Weekend Coffee Share....Come Sit with Me

It's another week of Weekend Coffee Share. I always love everyone's posts. Are you like me and try to visit everyone? It doesn't always happen but I try. I have loved getting to know different bloggers and I figure if they take the time to write a post, I'll find the time to visit, even if it's a week later. I truly enjoy what you all share and I often learn so much. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare.

If we were having coffee we'd probably talk about:

The fact that I intentionally didn't post while on vacation, and then completely missed the deadline last week after I got back. Life! So we'll do a little catch up. I'm also pushing it for this week too. I may skip a few of the usual sections. 

The weather: While on vacation, the weather was good, but not as warm as last year. I went about the same time, but you never know, AND being on the shores of Lake Erie is another thing all together. We had one full night and day of rain that let up in the afternoon. The other days were pleasantly warm and slightly overcast. 

6/16-6/21: Here at home, the weather has been hot a few days, but then rainy and balmy on the other days. Wednesday, was off and on with rain, clouds and sun breaks. I managed to get out and do a few things in between it all. We had one major dumping of rain and the kids got a kick out of watching me run around trying to move things. Tuesday was beautiful, and today (Thursday) should be nice, but then Friday and Saturday are supposed to rain.

This weeks update: Saturday and Sunday did bring some rain and it literally rained on a parade...our towns parade that is...more on that later. As I'm typing this, I was hearing something...I looked up and lo and behold it's raining. Of course, that's fine, means I don't have to water. June in our area is always a mixed bag. But after July 4th you're pretty much guaranteed to have great weather for the next few months. See below...but um...who put that 93 day in there...no thanks!

Around the house:  All of my plants survived me being gone. My blueberries are going crazy and I should get a good crop. I'll share a photo of the side planting area. I have to keep telling myself not to buy any more plants. I need to see how the ones I have fill in. We're still working on making the decision for a future garage/ADU.

For the love of food: Food to me is, yes for nourishment, but it's also intentional, comforting (in a good way, not as a way to numb feelings) and I thoroughly enjoy cooking and feeding people. While on my trip, we ate out twice, and I had an amazing burger, and also an equally amazing perch sandwich, which I ate on Fathers Day and paid tribute to my dad. My aunt made us crab cakes, steak and we had shrimp stir fry. Back on the homefront I made taco salad, steak and broccoli stirfry, and keto feta burgers in a tomato cream sauce which is a favorite. We've also had chicken thighs with cauliflower mash (I actually add one potato to the cauliflower mash which helps the texture and makes non cauli lovers happy). I shared my BKD cookbook club recipe here. The theme was comfort food. 

For the love of reading: I posted my WOYBS post here. I did quite a bit of reading in May. While on my trip I finished 1 1/2 books. I read the book Erie Ending by Christy J. Kendall. I picked it because I was heading to the exact area that the book took place in. That was fun to read about areas I was familiar with and visiting. My aunt and I even took a detour over to Catawba Island. Next year when I visit I'd like to visit the refuge it was based on. I also finished reading Panic in the Panhandle by J.C. Kenney. For my physical book club, I finished reading No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack. I finished most of it on the plane ride home. All great reads. I'm working on my passalong book club book Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall, I won't get it finished before I have to mail it to the next person.

What we're listening to or watching: I had hoped to listen to a few audiobooks on the plane, but none of the Southwest flights I was on had phone chargers and I didn't want to run my battery down. So, no listening. I had started Woman Evolve: Break up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life by Sarah Jakes Roberts, but then finally got the book by Alton Brown that I had on hold forever, Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations. So I'm listening to that first since the wait was 9 weeks and the other audiobook was available anytime. We also watched a mystery movie called Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop. That was a good watch. Of course my usual podcast listens. I did listen to a Mel Robbins Podcast episode called The Ultimate Guide to Womens Hormones. It was very interesting. 


Favorite photo(s): 

The Tuesday I got back, the weather was nice, so the kids and I headed about 10 minutes north and got ice cream and played along the river. 

While in Ohio, I went through some photo albums my aunt had. I LOVE this one of my grandma and grandpa (or Ma and Bapa as we called them). 

I love a good sunset and Ohio doesn't disappoint. 

Random or not so random things: I had a great visit with family. It was more low key than usual and I honestly didn't do as much exploring and walking as I have in the past. That's okay. Any time I get to spend with my aunts is a good time. 

Last week I finished the above puzzle. It was a fun one. I just started the one below. This one could prove tricky. 

Last weekend was our towns annual festival (Planters Day). My hubby and the grandkids took part in their work truck/trailer...the kids loved it and I'm sure they were much warmer than all of us watching. It rained the entire time and was chilly. It didn't help that I stepped in two puddles and soaked my feet. I did not choose wisely.

After the parade, the fire department in collaboration with his company did a fire demo. Encouraging people to have working smoke alarms and consider sprinklers. It was very informative. We don't always realize how flammable the items we use in our homes today are, as compared to years ago. The fire on the left took less than 5 minutes to get to this point. The one on the right triggered the sprinklers in enough time to put out the fire before it got too out of hand. They also said that the open floor plan is actually one of the worst plans to have when it comes to fire spreading. yikes. 

This ghost busters car was fun. 

My father in law and I braving the weather. We were smart and brought a canopy.

I got two new shirts from a company called eternal light. I loved these. I actually got the flag shirt free. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin