All week long the only thing I have thought is – sunshine.  I need sunshine.

There’s been endless rain.  So much endless rain.

 

 

funny

 

This week two different people sent me a photo of pickle flavored cotton candy.

I don’t even really like pickles all that much.  Although I do love cotton candy.

 

 

fashionable

 

Tis the season for beanies and sock hats, toboggans and woolies.  Or whatever you call them.

Should I try the beanie with a hole cut out for your ponytail?

 

 

flavorful

 

It’s everywhere.  I know it’s not exclusive to any one person or to any one restaurant really.  But I first fell in love with it at Lost Valley Ranch.  First heard a reason and a why and a purpose, a vision, at Lost Valley.

Charcuterie.

A word as hard to spell as it is to say.

And yes, I said vision.  That sounds corny.  Or pretentious.  Maybe.  But I don’t care.  There can be a vision for charcuterie if you want there to be one.

And the one I heard at Lost Valley was about providing a gathering place, a slow food, where people had to literally be physically near one another and to share and to walk around and to linger over a long tray of food.

At the ranch there would be a horseback ride and rounding the corner and seeing into a grove of trees there would be an oasis waiting for us.  A long table set under the trees.  Hay bales with quilts to sit on.  And the entire table turned into a gigantic charcuterie board.  Laden with cheeses and fruit, jam and crackers, croissants and Nutella.  Cold ice water and lemonade.  It was as dreamy as it sounds.

 

 

Since those Lost Valley trips I have been keeping my eye out for a board of my own.  Something pretty and something long enough to really provide a good spread for my family or my friends.

Last weekend at TJ Maxx, there it was.  Just one remaining.  Simple and long, inset handles underneath.  Just pretty and perfect.

We try to have Tea Time at least once a week.  A time where you can read library books, drink tea or hot cocoa and share what we read and what we think in the quiet calm of an afternoon.  I don’t pick what you read during that time and I don’t demand a narration.  But spontaneous ones pop up throughout the hour.  And I get to bask in some precious reading time too.

 

 

faithful

 

Piper has been volunteering at Carl Sandburg’s goat farm and park since the school year began.  Although she asked to volunteer and actually does enjoy it once she is there, it’s been a real challenge for her to rise and shine with a happy heart each Tuesday morning earlier than normal.

 

 

This week we finished up her last rotation of volunteer days and I definitely felt a little relief at the upcoming schedule change and at having a bit of Tuesday mornings back.

She’s learned about faithfully following through on a task and about showing up.

 

 

And I’m proud of her.

 

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