Scenes from a Lazy Summer Day

Sharing Memories With Friends...

Another trip to Greenfield Village....this time we went with a friend of mine and her son. (Amy and Blake). It was their first time visiting GFV...so they had a wonderful time.

(This is Joe pushing the turntable at the Train Roundhouse. He has been asking to do this for over 2 years....and he finally got to do it)

This is my niece...

This is my niece, Mya, demonstrating her raw talent of balancing a spoon on her nose. I cannot do this. A 2 1/2 year old showed me up with her talents....

Linzer Cookies - Don't EVER Ask Me to Make These Again

But - they went quick when I brought them to the office. :)

Complete Waste of Time - Yet So Interesting...

OK - I love these little questionaire things...It helps you learn little tidbits about your friends and family...so - here are my answers!!

What do you add to your coffee? REAL half and half. None of that powdery crap.
What are you reading now? Deep Economy - Bill McKibben
Do you own a gun? yup. Gold Huntress - 20 gauge shotgun.
Are you registered to vote? Yes
Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Nah - unless I know there will be needles involved.
What do you think of hot dogs? summertime.
Favorite Christmas song? Hmmm...there are so many...O come All Ye Faithful - with full choir, organ and trumpets.
What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee.
Can you do push ups? Yup. - not the girly ones either.
Favorite hobby? Gardening. Running.
Do you work with people who idolize you? Holy cow - I hope they don't!
Do you have ADD? Nope.
What’s one trait that you hate about yourself? My ghetto-booty.
What’s your middle name? Elizabeth
Name three thoughts at this exact moment. I need to get the files together for the Ferry Drain Meeting. I need to call the County. I need to figure out latchkey for Joseph.
Name three things you bought yesterday. didn't go shopping yesterday.
Name three beverages you regularly drink. Water. Wine. Coffee. (not necessarily in order of importance...)
Current worry right now? Latchkey, Bills, Work.
What side do you dress to? huh? what the heck does that mean?
Favorite place to be? Traverse City
How did you bring in the New Year? At home.
Where would you like to go? Ireland
Name three people who will complete this. ????
Whose answers do you want to read the most? Everyone's!
What color shirt are you wearing? purplish-burgandyish.
Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Nope. Don’t like to slide when I sleep.
Can you whistle? yes.
Favorite color? Blue or Green
Could you be a pirate? Uh...i don't think so.
What songs do you sing in the shower? Seriously? whatever I just heard. (Often it's the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song!)
Favorite girls name? Elizabeth Rae or Miranda Elizabeth
Favorite boy’s name? Joseph John
What’s in your pocket right now? Nothing
Last thing that made you laugh? A comment from a co-worker about a project.
Best bed sheets as a child? white with these tiny little flowers and vines.
Worst injury you’ve ever had? Um...hip dysplasia?
Do you love where you live? I like my house, the community is OK - but it isn't where I want to raise my son.
How many TVs do you have in your house? Three.
Who is your loudest friend? Tracy
How many dogs do you have? One.
What are the most fun things you ever did? ??? I try to have fun all the time....this is a hard question!!
What are your favorite books? "Farenheit 451"; "Red Pony"; "Under the Tuscan Sun";
What is your favorite candy? Hmmm...if I was splurging...probably a Butterfinger
Favorite team? Detroit Tigers
What songs do you want played at your funeral? No funeral for me, thanks. Play happy music at the party!
What were you doing at 12 am? Sleeping.
What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Damn - that smells like a skunk outside the bedroom window...Oh Crap. It IS a skunk outside the bedroom window!

This is HILARIOUS!!

OK - I have fond memories of the Muppets...but I find this Hilarious!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xpcUxwpOQ_A

Call me silly. I always liked Beaker.

Nothing Much New Here

Nothing exciting going on here. I'm in a funky sort of mood. I miss my mom, I'm overwhelmed at work, I can't believe Joseph is going to start kindergarten in about a month, I'm having some difficulty accepting change and growth.

I need a break. Nothing major. Just a facial. or an afternoon at the coffeehouse, reading my book. (Deep Economy, by Bill McKibben, which BTW, is an awesome look at how we are living our lives, and how ecology and the ecomnomy are intertwined).

More pictures later - probably more stupid zucchinis, some of my construction project at work (which is the main source of my stress, and probably the same source for my occasional glass of wine), maybe some pictures of the almost-kindergartener!!

all for now - toodles!

Garden Update

Just a few pics to show you my bountiful garden - and YES, the tomato plants are now taller than me.

The herb garden...
Tomatoes galore....I'm planning on canning them...
Tomato plants almost 6 feet tall.
Red Onions...Mmmm..

Yet another F%^&ing zucchini. I am so over zucs. Remind me not to plant them.

Friends, Fire, S'Mores and Silly Faces

On Saturday, we had a friend and her kids over for dinner and fun. I've known Debbie since college, she was one of my bridesmaids...and we have been able to keep our friendship for many years. It's nice to visit with friends, and it reminds you how important friendships are, and how they should be valued and cherished.

Anyways, we had good food, a fire in the fire-thingy, and crazy kids! I made roasted veggies (Zucchini from the garden, a vidalia onion, a red pepper, and baby bella mushrooms. A little EVOO, S&P and fresh oregano from the garden). Wrapped in foil, plpped on the grill for a while. Perfect, and there were TONS of leftovers too - lunch for the week!!

Ahh....FIRE!!!!

Here are the kids (Ella, Colin and Joe) being crazy....

And here they are normal...not much difference.

We had s'mores...YUMM!!

Joseph enjoyed the marshmallows...but only a bite or two out of each...and not very crispy from the fire.This is Ella - Debbie's silly daughter. She was making a silly face (and channelling Gene Simmons). Too cute!!

My headache...

So - Thursday night, I pulled in the driveway, and couldn't figure out where this HISSING noise was coming from. Until Joseph pointed out the HUGE DECKING SCREW in my Right Rear tire. So, I attempted to put the spare tire on. And I couldn't get the lugnuts off. So, I stood there, in my driveway, crying. Yes - I lost it. Joe wasn't going to be home until later that night, and I couldn't change the tire myself.

So, I left everything there, and went inside and felt sorry for myself. Stupid hormones.
When Joe got home, he put the spare on for me, and saved the day. On Friday morning, I went to Kimberly Tire in Clawson (GREAT PLACE!!!) and had the hole repaired. Seriously though - highly suggested place to take your car for all of it's tire needs. Very nice people. They even have an office dog who is very friendly. They are on Rochester Road, just north of 14 mile.

Attack of the Post-It Notes.

Never tell a 5-year old that it's OK to play with Post-It notes. I am still finding these darn things...he even tried to stick them on the dog.

The Uses of Zucchini

Joe LOVES to help me in the kitchen...so...here's a snapshot of how we make Blueberry-Zucchini Muffins....(recipe to follow)

Blueberry-Zucchini bread/muffins
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cups brown sugar
3 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp. fresh nutmeg
1 pint fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans. Sprinkle crumb topping (see below) on top.

Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

CRUMB TOPPING
2/3 cup flour,
1/2 cup brown sugar,
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon,
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 stick softened butter-
mix altogether with hand and sprinkle all over the top of the loaves before baking.


BTW - No, this recipe is NOT healthy. I never said it was.

Just a few pics of us around this past week. Not too much excitement, but hey, that's life!

All three of us went to Greenfield Village last weekend. Joe's favorite lunch is the "Hobo Lunch", which is a PBJ, applesauce, string cheese and raisins. It all comes wrapped in a red handkerchief on a stick. So - after lunch, we tied the handkerchief around his head. It didn't last long, but it was cute.
This is Joe. In a tent. One the bed. (he was trying to hide)
This is Little Joe. About 20 minutes after telling us that he doesn't need a nap. Yeah, right.

Picnic, Fireworks, the Symphony and Traditions

Every 4th of July. the Detroit Symphony Orchestra hosts an outdoor concert at Greenfield Village, replete with real cannons for the 1812 Overture, and fireworks over the Oxbow. This is my perfect evening. We can enjoy a picnic dinner, with tasty food, we can listen to amazing music, and witness one of the best ever fireworks spectacles up close!

The picnic basket...a gift from my Dad and David many years ago - and it has come in handy so may times!


The most wonderful artichoke ever. I made a dipping sauce of:

4 TBSP olive oil

3 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP dijon mustard

3 cloves of garlic

S&P

1 TBSP fresh minced oregano

OMG! so amazingly good!

Even Dax thought that the picnic looked yummy! She was helping me make the food - cleaning up whatever I dropped. :)

Other food packed: PBJ Sandwiches for the boys; cheese; crackers; fresh cut mango; grapes; nutrigrain bars; juice boxes; and chocolate covered pretzels.

And here is a pic of part of the crowd - Seriously - thousands of people...
Our view of the DSO...from atop to Train Tracks. Best seat in the house, and not sliding down the hill, or sitting in the mud. Ick. AND...all we have to do to watch the fireworks is turn our chairs around, and we have front-row seats to the fireworks. So Cool.

and here we are, enjoying the evening...(Joseph took this picture!!)

You can tell he's a Scramstad!

Ever wonder why some people are just more accident-prone than others? yeah...I have the answer to that. It's called "Being a Scramstad". No - seriously. Scramstad's are more clumsy than normal people. We spill things (espcially red wine), we trip more often, we drop things, we hurt ourselves without even knowing it. And - as evidenced by the photos below...Joseph definitely has Scramstad blood!

How did this happen, you ask? At preschool, he fell out of a wagon...and didn't think to put his hands out to stop his fall...he figured that his forehead would stop him - and it did - when his forehead met the concrete sidewalk. Ugh!!!

Garden Bounty

Well, I told you that I would let you know how my garden is doing...this is some of the first pickins'! Green Beans and Sugar Snap Peas! Yummy! as more veggies ripen, I'll be sure to add pics! YUMM!!!

Gypsy Moth Caterpillar Takeover!!!

OK - you thought YOU had problems...this is the Shagbark Hickory Tree in our front yard. In 48 hours, we killed over 80 of these big juicy caterpillars!!

Your Mama was a Glassmaker!!!

OK - so, something I have wanted to do for a while has been to pull a glass flower at the Greenfild Village Glass Shop. So, last weekend, the boys went to the movies, and I went to Greenfild Village on my own. I wandered around the village, and did what I wanted to do - took my time in the gardens, and then went to the glass shop. And I did it...

And.....Here is the Final Flower!!!