in recital

we went to several concerts on vacation (what else would joe and jen do when they didn't have a kitchen to cook in?!), and the first one was a vocal recital starring members of the neff family (again...yes, they get around)! ;)

stan sang, and elizabeth...didn't sing (though she could have...i personally think her voice was better than many of the students there), but she accompanied, and then stole the show with three soul-stirring, bone-rattling piano solo numbers. it was heaven to our music-starved ears.

father and daughter (and mom's turning pages!) ;)

home-grown goodness

vacation for us this year meant just "hangin' out," doing whatever tickled our fancy. one day, while joe hunkered down with a good book in our new library (pics coming soon), i made zucchini bread with veggies from katy cummings' aunt's garden, and a pitcher of iced vanilla peppermint tea, the mint grown from my own little herb box on the front step. we shared (fully downed!) the goodies with matt and amber augspurger, friends from los angeles whom we hadn't seen for over a year. (i'm sad i didn't capture their faces here!). it was a jolly, sunny day, and it was such a treat to be able to enjoy our home with friends.

so here's my herb garden: basil, thyme, sage, small basil, oregano, summer savory, chive, and peppermint. they're doing so well!! i'm completely amazed. and my mom is even more amazed. ;)

i have strawberries too! the variety is "seascape" and they love our climate. i haven't reaped any fruit, however, because there's some sort of critter the likes the taste of the fruit. that green strawberry was gone the next morning, the stem cleanly chomped.

here's our vanilla peppermint tea. it could have been more pepperminty, but i would have wiped out my entire plant had i put more in. the vanilla simple syrup added a fun twist.

kinda famous

it's been a good while since we've had much to say on this here writing space, and i feel rather overwhelmed sitting here staring at the screen, wondering where to begin. it's all fun stuff, little bits and pieces of the last month that have given us great joy. joe and i were able to take two weeks off from work this past month and do a bit of vacationing. it was the most perfect rest - we didn't "go" anywhere in particular, but did a million little things, slept in a ton, read books, strolled down streets, and generally lollygagged around. in fact, we've been so disconnected to anything techie that i feel a little rusty. isn't that nice? that's when you know you've successfully gotten away. :) it was exactly what we needed, and we see God's kindness to us in it. there'll be plenty to see here in the next month as i aspire to get it all documented - probably more than one could care to read.

so the first random entry is about a man named Steve Kalar. he's been mom's "cousin steve" for, like, 50 years. they grew up together, their grandmothers living next door to one another, and providing many a summer afternoon for steve and my mom to finger paint, ride bikes, and generally terrorize the neighborhood like any jolly cousins would do. well, steve grew up and became an artist...a really good artist. like, the kind of artist whose paintings have caught the attention of italy and have managed to get him invited to this country's prestigious art society called "The House of Dante". he is the first american to ever be invited to this standing. italy loves him because he has spent his life capturing the "open market" of their old-world culture in oil and canvas, a culture that has fast dissapeared. thus, he has document their history, and they love him for it. and though america hasn't heard of him (like it's heard of thomas kinkade or somebody), he's certainly making waves in europe. his five-year european tour will begin in 2011.

his mom, fern, was my grandma's best friend growing up, and so our people go way back with his people. :) so steve and fern came to visit us, my mom and he reliving all the fun memories of their childhood. over the years, steve has given us several copies of his paintings, which we learned are worth about $2,000 each. but that's nothing! my great aunt and uncle bought one of his original paintings about 30 years ago or so that, at that time, cost them a whopping $350. steve told us now that it's worth $25,000! isn't that kind of crazy - i mean, for a guy who's still alive?? i can't even imagine how much his stuff will be worth when he's, well, not alive!

beside painting canvases, he also paints walls and ceilings for million dollar homes, billion dollar wine-tasting rooms, and little french pastry shops alike. he told us to go see the little bakery that was opened by his french friends, and so we did. we took pictures of some of his art that's a part of the building, and in the building too. it was such a treat to visit with him. he honestly lives in quite a different world than we do. and he speaks fluent italian. it was fun to be a part of it all for a few days. :)

he signs his name even on every painting of course, but for some reason i was tickled by his name even on the side of a building.

here's us with the man

he's also got a ton of his paintings hanging up inside the shop. oh, and their pastries, made by real-live french folk, were good too. but, i'm sorry to say, they weren't as good as zume! ah, zume - the catalyst of my 20 pound weight gain in our last days in moscow. ;) i am happy to know that my husband can never again bring home day-old morning buns, and opera cakes...and ham & greyere croissants...and challah sticky buns...and croque monsieurs...and...oh heavens. yes, those were dangerous days.

new life

spencer austin watkins

look how tiny he is in joe's lap!

congratulations, steve and wendy! we praise God with you for such a good delivery and perfectly adorable new monkey. "when he's out, he's out!" ;) and now he's out. we love you, watkins five.

sabbath table

new sabbath tablelinen

this was supposed to be cherry clafoutis, but i didn't have cherries. so, it ended up being strawberry blueberry clafoutis. "clafoutis" is french, meaning "to fill". doesn't this look so...real? it's totally boiled over and messy. :) it's God's goodness...our pot overflows.

found

so, while i was cooking dinner last night (see post below), joe was getting this loverly friend into our house.

we've always had a dilemma of design in our little living room - this one wall under the window is a great space, but for lack of better furniture, was continually cluttered with oddball chairs and lamp tables and whatnot. and we hate clutter! but, we also have another dilemma, which is how to furnish the new room that is now nearly completed. i though perhaps a small futon couch would fit in there, and would serve as a nice movie couch and then a guest bed if/when it was needed. so, yesterday, day of all days, i find this little guy for a steal. bring it home, and it literally takes up half the new little room, and we're not sure we're ready for that yet. (yes, we did measure, so it wasn't a complete surprise, but we thought it may have been satisfactory after all...). we were not disheartened, but rather put it to good use in our living room, taking care of that unsightly clutter and providing a good bit more seating for company. the black cover, though it does look rather handsome with our present decor, is a bit worn. so, if we so choose, we may go avail ourselves of the futon cover sale that bed bath and beyond is having this week! and i have lots of coupons. :)

wednesday dinner

a little chicken, a little proscuitto, a bit of fresh sage pesto, and a jaunt in the oven.

i also made a peach blueberry crisp for dessert and shared it with our landlady and her friends, but somehow i felt that posting even more food pictures would give my dads too much ammunition. :) but it was a beautiful dessert, and quite lovely. we still have homemade ice cream keeping nicely in the freezer from fourth of july, so we dabbed just a bit of that over it.