Sunday Salon...June 30th

Monthly wrap-up...June 2013

The photo: is my stuffed Muffy Vanderbear Jam Session bear and her little old-fashioned stove. I had to dig around to find it but on the heels of making so much jam this summer it was appropriate to display it now. When my girls were young we collected a lot of the Muffy Vanderbear outfits for different occasions. It is still fun to get them out occasionally.

Weather today: Gorgeous and hot. We had our nieces here for lunch and we sat outside and sweated in 90 degree heat, very warm for the Northwest. This past week started rainy and cool, temperatures in the 60s, then Wednesday the weather started to turn and the barometer swung wildly causing both my daughter and I to get killer headaches. The last half week has been sunny and warm.

Yesterday: We stayed close to home and worked in the yard (Don) and made jam (Carly and me.) Don finally got out and trimmed the branches off the maple tree that were damaged in the winter ice storm over a year ago. It was a big, tiring job.  I helped but only toward the very end as he was trying to cut up the limbs and fit them into our recycling barrel. While he was out, Carly and I were in the house making two batches of raspberry freezer jam. We have found the berries from the Puyallup Valley are fairly fragile so we need to deal with them almost as soon as they are picked. It wasn't the best day to make jam since it was so warm but it wasn't an odious task and now we have raspberry jam again.  I missed raspberry season last year so we haven't had any of our favorite jam for almost a year.

This month: June is a difficult time for me with the closing out of the school year, collecting and repairing all the textbooks, and getting ready for next year which includes inservice classes. I find my energy is pretty low after days of schlepping textbooks so I usually don't get much done at home including reading. This year, after all the school things were done and I was ready for summer vacation, I came down with a summer cold which laid me up for a few days last week-end and the early part of the week. Now that I am feeling better it is time for real summer activities to begin.

This evening: The Taste of Tacoma--- a food and music celebration at Point Defiance Park.Time to listen to a little jazz as we nibble on food from local restaurants....Woops, just got back from said event.  My daughter and I did a little wine tasting while we all listened to some jazz and people-watched.

Books completed this month (click on the hyperlinks to read my reviews):

• Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson
• Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
• Deathwatch by Robb White
• Best-loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Currently reading:

• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
• Winger by Andrew Smith

Scripture: Luke 15:11-32, The Parable of the Lost Son, should be renamed: The Parable of the Faithful Son, The Loving Father, and the Forgiven Son!

Prayers for: Our friends' son who has been in the hospital for a month after he was hit by a car on his bike. He has a collapsed lung that is still leaking.

In the garden: We played our first game of bocce ball for this summer this week.

From the kitchen: Roasted Vegetables, BBQ Tri-Tip Marinated in teriyaki, Marionberry Cobbler.