It is a good thing I am taking a cake baking class next weekend. I tried one this morning (as we have friends and family coming over tonight to partake) and it didn't rise. That is generally my problem with cakes. Why are they so tricky? Betty Crocker can do it, so I should be able to as well, though not her kind.
Oh, and this photo . . . not my cake, but someday, maybe.

7 months minus 4 days

Of Course!

Why did it take me this long to figure it out?? Francisco - as in San Francisco, not Francisco Goya.

10 Happy Thoughts

1. Ask and you shall receive
Remember how I was complaining about this computer? That same day I e-mailed Pablo and jokingly told him I wanted a new computer for my birthday. The next day he asked me to swing by his office for a surprise. I still didn't believe it when I saw it. His work was getting rid of their older computers which are no where near as old as mine, so it is new to me! I was hoping to get it set up last weekend, but it is a bit more complicated than that to get all your info saved and organized before switching over.

2. Quiet time with Lydia
Pablo and Sahara went down to San Francisco for the weekend to celebrate Aunty Adra's 40th birthday. They drove down with Grandma and Grandpa (brave souls) early yesterday morning and are returning tomorrow. That is a lot of time in a car with a 3 year old! I packed them many treats and activities so I'm sure they had a grand time.
I had no inclination to go with. Spending quiet time with Lydia is divine. She hasn't gotten a whole lot of it, what with an energetic older sister. "Watch me dance/spin/run/climb/read/sing/jump!"

3. Strawberry season is upon us
They are red, ripe and sweet at the market and our bushes are abundant with green berries. Soon we'll be able to step out our front door in the morning to pick berries for our Sunday waffles.

4. Cornmeal, pinenut, lavender, honey cake
It was an experiment for Ms. Tracee's (one of Sahara's teachers) birthday. It turned out to be quite lovely, both in taste and appearance. The recipe is from our Williams + Sonoma baking cookbook. I think we bought it because of the photos.

5. Libelulas
I spotted our first dragonfly this morning. We usually have lots throughout the summer.

6. Trashy romance novel - 600+ pages
It isn't quite as trashy as those you see in the grocery store. It is even a hardback. The Other Boleyn Girl I'm half way through and loving it. Apparently it is now a Hollywood movie with Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Much better to read books before seeing movies, don't you think?

7. Hand-me-downs
For Lydia, from Hazel, from Sahara. Even though Hazel is less than 24 hours younger than Sahara, she is sizes smaller. I have passed along all of Sahara's cute clothes over the years and today we got them all back for Lydia. Yeah!

8. My old camera
This new one may just be too fancy for me. Even when it is on "auto" the lighting just doesn't turn out right. I pulled out my little, old Canon this morning and took a ton of quick and easy photos of our garden. I've got so many interests (gemini and sanguine that I am) - I'm seriously considering returning this fancy SLR and getting a newer version of my point + shoot.

9. Chocolate chip cookies, red wine and Jane Austen
That was dinner last night. Seriously. I used 100% whole wheat pastry flour in the cookies so I felt justified. Jane Austen as in The Jane Austen Book Club. Another book made into a movie. I actually tried reading the book years ago but it wasn't that good. The movie wasn't either but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Hugh Dancy (did they choose him because of his name?) did a pretty good job with the accent.

10. Inexplicable occurances
Like, why is this underline here all of a sudden? How do I get rid of it? Arg. Computers baffle me.
Last week, Pablo and I watched a movie after the girls had gone to sleep. Goya's Ghosts. The next morning, Sahara was rambling to herself over her morning bowl of oatmeal and I caught the name "Francisco." She said it more than once, woven into her nonsensical story. There is no way she could have gotten up and eavesdropped on the movie without us knowing, and besides, his first name was mentioned but a few times. That was the first time I heard her say the name Francisco.
?????

Dragging Around

When you were a child, did your parents drag you around to occasional events like estate sales, sports events, museums, rockhound shows, etc..? Did you take a book along and sit in the car? Did you look for other bored children to play with? Did you fuss and whine until your parents figured it was easier for all to leave?
At age 3 1/2 Sahara is still interested in all that the world and its social happenings has to offer. So when we take her around (drag may be a more appropriate word in a few years) every weekend to the numerous spring plant sales in the county, she's a trooper.



This past weekend we went to the Oregon Plant Fair sponsored by the Avid Gardeners and later to the Hardy Plant Sale. Having Sahara and Lydia with us, helped us get in and out quickly and definitely kept us from overbuying. You can only carry so much when you have to carry a baby and hold a little girl's hand through the parking lot. We aren't organized enough yet to bring a wagon like other folks d0.
The morning adventures wiped some of us out more than others.

Arg. . .

I am tempted to trade in my new camera for a new computer. When they aren't working properly they can be SO FRUSTRATING!!!!
With this sunny spring weather I prefer to be out in the garden instead of in front of this #*&@! computer.
Lydia got her first vaccines end of last week and reacted a lot stronger than Sahara ever had. I doubted the decision to get her DTaP and pneumacocal (sp?) for a few hours. She slept a lot, had a fever, was super sensitive and fussy, but seemed to be getting back to her normal self by Monday. Then Monday for dinner I made a yummy curry dish. Oops. She did not appreciate all those spices in her tummy. She even developed a rash all over her torso. Needless to say, we haven' t been sleeping so well.
We can't keep up with the garden now that all the plants (and weeds) are growing faster than our kids are growing. We have about 40 tomato starts that need to be transplanted into larger pots. Our melon, zinnia, cuke, squash, babies are coming up now!!! I love watching them peek out of the soil and unfurl in ecstatic reverence towards the sun.
Big weekend coming up with visitors and our favorite plant sale up at Mount Pisgah. Yeah!
I can't seem to get any fotos opened on my computer right now, so until this gets worked out, or I get a new computer for my birthday, use your imagination. XOXOX

Barter

Last week in our school bulletin I put in a notice looking for a family who has chickens that wants to trade me their extra eggs for some of my homemade bread. On Monday I made an extra loaf for a family whose children I have taught. The mama and youngest daughter brought over these.

Sahara and I were pleased as punch to receive this treasure. For dinner we made a yummy popover with sauteed mushrooms. There is something so satisfying about eating fresh eggs. Someday we may turn the back shed into a coop. But for now, this trade works out well for all.

May Faire

Our school celebrates the beginning of May with a fun celebration each year. Families are invited to participate in the procession which opens the May Faire. A bagpiper leads little ones adorned with flowers down the hill to the big field and then they circle around the may pole where the 4th graders dance. Kate, one of our midwives, plays the accordian while they wind 'round the pole.
Sahara was in seventh heaven racing around, being her social self, getting her face painted, playing games, eating lemon lavendar cake and coconut ice cream. Lydia was a trooper and so was Pablo for wearing her on his front the whole time.
We look forward to many more years of May Faire festivities.