Weekend Photo Dump

Pictures from my long weekend and before...

Meet Kristen. 

It was her bachelorette party weekend. 

She wanted to go camping in Ellensberg.  I came a day late because I had to work, but luckily got to join in the funnest actvity ever - floating down the river.  We all hooked our tubes up and spent 3 hours floating the Yakima River.

I am super awesome. 

Some views from the middle of the river...

Ahh yes...and a fire I built.  One thing I feel I can do successfully. 

Got back from camping Friday.  Saturday we volunteered as zombies in a fun run - called, appropriately, "Run for your Lives!". 

We're slightly attractive zombies.  Kristen is on the very right.  We like to do fun runs together.  Her sister-in-law Corrie is in the middle.  She's pretty neat - I admire anyone who roller derbies.

The grossest wall ever.  Getting fake blood pitched at you.

Kristen and I are pretty convincing. 

The wrench in my weekend....I ran over a nasty rock on my way back from Ellensberg Friday.  Saturday afternoon after I arrived at Kristen's, my tire finally decided to go flat.  Thus entailed a long drawn out ordeal of AAA, tow companies, spare tires, etc.  What a pain.  This is a poor picture, but it shows my vehicle being loaded on a tow truck.  My tire and car are all better now, thanks for asking.

An easy version of jelly.  I loosely used this recipe.  And I mean LOOSELY.  Basically I threw a bunch of almost expired fruit into the crockpot - it included raspberries, cherries (pitted), and blueberries.  Then I threw in some sugar (I didn't even measure), and some lemon juice (I didn't measure that either).  A couple of hours on high, then a quick circuit through the food processor. 

It doesn't have the same consistency as jelly (obviously, because there's no gelatin in it), but it is DELICIOUS.  Its easy to spread, which makes my morning toast all the more exciting.  Did I mention it's delicious?

And I finally have my FIREPIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hopefully gonna test it out this week!  Thank heavens for friends with chainsaws.

The last resident here left a hummingbird feeder hanging off the front eaves.  I noticed this morning a hummingbird going for it.  I had no idea there were hummingbirds here.  I whipped up some hummingbird food and put out the feeder again.

Ahh yes...I started having to mark my canning jars with sharpie paint markers.  Lest I mix up the hummingbird food and the simple syrup.  Same concept, different amounts of sugar.

It is HOT here.  I only managed to mow the front yard before I gave up due to the heat.  So then I washed my car.  No pictures of that.  Maybe tomorrow I will be able to get started a lot earlier and get more done outside.  I had planned to plant my lavender this weekend as well. 

I picked up an overtime shift tomorrow night - otherwise I'd still be rocking my long weekend. 

Oh well....pretty soon time to shower off the dirt and sweat of the day and watch another couple episodes of Hulu.  One more week of work before my vacation!

Re-examine all you have been told.  Dismiss what insults your soul.
~ Walt Whitman

We interrupt this burst of cooking...

...to drop your favorite Pfaltzgraff bowl full of polenta (corn grits) on the floor.

*Sigh*

Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day.  You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
~ Emerson

My bike

Finally bought a bike yesterday! 

More importantly, I remember how to still ride a bike!!!

I look like a wobbly foal....I was trying to convince myself to put my feet on the pedals. 

 Think about it this way...the last time I rode a bike it didn't come with gears...

Success!! You can see Jayme in the background looking out for cars for me.

...and you braked by pedaling backwards.  Yes, its been that long.  And apparently yes, the adage is true - it is just like riding a bicycle.

I really wanted a helmet like this one.  Unfortunately there's no ventilation.  I got one that makes me look like a mushroom.

Now I just gotta learn the purpose of having gears. Oi.  Maybe that's why I live on a dead-end road.  Practice!

This is why I bought a bike, in case you missed it the first time.

Back to work this morning.  Double Oi.

If we wait until we're ready, we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives.
~ Lemony Snicket

Today

Spent the morning shopping.  Ended up with 16 canning jars and two pairs of shoes from Goodwill and 60 pounds of cement and tin snips from Ace Hardware.  I have projects in the works!

Its been overcast and threatening to drizzle all day.  A nice respite from the heat of yesterday.  I just hope it doesn't last too long.

It would be a nice day to take a nap before heading to the gym but I've been putzing around too long to make one worthwhile.

Oh, two things I want to do:

For the summer:  The Selflessness Project

For my birthday:  The Birthday Project.

If you can't access those links, let me know - I'm not sure if they're linked to my Facebook page at all.  Also, let me know if you want to join either.  Or have any ideas of what I can do for the birthday project!

Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

SUP

It was a beautiful evening for paddle boarding...

Calm water....

 

Sunny skies...

Victory!  :) 

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.
~ Mary Oliver

Today

The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor & style.
~ Maya Angelou

Tonight's goodness



Vegan sweet potato and pepper ravioli.  Not bad.  Took way too much effort though.  By the time I got to this picture I decided I didn't want to use rosemary (not a fan), and the thyme was popping in the oil so I didn't use very much spice.  Thats okay.  The pepper made up for a lot of it.



Berry sorbet - made with frozen raspberries and another berry which I forget the name.  I substituted coconut milk for yogurt, which makes it vegan friendly, although I still used honey.  I'm sure I could have substituted agave for that as well.  Oh yeah....delicious.

You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel.
~ Johnny Depp