foiled twice {june 13, 2022}

The Fountain of Lights at Riverscape Metropark in Dayton is one of the largest fountains in the world. The fountains operate for 8-minute intervals starting at the top of every hour from 6:56am – 9:54pm weekdays from Memorial Day until Labor Day. The series of five fountains standing about 60 feet each shoot water over 200 feet high and over 400 feet across the confluence of the Great Miami and Mad Rivers. It's an amazing spectacle that can be seen miles away and up close and personal with all the spray. 

I love these fountains and so far have had two foiled attempts to see them. The first time I went downtown a thunderstorm quickly blew in and shut the fountains down. I got soaked running back to the car but at least I got to see them.

My next time downtown was on a beautiful day, I positioned myself at Deeds Point to get all five of the fountains and the skyline backdrop. The wind picked up, one of the fountains squirted for about 3 seconds, and then stopped. Oy. At least there's plenty of time for more visits.

You can barely see the fountain's water (by the bridge, middle of the pic) but it's there. I'll be back...

strawberry fields forever {june 12, 2022}

Summer is the season of strawberries. The rich red colored fruit shaped like a heart is most delicious when the summer begins, when people are going on vacations and having the time of their lives. It isn't hard to associate strawberries with gentle memories and sweet fun with the people who matter to us. Going to the strawberry patch to pick a bucket of strawberries, strawberries with homemade shortcake, a dish of strawberries plain or with cream, strawberries on vanilla ice cream, strawberry pie, making strawberry jam...all reminders of the early days summer.

Driscoll's added a new innovative flavor to its lineup of strawberries called Tropical Bliss. According to Driscoll's, this strawberry has the classic flavor of sweet berries combined with notes of tropical punch, pineapple, and passionfruit. This berry's flesh is naturally white with yellow hues when it's ripe. The flavor sounds delightful but the color throws me off. Maybe next summer...

“Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream – they go together.” ~ Nikki Giovanni

herbs...round 2 {june 11,2022}

Last week I bought some basil and parsley plants and put them in my little garden. I love fresh herbs. So do rabbits. 

Let's see if this 2 foot pot can foil those wascally wabbits' dinner plans!

national iced tea day {june 10, 2022}

National Iced Tea Day on June 10th each year celebrates one of summer’s favorite drinks. Whether you prefer sweetened or unsweetened, with or without lemon, many love and enjoy iced tea by the glass full all summer long.

Recipes for iced tea have been found dating back to the 1870s. The Buckeye Cookbook, published in 1876, and Housekeeping in Old Virginia, published in 1877, both contain iced tea recipes. It is believed, however, that iced tea started to appear in the United States in the 1860s and became widespread in the 1870s. During that time, hotels offered iced tea on their menus and railroad stations offered the beverage as well. In 1904, the beverage was introduced at the World’s Fair in St. Louis causing its popularity to explode. 

My dad loved iced tea and we always had a pitcher or two in the house during the warm weather. It was always unsweetened. As young kids, my brothers, sister, and I put sugar (lots of sugar) in our tea and the best part of drinking a glass was slurping the sugar that had settled at the bottom. Nowadays I drink my tea unsweetened, made with good ole Lipton Tea in a tall glass with lotsa ice.

Sip, sip, hooray...have a brew-tea-ful day!

dayton's flyer {june 9, 2022}

 Orv or Willa (I don't know which) representing the University of Dayton Flyers!

Many thanks to the Carillon eagle photographers for these wonderful photos of Dayton's favorite flyer.

I wanna fly like an eagle

To the sea

Fly like an eagle, let my spirit carry me

I want to fly like an eagle

'Til I'm free

Oh Lord, through the revolution

~ Steve Miller Band

wordy wednesday...gobsmacked {june 8, 2022}

Gobsmacked...a term that refers to something so shocking that it leaves you utterly speechless. Based on the parts of the word, feeling gobsmacked is equivalent to feeling like you’ve been (figuratively) hit in the mouth: gob (English, Scottish) is slang for “mouth” and smack is a verb that means “to hit.” The action of clapping a hand to your mouth as a reaction to a surprising event is a less violent interpretation of gobsmacked. 

I was gobsmacked a couple weeks ago. My friend from college, a sorority sister, one of my bridesmaids, died from a heart condition. Laurie was an amazing mother, wife, grandma, friend, foodie, cook. She loved and lived SO loudly, that the ones around her wanted to love and live in that same way. She was so kind, fiercely loyal, incredibly positive with such an infectious spirit. Just an all around badass with the bluest eyes. The world seems a little bit dimmer now but I know Heaven is a whole lot brighter with her there. And I have no doubt that she is taking her new role of guardian angel very seriously. 

Laurie was an incredible cook. She knew that lots of people didn't like to look at food photos so when she posted a pic of her creation, her signature line became, "Non-foodies move along." Her cooking was so full of creativity and love. She didn't follow recipes, just put ingredients together to come up with something wonderful. She was, and still is, my inspiration in so many aspects of life.

So for tonight's dinner I channeled Laurie's love and creativity of food, took one of my favorite summertime recipes, a stir fry with zucchini, tomatoes, corn, onions, mozzarella and Parm, and turned it into a tart. So, "Non-foodies move along." Fancy foodies, you can move along, too. Not the prettiest, but it sure was good. My kitchen angel was sitting on my shoulder 💜

what a bargain {june 7, 2022}

$4.99 for a gallon of gas. What a bargain. Most other places it was $5.09 and above. 

Ugh.

Amen.