you go, I got one for you right here. Pineapple, cucumber, spinach popsicles.%u00a0I highly, highly recommend them because they are amazing and you and everyone will love them.%u00a0No joke. I had two littles tell me that they are the best popsicles they have ever eaten. Then Koko damn near ate my hand off when I was trying to slow the baby down while he was eating his so he didn’t get brain freeze. After he finished off his popsicle, he turned around and went after his brothers popsicle. It was crazy. Screaming, green faced, baby charging after a popsicle. It was like an animal planet episode.%u00a0

%u00a0And so there you have it, all the littles we into them, the mr was into his, and me, I might eaten one or two and maybe I was licking all of them in between taking pictures. Ha. And big plus, unlike a lot of popsicles,%u00a0there is no extra shit in these, like no added sugar. And there is veggies in them.%u00a0They are basically an all around, eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, or dessert popsicle.%u00a0%u00a0How can you even go wrong with that.%u00a0

You can’t.

Now it’s popsicle time!

The stuff. Fresh pineapple, fresh spinach, a cucumber, and a lime. That’s it, nothing else.%u00a0

Pineapple and juice from lime into the blender. Blend until smooth.

Add in the cucumber, blend until smooth%u00a0

Last but not least, add in spinach, blend until smooth.

Bright green goodness. And that’s pretty much it. And really, you could just stick it all into blender at once, I just blended the ingredients one by one for the sake of the pictures.

Pour that goodness into popsicles mold and either stick th sticks in now if they don’t sink or wait about an half hour after they have been in the freezer, just don’t forget the sticks (I almost did).

Mid freeze stick sticking.

Once they are frozen and when it’s feeding time,%u00a0%u00a0you pop them out of the mold and feed the people. Watch your fingers.%u00a0

Happy summer, Happy #popsicleweek

-C

Make 8 3.5 onze popsicles%u00a0

  • 2 1/2 cups fresh pineapple*
  • 1 Lebanese %u00a0cucumber (or half of an English cucumber)
  • 3 large handfuls of spinach%u00a0
  • Juice of a lime

*Note. You can use frozen pineapple, just thaw it out so it starts to release some of it’s juices. That way you don’t need to add water to the blender to blend everything up.%u00a0

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour puree into popsicle molds and stick into freezer. After about 1/2 hour, remove from freezer and stick the popsicle sticks into the molds. Place popsicles back into freezer until completely frozen (about 4-6 hours)%u00a0

Enjoy anytime.

Summer is pretty much here and, unlike last year, I plan on making the most of it, even if that means not doing a bunch of things at all times.%u00a0Last year we were finishing up the house and were constantly on the go go go. And yeah, we had lots of fun and did some things, but I don’t think we really spent much time just being and relaxing and really letting ourselves sink into the summer vibes. %u00a0I have goals for us this year, to be more, well, less. To take it easy when we need to, relax a bit,%u00a0and make enjoying ourselves a priority. We forget to do that sometimes.%u00a0

All week I have been thinking about some of the things I really want out of my summer and here they are.%u00a0

Summer bucket list 2018.

  • Kayak the Winooksi River to Lake Champlain. This was our goal last year but things got crazy and we never got the chance.%u00a0
  • Camping with the littles and Barb. We promised them all we would take them camping because get this, none of them have ever camped.%u00a0(GASP!)
  • Find coffee table for downstairs. I have been on the look out for a,%u00a0kind of specific,%u00a0coffee table for months. I NEED to find one this summer. It’s driving me crazy.
  • Hang more art around the house. We have a lot of artwork and I have hung up some stuff, but I really need to hang more.%u00a0
  • Visit the Lavender fields. There is a farm in the tip top parts of Vermont that lets you walk through their fields of lavender.I hear it is like magic.%u00a0
  • Stay on top of gardening. Don’t get lazy%u00a0
  • Make studio/creative time a priority. I am busting at the seems.with things I want to create.%u00a0
  • Hike Camels Hump. One of my favorite hikes and we haven’t done it in a few years so I really want to do it this year. And if we didn’t do it until fall, that would be ok too.
  • Take it easy.%u00a0This is a big one. I want for us (me and the mr) to not get so crazy and to let ourselves be a little low-key and maybe spend a day or two doing no much of anything. Last year we didn’t really take any time off. We need to do that this summer.%u00a0

Do you have a summer bucket list? %u00a0What’s on yours?%u00a0