Days 8, 9 & 10

Every morning when I wake up this bunny is in the yard somewhere. It's such a regular visitor, the cats don't even get excited anymore. On Friday morning it came close enough to the house that I could snap a photo out the window.

On Saturday, Traci and I went to the Farmer's Market - the Saturday Market as opposed to the Tuesday Market mentioned earlier this week. (There is also one on Wednesdays and the first Friday of every month - this town loves its local produce...). There were local cherries this week!
After the FM, we wandered up Main Street and encountered this brass band. These sorts of things just happen here. This one was heading up a wedding parade - New Orleans style.

I didn't do much of anything today, but I did manage to finally photograph a shawl I finished about a month and a half ago. (Details on Ravelry if you're interested.)

Day 7

Last year we planted sungold tomatoes in the office garden and they went so crazy we couldn't keep up. This year we put in one sungold plant and a bunch of other varieties. A couple of weeks ago I noticed a tomato plant where I couldn't remember planting it. We have a map (somewhere ...), but I thought it was entirely possible we missed marking this one. Today I found 4 other little rouge tomato plants in odd places around the garden. I believe last years sungolds shed the fruit we couldn't keep up with and reseeded all over the place. I can't bear to pull them up, so we're bracing for a bumper crop of the tasty little orange things.

Day 6

The pole beans in the garden at my office are doing some amazing vining.

Day 5

Tuesday Farmer's Market shopping list:

• raspberries
• strawberries
• tomatoes
• fennel
• shiitake mushrooms

I did not buy any of these adorable bundles of garlic scapes from Town Farm because I haven't yet used the ones I got in my Town Farm CSA share last week.

Day 4

I left town today. But only to go to nearby Chesterfield for their adorable 4th of July parade. I can't believe I've lived here for 14 years and have never been to this event. It's a sweet, small town parade - not too long and full of lots of homemade floats and costumes. The oddest part was a person in a chicken costume wandering up and down the parade route, hugging everyone. Apparently she is there every year. She is both fascinating and terrifying to 2 year-olds.

Day 3

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Day 2

There was the arrival of Issue 1 of Lucky Peach. There was a fabulous grilled dinner (if I do say so myself). There was ping pong at Adam and Liz's (and I'm just as spazzy at ping pong as I am at every other sport that involves hitting a ball over a net).

Staying Home

I tend to travel a lot in the summer. Work trips mixed in with attempts at vacations and mini-getaways. It means that I miss out on summer at home. This year I'm determined not to do that. I have this idea that I can go the whole of July without leaving Northampton. There are so many good things here and there is nothing I need that I can't find locally. I'm going to enjoy just being here. I'm not going to set any hard and fast rules, because I might decide want to see a movie that's only playing in Amherst, or go berry picking, or go to that cute little 4th of July Parade in a nearby town with friends.

Day 1

Fish Fry Friday! A summer tradition started by my friends Bill and GL last year. An easy relaxing end to the week - a bunch of good friends sitting around unwinding and stuffing ourselves. This week included Traci's very strawberryey Pimm's Cups

Red hearts and pies

There is no reason on earth I should love Valentine's day as much as I do. (Really. It's like this.) I've decided that it has a little bit to do with the fact that I never got over the excitement of elementary school and stuffing construction paper valentines in the handmade (from milk cartons) mailboxes on each of my classmates desks. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I love an excuse to craft and I love gift giving. Apart from Christmas, there aren't any other holidays where you give gifts to lots of people. I can make crafty stuff for Halloween, but I don't (always...) give out gifts. Add to all this the tiny girl in me who secretly still loves hearts and pink (and ribbons and doilies and pretty packages) and come the first couple of weeks of February, I tend to go a little bit nuts.

This year I made lavender sachets using two of my new most favorite crafting supplies: my giant cone of bakers twine (which I ADORE and will last me for the rest of my life) and Stiffy (which I cannot discuss with out hearing a chorus of 'That's What She Saids' in my head). The latter is pretty amazing stuff - paint it on fabric, let it dry and you can cut and applique to your heart's content. No hems or fraying and it makes things, um, nice and stiff.

And, because those weren't enough... I decided to make whoopie pies for the first time in my life. And not just plain old chocolate whoopie pies (not that there's anything wrong with them...), but red velvet ones.

(sorry about the crappy phone picture, but I'd eaten way too much sugar at this point and couldn't be bothered to find my real camera...)