Silence is Golden - or Wrapped in Burlap and Lace

I've started six blog posts over the last few weeks, all of which are now sitting in draft form waiting to be "fixed". I start them in the mornings when I'm sorting out my thoughts for the day, so they run a bit deeper than my average posts, touching on things that bother me or convictions I have. I need to put more thought into the way I worded things, and until I have time to do that, you all get the fluff from the top of my brain. So sorry!

I always forget how busy our summers end up being. In my fantasy world, summer is relaxing in a hammock, reading a book while enjoying an iced tea, or sitting by a campfire with an adult drink. In reality there's a lot of hard work keeping up the garden and yard, weddings, graduations, family get-togethers, DIY projects for our home, and a lot of scrubbing up after dirty little boys. And a lot of grilling, which is totally fine by me!

I hit my "original" goal weight yesterday! That's a total of 51 pounds lost. I'll post on that later...but I hope to lose another 15-20 lbs. and then work on maintaining that by lifestyle changes for hopefully the rest of my life.

A before Mass selfie, waiting for little boys to get out of the tub...

I've been working on another order of peg dolls...this one is four of the same, so it's going faster in a type of production-line manner.

I'm also working on napkin rings, some of which are for my Etsy shop.

My parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary this past weekend. I am so blessed to have such wonderful, loving parents, and to still have them here with us yet. I made their anniversary card...the inside is a summary of their "romance". Mom laughed and Dad just shook his head at me. :)

We've been reaping the abundant fruits of the season lately, namely piles and piles of asparagus, garden greens (loose leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach), rhubarb and radishes. A lot of this is generously given to us by my parents, who have a garden large enough to feed a small village. I got enough rhubarb diced last Saturday to make several batches of bread and crisp, plus more to freeze for winter enjoyment.

Rhubarb

Fish tacos with fresh pico de gallo, and a glass of Chateau Blanc from the Amana Colonies

Incidentally, I discovered last week that I cannot eat avocados when I was immobilized by intense stomach pain after having only half of one. I've had this reaction the past three times eating guacamole, but thought plain avocado would be ok. It was not.

And of course, I'm enjoying the beautiful flowers from the beds around our house. It may be small and cluttered, but if there are fresh flowers it always feels like home!

Wildflowers

 Poppies

Lupines

Lilies of the valley

And lastly, the biggest event of our busy season: my brother's wedding! They tentatively set the wedding date for July 24th, so time is of the essence. I'm hosting a bridal shower for the bride-elect, planned for June 20th, little more than two weeks from now. I recently ordered my dress for the wedding from amazon.com, in navy blue. It has shipped, so we'll soon see if it's as flattering on me as on the model. I have my doubts...but at least it's stretchy!