Those Summer Days....

Sorry it's been so quiet around here lately. There really isn't much of anything going on. Alan told me that my last post was pretty boring, so I figured maybe I shouldn't just write about any old thing and wait for something exciting to happen. Nothing has happened yet, and I'm tired of waiting. David did leave this morning to drive back to Virginia. He has a research job starting next week and still has to get his TB test done. We have had a nice month long visit with him, and may not see him again until Thanksgiving. That seems like an awfully long time away. We might have to just suck it up and drive the 12 hours to watch his white coat presentation ceremony which I guess is a big deal at EVMU. My Dad is driving in this afternoon to spend a few days with us and a few days in Tennessee playing golf with his brother. I'll have just enough time to get the sheets washed and put back on the bed. My work schedule has been a little sporadic lately, lots of families taking summer vacations not to mention all of the summer colds that seem to be hanging around. I don't appreciate having my schedule messed up. Remember, I like a little routine in my life. I've been trying to be more spontaneous, but that usually involves spending money. It seems to be a no win situation, or maybe a win,win situation depending on how you look at it.

Sally

Just A Little Clean Fun

Do you have favorite cleaning tools? The kind that just get the job done. I have no idea what they put in these Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, but now they are 50% stronger. The funny thing is they are also about 50% smaller than they used to be. Interesting don't you think? I guess that doesn't really matter. What matters is that they are pretty darn amazing. They clean EVERYTHING. It's a little scary the stuff you can get off with just a little elbow grease. I use them in every room of the house, and I start to panic when I'm down to just one new one left under the kitchen sink. I need to see if I can buy them in bulk at Costco

My new favorite cleaning tool is a Scrubbing Bubbles sponge thing for the kitchen. the yellow side has rough little bumps to get off gunk and the blue side is like a shammy cloth that wipes the counter practically dry. I hate sponges. I've tried every kind out there. I usually use a dish cloth, but lately mine have been getting kind of smelly faster than I'd like. so I'm giving this cute little thing a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sally

A Good Day At The Races

Saturday was a gorgeous day in Louisville. sunny, slight breeze and about 82 degrees. We decided to spend the afternoon at Churchill Downs betting on the ponies. The race season ends on July 4th so we figured now's our chance.

Grace really got into it. Checking out the horses in the paddock, placing her bet and cheering her horses on.

Alan and Grace both got lucky, or maybe it was skill, who knows? Alan won $18.20 on Simmstown and Grace won $37.20 on Flashy Lassie. So, after we payed to get in, placed our bets, and ate some ice cream we still left about $20.00 ahead. Not a bad day at all.

I know the pictures kind of make it look like we are the only ones there, but it actually was pretty crowded. We just happened to pick a spot near the end of the crowd.

The fall racing season starts sometime in October, so if you are feeling lucky make your plans now.

Sally

Summer Wine and a Bountiful Harvest

Is there such a thing as seasonal wine? I don't know, but Alan and I found these bottles with starfish and fish on them at the Liquor Barn and decided that they must be "summer" wines. I liked the Chardonnay best, but the red was tasty too. I wonder if you are supposed to serve them with fish? We drank them with chicken and steak. We are always breaking the rules like that. The first "picks" from my garden besides herbs. 7 green beans and 2 cherry tomatoes. Not enough to feed a family of 4. Hopefully there will be more to come in the very near future.

Sally

One Whole Year!

I can't believe that I almost forgot to mention that today, June 21st is the one year anniversary of our owning this house. we did not actually move in until the 23rd, because we still had Alan's apartment and Alan's pool and lots of stuff to do at the new house. I was planning to take a picture of it today to compare to the one from last year, but the rain is not cooperating. Hopefully I'll remember to do that tomorrow or the next day, or whenever the rain stops and the grass gets mowed and the place is looking GOOD.

Sally

Rainy, Hot, First Day Of Summer

What do you do when it's 95 degrees and raining?

This is what I did today:

Early morning Yoga

Weeded the garden before the rain started

Cleaned the house, which was in serious need.

Baked bread and blogged

Does that sound like and exciting way to spend the first day of summer or what?

In my dreams I'm at the beach, soaking in the sun and listening to the waves...

Sally

Just Another Saturday Afternoon

Can you guess what I'm about to make?

Look closely....

Mint and basil from my garden.....

Limes and tomatoes from the Kroger.

Maybe this picture will help.

You know me too well. It's Saturday afternoon and we are enjoying Mojitos and Bruschetta.

I wish the tomatoes were from my garden too, but all I have at the moment are cute little green ones.

Maybe next week...

Sally

Saturday Night Shakespeare In the Park

Last Saturday night, Alan and I "forced" the kids to go with us to Kentucky Shakespeare in the park. Well, that's not entirely true. Grace wanted to go. David had to be bribed with the promise of pie from the Pie Kitchen (which was closed by the time the play was over... Oops).

We saw the the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) which wasn't like any Shakespeare you have ever seen before. It was a hilarious spoof like performance by three very talented actors. We all laughed, even David.

Once it got dark Will's face showed up on the curtains. Kinda cool, kinda creepy. It was a great night to be outside.

Next up in July is the 2 Gentlemen Of Verona. Can't wait!

Sally

Iced Coffee Done Right

So I was getting ready to enjoy my afternoon glass of iced coffee, when I clicked on the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog, only to find out that I've been making iced coffee wrong all this time. I can't wait to give her recipe a try. First I have to find a big enough container. I have always enjoyed iced coffee. She seems to drink it in the morning. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm willing to give it a try. I love, love love my new red and white paper straws. I picked up a box at William-Sanoma. I think I might need to pick up a few more for gifts. Is that just weird?

Sally

Summer Toes

How do you enjoy a summer afternoon? I choose to sit on my deck, drinking iced coffee and reading the latest Martha Stewart magazine. We have the greatest old Oak tree that provides just the right amount of shade, and with freshly painted toes I could sit there all day. One should not have to clean the house or do laundry, or cook dinner for that matter on a beautiful summer afternoon.

Sally

Going to the Zoo, Zoo Zoo.

It poured early Saturday morning waking us up and causing the dog to bark. It looked doubtful that we would be able to walk at the zoo, but just like that the sun came out and we were off. This was David's first time to "walk the zoo" and I'm not sure he was as impressed as he should have been. I'll admit that most of the animals were not out to greet us, but the parrots talked up a storm and we got to see the new hippo named Hope. What more do you need?

After the zoo we stopped off at the farmer's market and picked up our $20.00 worth of goodies.

I'd say the weekend is off to a pretty good start.

Sally

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Just a few short weeks ago, my vegetable garden looked like this. After weeks of cold, rainy weather it practically looked like it did when I planted it. But now that the sun has finally come out and the temperatures are up in the 90's there has been a garden explosion. I am feeling very encouraged that we might just have some fresh tomatoes, squash and beans very soon. I sure hope so, because the tomatoes at the farmer's market today were $3.00 a pound. Don't you think that's kind of steep? Now I just have to keep the ground squirrels and birds from digging and eating up the lot

Sally

Summer Has Arrived

I almost called this post "How many men does it take to fix a sprinkler system?" but since it's going to be 96 degrees today and the weather people are saying that we are already breaking records and it's only the beginning of June, I changed my mind. The sprinkler system is fixed. This project actually took a full year to complete. We realized that some of the sprinklers were broken when we moved in last year. My Dad being the handy man that he is willingly took on the project. He researched and ordered the parts, but by then it was fall and we really didn't need to be watering so the decision was made to wait until spring to fix it. Spring was a very short and very rainy season here in Louisville. So, now it's summer, the rain has finally let up and the sprinklers are sprinkling. Later today I might have to put on by bathing suite and run through them. What will the neighbors think? I'm not sure that I really care. Maybe I'll invite them over for a glass of lemon aid. Thanks Dad for all of your help. We will have the greenest grass in town.

Sally

One LONG Day In Chicago

Yesterday Alan, Grace and I got up at the crack of dawn and drove 5 hours to Chicago. Grace had an appointment at the Spanish Consulate at noon to apply for her visa. The traffic was fairly light going into the city, we found a parking spot and had a little time to spare, so we grabbed some lunch at Noodles and Company and walked Up Michigan Ave a bit. Grace's appointment lasted about 5 minutes, so we were back on the street at 12:05. What to do with an afternoon in Chicago? We decided to spend ours at the Shedd Aquarium. We spent the rest of the day looking at amazing sea creatures, watching dolphins and penguins and enjoying the new exhibit called Jellies. Who knew there were so many different kinds of jelly fish? None of us were looking forward to the 5 hour drive back home, which actually turned out to be much longer because, you can only imagine what the traffic is like leaving Chicago on a Friday afternoon at 4:30. I don't know how people do that drive every day. We made it home about 11:00 and fell into bed. the "good" news is that we get to go back in 5 weeks to pick up the visa.

Sally