at home

I don't know what I can say about my goals for these months except that they have been going along... somewhat. They are both huge, I'm way more into the organizing one at present and yet, we all must eat, and I've been doing well on making us some tasty things.

In the kitchen:

:: the dill pickles are delicious! We started eating them after 24 hours which is the earliest the recipe says to eat them. Very yummy but not very pickly yet. However, the next day... wow. Much more soaking time = much more flavour. I would definitely do this to cucumbers again. 

:: we've had some tasty chicken and guacamole tostadas, chicken ceasar salad and a summer squash corn soup as well. I am really trying to use all the vegetables from our CSA, and I think we're doing pretty well on that. 

:: I've sorted through one pile of recipe mags and pulled out a few things to save and lots to recycle. I think I need to go through all my recipes and see how many repeats I have of dishes. I almost always save recipes for chicken pot pie, for example, but I'd really like to just find one that I love and get rid of all the rest. 

:: also, on organizing recipes, I'm thinking I want some sort of code to indicate things that are good to cook during which season. In the summer, I find myself making things sometimes that are heat intensive when really, I should be making a pasta salad. Maybe different colours for different seasons? Hmm...

:: nothing yet has been done to my pantry or spice area (much to my frustration) mostly because I think I'm overwhelmed by thinking about taking everything out, getting some new containers for perishables (and the spices) and then having the disorder around before it gets back to order. 

At home:

:: we're probably 85% done with the filing cabinet but the last 15% is the stuff that takes a bit longer to sort through because we have to do some research on it first (medical, old cc's...). And it's the stuff that we never really want to deal with so... it seems more daunting.

:: I've gone through most of my clothes (again) and taken out a few more things that I think I'll wear but don't (and haven't for many years... ahem). And I've gone through Jacob's clothes and have taken out a lot of things that don't fit him well anymore. We have to make room for the fall consignment sales, you know!

That's pretty much how my goals are coming along. Like with many things in our days, sometimes a lot gets done, sometimes a little, but the journey keeps on going.

Jacobisms:

Somewhere along the way Jacob has taken up saying "ya" instead of "you". It really came out during our camping trip. "Thank ya", "Do ya want this?", "Is this for ya?". I mean, he throws it around casually like Canadians throw out "eh", but it catches me off guard every time. I think it comes from a book with some pirate talk...

Jacob was pretending he had some chicks the other day and told me that were on the ground, scavenging around. Nice. He also has been practicing the round-the-world yo-yo trick (or his version of it) with his little slinky: "You go like this and then you contract it back," he'll say. Pretty funny.

Zoo picnic and concert

The blanket in use!!

 And we are just trying to soak up as much sunshine as possible. I don't know if all of the hot weather is behind us, but the evenings and nights have been quite chilly these days. Thinking of drinking a cup of hot cider no longer gives me a panic attack knowing that the shortest season of the year here is almost over but seems like it will be nice again at some point. Not too soon. We're still very much enjoying the light, the warmth, the ability to go outside without Gortex or rain boots and all the amazing produce from the farmer's markets.