Neat find in nature

The boys are really enjoying their playhouse but have decided that the mailbox be used as a repository for left-behind cicada skins rather than mail to each other. We went on a walk this afternoon to find more and found a real trove across the street. On the way home, we found the coolest thing: a cicada had just finished molting and was still hanging onto his former exoskeleton. Check this out!

Coconut macaroons, beef stew

Tom's parents hadn't seen the boys in a few weeks so invited them over for the afternoon. Everyone was excited, and I've gotten a lot of cooking done including a double batch of scones and a dozen and a half cherry-almond-coconut macaroons to put in the freezer.  Presently, the most incredible smelling beef stew is bubbling away in my Staub. God, it smells to the nines in here. As you might have surmised from my post this morning, I've been in an autumnal kinda mood all day and finally decided to just go with it even though by any definition, it is still decidedly summer here. Whatever! The stew will be marvelous tonight. I hate fruit flies. They are a scourge, as are mosquitoes.

Farmers Market haul

We just had a hell of a gully-washer. Wow! As you might know, I love a good rainstorm, but I was out and about and fully soaked by the time  I got home. You could sense one was coming several hours ago; the skies at the farmers market looked like marbleized paper what with their swirls of blues and grays. Though we needed the rain, I was glad it held out until now because it was a pleasure to stroll around leisurely and dryly this morning. The colors were so rich, it seemed the produce had been plugged in and turned on. Just look at this mountain of beans, the glow of the plums, the shine of the tomatoes and oh, those zinnias!

Isn't that plum the most beautiful color? I wish I'd bought a bunch of those zinnias. They always remind me of my mom and are just so cheerful.