Summer Food

I invited my parents for dinner on Thursday afternoon (they like to eat early), and I used Alicia's recipe for shrimp-rice-corn-bean bowls. But since my dad isn't an adventurous eater, I followed the DALS deconstructed dinner concept and let everyone choose what to add and how much to mix. It was such a pretty dinner, especially with the gorgeous and colorful fresh vegetables I bought from the farmer's market. And with all the recent information about seafood safety, I made sure to buy local, wild caught shrimp, which of course meant it tasted wonderful. I had picked up my mom before lunch and we spent the day running errands together, so she helped me cut up all the vegetables I had bought. It was such a nice way to spend the day, which is another reason I love summer: time for days like that.

 

 

Gracie, after dinner, and although she isn't supposed to be on the table, she doesn't appear too concerned.

Can't remember if I posted the bookcase after I put everything back on it, but I love how it turned out!

Hurricane Arthur skimmed our area last night but other than some rain and wind during the night, there wasn't much to it. As a matter of fact, we could have used more rain than we got, but I'll count us as lucky regardless. I thought I'd have a rainy day to work inside the house for a change, but by noon, it was another gorgeous beach day, so of course, that's where I went! I worked on a baby blanket while I sat there, using one of the Purl Bee baby blanket patterns as a rough guide. I have a stash of Mission falls 1824 cotton that I reluctantly decided to use; I say reluctantly, because it's been discontinued for awhile and I love it so. I have four balls of 403 medium blue, one ball of 404 dark blue, one ball of a sage green number unknown, and a ball and a half of white. I'm knitting wide stripes of each ball with four rows of white between each color change and I think it will look nice. Progress so far:

The waves were quite choppy due to the after effect of the storm, but the breeze felt wonderful.

This is another one of my yard projects. Steve put these pavers in last year and the weeds keep popping up between them, so I decided to put shells down to help control them and to add a bit of flair. My neighbors seemed to think I was crazy, but I think it looks cute, don't you? And it didn't cost anything, so no loss either way.

 

I really like how our house is becoming more reflective of us than it used to be. Obviously there is always something that could/should be done, but my goal is to feel happy when I come home, and these little pops of color make me happy.

Gracie seems a bit skeptical, just like my neighbors.

Hope your holiday was a good one!

 

 

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