That song

I have that song running through my head right now. The Bangles. Manic Monday. I'm overwhelmed already and the week hasn't even really started.

Here are my goals for this week:
1. Eliminate the piles in my office at work
2. Somehow entertain my new intern with a task that is useful to me but doesn't take a lot of my time (hard balance to strike)
3. Exercise at least twice
4. Do laundry (which I actually enjoy doing; it's the putting away that's a bother)
5. Celebrate July 4th (Fredericksburg has fireworks on the Rappahannock River as well as a raft "race" that I'm looking forward to)
6. Oil change
7. Make vet appointments for cats
8. Make eye doctor appointment for me
9. Keep my garden from dying by watering in the evenings

I find that 'to do' lists are my salvation. I especially enjoy 'to do' lists written with pretty colored gel pens. I make cute little check boxes next to each item and then get great satisfaction when I put a check mark in those little boxes. Guess I'll have to transfer these 'to dos' to my master list when I get to work...

Image: Wikipedia
BTW, did you know that Prince wrote the song? Huh. The wonderful things you learn (if you can trust it) from Wikipedia.

The color purple

An ode to the color purple... I absolutely love that my CSA bag generally has a small bunch of flowers. This week we were given artichoke flowers (you see one of them on the far right), along with some purple ruffly flower that I can't remember the name of even though Cindy from Cub Creek Farms specifically told me (darn short-term memory). Anyway, I supplemented the bouquet with salvia blooms and basil from my garden.

Here's a great trick for flower lovers - add basil to your cut bouquets - it gives a pop of green and smells amazing! (Theresa - if your basil is a success here's another thing to do with it!)

Cook on strike

My friend M came over for a relaxing summer dinner last night. I lured her over in the first place with the temptation of a cold g & t (it'll do wonders to get people to come and visit). I threw together a simple dinner of marinated tofu and japanese eggplant grilled on the stovetop in my great grill pan (I have the kiwi version).

I also served a cold salad of blanched green beans and mixed potatoes (there was sadly only one purple one in my bunch) marinated with wild ginger vinegar. Everything was actually from my CSA bag except for the tofu and the teriyaki sauce I marinated it in.

I find that I don't generally use recipes for meals. Call it creativity; call it laziness. I subscribe to lots of magazines that give great recipes and my collection of veggie cookbooks is growing, but I tend to use them for ideas on flavor combinations more than anything. This becomes really easy during the months I have my CSA supplies. My friend Mommy, Esq. actually had a discussion recently on her blog about the usefulness of CSAs and the pressure they place on cooks. Einat commented that she just lets her farmers market veggies do the work. That's a great attitude.

Girls' (would you like some wine with that?) weekend - Part II

My grandmother is an amazing lady. She's 86 years old, legally blind, but still has the get-up-and-go of a teenager (or at least it seems after my exhausting weekend!). As I indicated in the previous post, my mother brought her down to see my little house for a two-night stay and we ran all over the place - shopping, eating, and drinking a lot of wine.

Friday night's dinner was a real highlight for both Mom and Gma. After much squabbling and mulling over what kind of food we wanted (Gma isn't the most adventurous eater), I decided Tru Luv's down on the river would please everyone and fit the bill of "fancy" dinner without the need to dress up.

We were waited upon by a wonderful man named Steve who came to know us very well over the course of the evening (I think talk of Gma's fiber issues came up numerous times). Anyway, as a vegetarian, Tru Luv's menu is somewhat limited, but Mom and I split the roasted vegetable antipasto platter for our appetizer (with balsamic reduction - yum!) and Gma had the crab bisque to start. We of course had a bottle of wine with dinner (a dry white) and polished it off quite nicely. My entree was the unlisted vegetarian option which was vermicelli with roasted garlic and plum tomatoes. Good but predictable. My grandmother had the scallops served alongside greenbeans and a chestnut risotto (which Gma didn't like even though I described it as creamy rice - a more familiar food). Mom, however, absolutely adored her meal and made all sorts of yummy noises - she had the grilled salmon with crab in a citrus viniagrette.

All in all the evening was a success and we even had room for dessert (which was pretty good). The atmosphere was wonderful - we were seated at a table close to the floor-to-ceiling windows which gave Gma lots of light and Mom and me a great view of the river.

We also had a fantastic view of the patio which looks perfect for evening cocktails sometime in the future...

Girls' (would you like some wine with that?) weekend - Part I

This past Friday I took the day off work and spent the time with my mother and grandmother who had come to visit for a few days. They stayed in a cute "boutique" hotel (I'll call it that since quaint, creaky, and moth-balled just doesn't sound inviting) down the street from my house and we spent Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday just doing fun things.

Friday was our real day of fun - we got up early and went for breakfast along the Rappahannock River at Amy's Cafe in Falmouth. The coffee was a little weak for me (I like put-hair-on-your-chest brew) but the service was super-nice and we sat in the sunny window as we enjoyed our pancakes, eggs, and applesauce (haven't had applesauce in years!).

We then made our way around town running a few errands and doing a little shopping. Quite a bit of time was spent stocking up Mom and Gma's wine cellars at Total Wine which happened to have the Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc my Mom and Dad really like and can never find. We actually happened to have the wine at Basil's at dinner the night before and I'd have to say I enjoyed it as well so may be a convert (well, as a special treat considering the $).

After lunch at a location chosen to appease my Gma's 86-year-old sense of "good food", we started on our journey to a wine tasting (can you sense a theme in my family?).

For this visit I had chosen a local winery with a large selection of varietals: Lake Anna Winery. As predicted, my mother liked the whites, my grandmother the sweet whites and roses, and me all the dry wines. We were the only ones in the tasting room (I guess since it was a Friday; I hope they're a bit busier on the weekends!) so our visit was pretty quick since the pourer was there the whole time filling our glasses. They do have a small patio with tables if you want to buy a bottle and enjoy the outdoors, but we chose to buy our few bottles of favorites and move on down the road...

I feel like most of my posts center around food. I suppose it's where I feel I have a creative outlet the most often - after my hour-long commute each way to/from work and then a full day of work the only fun activity that happens with regularity at the end of the day is cooking something interesting (or at least thinking about it).

But, this weekend, besides my grandmother and mother visiting (more about that later), I also decided to rearrange my living room and study. Now, this was a totally spur-of-the-moment, sporadic activity with absolutely no forethought. But, I'd have to say I'm happy with the result. I think sometimes you just need a change.


My living room was previously filled on one side with bookcases of magazines, books related to my career, and other "scholarly" publications. I thought it looked junky and each day when I arrived home I continued feeling stressed because of the clutter (at least that's what I'm blaming it on). This chair (with the calico cat of the house named Gracie perched atop) previously sat next to my tv stand, which in my house is a great early 20th century (I think) Asian-inspired (or chinoiserie for those in the know) dresser in this great mustard yellow with ogee legs and pad feet. I absolutely LOVE this dresser and wish I had a picture of it to share. Here I only have a little corner.

The chair is actually pretty great too. A late-19th century rococo-crazy armchair that I inherited from a former boss when I worked in a decorative arts gallery in Georgetown in my youth. I've covered the yellow needlepoint seat with this fabric remnant to tie it into my living room green/white/yellow color combo. Anyway, this chair I felt was always in the way and now it sits at the entrance to the living room/front door/vestibule to be a useful place for sitting to put on or take off shoes, lay down packages, or other things that chairs like to do. The bookcases are no longer in the room and have instead been relegated to the "office" or what is technically the second bedroom but right now is just my throw-everything-you-can't-fit-elsewhere or you-aren't-strong-enough-to-carry-into-the-attic space. That'll be my next project.

So now when I get home from a long day at work being all academic and such, I am greeted by this scene (albeit not often with Colette in perfect profile). A bank of clean, unfinished (for now) pine cabinets with artful piles of plants, books, little birdhouses my father made, and this great squirrel nutcracker that Lulubell gave me when I moved to Fredericksburg. Plus, the cabinets store my wealth of towels and bedding and other things I may need for guests, as well as my hidden stereo. The clutter has been eliminated. I'll try my best to keep it that way!

Small yellow plums. How wonderfully vibrant in color and delicious in taste!

I feel like that sounds like the start of a poem.

I don't yet know what I'll do with them (besides just continue eating them 'straight-up').

Aaahhh, I love summer and all the yumminess it brings...

The great scape

Well, I promised to report back on some of my new adventures based on this Saturday's farmers market booty. I've not been derailed, but simply delayed - but here is a report on the world of garlic scapes. As I've learned in the days since their arrival in my kitchen, scapes are the young flowering shoots produced by garlic plants before the bulbs we're so familiar with mature. Removing these shoots means that more energy goes to producing bigger bulbs. Plus, the shoots are edible themselves - a win-win situation!

I was very intrigued by the pile of curly fronds that filled part of my CSA bag - they looked like long skinny green beans but had the smell of garlic. What to do?



I found this recipe as the first response to the ever-helpful Google search (whatever did we do before Google?). After reading the blog entry I was really excited to have such a gourmet treat to try. About half of the scapes made their way into my rendition of the garlic scape pesto featured in the entry. I didn't actually remove the flowery tops as mentioned in the recipe (as other recipes I read said they were the best part), but I trimmed them like a green bean (taking off any cut ends or stems) and chopped them into small pieces. The smell was overwhelming - I love garlic and this didn't disappoint - I think my kitchen will smell like garlic for days to come!

The walnuts and scapes made a light chopped mixture in my food processor and after adding the oil in a slow stream I was rewarded with bright green, smooth (yet still somewhat chunky) mixture. Add some freshly-ground pepper and some salt - yum!

Verdict: The pesto is just as imagined - bright and crisp with very strong (although green-tasting) garlic flavor. My first taste of the pesto was mixed with a batch of tofu noodles and topped with slivers of fresh basil from the garden. I had to add a lot more salt for my taste and I would have to admit I was a little overwhelmed (darn that tendency toward heartburn I've gained now that I'm in my 'early thirties'!).


The next time I utilize the pesto it will likely be as an accompanying flavor rather than the main one. I'm thinking hummus, veggies, and pesto wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. Or maybe one of these great ideas...

• Another new adventure with scapes
• Other ways to use scapes - yum! I'll be trying some of these with the rest of my scapes!
• For the hardcore epicure and gardener
  

Conversations in the garden

My friend CM loves to make snapdragons talk. She'll squeeze their little faces and make funny CM noises as if they're having a conversation with you.

What do you think they're saying this morning?

This looks like a bunch of little bearded old men complaining about the weather.


Among the others I found a really grizzled old man who has lost his beard (and it looks like his teeth too).


Maybe they're complaining about all the noise the nearby peony and gardenia are making.


Gracie was eavesdropping, so maybe she'll share a little gossip...

I've been thinking about this top since I saw it hanging in Simpatica last month. On Sunday I finally decided to buy it (I figured it wasn't an impulse purchase if I had been obsessing about it for over a month; plus I had a 20% off coupon). I have a feeling people will get tired of seeing me in it.

LAmade tie-front cherub jacket (Image courtesy tee-zone.com)

Chocolate is my favorite flavor

This weekend was a fun one. Had my parents to visit and celebrated Father's Day in a relatively low-key fashion. We had some outings, ate some good food, and my father helped me install a window unit AC (thanks Lulubell for the donation!). We actually made a trek to Carl's twice, which is always a good thing! My dad also brought his gas-powered lawn mower to my house so my lawn could get a nice close shave - I normally use a push-powered rotary mower which, while environmentally-friendly, doesn't do the best cutting job!

Now, the weekend couldn't have gone by without some quirky sort of disaster (this is my life, after all), and we got that when I picked up a nail in my tire at some point on Saturday. Amid our activities on Sunday we also went by the tire place to have my tire patched (thankfully an easy fix). That wasn't all, though. My refrigerator also decided to stop working by Sunday afternoon. The freezer I'd stocked up with ice cream and other summer treats just last week is now a puddled mess. Keep your fingers crossed that my love of ice cream holds up as I scramble to devour the goodies before they are fully thawed. Guess it could be worse!

Image courtesy Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Thinking outside the box (or bag)

This weekend at the farmer's market the CSA that I belonged to last year (Cub Creek Farms) had their inaugural CSA installment. For 2008 they have switched to a pay-as-you-go plan where you pay a deposit up front and then as you pick up a bag on Saturday morning. I like the flexibility of this new system and the owners like the fact that they're not preparing boxes ahead of time each week and only pack the goodies as the bags are picked up. This way they're not wasting precious time packing foods into boxes that never get picked up; this way they can also sell the produce (better for the farm) that goes unclaimed.


I've been shopping at farmers markets for years, but it wasn't until I joined a CSA last year that I realized how boring I'd been in my food choices. I would walk around the tables at the Del Ray, Alexandria (where I lived until April 2007) farmers market on Saturdays and pretty much just pick up the normal, comfortable foods that I knew how to prepare. I remember going 'wild and crazy' one weekend and buying green tomatoes since I knew I liked fried green tomatoes - a.k.a. I already knew what to do with them even though they were not my normal fare.


Now I'm given my weekly allotment of fresh vegetables and fruits and really have no say - my bag is full of whatever is ready in the farm fields this week and I love eating foods in conjunction with the season and region. Along with a dozen eggs, herbed goat cheese, and fresh lavender, my latest bag was full of salad greens (check - know what to do with those), small onions (got it), beets (yup), yellow baby squash (yum), rhubarb (well, I know I can make pie), artichokes (real whole prickly ones, not just the hearts or leaves...hmm...will need to look this up), and scapes (what the...?). Needless to say I have some new adventures awaiting me - I'll definitely report back with the results.

Tonight, I did prepare some of the salad greens with a little balsamic vinegar dressing and sprinkled with some of the herbed cheese. It was delicious. I just love it when you have to wash dirt off your vegetables (and a bug or two doesn't hurt either). When did I (we) stop really realizing that our food comes from a field? I remember reading an article (I believe in Southern Living) that talked about educating children about nature and growing things. If I remember the article correctly, educators at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia once asked students where fries come from and one student answered McDonalds. Kinda makes me sad - I grew up in a relatively rural area and had my own garden (a butterfly one!) by middle school. So many people (adults and children) don't have the opportunity to dig in the dirt and really connect with nature. I would just go crazy if I didn't have the opportunity to get some dirt under my nails every once in a while. This train of thought is actually inspiring me to reexamine my love of Alice Waters and her commitment to cooking with the seasons and respecting nature's bounty. I feel a new book order on the horizon...

Here we go a-hookahing...

So Wednesday was my friend M.C.'s birthday (her 24th - such a good number that I remember so well...). She's a very earth-conscious girl, so I put together a little basket of organic/non-animal testing/recyclable packaging body souffle and spray oil from Booth's along side a rooted cutting of my household philodendron that will grow in just water if she doesn't want to plant it (M.C. swears she has a black thumb).

Anyway, so for M.C.'s birthday (sadly on a Wednesday) we searched in vain for a good karaoke bar that wasn't too sketchy. We decided instead to try a hookah bar (which we found out does actually have karaoke, but just on Thursday nights). Aladin Restaurant & Cafe in Fredericksburg was actually offering 1/2 priced hookah for ladies' night - what good timing!

The food was wonderful - we got the Jasmine platter to share for our appetizer - hummus, baba ghannouge, tabouleh, and beef Shawarma (for the non-veggies in the group); I ended up getting the falafel salad as my main dish - yummy Mediterranean salad with fresh salty cubes of feta, cucumbers, greens, and walnuts topped with rounds of lightly-fried falafel patties and a tahini dressing. Yum! Everyone loved their food and the restaurant actually offers more generic (American) food for those who aren't feeling the Mediterranean vibe (or are just boring).

After blowing out the candle in her baklava, M.C. had a hard decision ahead...what flavors of hookah should she try? Only one member of our party had smoked hookah before, but others had smoked before so at least knew what to do. Hookah, we learned from our waiter Ben, is supposed to be a relaxing, prolonged experience. A good hookah enjoyed slowly actually will last an hour or more. We weren't quite sure what flavors to try, and M.C. finally picked strawberry and apple from their menu (which you can actually see on their website under the kid's menu and dessert).
I'd have to say the experience of hookah was very neat. My only visual of hookah (now that I know what it is) is the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure I'd become a hookah smoker on a regular basis, but for this kind of evening - a leisurely dinner with friends - it was perfect. Now, no one ended up putting on the fez that was sitting temptingly on the back bar, but we had a lot of fun and I think M.C. enjoyed learning how to blow smoke rings with her apple hookah.

Image from Alice in Wonderland courtesy ibiblio.org

Warrenton

On Sunday I had a leisurely brunch with some former colleagues. One now lives in Winchester, the other in Alexandria, and me in Fredericksburg. As a middle ground we descended upon the picturesque town of Warrenton, Virginia, about one hour from each of us. I'd never ventured into downtown Warrenton and I look forward to going back to explore.

I ended up parking next to a shop named The Galloping Grape, which among other things, sells horse tack as well as wine. What a great combo!

We ate at Claire's at the Depot Restaurant, which was, as you might guess, located in an old train station. I'd made reservations ahead of time (thankfully!) and we were seated in the back room which was technically outside of the old station in a later edition that gave you the perfect view of the windows and brickwork of the historic structure. Our table also overlooked the back garden which was quite beautiful on this particular day.

It was a really wonderful experience and I urge everyone to try Claire's if you live in the D.C. metro area. The chef uses organic and local ingredients when possible and the staff was so knowledgeable and friendly. The bathroom was even impressive - with herbal handsoap and soft towels. Now, the way to my heart is normally my stomach and this certainly didn't disappoint. You are given cranberry-orange scones, warm from the oven, to start alongside poppy seed butter. The brunch was a nice mix of old favorites with new twists. One of my companions opted for the quiche, which I think was a mushroom, spinach, and pancetta variety that day; the other the eggs benedict with a crabcake instead of ham (it had a cute name like eggs Chesapeake or something like that); and I had the omlette of the day - a mix of spinach, peppers, mushrooms, and feta cheese (was supposed to also have shrimp, but being a vegetarian, I asked for it without). All came with fresh fruit and potatoes. Supposedly their crab bisque is amazing, but again the whole vegetarian thing came into play.

On the way home, I stopped just north of Fredericksburg on Rt. 17 at the Trade'n'Post in search of the great white whale - a chest of drawers that measures 30 inches wide or less. I have a spot in my hallway that needs a little something (not a lot) that will also provide me with extra storage. I'd really love something like this chest of drawers (image courtesy Doyle New York). Sadly, although they had a whole tent full of furniture straight from estate sales (mainly in PA), nothing to fit the bill this time around. I'll definitely stop back by. The owners were super-friendly and there was a little Jack Russell terrier on the front porch to give you a welcoming lick.

A fleeting moment

Yesterday was unbearably hot. I'm not complaining, just observing. I actually love the summer weather - I'd much prefer to be hot than cold. Plus, with summer comes summer nights. And with summer nights come lightening bugs. Could anything be better?! I don't know if you can see the flash of light in this picture - I sat patiently trying to time it perfectly and finally captured the fleeting blink of one of my backyard's residents.


My backyard is relatively small, and although this is a temporary rental, I have really enjoyed settling into gardening over the past year that I've lived in Fredericksburg. I have a bed along the back of the house to one side of the back stoop with my pink azaleas and lavender & yellow irises (former residents of my side yard when I first moved in that got transplated and seem to be happy). The other side of the stoop is planted asymmetrically with a fuchsia peony, Chinese lantern, forsythia, and gardenia. The middle of the yard features a large strawberry patch and then a matching patch with the annuals and herbs (basil and rosemary). My favorite spot in the yard, however, is in the far back - under the shade of my neighbor's flowering plum tree (so gorgeous this spring) and next to a fence where honeysuckle grows wild. The grass doesn't grow well in this spot - too much shade I guess - but that means a bed of wild strawberries, violets, and clover create a soft bed. The smell is amazing. I love sitting there in the early evening hours enjoying a cold glass of white wine. Ahhh, summer...

An indoor life

Now that summer has settled upon my little house, the windows have been shut and air conditioner turned on full-blast. I dread these days when the only fresh air I get is during my walk from house to car and back again.

Colette doesn't mind the change of seasons too much. She still has a pretty good view...

Green with envy

My neighbor's hydrangeas are gorgeous. That's not to say that my salvia or trailing petunias or pansies aren't fantastic, but this time of year there's nothing that takes the place of the first blue (or pink!) blush of a hydrangea bush.

Do you think he'd notice if I snipped a few blossoms for myself..?

So far I've been able to appease my need for hydrangeas by buying a wonderful bouquet at the farmer's market on Saturday.
I love the color contrasts and only hope that my cats stay away - they've been known to pull flowers out of vases just for the fun of it. This bouquet should hold me off from tackling my neighbor's hydrangea bush. For now.

On what promised to be a very hot, muggy day, I rose early and made my weekly trip to the farmer's market. Because of my new promise to myself to try to live healthier (i.e., less fatty foods, more veggies and exercise), I rode my bike. I have a 1960s cruiser that was actually my mother's bike. I've outfitted it with a cute basket and thought it would be perfect for my weekly farmer's market runs (since I live about 1/2 mile from the market). Can't you just imagine how wonderfully chic I must look - with the breeze blowing, my fresh veggies filling the basket as I pedal calmly down the tree-lined streets?!

Now, I haven't been on a bike since, well, let's just say I think I may have been in high school at the time. While I didn't forget how to ride my bike, I surely didn't remember how hard it can be! I had to actually walk the bike up a hill along the way. Very sad. But, I promise to persevere and make it the whole way one of these days!

The market was bustling as usual, although everyone was complaining of the mugginess even at 8:00 in the morning. Alas, the Virginia summer has truly set in. But, with summer comes all sorts of yummy things including fresh cherries, lettuces, peaches, squash, watermelon, and all sorts of beans and peas. I brought home some English peas for shelling, some plump green beans for steaming, and a variety of lettuces. I also treated myself to a pint of fresh cherries (since my strawberries are dwindling) and some garlic, parsley, and chive goat cheese (yum!) for sprinkling in my salads or making frittatas.

Anyway, a nice, leisurely, muggy, need-a-shower-already kind of day. Happy summer!

This morning I picked what I expect may be the last of my strawberries. Last spring I planted six little strawberry plants and this spring brought a crop of fresh strawberries that I never imagined. Perhaps I actually helped the patch by not weeding it for months at a time. It spent the winter under a warm cover of decaying weeds and grass and I'd like to think that's what actually made the patch so productive this year.

I had to constantly battle with birds and other wildlife getting to my strawberries before me last year. This year I got smart and covered the plot with some netting - it made it slightly cumbersome to pick the berries, but hey, at least I got to eat a lot more of them this year!

This last bunch of strawberries I washed, hulled, and cut up to enjoy with some vanilla fat free yougurt this afternoon at lunch. I'm looking forward to enjoying these last links to spring, but am sad I'll now have to resort to buying fruit at the farmer's market instead of just picking it from my backyard. My one consolation is that with the end of strawberry season we are one step closer to peach time...

One of those days

I love those nights when the summer day stretches on and on and even though you get home around 7:00pm you still feel like you have hours to enjoy the day. Tonight was one of those for me. I fixed myself a nice vodka tonic (with raspberry flavored vodka and diet tonic), put on some cocktail music, and doned my sassy apron.

I've had blocks of tofu sitting in my fridge long enough to be reaching that questionable point, so tonight was a simple tofu & veggie stir fry with brown rice. I chopped up frozen broccoli, fresh carrots, and some snow peas from the farmer's market. Scrambled two free-range brown eggs to add some extra protein. Teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, and splash of vegetable broth gave a little flavor. Nothing fancy, but the process was the real point of it - the pure enjoyment of just cooking a good meal without rushing.

And the final frosting on the cake? Chocolate brownies cold from the fridge and a glass of icy milk. Just perfect...

First steps

So I've decided that my first step toward organization is my music collection. Now, I'm no music snob and I'm really very far behind in my transition to iTunes even though I've had my cute pink iPod for years now. I collect shoes, not music, so I thought this would be a good first step. The plan is to get all my cds downloaded and then get rid of cd cases and place all my cds in a case for use in the car (since I'll just use my iPod in the house). This also means I need to research and buy a speaker/docking system for the house. Oh, and a cd case for the car. And then somehow get over the guilt of trashing plastic cd cases that are made from un-recyclable plastic. Funny how things seem to snowball...

A fresh start

Do you know how sometimes plans just don't go as they, well, were planned? I've found my life is just like that. It seems like there's always a little something that pushes things just off the path of perfection.

Case in point: I returned home from a lovely weekend in Wilmington, NC, full of sunshine, time with a good friend, yummy food, and fresh river breezes, to a tree down in my front yard. Now, it certainly could have been worse, but it also seems like five hours in the car could have been rewarded with a better ending.

The tree was removed yesterday and my front yard and porch are now back to normal. One positive that may come out of this is that now that the tree has lost many of its branches my front yard may now get some sunlight. Of course I have my front flower beds planted with shade-loving perennials, but I'm sure they'll enjoy the change. Personally, I'm gearing up for a fresh start myself - I'd like to eat healthier, pull together my house and de-junk (as my mother has termed it), and all in all become an "adult". I think now that I've hit my "early thirties" it's a necessity...