Give Peas a Chance

The peas are coming! The peas are coming! (Actually, the peas came, and went! We ate the last of them yesterday. That's what happens when a couple weeks go by between starting and finishing a blog post... But I digress.) 
Delicious to eat out of hand, throw in a lunch, top a salad... But we've also been making pasta and peas, a recipe I adapted from Williams Sonoma Pasta cookbook. It's unusual, a hit with the big and little people in the house, and darn quick. Here you go:

Curry Pasta with Peas:
2 Tablespoons Curry Powder
2 Cups Shelled Peas
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
1 Tablespoon Butter
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar

In a saucepan, combine the curry powder, sugar, yogurt and butter, heat slowly. Meanwhile, cook a pound of fettuccine in a pot of salted water. Two minutes before the pasta is al dente, add the peas. Drain both and pour into a warm serving bowl. Toss with the yogurt mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and your favorite cheese. Yum.

And now, your photos. These have nothing to do with peas and everything to do with enjoying summer with friends: the post-race lake party. Good times!

(Looking at that last photo, who do you think ran the half-marathon?)

On the River

We paddled the Au Train on the 4th of July. Our first family trip in the canoe. It was a picture perfect day: warm but not uncomfortable weather, cool water temps for swimming, a yummy picnic lunch, and sleepy floating naps.

 

It's a beautiful paddle. The launch and take-out sites are only a mile apart by road. Darling dropped us off, took the van downstream, and skateboarded back. Three to four hours later (depending on the pace of your paddling and leisure of your lunching), you are off the river. It's popular but not incredibly crowded. And it never gets too deep, which is quite nice. Especially if you were to drop your paddle about 300 yds from the take-out, then reach for it just as your partner says "don't lean, I got it!", then tip the canoe and your partner into the water (hip deep), though both of you manage to grab the gunnel during exit and keep kids and contents from slipping into the drink. It could happen.

I one the sandbox

I two the sandbox...

Our sandbox was hanging out in the front bed, which didn't exist and was simply a big sand pit. As if we didn't have enough sand coming into the house in the summer anyway, this popular hangout spot contributed to our general floor crunchiness. We vowed that this summer we would work on putting an end to the construction site look (and effects). To our credit, we've taken some good first steps with the garden beds and putting miscellaneous building materials away (... or somewhere).

So I wanted to plant the front bed with herbs and in order to do that, I needed to move the sand pit/digging area. I have big ideas about future playscapes (and of course, had inspiration from good ole pinterest, see below!) and wanted to incorporate the sand box into an area that could grow later.

I nestled it into a natural depression in the hillside, laid some garden cloth, hauled the crab and much sand, man-handled our rock pile, and viola! All Tonka construction equipment courtesy of Renee and her boys. I was worried that the kids wouldn't like it as much since it was smaller and definitely more contained than the front bed. But this new spot? It's a hit.

My sandbox inspiration

Source: playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: thewrightfampics.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: home.exetel.com.au via Amy on Pinterest

...I 7 the sandbox
I 8 the sandbox...
You ate the sandbox??!

Cousins

Remember that suitcase? Some more late night sewing. This time for my babe and my niece, only 1 month apart. Is it wrong to dress children alike when they aren't even your children? Don't answer; I simply don't care.

This is the Perfect Party Dress by Heidi and Finn. I bought the pattern (and about 5 more!) during a KCWC sale at Heidi and Finn's Etsy shop about a year or so ago. (I told you I had previous inspiration that rarely came to fruition...) I left off the front bow for a couple reasons and find I really like the simplicity of the basic dress.

This was a quick and easy sew. After the backpack, I like doing things in twos now; the 2nd one goes faster and easier and why waste that immediate knowledge? The fabric for Simone's dress is Moda something-or-other purchased ages ago and that was being saved in my stash to be used together. Well, I finally found the right project and cut into it! The fabric for Etta's dress is Amy Butler Seeds in Duck Egg with the contrast band being some loveliness that I got from Karen one Christmas.

The pattern goes up to 5T. I think these cousins will need more matchy matchy dresses, hmm?