While I Was Out

Oh, how I've missed you! :)

Thanks for those of you that sent me little notes saying that you

missed me, too!  It's been 11 days...wow!

A lot has been happening here, too, and not just wedding prep, either!

Here are some highlights...

1. The filtered water spigot broke at the kitchen sink so we had a new faucet put it.  Lovely.  I loved this bridge look and they were so expensive at the home improvement stores!  I found one on amazon for a fraction of the price and free shipping.  Gotta love the Internet!
2. About that same time, our refrigerator was dying a slow death.  It never completely conked out but was hit or miss in almost warming everything inside to almost freezing it, so we thought we better replace it and not risk coming home from our wedding trip to a completely dead refrigerator and ruined food.  Have to admit that I gave the old one a little kiss the morning I cleaned it out and turned it off.  Yeah, I'm the sentimental type.  We bought it in 1988 when we built our house...and it saw us through being young and newly married... to housing 36 baby bottles a day....through 4 teenagers and teenage friends looking for something to eat.  It even lived through Alex opening the door and walking away, cooling off the entire kitchen, on a regular basis.  Or maybe that was it's final demise? lol...  The new one is lovely and spacious and very quiet.
3. We celebrated Taylor's birthday!  That red velvet cake was to die for! Recipe will come soon.  We celebrated the Fourth of July, too.
4. As typical in summer, the hot days find me pouring my coffee over ice.    It hasn't been very sunny but it sure has been hot and humid!  The garden has been loving that, though!  We've had significant rainfall for the past 15 straight days!
5. If you buy the man of the house a super duper power washer, you can sit inside and watch him wash the entire exterior of the house, windows included!  Just sayin'. :)
6. I worked several auctions, too.  The funniest sight was this man's shoes.  If we needed to find him, he made it easy. ha.  The cutest was this little antique chalk kitten.  Yeah, I had to have it.  I'm not big on figurines, but it was just too sweet.  I need to research chalk figures...I don't know anything about them!
7. We've been eating a lot of fruit.  I've frozen a lot, too.  And these peaches became preserves.  Yum.
8. On some of the cooler days we've eaten in our little courtyard on the side of our house.  The fountain, pergola and flowers make it a cozy little spot.
9. When it wasn't raining, I tried to spot the moon.  And I brought home a stack of old recipe cards from the auction trash.  Who wouldn't want great grandma's recipes in her own writing?  I can't wait to try some of these recipes...I think the old ones are some of the best!
10. I made homemade ice cream!  This one was S'Mores with dark chocolate, marshmallow and chunks of graham crackers.  When it was rainy, it was hard to find a seat on the porch swing!
11.  We've been enjoying garden tomatoes already.  That's early for Ohio, but I cheated and bought huge plants with blooms already on them.  My favorite way so far (besides on a burger and salad) is to lay thick slices under the broiler that have been topped with olive oil, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and Parmesan.  yum.  Summer camp is still going well for the boys!  Here's Spencer, watching for the bus to pick them up.  This is the first summer ever that I haven't had them home 24/7.  They are having fun and I am, too! ha.  I do miss them going to the grocery with me, though!
12. On extremely hot days, most cats like to lounge inside, spacing themselves along the floor so you have to watch your step. ha.  But the younger ones still like to explore and take on the Neighborhood Surveillance duties. ha.

So what have you been up to?

I did peek at a few of your blogs during the last few days.

Sometimes I lurked quietly and sometimes I left a comment.

The break was nice but being back is nice, too!

♥