FORTY. I didn’t freak out in the way I did when I turned thirty. I feel so good and confident in my skin that I know forty can’t be all that bad. I threw myself a fabulous birthday party (more on that later), and I did some thinking. Thinking about what I want from […]

As I type this, it is 64 degrees outside. I know my Northern friends might laugh at that, but for those of us in the South, it is nice and chilly. I am not complaining one little bit. And it’s supposed to get down to 53 tonight! I have my wool socks on and my […]

Fall is still a long way off for us down here in the south. But really, I’m seeing it in tiny ways. The light mostly. Not only when the sun rises and sets, but also the quality of the light.  It’s thinner. More golden. Another sign that fall is coming? Figs. I caught some figs […]

It’s hard to believe that strawberry season has already come and gone. We recently went strawberry picking and made a giant load of jam. We picked 20 pounds of hydroponically grown unsprayed berries. Does anything in the world taste as good as a sun-warmed just-picked strawberry? I made a double batch of jam and froze […]

I made this apron from a beautiful white pillowcase.  The pillowcase is an odd size, it must have been a huge throw pillow or something. I really like the apron, and I look forward to wearing it when I cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family.  It will be the first time I’ve had the whole […]

I spent the past weekend processing the 73 pounds of tomatoes I picked on Friday, and it was exhausting work.  But now I have thirteen quarts of canned tomatoes, five pints of frozen oil-packed oven roasted tomatoes, thirteen pints of tomato chutney, and six pints of tomato jam.  Whew!  That’s a lot of chutney?  Do […]

Oh hello there.  I’ve missed you.  I am still here. We went tomato picking at our local farm today.  One dollar for a full plastic bag.  That equates to about 14 pounds of tomatoes for a dollar.  How could I pass that up?! I spent a total of five dollars on 73 pounds of tomatoes, […]

We celebrated our first May Day today.  Being a cross-quarter day, marking the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, it signifies the peak of spring, and the forthcoming summer.  We joined together for flower crafting, singing, dancing, playing and feasting.  Enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, as many many before us have.  […]

I love the springtime.  It’s my favorite season here in Florida, and it can be fleeting.  I love the whole spring holiday aesthetic: pastel colors, birdies, eggs.  What’s not to love about that?  I vowed to not let the holiday sneak up on me this year but it did anyway.  It seems that every year […]

It was The Daddy Monkey’s birthday yesterday. The kids played with their grandparents while we saw priceless works of art and ate sushi.  Then we went toy shopping (of course). It was a rare treat, being alone together for that long. (Our longest ever without kids, I think.) I made this coconut cake. I made […]