Fall bounty

I am so enamored by my garden, perhaps because I waited for so long for it.

This morning is the moment I have been waiting for since I planted the seeds in the new soil in my beds.

My mom turned me on to a new eating trend: the raw food diet. When I was out in Virginia, she brought down her vitamix and made me a smoothie out of a mix of fruits and vegetables. I know it sounds wierd, but it was delicious, and I now have my own vitamix that liquifies my breakfast every morning.

So I headed out to my garden this morning to pick some ripe collard greens and kale... mmmm. I love collard greens steamed with a little balsamic vinegar drizzled on them. Kale is also good prepared that way, as well as mustard greens and turnip greens. I found out the hard 

way that mustard greens are NOT good in a morning smoothie! 

This year was not a good year for tomatoes, but I have gotten a few. I don't think there is anything better than a fresh tomato off the vine. 

My friend, Becki, had a really nice crop of tomatoes this year... she was lucky until the frost in July that basically took them out. This has been the strangest spring/summer I can remember in a long time.

Anyway, I am sitting here looking out at another gorgeous day with my garden in the background enjoying my breakfast of champions made from the stuff I grew and feeling wholesome.

Life is good...

Joy in the harvest!

It sure seemed like a lot of grapes that turned into about a quart or less of juice, but the thrill of seeing the harvest through to the end was no less satisfactory!

After picking a basket full of grapes, I looked online to see what the best way to convert them to a simple grape juice would be... and just as I suspected, it was about as simple as you could make it up. 

The surprise was our fresh grape juice tasted more like fresh apple cider. But whatever... it was sweet and tart at the same time, and delightfully refreshing.

Babes in the woods

I came across these cute little spotted babes in the woods this weekend. So young, they didn't even know to run right away, and posed long enough for me to get several good shots. I don't know where their mother was, but I have no doubt she was close by... probably calling them "Hey goofy kids... don't you know there is danger nearby?" (I seem to recall saying that very thing to my kids from time to time)

I would have thought their spots were gone by now, but my friend explained today that this year she has seen many late arrivals in the wild due to a crazy spring and late summer.

Regardless, I feel like I came across a treasure...

Weekend at camp

You just have to love a camp that has martini-making as one of its workshops.

Camp 4-Echoes, a girl scout camp on the southern end of Lake Coeur d'Alene, hosted a womens' campout as a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts of the Inland Northwest. I was excited to participate.

I signed up for the plate-painting class, skipped the scrapbooking class to go canoeing with Cindy, wore myself out hiking around the woods on a digital camera scavenger hunt, ate myself silly with all the food available, played bunco with a bunch of women who all had a different idea of how to play the game, and probably haven't laughed that hard and long in forever.

Women have such a wonderful way of bonding with each other. This little gathering of about 70 was a brilliant fundraising idea. This was one well-organized and nicely planned event. After the martini making class, we had the cocktail hour, at which time hors deouvres were served and there was a silent auction. Then a very nice dinner was served with plenty of wine flowing. It should come as no surprise that Cindy and I had an interesting time making our way back to our little teepee in the pitch black of the night. I was really glad we were not assigned to the tree-houses.

Stateline Idaho... seedy no more.

This is Friday's post, but I didn't have the photo until today.

There is a little wine shop at State Line in Idaho on the border towards Spokane, a place that used to only be known for half-naked to fully-naked dancing girls, and very accommodating "massage" parlors. Most of the men drank beer or whiskey, and I doubt there was much wine, unless it was pink.

State Line has certainly cleaned up its act. Today the whores-I mean masseusses-are gone, the girls dance just half-naked, and in the back of the tobacco shop is a cool little wine tasting bar. 

And where there is wine, you will usually find us... fully clothed.

One happy thought...

I finally got to meet Miya, Sara's new daughter from China, today at lunch. That actually calmed me for a bit. She is so adorable. I, of course, did not have my camera to post her cute little photo, but here is the links to her mom's blog where you can check out lots of her cute little self.

Just another manic Tuesday?

Or is that double mondays?

This is exactly what I feel like today. I feel like I am having a heart attack!

Today started out as such a quiet, relaxed day, too. But it quickly turned to "?%#" in a heartbeat, and I am simply trying to breathe. Just breathe. Kevin even told me to just take a few deep breaths.

Now I know what an anxiety attack feels like. Give me some B vitamins!!!!!

I just thought I would share... thanks for visiting.