This week my mustard intrigue was finally satisfied. I called the people who own the ranch below us and asked if we could snap a few photos of Grady in their mustard fields. After a reluctant yes, we drove down and picked up our photographer-neighbor-friend and he took photos of G frolicking in the mustard and a few of us as a family. The light was amazing around 7 pm. The above shot is one Steve took and I think it captures our little guy perfectly. Happy, glowing little man.
The picture above is of our house - the green, yellow, blue, pink & teeny-tiny green one. I have been admiring this mustard field for about a month and soon it will all disappear. I just had to get down there and have the pictures taken. It's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to see what Scott captured on film.
My sister's birthday was on March 26th, as well as another good friend of mine. I decided to attempt a pavlova and used my new, beautiful cookbook Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros that I purchased used on Amazon.com for $6. I've never made a pavlova (meringue, really) and it turned out a little broken and deflated, but tasted really good. I topped with whipped cream and berries. I liked it so much that I attempted another one for a dinner party I was having Saturday night. I doubled the recipe and really beat the heck out of the egg whites. Well, let me tell you, it was the biggest pavlova I've ever seen! I stewed the fruit, so that I'd have a bit of a sauce (and I wouldn't do this again because it gummed up the crunchy meringue underneath it). It was good and I learned what to do and not to do in the future:
1.) Beat the eggs until your arm feels like it's going to come off and the mixture is almost climbing out of the bowl, as instructed - but neglected on attempt #1;
2) Have Steve beat the heavy whipping cream to perfection; and
3.) Just use fresh berries on top (and maybe a light splash of chocolate syrup for color contrast and flavor).
Lastly, I found this amazing store on Etsy called Diffraction Fiber. You send the artist a profile picture of your child and she creates a silhouette image of said child on fabric. Using contrasting fabrics, she makes a beautiful pillow (with your fabric choices) and, voila, a personal memento of your child that you can use every day. She also can create a brooch using this same method. Genius! It's going to be my mother's day present to myself and my mom. I wonder how big Grady's head will look?
We spent a lovely afternoon in our weed garden eating fruit, playing with animal figurines, reading books and taking a short nap. You can see G in the background of this picture. It was such a special day and now that Spring is here, we will definitely be spending more time lounging, playing, laughing and having picnics in our yard.
On a very exciting note, we hired a friend who is a landscape architect to help us design an outdoor dining area, as well as rid the yard of old, dying plants, rotting wood, dead grapevines, decrepit garden beds, old carpet used as ground cover and junk. I'll post an after-picture when things are near completion. We've done so much work on the inside and really need to give some TLC to the outside. I still plan on planting a salad garden and kale for the chickens, but needed help on the bigger picture. We'll see how it goes.
Okay, how much bigger can Grady's hair get? We cut it at the beginning of the school year and he has been reluctant to let me cut it again. He had his Opening Day for T-ball last weekend and decided that he needs it cut so that he can see better. Whatever works. This look is actually growing on me, but I will be happy to shave it off in the garage later this week and marvel at his transformation.
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