Life Lately

Life has been quite busy lately. Here are some pictures of the going ons this last week.

Zach has been studying quite a bit lately. He has officially started his fourth (and last) year of medical school---YIPPEE! But that means he is now in the midst of preparing to apply to residency and take is his second round of boards. Ruby follows him everywhere. She is so loyal. (Also note in this picture the beautiful stegosaurus Zach crafted while he was at camp-it has become a permanent fixture on our coffee table.)

Want to know how to treat alderonoma? Read on!

Pretty flowers from farmer's market. I just love having fresh flowers in the house. I've been trying to use what I have growing in my own garden, but I couldn't resist these. We had some friends over for dinner, but I forgot to take any pictures of the food or friends :(

We picked our first zucchini from the garden. Ruby gave it a full inspection and when Riley came to inspect it she became very protective of it. Luckily I saved it from their paws.

The zucchini was used for dinner that night-roasted with some salt and parmesan on top. Delicious.

We had it as a side to our margherita pizzas. Basil and oregano from the garden and the pizza crust was from the farmer's market. Homemade tomato sauce.

After baking.

Blueberry season means blueberry muffins! I made some from scratch---a nice thing for Zach to wake up to Sunday morning :)

On to grosser things...A cicada shell on the side of our neighbors house. Zach took this picture and I'm impressed with how well it turned out. There was a real cicada too that flew at me (my own fault.) If only there were a video camera you would all be having a good laugh right now.

Veggie Burgers for dinner last night. We have tried lots of veggie burger recipes and they can be tricky. It is really hard to find a recipe where the burgers are moist and the patty doesn't fall apart. These were a little tricky at first, but they turned out great. The recipe says it makes four, but I found it much easier to make them smaller and we ended up with 8---good leftovers!

We ate our burgers open-faced with sprouts and avocado slices on top. The sides were roasted broccoli (farmers market) and berries. We've been eating almost every meal on our back patio. I love summer!

A view of our garden. It is getting crazy! There are cucumber vines EVERYWHERE! I did a lot of weeding yesterday and am greatly deserving of a back rub today!

Another view of the garden: broccoli, beets, rhubarb, green beans, and cucumbers. The tomatoes and peppers are at the back of the garden, herbs at the front, and the zucchini is hiding behind the broccoli in this picture. My dahlias have started blooming too, but I forgot to take any pictures. Next time....