Linkety Link

I have a few minutes this quiet Sunday afternoon, so I've cleaned up my blog roll--removed blogs that haven't been updated in a long time and added some fun new ones.

This is a good time to mention that I just put blogs on my roll that I enjoy reading. Just because they are on my roll doesn't constitute an endorsement--as if I can project what anyone is going to write on their blog anyway! Click through--I hope you find some new ones that you enjoy too!

Basil for Pesto

This year I really wanted to garden. But for the 3rd of the past 5 years, I had a baby instead. Ah well, babies are more fun and a whole lot sweeter.

Still, I couldn't get past the urge to grow...something. So I picked up some herb plants. Rosemary, aloe, peppermint, sage, and basil.

Since Elizabeth loves to water plants, most of them survived my Black Thumb of Death, all except the aloe, which I can't seem to keep alive no matter what I try. (The neighbor has some on his porch to which he does nothing as far as I can tell--and it thrives.) And the peppermint, which I planted under a faucet that doesn't drip. The basil was a bit yellow for awhile, but soon it greened up and filled out and now it's really beautiful.

So I picked some.

I've never made pesto before. But it sounded so good.

Pine nuts? How about toasty pecans instead?

Garlic. Parmesan. Oil.

Maybe I shouldn't show you this. The green mess doesn't do this deliciousness justice. Oh my. It was so fresh and good. I could have eaten it all from a spoon. I grew up in a home where we often sat down to meals where we'd grown virtually everything, but it's been a long time since I've had food I grew myself.

Instead of eating it with a spoon, I made a pizza. Chicken, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It would have been better with fresh mushrooms and sun-ripened local tomatoes, but it was still amazing. Even Billy liked it, much to my surprise.

Pesto pizza. I highly recommend it.

When You Are Three

Who cares if shoes are too big...

Or if they are on the wrong feet...

As long they are pink!!!

Lemonade on the Porch

One of the things that excited me most about our new house is the small screened porch in back. I've wanted a porch for all our married life, but I've never had one. However, one thing after another took precedence and I hadn't yet gotten the porch orderly enough to actually use. That was on my to-do list every day last week, but still I couldn't seem to get it done.

Billy and I have a weird sort of telepathy. Often when I have something on my mind, he does too--but we often have different purposes in mind for the same item or event, and he usually beats me to the punch. (I procrastinate.) So naturally when he scored a weight bench on Freecycle last week, the first thing he thought of was turning my beloved porch into a weight room!

The next morning I took the little ones outside and we put the porch to rights. Then we had lemonade, made from local lemons I juiced and froze last winter, to beat the sweltering heat. So nice. The porch might turn into a weight room one day, but I'm going to enjoy it for now!

Embellished Clothespins

Don't you want clothespins to match your laundry?

Then get out your Eric Carle paint set.

Mix pretty colors...

And go to town!

Flower garden colors...

Black and white...

Cherry pie? Ladybugs? What does this make you think of?

(I"m hesitant to use these on a real outdoor clothesline since I'm not sure they acrylic craft paint would stay put if they got wet. Anybody know?)

Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli.

I Haven't Stopped Blogging, Really

Life has been crazy. Four babies, guests once to several times each week, a time-consuming new writing project, washer and dryer on the blink, etc. etc. I've had a lot on my plate. I so enjoy the creativity of having a "fun blog"--in fact, this is really the only thing I do consistently for fun. But lately it's had to take a back seat. I hope to streamline my blogging so it takes less time and I can do it more often.