Secret Hideaways

While I was in San Diego a few weeks ago, Bo did some tricky and fancy carpentry for me.  As a total surprise!  Yes, he's really that thoughtful and sweet to me.  Gush, gush, gush, swoon.

This is what our kitchen island looks like as you walk in our front door.  Nothing crazy, just a regular counter with stools.

 Except for this.  This!

A super secret place to store Sarandipity supplies.  Gah, how awesome is that?!

Bo did such an amazing job on this cupboard, I love it.  It looks just like it was meant to be there!

Weekend Scrapbook 5

I gave Bo's basil plant a huge trim and ....

... turned it into pesto!

 We had pancakes (again).

 Rory's had a special message this time:

"Bossy Betty"

Yes, BB, these are just for you! :)

Yellow chin:

Bo leveled out another section of our back yard.

And Jane is thriving in her new spot.

Hibiscus flowers are so pretty!

Weekend Scrapbook 4

I cooked with polenta for the very first time:

And then, at the encouragement of a Twitter pal, I made my own polenta from scratch:

We (all) had pancakes for breakfast:

Speaking of pancakes:

Please do rewatch her fantastic take on "Roll Over." (At the 0:19 mark.)  My old roommates taught her this trick years ago, and somehow she incorporated in her own spin and twist before flopping through a traditional roll.  Some days, it takes her 3 spins before she can get through the subsequent flop over.  She's special like that :)

Weekend Scrapbook 3

Another weekend has rudely flown on by.  When will they ever learn to stick around a little longer, to move a little more slowly?

I spent some time on Saturday in the garden center at Lowe's.  Just being among the flowers and plants brings me peace.  It helps get me back to centered, in a way.  And it doesn't hurt that the Dahlias and Daisies were blooming so bright and cheery for me.

And of course, while I was there, I became enamored with a plant that just absolutely needed to go home with us.  This time it was a half-price Hibiscus, and the only one left with red blooms.

I've since named her, "Jane."

Jane has lots more buds, just ready to open up and say hello.

For scale:  Rory meet Jane.  She will block the path you've stubbornly been using, despite our having put up hazards and blocks.  She will force you to walk around so that the grass in that patch will finally have a chance to grow.  Make nice with Jane, you hear?

Jane might possibly have been my reward for accomplishing this: On Friday, I finished up an order of 216 cake pops for a local wedding and then delivered and set up on Saturday.  The groom made the stand, and I filled it up with 5 different designs and flavors of cake pops.  Hurrah for being finished! 

(For the curious, there are more photos over on the Sarandipity blog.)

Front Page News

I haven't yet blabbed in my blog about my whopping two minutes of fame, so I'm playing share-n-tell today.  Yes, I realize that many of you saw all of this last week when I posted to twitter and Facebook, using an obscene number of exclammation points.  And if you have already seen all of this, please just nod your head and smile politely, as if I'm the old lady in the house on the corner of your street with crazy hair and a never-ending supply of warm cookies. 

I should apologize for such pride and boastfulness, I really should.  But after having my photos routinely rejected by other "fancier" food sites, this was real boost to my photo-esteem.  I work so, so hard to take photos that are pretty, and it's no easy task in a kitchen with lighting that always casts an ugly shade of orange and gray to my pictures.  Orange and gray casting does not make for appetizing pictures of food.

Most of the time, I smush myself up into the corner of the wall under our dining windows, so that I can use our benches as a "table."  One day, I'll have Bo snap a picture of me sitting on the floor, smashed up against the wall, with half of me under our table, and cursing to high heaven about my large head blocking the wee bit of natural light coming in the window above.  It's the opposite of glamorous.

I got smart and snapped my Strawberries photo in the kitchen window.  Which required me to climb on the counters and balance my knees on the 2" strip of granite at the front of our sink.  And then use the window sill as a balance to steady the wobbling that occured due to my kneecaps perched on that narrow strip of granite.  I may also have cursed a few times.  But I'm thinking it was worth it, for..... this!

This was Saturday's main page on Allrecipes.com:

Feast your eyes on this particular photo, here:

This one:

Submitted by some girl called "skeddy."

Das Bigger Photo:

Wordless Wednesday: Going on My Wall

Symphony of Spring by Raceytay

Secret Life of Anemones by Raceytay

Sunlit Summer Dreams by Raceytay

The Coreopsis Effect by Raceytay