July 2013 – Pure Sugar

Just a Wednesday

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I am loving this week! The weather has gotten cooler and I’ve gotten my house cleaned and organized. Laura was with her grandmother for a few days, which gave us some more relaxed time with the boys. Yesterday we did some tie-dying, which was really fun! It’s been so long since I’ve done that.

The kitties are still obsessed with the birds nesting in my geranium plant. I got a video of our very loud, very little feathered friend last night. It so funny watching the cats go crazy when one of them perches on the railing.

I also have gotten back to my granny stripe blanket. I don’t really have a pattern for the colors. It’s more of a “stash-buster” project for my odds and ends, but it’s easy and I’m happy with it so far.

Since the weather has cooled a bit and it’s not quite as humid I decided to use up some leftovers in the fridge and make beef stew for dinner. The garlic-cheddar biscuits, however, were the real hit 🙂

As for tonight, I plan to work on my blanket a little more, maybe have some anise cookies and a cup of tea, and watch some TV. Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands to run and I need to finish getting Jake packed for Boy Scout Camp. Have a wonderful evening!

Just “Peeping” In

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Just wanted to say a quick “hello!” This week is kicking my butt. I’m coordinating this year’s library camp, and by the time I get home, make lunch, do my housework, et cetera… well, I’m too tired to do much of anything else, LOL! But it’s fun. The kids are all so sweet and wonderful, but handling 25+ kids is definitely a lot of work. I’ve gotta hand it to you teachers who do this every day!

Anyway, I’m just sharing a picture of the baby birds in my geranium plant! A few weeks ago I went outside to deadhead it and a bird flew out and totally surprised me! I looked a little closer and saw this:

Now they’ve hatched and they’re all squished up cozy in their nest. So cute!!! Our cat Margo is obsessed and sits by the window constantly, watching for the birds. (Don’t worry, she’s an indoor cat — the birdies are safe!)

Well, time to get dressed and get going! Have a lovely day!

Saturday Catch-Up

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Hey everyone! I know, I know… it’s been a quiet week. My MIL took the boys to Maine earlier this week, so I guess I’ve been on vacation of sorts too. Things just weren’t on schedule, you know? We were going out more, I was being a little bit lazier… but I guess that’s the beauty of summer, right?

They came home on Friday morning and had a great time! They walked on the beach, swam in the hotel pool and had a ton of fun. Meanwhile, we kept things pretty quiet. We did go to the Indian buffet (Laura was obsessed with the mulligatawny soup!)

We kept things close to home on the 4th of July. We grilled burgers and watched movies. Nothing too crazy.

I finally (finally!) got my new crock pot. Oh yes, I definitely needed an appliance lift. As I mentioned, my old slow cooker died. Today I broke in my new one with sauce, turkey meatballs, and Italian sausage. Sure it’s great using the slow cooker when it’s cold, but it is a life saver when it is hot & humid — no heating up the kitchen!

This morning we headed over to Poet’s Walk Park in Red Hook. Although it’s a very popular place to hike we’d never been there before. We all had a great time!

This is the bridge I drive across several times a week to go… well, pretty much anywhere (Walmart, Target, Michael’s, Dollar Tree, any and all fast-food restaurants). I love getting the different perspective! That’s the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains you see in the distance.

I also decided to step WAY out of my comfort zone and plank in public. I’ve been doing the 21-day Plank With Bex challenge. I started out at around 58 seconds 12 days ago. Today I was up to 2 minutes 10 seconds!!! It’s amazing to see how much progress you can make in just a few days — so awesome!

Ugh, as for tonight, I’m just trying to keep cool. It has been ridiculously hot & humid lately. Hate it! I started a granny stripe blanket and I love it and I need to blog about that, too. But honestly? I think all I’m doing this evening is drinking ice water (actually, chewing on ice) and vegging out to whatever we put on Netflix.

Tomorrow Jake has SCUBA (seriously, he does the coolest stuff with his Boy Scout Troop! We absolutely made the right decision when weighing the two different troops in town). Then we need to head over across that bridge and get house stain at Home Depot. After that, who knows? Lake? Sprinkler? We shall see…