The weather here in Arkansas is weird.

One day it will be 60, the next day calls for a high of 30, but will feel like 20.

Add in a sprinkle of ice and snow and it can make a person go nutty really.

 

And what it really does it make me long for the warmer days when things start to bloom and farmer's markets are buzzing again, the windows can be thrown open in celebration of fresh air. Blankets and warm candles are put away and out comes the sweet, citrusy smell of being alive.

 

It's funny how towards the end of the season I start to get a wanderlust for what's coming next.

And I don't mean to do that.

I really do try and be ok with the "right now".

 

So here are some random pics that you might have already seen long ago to get you in the mood for warmth.

 

Picked from our garden.

Hubby makes the bon fire, I get the coffee ready. We're a good team like that.

 

I can almost taste the juicy goodness of these fresh peaches from the summer!

Peonies are my favorite flower. The end.

Fresh strawberries.

Garden fresh corn on the cob was made for grilling over an open fire.

You can thank me later :)

 

And of course how could there be a post about warmer days without including tomatoes.

Jam for days.

 

But the most important thing, not matter what season we're in is this:

 

Happy Day Project- Summer Plan

Good Morning Wednesday!

So nice to see you! :)

How is everyone today?

Already looking forward to the weekend?

Yeah, me too.

I'm linking up with Alicia from La Famille today.

{I seriously LOVE this picture }

She inspires us to do something for ourselves and to stay happy.

Great idea right?!

Her last challenge was to come up with a summer plan. Her's was on the healthy side.

And I think mine will be too.

The past couple of weeks I have not been real concerned about healthy eating.
Here's a quick peak into some of our dining adventures.

1. Cheesecake- Check!

2. Chinese Food, TWICE- Check!

3. Gallons of coffee with a side of Nutella Crepes- Check!

4. Red Velvet Pancakes- Check!

5. Sweet Corn Tamala Cakes- Check!


And of course there was Chicago Pizza, Chicago Hot Dogs, chicken salad,gyros, burritos, bagels and cream cheese, cookies, cake, pie, pop.

Oh dear.

I think I feel my pants getting tighter as we speak.

So now that we are home and not in the land of anything.goes.restaraunts, we can get back to healthy eating.

So the very next morning when we arrived home we headed over to the Farmer's Market.
Not only were we greeted by friends and familiar faces saying they missed us but the selection of produce that was now available since the 2 weeks we had been gone was AWESOME!

Here's a peek at the bounty we brought home.

The tomatoes are my favorite.
But the squash provided me with so much too.
And the bread! So delish!
Crunch carrots to snack on or if your my husband you might boil them and add them to oatmeal. It was surprisingly good.
And then there was these little cookie pie things. Made by a woman who was also selling chickens and goat's milk soap. I made the hubby go back for more of the cookie pie things. They had a cookie/pie like crust with blackberry filling. OH MY WORD!

Attention:
If you are in any way squeamish towards anything bloody/gory/gross.
Just click away and we'll say goodbye for the day.
If not.....proceed.
Consider yourself warned. Ok?

The hubby brought home a rooster from the Farmer's Market.
At first he asked if he could. Knowing that I myself am a little uneasy with this sort of thing.
At first I said no.
Because we had just gotten home from being gone and the house was a mess and I didn't want to clean up chicken guts. I know that seems unrelated, but that's what my brain was saying at the time.
Long story short, he brought it home and within 30 minutes or so it was in the frying pan.
The flavor was unreal! I have never had fresh chicken like that before.
But I highly reccomend letting your hubby do the dirty work.
I think he had to do something outdoorsy/mountain man-ish after being in Chicago for 2 weeks.
That poor guy just couldn't wait to get home.


So back to the getting healthy.
I'm going to make better choices when it comes to food.
Fresh, local, organic.
Less processed and packaged.
We normally do this anyway.

Oh yea, and back to ZUMBA! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Farmer's Market and Hello Tuesday

So I realize that my blog titles are becoming more and more lame. Oh well.....

Let's start this post out with a pic of my new lamp.

I'm in love with it!

I can't stop looking at it, and when I'm in the kitchen, even if it's not needed I turn it on.

But then I remember that it's a waste of electricity if I don't really need the light and turn it off.

Happy now?

What's that?

You want to see another picture?

Ok, here you go..... :)

 Right alongside my trust Minnesota Mug, 25 cents at a garage sale. Love that.

And ok, here's just one more with the dewberry cobbler I made with berries from the farmer's market.

We have had that baking dish since we got married 2 years ago and this was the first time I used it. I think this is going to be my official cobbler dish from now on. I love the way it looks!

Oh, what's a dewberry you ask?

Well it's very close kin to the black berry. Black berries grow on a big bush, dewberries grow on a smaller vine closer to the ground?

This cobbler was so easy to make! I don't know why everyone doesn't make it from scratch from now on.

Here's the recipe that I used, based on one from The Pioneer Woman , don't you just love her?

I do. And seriously, everything she cooks looks so ahmazing!

The only thing I did differently is add more berries and a splash of vanilla.

Served warm with ice cream and a mug of coffee, well it was just shy of heavenly!

And now, on to the Farmer's Market.

This past Saturday was our town's first EVER organized Farmer's Market.

And IT was awesome!

I came home with some really great produce, which makes this girl VERY happy!

Do you see all the vibrant colors?

They are so beautiful and incredibly delicious.

All of these items were grown by local growers.

Grown no more than 10 miles from my house.

We are trying to be more of  a locavore family in our house. Supporting local farmer's, shops, restaraunts etc. There is such importance in doing this.

Several of the growers we knew personally which made it even more sweet.

I'm about to admit something to you that may or may not surprise you.

Until 2 years ago, I had never eaten a strawberry straight from the strawberry patch.

Until this past Saturday, I had never eaten a pea fresh from the picking.

The real truth is that I hate peas. So much that when I was little I used to tell the lunch ladies that I was allergic so they wouldn't give me any on my plate.  Yeah they asked my mom about that one, and I was BUSTED! :(

But when I tasted that pea, that the Amish family was selling and I thought about their dedication and care of the land and their hard work and how they had picked it just that same morning, it was the sweetest, sweet pea I have ever had. I was popping them like chips when I got home!

Yum!

The combination of healthy food and Zumba is making me feel REALL GOOD!

And making me think " Why o WHY haven't I don't this sooner?"

This upcoming Saturday at the farmer's market, I plan on being there.

And I am SO super excited about this.

Our yellow squash and zucchini should be ready by then, we will have some lettuces and I plan on doing some baking of breads, cookies and scones.

If you are in the area, you should come! Email me and I will let you know the details.

Happy Tuesday everyone!



Oh Happy Day! It's Wednesday!

Good Morning!

I'm linking up with Alicia @ La Famille today.

To read more about her project and find about how you can join in, read here.

Her last week's prompt was to throw a little lipstick on. I was wondering if there was any dudes joining in and did this challenge???? :)

So this past weekend the hubby and I were in Oklahoma for a short trip, and I got a little dolled up for a date night.

See the glossy lipsstick?!

When we were dating and early married, I always did my hair and looked cute for my hubby. I'm sad to say I don't do that very often anymore. In fact more often than not I don't do my hair, don't get dolled up and think things like "When was the last time I shaved my legs?!"

This night, from the picture above, I felt pretty. You can't see in this picture, but I even braided my bands and straightened my hair! Wow!

Our king size hotel bed was SUPER comfy! I wanted to take it home with us but couldn't fit it in the Subaru. Bummer.

Anytime that I can get Starbucks is a good time.

This was a Venti iced Americano, light ice, with room, 3 sugars please.

So refreshing on a 90 degree something day in Tulsa. Whew!

Got to spend some time (and money) at Barnes and Noble. I could seriously browse at books forever.

Especially the gardening/homesteading/make our earth a better place kind of books.

Before we left, we picked these potatoes from the garden. I couldnt believe how big some of them were! Of course the teeny tiny ones were great too. Eaten raw they tasted like a really healthy potato chip!

There are a few radishes and turnips in the mix too.

This was a staged picture on his part. He would never pick his nose while driving for real. Ha!

He cracks me up!

Happy Wednesday!



Getting Ready To Grow

A few weeks ago I talked about Something Like Spring Fever . And it's hitting us hard more than ever.

The temperatures are set to be in the high 60's later this week! I'm thinking short sleeves and windows rolled down.

This past weekend the hubby planted onions, potatoes, radishes, lettuce and spinach. It is so exciting!

Are you getting ready with your garden yet?
What are you planting?

Here's some inspiration via youtube. Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday