Dear Reader

As a parent, I've done my level best to keep my mind on one goal for raising JT: I want him to be happy.  In the process, I've kept in mind the fact that happiness comes in many different flavors and that it's something we each must make for ourselves.  So I try not to cast his world in terms of the things that make me happy and instead focus on helping JT to find his own way to happiness.  That's a hard goal to achieve, but I try.

Books make me happy and I was eager to introduce reading to my boy.  I really hoped JT would come to enjoy reading as much as I do.  I loved books for the worlds they gave me entrance to, for the friends I made in the pages and the places the plot lines would take me.  At various times in my life, books provided a kind of solace and comfort that I couldn't find anywhere else.  Between the ideas and the imagination, reading meant the world to me.  And I wanted to give that world to JT.

Books and magazines are always around our house.  In fact, I was late to the hospital for his birth (he needed to be induced) because I stopped by the bookstore on the way.  I read to him all the time when he was a baby and I didn't restrict the reading to children's books.  I quickly realized that he would let me read my books if he could be held and hear my voice.  So I held him and read him Jane Austen's Emma when he was three months old.  Every night, I tucked him in with a few stories.  As he got older, we switched to chapter books and in this manner I was able to read him some of my youthful favorites. 

He mastered reading by the time he was seven and began to immerse himself in books of his own choosing.  By the time he was ten, I'd been replaced as his nightly bedtime reader.  Most nights, he tucks into bed each night with a book to keep him company.

And so I've got myself a reader, one who is excited by the world of his books.  Often, he re-creates the stories when he plays outside.  We talk about the ideas that stories inspire for him.  Four weeks in to the summer, he's finished seven books and has his eye on a half dozen more.

Tiger and Lucy are as thrilled as I am about this development.

Accomplished

In case I haven't made this clear, I wish to state for the record that I adore my son, the charming JT.  It goes without saying that I find him to be the smartest, most attractive, most capable child around.  It is perhaps likely that I feel this way because I am his Mama.  Or perhaps it's because of his obvious superiority to every other child in the universe.  It's hard to be sure. Either way, my kid is the best.

Of course, it has occurred to me that we all feel this way about our children.  In a recent post at her blog Mom 101, Liz Gumbinner addresses this very issue and I found her thoughts interesting.  I would add that  in our desire to ensure that our children have perfect, happy lives and are never once scarred by adversity or failure, let alone imperfection, we may not be serving them well.  I see this everywhere and the most recent example hits a little too close to home.

JT's school has asked us to send word of any of our children's summer accomplishments.  To which I can only say Oh.my.word.  Asking a bunch of folks whose kids attend prep school to brag about their precious snowflakes children?  Really?  Who thought that was a good idea?

I run a low tech childhood and summer is where we truly achieve greatness.  The sort wherein hair goes unwashed and pajamas are worn all day.  Sure, books are read.  Math puzzles are solved.  History is discussed.  Science happens.  Blah, blah, blah.  But, really, there's a whole lot of nothing scheduled into our casual, relaxed, lazy days.  "Accomplishments"? Not so much.

Still, I'd hate for JT to be left out of the parental bragfest, so I'm going to devote some time to making his picture while he catches bugs.  Because that kid is a champion bug catcher.  I'd venture to say that no other kid in the 7th grade is nearly as accomplished at slaying flies and mosquitos or catching lightening bugs.  It's his special and unique talent and I intend to brag it up.

Camping!

Since he was 6 years old, JT and I have headed to Cape Cod in July.  We camp (outside! in a tent!) and relax with our friends the R-K family, enjoying the outdoors and the pleasures of an unplugged life.  It is a much-anticipated trip and JT's favorite part of the summer.  The supplies have been stacked up in the living room for the past week as we prepare for our adventure.  

This morning we loaded the last of our stuff into the car (no one wants to be without Cheetohs out in the wild, 4 miles from a grocery store) and we are headed north.  Posting will be a bit lighter while we ride our bikes, dip our toes in the ocean, and explore our favorite spots in the piney forest.   Ahhhh, summer.

Summer Bouquet

Between the zinnias seedlings and the gladioli bulbs, I've got some great prospects for late July bouquets.  But I want flowers now and so earlier this week I went ahead and picked a lovely dark purple hydrangea blossom.

I added some of the lighter purple hosta flowers to one of my favorite vases: a Mason jar.  Then I set it on the table and I've been admiring it ever since.  Bouquets of garden flowers are one of the great pleasures of my summer.  What makes your summer happy?

Food Friday: Buttermilk Lemon Cookies

It's been a while since I had a Food Friday posting but inspiration struck this week, so Food Friday is back.  I had some people over on Monday and I served iced tea, lemonade, and cookies.  There was simple syrup on hand for those who like their tea sweetened and I wanted a cookie that would go nicely with sweet tea.

I set out looking for an old-fashioned cakey cookie; one that isn't too sweet.  At Epicurious, I found a recipe from Gourmet for buttermilk cookies.  I adapted the recipe to suit my own evil purposes and behold: Buttermilk Lemon Cookies.

They are easy to make and the recipe makes 4 dozen, so you'll have enough to share, if you are so inclined.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened (I use salted butter)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For glaze 

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. 

Whisk together flour, zest, baking soda, and salt. 

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl in mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in batches.  Dough should be smooth; add a bit more flour to ensure consistency if necessary. 

Drop level tablespoons of dough about 1 1/2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake on rack in middle of the oven.  Bake one cookie sheet at a  time to ensure even cooking, until cookie edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes per batch. Cool cookies on sheets 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks. 

To glaze the cookies, whisk together all glaze ingredients and brush on to the top of the warm cookies. 

Let stand until cookies are completely cooled and glaze is set.  

Hint:   You could substitute lime zest and juice for the lemon and then you'd have Buttermilk Lime Cookies.  Either way, they taste awesome with some sweet tea.

Cheerful

Several weeks back, I scored some geraniums from Home Depot in a weak moment of flower desire.  I was charmed by the coral color and planted them in a pot out front.  Since then they have just gone to town in a fit of blooming excess.  The vibrant color has remained and they make me smile every day.

That's happy!

Independence Day?

In preparation for our annual camping trip, I confirmed our bike reservations yesterday.  To do so, I needed to measure JT's height.  Last year, I reserved a bike for a 4 foot 11 inch kid.  This year, I needed a bike for a kid who is 5 foot 3 inches tall.

I am 5" 3'.  Gulp.

This has occurred despite the fact that the boy lets not a single vegetable pass by his lips (and, as I frequently explain to him, ketchup does not count as a veg).  It's an ice cream, chip, and cookie-fueled development, all this height.  He's not a boy nearly as much as he's a young man. 

Good golly.

The Garden Bounty Begins

All of this heat has at least one side effect.  Once I add water, the garden is literally growing before my eyes.  The pea harvest has begun.  I picked a few earlier last week.

On Saturday afternoon, T and I carried the produce basket to the garden to pick some more.

We shelled them.

Then we steamed them lickety split and served them up with pulled pork, bread and butter pickles and potato salad.

Summer tastes awesome.

Sweet Heart

I am not the fancy jewelry type.  I am the handmade, Etsy type, a fact T clearly took note of when we started spending time together.  Last weekend, we spent a few days at a bed and breakfast in western New Jersey, noodling around and enjoying one another's company.  On Saturday morning, she gave me a charming blue box that she made herself.

Inside the origami box was a sweet silver ring with a tiny silver heart.  It's a lovely gift and that it came in such a carefully constructed box made it even better.  I wear it with a heart filled with love and the sense of a future with more of the same.

That's happy!

July 1: Front Yard Flowerbed

If I were a better gardener, I'd have gotten out to weed this flowerbed in preparation for the 1st of the month photo.  Alas, it's way to hot for me to be weeding, a chore I don't always enjoy when the weather is perfect.  Plus, I'd hate to present an idealized version of life here at Sassafras House, which does in fact feature weeds in the flowerbeds.  It's been unusually hot and things are starting to show a bit of summer wear.  Even so, the flowerbed is still pretty lush.

The white blooms are on a rose of Sharon tree that usually blooms in August.  The early spring and the early summer heat have clearly had an effect on things and we've got flower blooms a month early.

The hostas have also bloomed a little earlier than usual, once again thanks to the early summer.

The glads are coming along and should give me some nice flower stalks within the next month.  I'll have to trim up the hedges and rose of Sharon before winter, lest I be in danger of running a Boo Radley operation around here.  Still, in both the morning sun and the evening twilight, this is one my favorite spots to admire.