*Even though I swore I’d never hand quilt, this weekend found me doing just that. I whipped up a simple picnic quilt – just four giant squares pieced together for the top and backed with Anna Maria laminated cotton. I had orginally planned to hand tie the blanket but decided that was going to be way too fussy for me and decided that hand quilting with embroidery floss and giant stitches would be better.

*My moms cherry tree had another bumper crop, so I spent the weekend preserving cherries. I dehydrated a huge batch and froze a bunch (I like to freeze cherries in a cookie sheet in a single layer and then transfer them to containers for long term freezing. This is just a tiny bit more work, but ensures the cherries aren’t stuck together) and packaged them with my new seal-a-meal. I bought it several months ago on clearance in anticipation for the summer veggies.
Today I’m pitting the rest of the cherries to make jam and maraschino cherries. I’m especially excited about the maraschino cherries and hope they turn out.

*Honor said to Dexter the other day, “Dexter, life is hard…. Life is hard Dexter.” And I thought, someday life really will be hard for Honor. And while part of me wants to fiercely protect him for that, the other part knows that the hard parts of life are what will make him and are what can bring him the greatest joy. But until then, I’ll be happy to watch him live his life where the hardest thing he faces is folding the socks and cleaning his room.

I’ve been planning yummy salads every week in my menu, something I can make up and we can eat on for the whole week. Jim is not a huge fan of these salads, but the kids and I love them and we usually take them to our Wednesdays at the lake and I pack them for my lunches when I’m at work.

Since Jim was playing a show out of town last night, this was dinner.

1-2 cans Cannellini beans (I used 1 but would have preferred two.)
1 package turkey pepperoni
1/2 jar pepperoccinis
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 pint cherry tomatoes
olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pepper to taste