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.

The weather: Another beautiful week. Only one cloudy day but it was still warm.I took advantage of the overcast sky and washed and vacuumed our car. We are in for continued nice weather. One thing about the PNW is once summer truly hits, we don't have the "surprise" rain storms that other places have. Of course the dry weather also increases the wildfire risk. 

What we're thinking about:  I'm trying to focus on my MIL's 80th birthday party, putting together her slide show. It's so fun looking through old photos. I've thought about the lives lived in other generations. I know people always say "well, back in the day, or, when I was young"...the reality is though, every generation is different, the experiences are different, the discoveries are different. Can we really say one was better than the other, or should we simply say "it was a different time". To me, that is the better answer. Sure, there might have been things that we feel were "better", but we can't change those, so what can we do to make this time we're in the best it can be, at least for ourselves, our family's and those around us. 

What we're thankful for: This week I'm thankful for the simple things. Going out to water and pick blueberries. Watching the bunnies and deer in the yard. I'm thankful that I'm able to help my inlaws and my MIL's 86 year old friend when they have tech issues. 

Around the house: We're watering like crazy trying to keep the grass mostly green until the party for my MIL. Sheesh...it's tough though. I wouldn't mind a good dump of rain once or twice between now and then. 

My new planting area is looking good. I really like how it's coming along. My gladiolus are starting to bloom. 

The only thing I'm a little frustrated about is I have a Chinese Lantern maple. When I bought it, it was fairly small and had a few flowers on it. Those have since fallen off and no more have grown. They are so pretty, I was hoping to get more. 

A few pics above from the flowers and picking some blueberries and strawberries. 

For the love of food: Sunday we were planning on watching the Fifa Concacaf gold Cup between the US and Mexico. On the fourth,  hubby and I stopped at a local seafood shop and picked up a few dips, and then two calamari steaks with the intention of cutting them into strips and deep frying them. I also made my recipe for Jo Traceys BKD Cookbook Club, which you can find here. Both turned out amazing.  Other than that, this week has been pretty basic. I kept it fairly light and not real exciting. Hubby was gone two nights, though I did cook some chicken thighs with baked potatoes, broccoli and a vegan cheese sauce. My youngest daughter and her friend (who lives with us) were home. Other wise if it's just me, I don't always cook something. 

Oh, I did make some blueberry muffins with some of the berries I picked. 

Oh, I'll also add that one of the people we forward mail for (who travels all the time), sent us girls at work a package that to our delight contained 6 pint size containers of ice cream. OH. MY. GOODNESS. These are so good. My favorites were Mint Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate. The rest are fruity, which fruity ice cream isn't my favorite, but the strawberry was good. The company is based out of Cincinnati, Ohio and is family run since the late 1800's. How cool is that. 

For the love of books: I finished the two e-books I mentioned last week, and started on a new one that I'll use for the July Murder They Write Challenge...July's theme is a book with a cat on the cover, so I'm reading Butterfly Betrayal by Ruth J. Hartmann. I want to create some new habits when it comes to tracking the books I read and/or want to read. 

What we're watching or listening to: I've listened to a few podcast episodes that addressed Perimenopause and menopause that were interesting. I'm about halfway through the audiobook Woman Evolve by Sarah Jakes Roberts (daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes). It's pretty good. Her voice is a little hard to listen to as a narrator but I'm liking the content. 

Favorite Quote: Two quotes I shared in my BKD cookbook club post that I really liked came from the book I used, Cooking with Nonna.

"Come me, non c'e nessuno! Io sono unica al mondo!"

Like me, there is no one. I am unique in the world!

"Make sure you ask your questions, because time goes on and people pass away, and you'll never know some things"

Favorite photo(s): One thing I love about airports is all the neat artwork you see throughout them. 

While walking to my gate at PDX I noticed this wall of gorgeous botanical prints. They are absolutely stunning. The artist Deb Stoner does amazing work. 

The photo above and below are at the Chicago Midway airport on the side of one of the restaurants.  I just love the uniqueness of them all. 

I spotted this on one of my walks while in Ohio...I was convinced it was real until I took the picture and zoomed in closer. It fooled me. 

Random or not so random things: We had a good fourth. My inlaws came up as well as a few friends for dinner, and then we walked down to our neighbors to watch their fireworks. He always does an amazing job. On the 5th the grandkids were back at the property so we did some small fireworks with them. 

The back of my leg is almost back to 100%. I may go for one more treatment but then should be good to go. WOW...that soft wave therapy is amazing. It's a bit painful during it, but man. I'm sold on it. My FIL has been doing it for foot and heel pain and it's so much better.  '

I think I have gotten spoiled having my oldest daughter and her family here. Seeing them daily is a joy. The fourth of July weekend they were gone at my SIL's family's house which is still in town but they did a campout with his siblings and an aunt and her family. Then last Tuesday they flew to Mexico for a week. Kind of miss not having them around. When their house is done, they won't be far but still not right across the grass. 

I didn't get around to doing any of the extra link parties last week. I just didn't quite have the time and I made two very early airport runs so on those days I was just too tired. Hopefully this next week I'll be back at it. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin