Dear Readers,

I am getting used to not having chickens and their eggs. Happy Egg Co. eggs were on sale at Publix recently, so I bought two dozen. Before that, I bought a dozen local eggs from Swamp Rabbit Cafe that were brown, white, and blue. My omelet remains consistent and my counter has extra space. Also I reclaimed my pottery bowl that Ashley gave me. I used it for eggs for a long time, but now I get to use it for a serving dish again. The raccoon has left the building. Think on the bright side.

That one lone egg behind the pottery bowl was the final egg from our chickens, and Cash ate it on June 22. Cash also was the lucky one who ate the very first egg our chickens ever laid, back in August 2017. He has eaten a lot of eggs in between. Look at those biceps. (And look at that old kitchen.)

Recently I had another day that was hard-hard. Sailor got updated platelet counts of only 10,000, which means the IVIG treatment didn’t hold her levels up for very long. That was disappointing. We are going to wait a little bit to see what her body does before deciding whether to try steroids. But that is not the news we had been hoping and praying for. Also, that same day of her appointment, we had some sickness hit our family that caused us to have to cancel the dinner plans we had that evening with friends. My thoughts ran, as they often do, straight to AMS.

It was one of those days you feel like you want to look up at the flight board and see that it’s been cancelled. I finally got to take some time to journal that afternoon and I told God I felt like an upside-down sheep with my feet in the air, just lying there helpless and needy. I prayed for God to stand me back up, to help me find my bearings, to settle me down again. It was hard but I didn’t die, and that was another round of practice at laying down my plans.

What do you get if you cross Alexander McCall Smith with the book Anxious People? You get Olive Kitteridge. And wow, am I smitten. I am so happy that my friend Mary Jo recommended this book to me, and I thank her x100. I have loved Olive to pieces. I read a library copy, but as soon as I finished the book, I bought my own copy so I can read it again and find all the things to underline that I want to copy in my commonplace book. I’m reading Olive, Again now, and after that I’ll read whatever else Elizabeth Strout has written. I love her, I love her, I love her. Because she is Olive to me if she can write this character. Just like AMS is Isabel and Mma Ramotswe and Bertie Pollack. If you haven’t read him, it’s not too late. Read this post for a primer.

Alexander McCall Smith also has something to say about olives that I had to search my commonplace books to find. I love cauliflower, too.

Story got it in her head a few days ago, after watching the American Girl movie about Grace (who loves to bake), that she wanted to make raspberry scones. The asking to bake went on for a couple days, and I found myself telling Story plainly that baking is not something I like to do or feel confident in. The girls already know I don’t do crafts or sewing with them. I 100% pawn that off on their grandmothers, who seem happy to engage with the girls in these ways. Thank you, Nana. Thank you, Gigi. But I realize I can’t always say, “Ask a grandma to help you with that.” So yesterday, I dug deep and did something out of my comfort zone to make Story’s raspberry scones dream come true. Sally’s Baking Addiction is my go-to for the baking I don’t do and here’s the recipe we used.

She wants to do blueberry scones next. Then chocolate chip. Then strawberry. I guess if I have to bake, it feels easier to stay in the same category than to keep making new recipes. And what if Story could learn to do these all on her own, and then when we have friends or family visit us and stay in the apartment, she could make them breakfast?!! Think on the bright side.

What is more my style than baking scones is spending 40 minutes by myself outside picking blueberries in the sun and thinking quiet thoughts. That was fun yesterday.

Now I have another thing to keep track of - yay! And I do really, really love my kitchen work. I made this salmon/ratatouille/fresh corn polenta meal last night (it was supposed to be the Friday meal with friends). This is my second favorite meal to eat after the Cozy Autumn Soup I make. You put ricotta cheese and fresh basil on top, and you have stecca bread with butter and radishes on the side, and you drink good red wine. THE BEST. And tonight I have the leftovers to eat again! Thank you, God, for letting me like to cook and letting me like to eat.

This food train could go on for a while, but I’ll leave you with a picture of Cash’s lunch today (which was the exact same lunch he had yesterday as well). I boiled a chicken on Friday so I could make Lemon Dill soup and I used the rest of the chicken to make chicken salad. I, for once, don’t use a recipe when I make this. I just chop the chicken, then add grapes, celery, toasted pecans, and Duke’s mayonnaise. It always makes me happy to make chicken salad for Cash because it’s different from his regular lunches and I know he likes it. He is a very hungry boy these days with all the basketball he plays and all the conditioning he does. Hours. Every day. That’s how he’s spending his summer and how he got the biceps.

Love, Ginger