around here as of late

Sorry for the extended absence.  We've been busy cooking, puppying (yes, I've decided that's a word), and homemaking.

Flowers from Costco in an improvised vase with our little bird salt & pepper shakers from Camden.  I've been trying to remember to drink more water.  Adding a lemon wedge makes it feel like a treat.  And Farmers' Market peppers stuffed with rice, beans, and tomatoes from our garden.

Rick Bayless's Pork Tinga.  Dan's sister made this and I loved it so much that I had to do it myself.   Her recipe involved a slow cooker.  The one I made didn't.  I kept wondering when the slow cooker step would enter into the recipe.  I guess that's why they always say you should read the entire recipe before you start the meal.  Whoops.  I'm just looking at it as an excuse to have to try the other version.

A fall inspired meal with roasted apples, sausages, Farmers' Market kale sauteed with just a bit of maple syrup to sweeten it up, and a roasted mushroom risotto. Oh, and Oliver looking like he owns the place. Which he essentially does...

Oliver is just as big as Dan's parents' full-grown dog, Joey.  Except Oliver is only 4 months old in this picture. Uh oh.  Breakfast on the picnic table.

Another breakfast shot - this time with cinnamon apple - walnut pancakes and a pretty little seagull creamer that used to belong to my grandmother.  A pretty bud vase in the kitchen window.  And more flowers on my bedside table.  I love when Dan brings me flowers.  I try to divide up the bouquets to spread the love throughout the house.

A quasi-finished bookcase! Now I just have the fun task of filling it up.  I am trying out a few different things I have lying around the house to see what works.

More pancakes. I don't really like maple syrup, so instead I slather mine in butter.  I know I shouldn't do this, but you only live once, right? And it's oh, so delicious. Also, a more detailed look at the shelves so far: a ball of twine and scissors from an area antique store, Swedish Dala horses, including an antique one.  My favorite Fenton hobnail milk glass planter (I have 3, but can only find 1 at the moment...hmmm.)  An old tin.  And a very special prince of a frog found a home atop some Sotheby's catalogues.

A silver tray collects bathroom essentials.  And the divided bouquet finds two more homes.  I love the cat-nine tails; they remind me of traipsing around the pond behind my house when I was little.  I have a fondness for paint-by-numbers.  Somehow they all seem to have a red in them that works nicely with our bright-red hallway walls.

Finally, Oliver keeps me company while I write this post.  He has since fallen asleep and is snoring a little bit, which I find adorable. In the picture, he's chewing on his current favorite toy (and actually the only one he hasn't been able to rip a hole in yet): a corduroy mallard duck from LL Bean.

P.S. Please excuse the fragments.  I guess I wasn't feeling that whole sentence thing today.