There’s something about the summer that just bubbles over, and when festival season starts you know that sweet time you’ve waited for all year is finally here. From folk music to theatre, food, and culture July and August can leave you breathless in the best way.
This past week was crazy- I almost finished a new hot pink cowl with the help of my new friends at knitting night, Mister was away on business which made for an interesting juggling of chores and puppies and work, and all of my friends who moved away in the past few years were back in town and catching up over wine on my deck. It was one of those weeks where by the start of the weekend I was ready to curl up and sleep for days… only who can sleep when there’s a theatre festival on??
I collected Mister from the airport and we headed downtown to wander through the endless pop-up shops while bumping into old theatre friends, and eating the most delicious cake (called cakettes) that I’ve ever had in my life from a shop called Cakeology. The graffiti outside the shop doesn’t do it justice at all – it needs at least a hundred more yum’s.
This weekend was a reminder of what makes life really delicious: old and new friends, cheap & tasty Indian food, and reuniting with the people who know you best.
I’ve been prepping for a mini-sangria feature next week, and with friends in from out of town I’ve had the perfect excuse to get elaborate in the drink department – but while I’ve been perfecting my recipes I came to a surprising realization… I don’t own a real old fashioned pitcher!
So when Mister suggested we pick up the sangria ingredients for more test recipes, I may have diverted us to browse an antique mall on the way to the buy wine & fruit. I haven’t found my perfect pitcher yet, but all I can say is that I don’t want to live in a world where a perfect pitcher isn’t part of a good drink recipe, I can tell you that much. :)
My ideal pitcher is a heavy glass affair that shows off your mixing abilities – and I would be happy to have any of these in my kitchen.
So, I’ve been keeping an amazing secret and I can finally tell you! It’s so good I even vlogged it because the written word can’t communicate my excitement….only using the word “excited” 15 times in a vlog can!
I vlog when big things happen, it’s a fact :)
ps – I filmed this when I was running on very little sleep, we had a crazy thunderstorm the night before and I was up all night! But that’s probably for the best, sleepy Kyla = more subdued Kyla and I would have been off the richter scale otherwise!
For those of you who can’t watch right away, my news is that one of my favourite people – Leigh-Ann has asked me to join her incredible company, Freckled Nest! She’s an amazing independent artist and was looking to expand her team, and through this crazy blogging world she found me, liked what I’m doing here and asked me to join her. :)
I’m doing Blogger, Typepad and WordPress blog makeovers and websites and my first project just launched…
This has been just a dream come true. Leigh-Ann is so talented, savvy and positive and I’m loving working with incredible clients and learning from day to night. If you’ve never stopped by Leigh-Ann’s blog I would really recommend you do, she’s just wonderful.
So that’s my big news: I’m working as a designer with one of my favourite people on the planet and it’s all because of blogging!
If you’re interested in a blog makeover or a blog as a website please visit our portfolio and you can e-mail LA at FreckledNest@gmail.com or me at kylaroma@gmail.com to receive package and designer information.
Last year was our first full summer in the little house, and since we had a little time for a weekend project we decided to put in a vegetable garden. Mister built four four foot by three foot plots, we grabbed mulch and compost and soil, and built a little place for me to grow veggies and herbs.
Kitchen gardens hold a special place in my heart. I love how old fashioned and relentlessly practical they are, and growing up my Baba’s garden was one of my favourite places. I loved pulling out peas and carrots for snacks, and when I was really small I would hide under her huge rhubarb plant with her tabby cat Chuckers, and pretend that I was Alice in Wonderland and that Chuck was my tiger guard.
Last year I was over zealous with my planing and my first attempt garden got huge so quickly that I stopped taking pictures of it in favour of trying to beat it back as fast as was humanly possible. This year I was careful not to over plant, and I’m hoping that I can enjoy it at more of a leisurely pace…
How about a tour? :)
I have five raspberry bushes that are starting to give a little fruit, lettuce, basil with leaves the size of my hand, all kinds of different hot peppers, pickling cucumbers, four different kinds of tomatoes, beans and even leeks!
I’m definitely just making up my gardening skills as I go along, but so far my plants are getting super sized really quickly. And while I don’t have a tiger guard in my grown up garden, peeking into the backyard to see everything grow and waiting the right time to dive in is a pretty close second.
And until my garden is ready to give me more food than I can eat? I have two words: farmers market!
- Crocheting is fun, but knitting is still on top for now
- Popsicles are a summer food group
- As summer baking that doesn’t overheat the house, tarts are now mandatory
- When Mister suggests that we rearrange all the rooms on the second floor so we have a small little bedroom and a huge giant craft room, don’t ask questions. Just go with it.
- Dream big and out loud, and smile when people don’t get it. There’s no rule that says they have to :)
What are the summer rules you’re living by?
ps – sorry for the short post, we rearranged our entire upstairs this weekend and it was a crazy job! I’ll be back soon with more :)
