It's Good To Be Home

 

Happy Wednesday, Friends!  It's good to be home.  We've been traveling and visiting quite a bit, but now it looks like we will be home in Alabama dividing our time between Lake Martin and Birmingham.  We will probably begin traveling again this winter, at least that's the plan.

Speaking of traveling, our next edition of the Tales of the Traveling Tote will be live on Saturday, June 1st.  Here is a brief preview of what I'll be sharing:

Ceiling fresco

Göttweig Abbey, Krems, Austria

Sweet Emily @ The French Hutch Blog will be hosting our June giveaway.  Check out the fun prize, below.

I've been fluffing the nest lately, and I've been doing a few little projects here and there.  Mostly I've been messing around with houseplants and flowers.  

I've traded out accessories with more summery colors and themes.  The roses are a Mother's Day gift.

My favorite lately are the peonies at our local market, and in our neighbor's garden.  She had a few bushes that bloomed, and then bloomed again a week later.  I'd never seen that before.  

Here are a few of my favorites:

Since I'm planning a few little projects (and maybe a big one or two), I've been perusing Pinterest.  I love using it as a search engine, and I actually share boards with friends and family.  Imagine my shock when I opened an email from Pinterest chastising me for breaking community standards by pinning a photo containing adult content.  Obviously I knew I hadn't done that, so when I read the report, I noticed that the photo had been flagged by someone three times.  The first two times the image was removed from the site, but on the third time it was reinstated.  

This is the disputed image.  I promise you won't go blind looking at it!

I have no idea if someone was trying to pin it and kept flagging it accidentally, or if AI is glitching.  Who knows?  But it is truly a lovely kitchen, isn't it!

Another reason we'll be staying close to home the next ten weeks is because we've subscribed to a local CSA from Stone Hollow Farm.  What is a CSA, you ask?  CSA stands for "community-supported agriculture."  CSA is a way for consumers to purchase local, seasonal food directly from a farmer.  We received our first box yesterday, and I'm already planning how to prepare items included in it.  In a few days, I will share a recipe.  It has been a minute since I've shared one!

Everything looks so good!  I can't wait to start cooking.

This isn't the entire box, I just took a quick photo while unloading.

(I wish you could smell the basil!)

I also subscribe to The Literary Book Club Box, and it was absolutely delightful this quarter.  It featured Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and it is the first book featuring the quirky Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.  I was very happy with the presents and treats included, too.  This book will be featured in an upcoming Literary Friday post.

I'm also still working on a post featuring artwork from the Albertina Museum in Vienna.  Stay tuned!

Claude Monet 

View of Vétheuil

What have you been up to, Lovelies?  Do you have any summertime trips planned?

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill