I tried a new recipe for the shortcakes - Smitten Kitchen's version. It was very quick and easy and I think I would use it again.
I also made a strawberry milk recipe from Smitten Kitchen that I first tried last year. If you get your hands on a few cups of good strawberries I recommend you first make strawberry shortcake and then make this strawberry milk - it's delicious (but don't bother if you only have grocery store strawberries).
We are missing Brian like crazy. He sends us photos like this on the weekends.
I grew up doing so much serious camping and I loved it - it's a wonder that I don't do more camping with my kids.
So I took the girls and Bea's best friend camping for a couple nights. We went to the Kohler-Andrae State Park in Wisconsin. The park is right along Lake Michigan, they have some nice hiking trails and a great little nature center.
When we arrived on Wednesday, I rushed to get our camp set up because some thunderstorms were coming. Here are the girls after experiencing a thunderstorm in a tent for the first time. I was thankful that the storm passed through fairly quickly and we were still able to cook our dinner over a fire.
Then we took a walk through a marsh at sunset time. The air was wet and fresh and cool and it felt lovely.
Did I mention I was camping with cute little dorks.
S'mores!
The next morning we went for a walk along a dunes trail before it got hot. I took a lot of photos. The dunes are so pretty and I kept thinking - there are no dunes in Switzerland. There was a cool mist blowing off the lake and the sun was trying to burn through the clouds. I think the girls liked walking on the boardwalk - more fun than just a plain ol' trail.
Then we went to the beach - it was beautiful too... but we were all a little put off by the many many dead fish. I don't know why there were tons of them, I should have asked.
Claire E. got a sunburn on her bum. Oops.
Bea caught a toad in the woods. I let the girls practice lighting matches and they made the fire on the second night. They were asleep each night before their heads hit their pillows. I stayed up reading for a long time by the fire. There was some complaining about mosquitos, but other than that, it was a success!
Yeah camping!!!
Have you heard that gardening rule of thumb about how perennials grow - they sleep, then creep, then leap. I think there is some truth to it, but I like to just say that the third year is the charm.
We took out some overgrown shrubs in March of 2015. Then I planted viburnums, perennial geraniums, alliums and other stuff.
Here are two photos from 2015:
Now, in their third year, those plants have filled in nicely. The alliums are my favorite - they should bloom soon. On the right side of the bed are some plants that I grew using the winter sowing method. At first I was disappointed because the plants seemed so small and weak. But amazingly those winter sown perennials that started out so itty bitty have shot up and are bigger than the plants I purchased in big pots at nurseries. I'll definitely try winter sowing again in the future.
Here's a photo from today:
These photos don't really show it, but the big, big, big Elm tree on the left side of the path had to be removed last year. I just filled that area with some shrub roses, catmint, lamb's ear and more perennial geraniums. By the time we return from Switzerland that bed should be leaping too.
Gosh I'm going to miss puttering in my garden.
Brian is gone to Zurich, to our new apartment and to his new office. We won't see him until the week of 4th of July. I'm feeling a little melancholy and a little grouchy about being a single mom for the next several weeks. I hate this part of moving.
So I made some cinnamon rolls.
I'm also aware that in a week the movers will take away my mixer, my pans, my dishes - all my favorite baking tools. So I've got the bug to do some baking while I still can.
Brian sent some photos - taken from our new apartment.
Sigh.
We enjoyed a beautiful Labor Day weekend at home.
Hope you had a great start to summer too!
