15 Jun

Old fashioned tweets

Posted by Rebecca in Outdoor life.

We have two nests of baby birds—a robin has at least two fledglings in our front yard, and a wren has a couple in her house in our backyard.

We can see the robin’s nest from the landing on our stairway, but they were hiding when I took the camera outside tonight.

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As for the wrens, we’d never know they were there if it weren’t for the cacophony that rises upon their mom’s arrival. I didn’t want to get too close to the house, but here’s a shot from a few feet back.

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The birdhouse in on the side of our house—right between our kitchen window and patio door, which may very well be the noisiest spot in the neighborhood. I saw a wren checking out this new house that Ava made, probably thinking the locale might be a tad more spacious and quiet.

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Maybe they’ll move in next spring.

14 Jun

Ava Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Family.

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Thanks to Doug for today’s Ava fix. You can check out his other photos from their recent visit in his gallery.

12 Jun

Olivia Fix

Posted by Rebecca in Olivia.

Those birds must look like they are pretty far away.

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11 Jun

A new hobby

Posted by Rebecca in Ava.

Ava started pre-ballet this week. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anything cuter than a group of 15 three- and four-year-olds in ballet slippers and tutus pirouetting across a dance floor, but then again, I realize I may be slightly biased.

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There’s a chance she may be just a coordinated as her mother…

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Here’s hoping otherwise!

10 Jun

Strawberry Basil Martini

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen.

I know there are those that believe the only thing that belongs in a martini glass is gin and maybe an olive, but humor me for a moment, please.

We have an overabundance of basil (already!) this summer, and I decided to try it in a cocktail. Food and Wine had recipe for strawberry basil martinis, and I made a few tweaks to arrive at this:

3 basil leaves

3 strawberries

2 oz vodka

1/2 oz simple syrup

1/2 oz lemon juice

Muddle the basil, strawberries and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Top with ice, add vodka and lemon juice. Shake and strain into a glass.

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This one is quite pink—not because of the strawberries, but because I am completely out of sugar and I had to use pink sanding sugar to make the simple syrup. (I have been out of sugar for two weeks now, but twice in a row, I’ve accidentally bought flour instead. So, I have 15 pounds of flour, and still, no sugar. Perhaps I need to taper back on cocktail hour…)

9 Jun

Happy 31st!

Posted by Rebecca in Bryan.

Happy birthday, Bryan.

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Party on!

9 Jun

Thank goodness for grandparents

Posted by Rebecca in Family.

Ava’s preschool was closed last week, but thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa Smith were willing to take the kids to their house for a few days. The girls had a blast playing, taking trips to the zoo and safari park and spending time with Leo and Wyatt.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bryan and I behaved like responsible adults and spent three days cleaning, organizing and finishing projects around the house.

I am totally kidding. We actually played golf, stayed out far too late every night and generally acted like we were 24 again. I think we may have had more fun than the kids.

I was quite happy when they returned on Friday, though, and Doug and Karyl stayed with us through the weekend.

Ava managed to talk Grandpa into bringing this “princess” pool home:

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Grandpa took many fabulous photos (and speaking of, you should become a fan of Exit 426 Studio on Facebook):

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Olivia showed Grandma the intricacies of the iMac:

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We also spent a bit of time downtown, where we stumbled onto a 600-bike Harley Davidson parade.

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Thanks for another fun weekend, Doug and Karyl!

8 Jun

A bit of cake

Posted by Rebecca in In the kitchen.

I bought a set of three 4-inch cake pans for the top tier of Ava’s birthday cake, and I’ve been looking for a reason to make a miniature layer cake with them. Fortunately, our friend Dave’s birthday provided a good opportunity. I was short on time, though, so I used a dark chocolate cake mix, and I added a cup of peanut butter to a tub of vanilla frosting instead of making buttercream. Very easy (and, I think, pretty darn cute, too).

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5 Jun

An old thread

Posted by Rebecca in Around the house.

I found these old wooden spools at a flea market over Memorial Day weekend. I loved the bits of remaining thread and vintage labels.

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3 Jun

Backyard farmer

Posted by Rebecca in Ava, Outdoor life.

This weekend, Ava asked if we could “please, PLEASE” built a compost bin. I’m not entirely sure where she got this idea, but I think the blame might be placed squarely on PBS Kids  (and certainly not the parents who let her watch it so much…)

Anyway, it sounded like a good project, so we found some directions for a small compost bin online. Fortunately, I hadn’t cleaned out the refrigerator since early March, so we had plenty of decomposing produce to give us a healthy head start. I think we need far more dry matter now–leaves or grass clippings as Liana suggested. We’re using shredded newspaper in the meantime.

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Ava’s pretty excited about it—she’s saving scraps to add to it and reminding me that we need to shake it every day. Does anyone have any idea how long we’ll have to wait to have usable compost? Neither one of us are particularly patient.

Up next, also at Ava’s urging, a better recyling plan for the Smith household. Can’t wait.

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