amy – Page 20

A pond party

July 11, 2013

on a very humid and sticky saturday last weekend we loaded in to the car all hot and bothered and headed out to a pond party.
it was a gorgeous spot in delaware on the property of a friend’s grandparents home.
the cement bottom pond was clear and refreshing and the rope swing was incredible.

everyone brought along a picnic and we ended the evening with fireworks and sky lanterns.
we walked back to our car with flashlights to the song of frogs and cicadas.
we drove home with the windows all the way down, our bodies cooled down to the core.
it was the perfect summer evening.

Hand pies

July 7, 2013

my new favorite way to enjoy summer fruits (other than just eating them fresh from the fields) is filling hand pies with them.
i love the simplicity of this recipe and the ease of bringing them along to a picnic or party without worrying about plates and forks.
and they make the perfect breakfast. a homemade pop tart!

summer fruit hand pies
makes about 15 pies

dough
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla

filling
your favorite summer fruits cut up or whole mixed with sugar and lemon zest

whisk together flour, soda and powder. with electric mixer beat butter and sugar til fluffy. add egg cream cheese and vanilla until well combined. add flour mixture and beat until smooth. form dough into ball and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

pull out dough. on lightly floured board roll into 4 1/2 inch rounds and about 1/8 inch thick. transfer rounds on parchment lined baking sheet to freezer for 30 minutes.

pull out dough rounds and let stand at room temperature for a few minutes. spoon a tablespoon of filling onto one half of round and brush edges with water. fold round in half and fork around edge to seal. repeat with rest of rounds and transfer pies to freezer for 30 minutes.

preheat oven to 375 degrees. pull out pies and sprinkle evenly with sugar. bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. cool on wire rack.

serve warm or at room temperature.
enjoy!

A fourth of july tradition

July 6, 2013

i know i’ve told you before but i just love my neighborhood.
many traditions have been formed here over the years that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
i love thinking of my girls carrying them all with them wherever they may go.

one of our favorites is our neighborhood fourth of july party.
our neighbor travels to new hampshire to buy an amazing selection of fireworks each year.
we host a big potluck and then at dark the show begins.
people from all over town come out to see the festivities.

good hometown fun.

Chickens take baths too

July 3, 2013

nothing is more entertaining than watching my hens take a bath. a dust bath that is, the ultimate spa treatment for a chicken

they dig a shallow hole, loosen up the dirt and toss it up letting it fall in between their feathers and skin.
this little ritual helps keep them clean of lice and parasites.

it also seems to be a social and relaxing event.
once one starts a bath the others soon follow till they are all dirty and happy.

when they are finished they all hop up shake off the dirt and begin preening and cleaning their feathers.
i read that fireplace ash makes for good bath dust. now i can save my winter ashes for my roses AND my hens.

call me weird but i just love to sit and watch their quirky little ways.
it’s better than tv!

Rainy days

July 2, 2013

it’s been very rainy here. there has been a thunderstorm almost every day for the last two weeks.
but there are little respites here and there to weed, go for a walk and we even got to romp on the beach for an entire day on saturday.
we are hoping there will be a break on thursday for some fireworks, friday for some berry picking and then on saturday for a pond party.

i don’t seem to mind the rain and clouds all that much. must be my irish roots.
i do appreciate not having to water the garden. things are really happy out there.
my houseplants even got to enjoy as they went on a little summer vaca the past few days to drink up the rains.

you can’t really see our living room floor as it’s covered in board games.
and we’re going to the movies tomorrow.

Life has been busy

June 20, 2013

life has been busy.
our new project is almost complete on the outside but still has a bit of interior work to be done.
our gardens are lush and jungle like from the extremely rainy spring we have had.
the weather has been gorgeous as of late with no humidity and crisp cool nights.
earl the squirrel continues to visit us daily for nuts.
the other day the contractors had the back door propped open. i came down to find earl in the kitchen to say good morning.
he’s part of the family now.

p.s. many of you have mentioned or written that you can no longer read or make comments. because things have shifted a bit here and are still in transition you may not have noticed that you just need to click on the title (which is now the date at the top of each post) and it will then lead you to the individual post where you can comment at the bottom.

don’t be shy!!!

I Believe in the Thrifting Gods

June 14, 2013

i set out yesterday for a morning of thrifting looking mostly for lamps and found everything but.
the thrifting gods were definitely with me and blessed me with quite a haul!

i was overjoyed to find many beautiful pieces of pottery. vases, jugs, pots….and oh that lovely set of mugs.
the pot with the lid has a wire handle which will be perfect for compost. because even your compost pot needs to be pretty too!
i love the wooden string winder and neat little hanging basket with the wooden handle.
i have a little addiction to hanging planter pots and loved the blues and browns of this one.
and i just can’t seem to have enough wooden beaded necklaces. perfect for sprucing up any summer outfit.
and they may just continue to live in that pretty little woven basket that was also found.

i love how everything looks together and didn’t really want to pull this little family of finds apart at first.
but i am having fun as i slowly scatter them around giving them new homes, creating new vignettes (my favorite past time) and even tucking some away as gifts.

A summer manifesto

June 10, 2013

i’ve been dreaming lately.
of traveling, of new places and adventures.
i want to save up for the 4 of us to travel across the country for an entire summer four or five years from now.
not quite sure how we’ll do it. but i’ll keep dreaming. cause dreams can come true!

for now i will dream a little smaller and plan a few camping trips to new sites. i’ll find a new swimming hole, host an outdoor movie night in our backyard and go for a picnic on the beach. i’ll ride a canoe, go for more walks after dinner, venture into the city for gelato on really hot nights and make peach pie.
well then, i believe i just wrote myself the beginnings of a summer manifesto!
more to come……

Over at Tend

June 9, 2013

a little post up over at tend today.

The bones of our home

June 2, 2013

living amongst construction has not been as bad as i thought.
in fact i find it sort of beautiful.
i feel more connected to my house than ever as it’s bones are revealed.

we have been finding old photos and papers in the walls.
and i now more than ever want to do research on the folks that lived here before us.
although we completely gutted this house and made it our own from day one, it was someone else’s before. i forgot all about that until we recently began to peel away layers.

some things i do know or have heard through the grapevine….
our house was built by the local prisoners in 1920.
a horticulturalist who lived here grew many plants under lights in the basement.
the chief of police committed suicide in the basement (hoping this isn’t true)
the last family to live here raised 5 boys in this house.

there is so much i do not know.
and i can’t help but wonder who will live here after us.

i have tucked a few photos and notes in the walls to let them know who we are.

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