Having had such a difficult time lately, The Daddy Monkey suggested that I “take the weekend off.”  With that in mind, I made a commitment to recharge my own batteries and restore my sense of balance over this weekend. I began by getting some much needed acupuncture on Thursday evening, to help soothe my over-taxed […]

Yesterday, as the Daddy Monkey was tucking the kids into bed, I stepped into our back yard to enjoy a glass of wine and watch the three small owls that have appeared every evening for the past few weeks. Each night at dusk, they call to each other, fly from tree to tree, and eat […]

It’s hard to believe that summer is already upon us.  In some ways (the culinary ones), I am delighted that summer has arrived.  Temperatures in the mid-90’s make me not so glad that summer has arrived. It’s about this time of year that I begin to get twitchy, thinking about how much worse the heat […]

Oh hello there.  I’ve missed you.  I am still here. We went tomato picking at our local farm today.  One dollar for a full plastic bag.  That equates to about 14 pounds of tomatoes for a dollar.  How could I pass that up?! I spent a total of five dollars on 73 pounds of tomatoes, […]

We celebrated our first May Day today.  Being a cross-quarter day, marking the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, it signifies the peak of spring, and the forthcoming summer.  We joined together for flower crafting, singing, dancing, playing and feasting.  Enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, as many many before us have.  […]

It was The Daddy Monkey’s birthday yesterday. The kids played with their grandparents while we saw priceless works of art and ate sushi.  Then we went toy shopping (of course). It was a rare treat, being alone together for that long. (Our longest ever without kids, I think.) I made this coconut cake. I made […]

In Amanda’s words: This Moment – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

When the homeschool day begins to get stale, and I’m going a little cuckoo from being the only adult in the house, I like to put on some loud music and dance around.  Sometimes the kids think I’m crazy, sometimes they join in.  Today’s song was “I Got a Woman” by Ray Charles.  Actually, almost […]

Lately I’ve been feeling like my little corner of the interwebs has been getting pretty heavy.  Too serious.  I love that I can come to this space and let it all hang out, so to speak.  To get my thoughts out of my head and speak my peace.  But my original intention here was to […]

For this Florida girl, the snow was quite a sight.  It started to snow in the afternoon on Boxing Day, and was still coming down when I went to bed at 10 p.m.  I just couldn’t get enough of it.  The Daddy caught me staring out the window more times than I could count.  Didn’t […]