Jake is 15!

At 2:27 pm my first child was born and in the blink of an eye, I am the mother of a 15-year old son of whom I am very proud. As a first born, I know how much it sucks to be the first born and Jake has handled it with grace. Easy going and responsible, perhaps his greatest accomplishment to date is being a really great big brother.

Jake "gets" me, never ceases to make me laugh and only seldom succumbs to teenage-dom (or is it dumb?) that leaves me utterly annoyed.

This year he starts high school and though, if I think about it too much I want to cry at how quickly time has passed, I look very forward to the coming years of many, many laughs. And watching him achieving all he is capable of.

Yesterday we celebrated with family and a one bowl chocolate cake topped with the perfect chocolate frosting. Grammy just had a birthday ending in a zero and so we celebrated her accomplishment, too. I know, she doesn't look 50 does she?

Happy Birthday, Cakey and Grammy! We all love, love, love ya.

The Beginning of the End of an Era

What does it mean when you find your 15-year old son's childhood blanket in a ziploc bag on his desk?

Never mind. I don't want to know.

It's a Nyagous!

The first tomato of the season from one of our roof top plants.

A prolific, rare, Russian tomato variety.  Beautiful, smooth, round, "black" tomatoes that are dark mohagany with dark grey-green shoulders. Nyagous is a wonderfully firm and blemish-free, 6 oz. tomato with lots of sweet, complex fruit flavors and a clean acidic finish. Up to 6 fruits to a cluster. A good market variety that has become a favorite of the Russian varieties. Nyagous is resistant to cracking. 

Thank you TomatoFest for the info.

Thank you Pat for the plant.

Is it too early to say it was the best tomato I've ever eaten in my life?

They're Baaaackkkk....

Last week when the horrible heat broke for about 10 minutes. The kids came out.

It didn't last long because of the choking humidity.  Still it was nice to see the sleepy neighborhood wake up - if only for a while.

Making Probiotic Soda

Once again, Rebecca was kind enough to share one of her many skills and teach in the Nourish kitchen. This time - pro biotic sodas. My new favorite thing and current beverage addiction. (though those peach-rosemary rose spritzers were a pretty good sweltering day drink.)

Again, I got to sit on the opposite side of the counter and learn from a pro how to make my own natural soda. Full of 40 pro biotics, this fizzy beverage is not only good for your gut but tasty and really, really refreshing on a hot day.

The method is really easy and she shared three different ways to flavor your drinks. We also experimented with some of the many (many, many) fruit and herbal syrups I've been cranking out.

The fresh fruit version was made with wild blackberries Rebecca foraged herself. Love this woman.

And now we wait.

A few days later we are able to bottle it. This is a good way to recycle Grolsch and other clamp top bottles. Another few days on the counter then into the fridge.
 

Slightly sweet, bubbly refreshment on a ridiculously oppressive July day.

And then, I begin again.

A Water Park Adventure with One

A week ago with the 3 big kids gone to Nantucket (I know, right?) Doug and I took the opportunity to enjoy the baby one as an only child. We took him for a quick trip a water park in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

There were many, many, many trips up lots and lots and lots the stairs to shoot down the tube slide. I loved it almost as much as Henry did. FYI - it's even more fun if you scream the whole way down.


The shallow pools gave Doug and I a chance to sit and relax while Henry played.

I love to catch them having a wonderful time in their own little world.

Hey, who's the hot tub stud?

Henry made a new friend.

Can you believe our luck? It was Lego weekend. In the lobby is a huge moose redolent of the resorts mascot. Built by one of 11 certified Lego Master Builders. Henry was in heaven. Only children also get to build a Lego John Hancock building at an inflated rate.

After leaving the resort, a we stopped at the home of a wonderful friend. She let Doug take Henry on a spin on one of their scooters.

And the moral of the story? The brothers and the sister will be so jealous of....the scooter ride.

The free stuff is always the highlight.

Just as I had suspected all along....

Dog Days of Summer Redux

Well, here we are again.  The oppressively humid days of a mid-western summer. This sight, Henry giving Junie the ice cream cone he hadn't finished, made me think of the last time I shared the dog days of summer.

Murray got a popsicle - or a popsible as Henry called it since he was still small(ish).

Guess the dog days of summer are always a sure thing.

Enjoy the air and pour an iced tea.