The Progress of a Self-Taught Photographer

You know what? I don't feel like posting a recipe today. I just don't! 

Instead, I'm going to talk to you a teensy bit about my back and whole lot about photography. Don't worry, this won't be too technical of a post :-)

Homemade Salmon Shmear

Sunday recipe, what up!

What better for Sunday morning brunch (or lunch! Or dinner!) deliciousness than bagels with extra-whipped and fluffy flavored cream cheese? Not a lot, my friends. Not a lot. 

Recipe Redux: Tortellini Pepperoncini Salad

It's been a stormy morning y'all.

The hubby woke me up at 6 this morning to let me know a monster storm was on the way. I roused myself from slumber, shuffled my way to the den window that faces the northwest, and took a peep. Oh yeah, I could see the storm coming. I could see the lighting from miles away! We are prone to losing power out here in the country with these big wind storms, so I booked it to the coffee machine. I brewed 2 cups before the storm hit. I figured if I lost power at least I would have a 2nd cup of coffee, even if it turned out to be lukewarm. Lukewarm caffeine is better than none I figured :-)

Copy-Cat Girl Scout Tagalongs

Holy moly. One post last week? I meant to do better you guys. I really did. Can I just say that I feel like I haven't had a moment to breathe since Friday? It's been hectic around these parts. Granted, Friday was spent hanging out with a girlfriend, so that hectic-ness was chosen. I was up at dawn baking cookies on Saturday to take to the hubby's family reunion. Dawn is my normal blogging time, so Saturday was out although I had intended to publish on that day. I figured there was always Sunday.

Arancini with Homemade Marinara

I have opened my blog several times since Sunday, with the intention to write a recipe. Each time, I sat there, staring at the screen, searching for the words that will not come. Everything I started to write didn't sound appropriate. It felt... meaningless. 

On Monday, I was reading the latest post on one of the blogs I follow, Pinch of Yum. Lindsay practically took the words from my mouth on how she was feeling. Right now, after the worst mass shooting in US history, I feel empty. Why does this keep happening? Everyone and their mother has an opinion. Most of the opinions I don't want to hear. If you can't muster the empathy to feel for the victims, people who were in that building, relatives who've lost someone that meant everything to them... I don't even know what to say to you. Here in my small corner of Kentucky, people are pretty judgmental about the fact that this shooting happened at a gay club. I overheard a lady at the grocery store in front of me in line tell the cashier that at least it was "a bunch of gay people" that died. 

3-Cheese Risotto

Friends, I'm currently in a "creation" frenzy. I've been churning out the recipes here at home, night after night. Which has been unusual as of late. The hubby returned home from work the other night and exclaimed, "You made dinner again? Wow!". Ha ha. And the next thing he said? "You must be running out of back-up posts on the blog." 

He hit the nail on the head. Sometimes I go through weeks-long phases where all I want to do is write. Sometimes the phase is creating the recipe and taking pictures, and that's where I am currently. Taking lots and lots of pictures, and wracking my brain for any ol' little thing to write. In truth, I'm trying to create a big backlog because my parents are coming to visit next month! It's going to be a longer visit and I know I won't be doing any work while they are here. 

So, that's where my head is at. Must. Take. More. Pictures!!

Strawberry & Avocado Pasta Salad

- with balsamic dressing

Well, it's finally happened. 

Almost 3 months after we got the bees, one of the dogs has been stung. Poor little Mariota. Just the other morning, I was letting the boys out- all four of them. I say four because my mother-in-law's Pekingese was staying with us. All of them were sniffing around in front of the bee hives. I hate when they get right in front because I'm always afraid they are going to get stung (obviously for good reason!). So, there I am, hollering away at the top of my lungs for the dogs to get away from the bees. They were all moving my way when I saw Mariota snap at his hind quarters. And then his front quarters. And then... the cries. Oh, I felt so bad for him. He came squealing up to me with no idea what had happened to his little body. 

Lemon Garlic Shrimp Zoodles

After the sheer insanity of last weekend, this weekend promises to be a bit calmer. The hubby is scheduled to work today and tomorrow (boo!), and the weather is rainy. It's as if I woke up this morning and the universe told me to take it easy. Stay inside, read a book. Bake yummy carbohydrate-laden pasta into something comforting, take pictures of it. Put on Gilmore Girls and grab a mugful of tea. 

Summing up May: 2016

Another month, in the books.

Ah, I know. I'm a bad blogger. I was supposed to get this posted yesterday, but I had urgent garden affairs to attend to. Some of my tomato starts had become root-bound and were starting to die. They had to be transplanted immediately. All is well though. The best of the starts are moved, I've gotten a wee-bit sunburned, and I'll just post my monthly wrap-up today. 

May's weather left something to be desired. It was an extremely rainy month. We've had a huge pile of dirt in our yard for most of the month, waiting for dry weather, just itching to be moved into future flower beds. We're also tapping our feet for the yard to dry out so we can get in and build our fence. Thankfully the end of May was not too wet, and we were able to get the flower beds out front done. Hopefully by the time I write my June wrap-up, the side and back flower beds will be done and the fence will be installed. In the meantime, let's look at the front flower bed-