Summertime

Since I haven't posted much this summer (sorry Carol), 

here's a little recap so far! 

Summer is always a big produce time around our little homestead.  Because of the warm winters the past couple years, the stone fruits have been less abundant.   However, we did get a good crop on one plum tree, about 50 peaches, and over 100 lbs of apples!   I made applesauce, froze apple pie filling for later, and made plum sauce, a favorite.  Also, we give lots away to family and friends!

 

Our veggie garden has been great!  We planted about 20 tomato plants (mostly heirloom), yellow and green zucchini, cucumbers, lots of herbs, and our strawberry patch is going strong!  Here's a typical pick a few times a week. 

 

This spring, I "retired" from being the Program Coordinator of The Master's Kids, a wonderful mommy-and-me preschool program at our church.  For five years I have been blessed to run TMK, and have enjoyed so many wonderful friendships as a result.   At graduation this year, the moms gave me a generous gift -- time away with Rich at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.  Ojai is a great little town to visit and the Inn is one of the most beautiful and deluxe places you could ever stay.  We enjoyed two days of R & R, wonderful scenery, and delicious food.  Here's our fab villa.

 

 

 

 


Below is the gorgeous view from our poolside lounges! 

 

Poolside selfie :-)

 Delicious and beautiful poolside food

For the second summer, we have hosted two pastor friends as they are doing their doctorates at the Master's Seminary.   Will is from New Jersey and Nicholas from Baton Rouge.  They come for two weeks and it is always so much fun!   After picking them up at LAX this year, we hit the newly opened Grimaldi's Pizza in El Segundo.  If you've ever been to New York you know what Grimaldi's is.  We are so happy to have one in Los Angeles now!  Best pizza!

I've been into making popsicles this summer.  I purchased this mold and it's fantastic! I wanted one I could make with popsicle sticks (vs. plastic base) so the mold wouldn't be tied up, and this one is perfect.

After making the popsicles, I pop them out, wrap in waxed paper, and store in freezer bags.  That way I can make different kinds and always have a good selection on hand.  The one below is my favorite -- key lime.   It is simply 2 cups organic greek yogurt, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup fresh lime juice, and 1/3 cup honey.  I mix it all up in the Vitamix and pour into the molds.  Sometimes I sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top after I pour for the "pie crust."   Rich's favorite is a fudgesicle that I make with coconut milk, raw cacao powder, cinnamon & honey.  There are tons of great recipes on Pinterest.
A healthy and refreshing summer dessert!

We also remodeled the living room a little!  It had been over 12 years since we last painted, and it was time for a change.   We had a deep khaki green which is now updated to a deep gray.  It looks nice.  We sold our old furniture on Craig's List and purchased two slipcovered Ektorp sofas from IKEA.   I could write a whole post extolling the virtues of Ektorp sofas....  but my top three reasons to buy them are:  1) affordable  2) comfortable  3) machine washable covers!!  They are the simply the best.

We also painted our mantle white.  

It was a honey colored stain that wasn't too attractive.  :-)

Our fireplace is quite the funky attraction of the room.  We hope to someday remodel it to better fit our ranch home style, but for now a fresh coat of paint hopefully helped a little.

Mid July we had a great family vacation in San Clemente with the kids!  For the first time, we used VRBO and found a great beach house we could all stay in.  It was a great experience! We had a fabulous 5 days together, hanging at the beach, cooking simple meals at the house, playing corn hole, tennis & Sequence games, and just relaxing & reading. I seriously cried when it was over!

We had a gorgeous view from the backyard.  

A perfectly placed hot tub made watching the sunsets amazing.

 

My girls  :-)  We made the jacuzzi bath temperature for the baby and she loved  it!

The kids cooking dinner (Emma multitasking!)

And that little baby sure made the trip lots more fun!
Grammie and Pop sure love our little girlie.  My favorite was waking up to her little coos each morning and all the snuggles.

Naps on Grammie are the best (for me - and I think Darsy, too!)

Aunt Nay :-)



Uncle Drew

  

Too bad everyone can't look this cute in a bathing suit. 

Love our little family!

After we returned from our trip we (finally) sold our RV.  We've been campers for more than 28 years but now with the grandbaby, the beach house thing is working out much better for us :-)
Farewell... yard hogger!!



A culinary and fellowship highlight of the summer was lunch at my dear friend Alik's mom's house.   This had been a long time wish of mine to come into Araxy's kitchen and taste all the Armenian specialties that Alik had told me about for so many years.   Just look at this feast she made for us, all from scratch.  
She literally cooked for days!!  



This was puff pastry with a spinach filling - YUM!
  



Incredible homemade dolma, plus a lovely creamy tomato salad...

 

These veggie patties and meat-filled balls were to die for.

 

It was seriously hard to pick a favorite but if I had to I would say the homemade falafel.  Oh.my.word.  Best I've ever tasted. Alik's dad fried it right on the spot, it was so crispy and fresh.  And the tahini sauce ... I could take a bath in.



Araxy crowned the meal with special Armenian coffee and her homemade baklava (oh and also another un-pictured comforting pudding-like dish made with farina, and topped with pine nuts)  We were STUFFED but it didn't matter.  We ate dessert anyways, and a lot of it.  :-)



Alik and her mom, Araxy.  She is a woman who loves the Lord and loves others ... what a sweet & generous lady.  And she raised a pretty neat daughter, too.  :-)



The very privileged guests!!   
We even got care packages to take home.



Alik's 90 year old grandmother lives with Araxy and she was just the sweetest.  She doesn't speak English but she sure loved our visit and was especially happy to meet/hold baby Darsy.  She melted my heart!
 



And in case you were wondering, Buttercup's summer has been going well, too.  :-)
She has been in the pool more than us!
She has also enjoyed some outings in the Jeep with Mom & Dad.  
We just introduced her to a local dog park, too.
She's like the new awkward kid at school, but I think she likes it. 

 

And Darsy says "I love you" in ASL.  She's brilliant, you know.

Princess BUTTAcup

{If you're not a Princess Bride fan, you may not get my title!}

I'm finally getting around to blogging about our little puppy girl Buttercup who we've had A MONTH already! She's doing so well and is a good little girl.  Don't get me wrong-- it's a lot of work (and it's tiring) to have a puppy who has a "schedule."  It's almost like having a baby!   I cannot go out for more than 2 hours at a time, since that is about all the time you can expect a puppy to wait without needing to relieve themselves.  :-)  And since our yard is not totally "puppy proof" when she is outside I must join her.  When she is inside she is either in her crate or in the kitchen closed off with baby gates.  :-)  I don't let her wander around the house just yet. She is about 90% housebroken now, and has begun communicating her need to go out, vs. just letting go on the floor, but I don't trust her fully yet.  So she keeps me busy!

We were very pleased that she came to us with the skill of sleeping through the night (PTL!). I expected some sleepless nights and bleary-eyed 3 am flashlight led potty runs, but alas she pleasantly surprised us.  She goes in her crate around 9pm and Rich gets her up around 5:00am.

Having her has reminded me of how much we adore labradors. I feel a little guilty when people ask where we got her (at a breeder). I know there are tons of pups in shelters needing homes, but we just love the purebred labs.  They have the BEST temperaments and love EVERYONE.  Not a mean bone in their bodies.  This is super important to me as she will likely be here when the grandkids start coming.  :-)  And I think it goes without saying that labs are some good looking dogs.  They are also super fun and love adventure like swimming and hiking.  Our kids adore her and she is already a very loved family dog.

Though it's cramped our empty nester style a bit (not gonna lie), we are really enjoying her.  It's a little hard that she can't really be out in public yet unless we carry her (and she has gone from 8 lb. to 15 lb. so it's getting harder to tote her around).  This is due to the fact that her vaccinations are not complete and the prevalence of canine parvovirus.  In two more weeks she can walk on a leash in public places and we are looking forward to that! 

As you'll see in the pics, she's getting along very well with our 13 year old chocolate lab, Missy. I think Missy has gotten a little perkier, too having a puppy friend.   I tell you, Missy has the patience of Job.   Buttercup does everything annoying possible to her.   Sometimes she barks at her, but I know she wouldn't hurt her.  They have a cute relationship.

Enjoy the pics!

 

First day home - 8 weeks, 8 lb.

 

 

9 weeks

First outing -- Chipotle on Rich's birthday.

A few pics of her all tuckered out ...

 

Don't think of it as "sleeping" but rather "recharging" :-)

Fun with sissy Missy

11 weeks - last Saturday afternoon at Montrose Arts/Crafts Festival.
People continuously stopped us to admire her cuteness  :-)