It’s that time: the dog days of summer. Oh, I am feeling it mightily! We have a backyard project that has essentially eaten up our entire summer. What was supposed to be a month-long project turned into two months…actually more as we are at the two month mark today. It looks as if it will end up being closer to three months all in, but two more weeks for sure. I must say, it has been one of our more challenging endeavors. The twenty-twenty hindsight offers would have us handling things quite a bit differently. However, in the long run these three months will look less ‘long’ and we will [or should] end up with a beautiful finished product.
The heat doesn’t help. Here in Texas the temperatures have been hovering at or above 100 degrees for the past couple of weeks. I don’t care if it is a dry heat…it’s still hot! Thankfully we had a reprieve today, and our highs only made it into the low 90s. Yay!! Funny how a small temperature shift can raise one’s spirits.
“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” ~Russell Baker
In the midst of all this we had a visit from some family last week, and our youngest son came home a couple of days ago. We get to spend a whole week with him before he heads back to college [cue my happy dance!]. I love having him around. The house feels like it has more life in it. The only thing that would make it more perfect is if our other son was also here…allora…
I still struggle having food here for him. I believe I have mentioned he is vegan. I have no issue with his food choices, so I’m not sure why this is so difficult after all of this time. But it brings anxiety. I do not want him to feel left out. In reality this has gotten easier over time, and he is quite the cook and well able to make delicious meals for himself. Yet as his mom, I want to cook for him and send him back feeling the Love!
Tonight’s dinner held a clever twist that allowed each of us to tailor dinner to our own tastes. We did ‘make-your-own tacos’. I bought both corn and flour tortillas and served a myriad of choices to stuff inside them. Paired with the meal was rice, ranch-style beans and coleslaw (vegan – using an oil-based dressing in place of a mayo-based one). It came together quickly and we each found our own combination which worked for our particular tastes. A win-win for sure!
And the best part? We all worked in the kitchen together. My son and I cooked while my husband cleaned up the kitchen – no small task considering he faced a mess from prior meals. We make a great team!
Perhaps the dog ‘daze’ I’ve been in is coming to an end…