Summer Solstice and super moons

 And here we are, smack in the beginning of summer then. Today is hot and muggy, and not raining. It poured like a monster yesterday. Complete with lightning and thunder and even some hail here and there.  Supposed to have thunderstorms today and tomorrow, but right now the sun is shining and the sky is an incredible blue. We'll see what happens.  They are also predicting 90 degrees, but it's 11:45 right now and only 71.  So..we'll see.  

 Yesterday our little solstice celebration very nearly got rained on...we dodged it a bit and wound up inside for part of it and outside for much of it.  We sat in a circle and shared favorite summertime childhood memories, and then wrote a haiku based on it, or on what we heard from others in the circle.  Then we walked around the drive and took big sidewalk chalk and wrote our Haiku's on the drive. The we walked around and read them. It was fun. I took a few pictures but didn't take one of my own.  sigh...I should have photographed them all--they were quite good.  We made music with different instruments--tambourines, drums, kazoos, and all manner of drum and gong type things. Then we had home made healthy snacks that everyone brought and in the end, turned the sun staff as we always do.  This marks about 5 years or more of our attendance at these rituals. We usually have a bigger turnout, but I think the impending storms kept everyone away this year. We still had about 12 people I think. It was good.

  I made a new recipe, after hemming and hawing for a couple of days about what to take. I had sort of settled on fruit kabobs, (because they would be FUN) but at the last minute didn't want to make the drive to buy organic fruit. So I started looking around and thinking..hmmm...little tarts maybe? Made with my own peaches or blackberries ?  Or just trail mix ?  Or...and then the Irishman suggested granola bars (which are way too much work for a last minute thing, and I didn't want to anyway) and so I came in here and googled healthy snacks/bar recipes. I found a recipe from  Seattle Farmers Market Girl  for an almond cranberry bar that promised to be addicting and simple. And it wasn't an overly sweet thing--the only sugar in it was the sweetened condensed milk. I looked over the ingredients and the only thing I wasn't sure about was a can of sweetened condensed milk, which I knew I could easily get here in town. I had a can but it was outdated, seriously outdated. LOL  So, I ran in , got the stuff and came home. It was very easy and especially good.  I'll post a recipe for it next time I make it and take pictures. They ate the whole 9x13 pan, except for one bar.  So, I guess we can call it a success.


  The Irishman worked in the gardens all morning, weeding and mulching. He got a LOT done before the rains began. It's looking good out there. This morning I noticed the butternut squash plants have about doubled in size in the last few days.  We are eating greens out of the garden now, and  I am SO loving it.  Big nice salads, all gussied up with fresh basil, cilantro, parsley and lemon balm out of the herb pots. I love summer.


   I have a few chores this morning... I just pulled down the hummingbird feeders to clean them and fill. My son came by and hung them back up for me. I am going to make laundry soap today, and am trying the dry form this time. I stopped on my way home yesterday and got the stuff I didn't have.  I am having a slow lazy day today.  I am thinking about big salads for supper...maybe with some nice garbanzos and kidney beans on it if I have any. Need to check out the pantry. I used the last of the sugar making hummingbird nectar and I am out of onions too, so a short road  trip might be in order.  I've been really craving some 3 bean salad lately...I might pick up the ingredients to make that too.  Night before last I opened a can of wild caught Pacific pink salmon and cooked up salmon croquettes for supper. I try to keep tuna and canned salmon in the pantry because they are such great protein sources, and make a wonderful last minute meal in one form or another. And they keep for a long long time. I found some corn in the freezer that I did a couple of years ago, some green lima beans and made a pan of succotash. There was some leftover salad from our garden, and I chilled and opened a jar of applesauce that I canned too. It was really good. My pantries are emptying out...it's time for another inventory in there and cleaning up day. I've been trying to use things up and rotate things and do a better job of storage management. Anyone who lives like this knows how important it is to keep things used up and ordered.  All part of the deal. So I know I need to buy some non-perishables to restock this dwindling pantry, but I want to make sure about what I have. Nothing worse than going in there to look for something you need and find 10 bottles of mustard and not a bean in sight.  lol

There are 2 kiddos here, one little one, and you can barely see her fingers on the staff, she's so overshadowed by her big brother. Turning the sun staff.

You get a better view of the river in this shot, as well as little Iris. La Vista is up on the bluffs overlooking the Mighty Mississippi.

Our fearless leader, clowning around as we're putting things away...



  Alright. I have bits and bobs of things to do,  ponderings of supper meals to make,  dog hair to pick up and slipcovers to straighten. Nothing big on today's agenda, just a slow and simple living Sunday...


  Hope all's well in YOUR little corner of the planet!



Namaste.