Happy Birthday Jeff!

Well, I don't know about you, but I am pretty disappointed in my lack of blog posts lately.  I do, however, have a valid explanation.  For those of you who know me, you are familiar with the headaches that I have been struggling with for years.  Sometimes I get a real doozie of a headache and it might last for a few days or even a week or two (I know, its not pleasant).  In the last month, I have had two rounds of headaches (one right after the other) so I have spent a fair amount of time hanging out on the living room sofa.  The interesting thing is that in order to cope with day after day of chronic pain, I have found that I must create art!  Its like some kind of art therapy, dreaming up beautiful things and then keeping myself distracted from the pain by making them with my own two hands.  So, although the headaches keep me from things like going out with friends and family, or cooking and cleaning, or attending to my emailing/computer tasks...  I have been creating prolifically in an effort to get through another long stretch of headache.

I have some tremendous new earrings, in an entirely new design.  I have some dainty cream color lacy flowered headbands, a hot pink flower hair clip, a cream flowered bridal hair clip, I am also finishing up an entire collection of wedding accessories and flowers-to-wear (boutonnieres for the Groom and three groomsmen, hair clips for the Bride and three Bridesmaids, a matching garter for the Bride, a hair clip for the flower girl).  I am so excited to share it!  I will definitely be doing more of these, it was lots of fun.  I have also been painting some birdhouses.  I will shoot photos upon completion.  Lets just say my front porch looks like a bird village.  Yesterday I made a paper child's crown (you know, for playing dress-up) and it is FABULOUS!  

I would love to show your the fruits of my labor, but that brings me to the second point.  I also have not been posting because we have had an accident with our camera!  It has broken and now we are waiting for the insurance adjuster to call so we can get on with ordering the new one. 

It is my darling husband's birthday today and we are taking a day off together.  We have not had a date in a long time, so I think its going to be a wonderful day.  We are going to go to the farmer's market and I am going to bake a pie.  I wonder what else the day holds for us?  (I'll have to dig out an old camera...)

Speaking of the farmer's market, I would like to share some photos that I took on my last trip to the local market.  I bought 3 quarts of strawberries and I discovered garlic scapes, yum!  Just try putting three quarts of strawberries in your backpack and riding your bicycle home...  I ended up making strawberry syrup (we ate it on lemon pound cake).  The berries were already partially pulverized from the backpack + biking.  The garlic scapes were amazing!  I had no idea what they were when I saw them at the market, it only cost $2 for a big handful.  My friend Ari suggested making pesto, that was a GOOD IDEA.  Here are the recipes I used:

Strawberry Sauce

Garlic Scape Pesto

Oh, can't you just smell the peonies?