birdsandtrees

Herbs, Herbs, Herbs...and some Blueberry Lemonade

At the beginning of summer, I mentioned to our friend/neighbor that I would eventually love an herb box right outside our kitchen door.  About two days later, he told me he had built it and was ready to hang it!!  Talk about a good neighbor!  

James and I have been looking for ways to use the herbs, and I came across this recipe for Blueberry Lemonade on Pinterest (my latest obsession), which uses some mint. 

I'm always looking for some new drink recipes in the summer, and this one was delicious!

Add some strawberry slices and I think this would be great for the 4th of July weekend. 

Need ideas for how to use your herbs?  Check out some of these:

- use some herbs in cocktails (you might have seen this in Southern Living)

- basil pesto (we've already made one batch!)

 - grilled artichokes with creamy mint sauce

- of course Martha has plenty of ideas

I'm here!

I figured it was time to do a blog post when my mother started counting the months since I last posted!

I thought I'd share some pictures from my phone, since that really shows what I've been up to. 

Since my last post, school has ended.  It was our last year for the school to be at our house.  This next school year, we're going to rent some space at a beautiful, historic church downtown.  I'll get into more details later, but I thought I'd share a present that the parents of the school gave me.  Bryan Johnson, our friend and neighbor (whose oldest son goes to our school), took school pictures for us this year (see all the school pictures on his website...they're amazing!)  He put this together and gave it to me on our last day.  I may or may not have cried. 

After school ended, I went with James to San Diego (he had to go for work). If you ever need some garden inspiration, San Diego is your place.  All I wanted to do was get home and start gardening! 

While we were there, we went to the zoo.  Even though the price of admission makes you gasp when you see it, it's totally worth it! 

Our favorite animal of the day was the meerkat.  I could have watched them all day.  You can see one of them standing guard...the zoo is a dangerous place, so you have to always be on the watch for predators. 

There was even a baby hippo!  You can spot him in the upper right corner of the picture, sitting next to his mom. 

Other than our trip to San Diego, I've been working for Bryan at his studio...doing anything and everything that he needs me to do!  He and the rest of his family have been in China for the past week or so adopting their daughter Finley (here's his post about it here).  So while he's been gone from the studio, I've been working on a little "spruce up" of his studio space.  It was so much fun!!

Lastly, I also "catered" a friend's wedding.  I made LOTS of cupcakes, several small cakes, and her wedding cake.  James even made his famous iced coffee for the event.  I'd say it was a success. 

So there you have it.  Now we're off to the beach with my family.  But there will be more to come, I promise!!