Greg and I bought these summer strolling straw hats a few months back. Fine breezes filter through the weave and can be shaped, via the magic of hot water, any which way. Our only beef was a lack of personality, so I beaded hatbands, officially jazzing them up. Or maybe cowpoked up? Whatever lack I have in ranch vocabulary is made up with their style. Greg’s is the one on the left. Each probably took about 20 hours and hundreds of beads to make, so if you’d like to give it a try, get ready to invest some serious time.

The butterflies this year! Eeek….

It’s peach season, y’all! I made peach rhubarb pie and two flawless batches of jam, beautifully colored by some of the rosiest fruits I’ve ever seen. Definitely worth all the chopping and sweating over roiling pots. And a note of recommendation, my dear neighbor Barbara, who has decided her canning days are long over, gave me her steam canner. If you don’t already own one, I cannot recommend it more highly. Instead of filling a GIANT pot with water to seal your treasures, you use only a few cups! No more heavy pot hassle or jars breaking after bumping into each other. My canning world has been revolutionized.

I smoked more trout and made chowder, adding shrimp and, in one of those sneaky swaps for some of the heavy cream, a pound of cauliflower to the broth, simmering until soft then whirring into oblivion in the Vitamix before adding potatoes and the fish. So delicious!

A crazy delicious salad with lettuce, nasturtiums, and purslane grown in our own back yard. Purslane (pictured below) is considered by most to be a weed, but if you’ve got it growing around your place, give it a try! It’s kind of citrus-y and has a nice texture.

Our first kohlrabi! Such a looker, purple and alien, but so yummy! Depending on your reference, it might taste of broccoli & radish, turnip & potato. Maybe even artichoke. Whatever your tastebuds, it’s a delight to watch it grow.

Young bucks….

The front garden is in full splendor and the wildlove (mistyped wildlife but am keeping, because duh) is in heaven….

Aloha and happy Friday! How wonderful does Hawaii sound at the moment? An earful of crashing waves and the scent of plumeria on the breeze. A bit like heaven, indeed.

This post is not about Hawaii (but I’ve got a few from back in the day {and the hubster sans beard!!} if your eyes need that variety of candy.). Rather, it is about some of my makings and doings as of late, or not so late because one of the necklaces is more than a a year old. You know how time flies!

The most special of the necklaces are the second and third, as they are made with medals from my Great Aunt Mary’s collection. Only part of which I kept – there were hundreds! She’s been living it up in heaven for more years than I can remember now, but remains ever so close in spirit and via these gems. I love you, Aunt Mary!

The wooly creations are a result the acorn obsession I spoke of earlier, though still no acorn. Ha! For scale, that’s a quarter gleaming over to the side. These are such fun to make! I really don’t need a collection of them, however, so I am contemplating surreptitiously placing them among their kin at the grocery, as little smiles to the world. I’d label them with puns – “Popped up to say you’re great!” Or some such. I hope I’m not the only one who thinks it would be fun to stumble upon one.

And finally, I did not make the board (that came from Magnolia), but the hummus, pita, jelly, and crackers were all made by my hands, and the ensemble too lovely not to photograph. I enjoyed these treats with my dear friend Cori before we ventured to the Ent Center Wednesday evening to see Beyond Calligraphy by the Guangdong Modern Dance Company. If you are even slightly interested in modern dance and near a show, get yourself a ticket and go, go, go. It was the most magical, evocative, and beautiful performance I have ever seen. Wow, just wow!