1, 2, 3. By my Dad's office at work there is an old pear tree, so he brought me two big hauls (the first batch went bad before I got around to doing anything with it, woops!). They're sort of hard pears that don't exactly ripen quite right, awful for eating but great for cooking. I made pear sauce for the first time and it was downright luxurious. Just peeled and cored pear chunks, a splash of vanilla and a dash of cardamom. Cook down and puree. Delicious.

4, 5. Indy has plenty of toys, and in truth she plays with a lot of them very frequently, but sometimes when she's spent the whole morning in our hair and had a million time outs I realize that maybe she's more bored than naughty. Then it's pantry items to the rescue. Mixed dried beans (which she calls "coffee beans," very appropos I suppose since she loves to put them in her little coffee/tea cups) and quick homemade playdough.

6. This guy. He's reached that gnaw-on-every-thing-and-I-mean-everthing phase. Parents everywhere, you know what I'm talking about. I don't even necessarily think teeth are imminent, but you never know.

7. Toasting spices for homemade pho.

8, 9, 10. Wool. Pulled out a bunch of wool diaper covers a few days ago, and found some of those awful moth larvae and their holey evidence. Boo. Moved everything to the cedar chest in our room and threw a lavendar sachet on top of them. Washed and lanolized a few and (no! not blood!) dyed a few. Unsweetened kool-aid packets are basically an acid dye, so they work wonderfully on protein fibers like wool and silk. Some of Indy's wool wraps were stained with no hope of recovery, but now they're red and adorable and look good as new.

Eat. . .

For the second time this summer my parents blessed us with a bunch of tomatoes from their garden. We made puree both times and tried two different ways of making pasta sauce (stove top and crock pot). Both were delicious with onion, garlic, and spices.

This book! Our friend Courtney has worked (is still working?) for Hoosier Mama Pie Company in downtown Chicago, and she graciously gifted me a couple of pies once. Ever since then we've been hooked. Every time we are even near downtown we pick up a pie and share it with friends and family. Alan surprise bought me this recipe book and I almost peed my pants! I've made two savory pies already, and they were mind-blowingly good. Also, her pate brisee recipe and instructions are by far the best I have ever, ever, EVER used. I achieved my most flaky and delicious crust ever by following her recommendations. (Also, I spotted your pictures in there Courtney! Looking good!)

Drink. . .

Iced tea. I love making it in big batches in the half gallon masons because they are tempered glass and have cup markings on the side, which makes the measuring really easy. Then I can just lid it and throw it in the fridge to have on hand (or in cup?)

Peach smoothies: frozen homegrown peaches, raw milk, ice, raw honey. Yum.

It was tea season again, briefly at least. The other day was cool enough for us to turn on the kettle. Mama was drinking Good Earth (my absolute favorite), and Indy and Alan were sipping the Wild Sweet Orange.

Be merry. . .

How could you not be merry with this little turtle mouth chillin on your living room floor?

Just the other day another blogger posted a picture of one of these moths, saying she had never seen it before and it reminded her of a cross between a hummingbird and a moth. Then I spotted one in our own yard, fluttering amongst the hosta blossoms, hovering and beating its wings rapidly just like a hummingbird! Turns out her description was apropos, considering this is the white-lined sphinx hummingbird moth. I called Alan out to look at it, and was saying to him how if we were still living in the apartment we just wouldn't have had an opportunity to see something like this, and it made me grateful all over again for a yard and flowers and the opportunity to spot something like a hummingbird moth right in my backyard.