yesterday and today have been peaceful and easy. nothing pressing. up and out the front door with my coffee cup, a book, and my journal. soaking in the morning air and some good words. making a tiny plan for the day ~ of things i would like to accomplish. yesterday, the plan included making bread, making cookies, and processing some kombucha. before i started on my kitchen fun, i cleaned both bathrooms to spic-and-span and shiny.
once in my kitchen, i mixed up a loaf of bread. while it was rising, i switched and folded some laundry. then i mixed up cookies ~ my chocolate chip cookies {with some minor variations, of course}. i had everything but the chocolate chips mixed and went to grab them out of the cupboard. none. so i went downstairs to my stash. none. for a while, maddie had been teasing me about buying chocolate chips every time i went grocery shopping. so, the last few times i was getting groceries, i didn't buy any chocolate chips. and this is what happened. well, what to use instead? hmmmmm . . . how about freeze-dried strawberries? sure. why not. and you know what? they are fabulous! i highly recommend trying this sometime!
i switched a load of laundry again and got my bread baking and started the process of working with my kombucha. i have two gallon-size jars going. it was time to divide my SCOBYs, and i have two friends who wanted SCOBY to start their own kombucha, so i packed SCOBYs and a bit of tea up in jars ~ one for each gal. then i decided what fruits to put into mine for the final step. watermelon, pears, and nectarines are what i went with this time. then i brewed fresh black tea and settled my SCOBYs back into their homes.
my kiddos popped in and out of the house all day, jumped on the trampoline, played some little big planet karting, scootered and rollerbladed, built with legos, listened to music, etc. they did a pretty awesome job of saturday-ing.
when i had all the cookies made and the bread out cooling and the kombucha set to work and the kitchen all clean, i folded one more dryer-full of laundry. then chaco and i headed out for a walk.
we stretched our legs and breathed deep breaths. he ran and ran on the flat of the field. i walked and drank in the light of the golden hour. we turned toward the line of trees, dipped down to the valley, and walked in the dappled shade of the cottonwoods to the bank of the river. chaco ran in and splashed and ran out and jumped in and swam. i bent to look at a rock that had a bit of shell shining on it, and picked up one of the bigger baculites i've found. after we had our fill of the low, muddy river, we headed back up to the house.
our neighbor boys were practicing archery in the side yard. they let maddie and isaac and i try shooting their target a few times. i would need a lot more practice before i could be compared to maid marian, but i had fun! ben came home, took a turn at shooting bow, and i shared strawberry cookies all around.
ben grilled chicken and i made a big pot of green beans. the four of us ate together. then the kids did the supper dishes while ben and i took our coffee cups out onto the front porch, sat by each other, shoulder to shoulder and knee to knee, and we talked like we do, as darkness fell around us.
so much goodness in this saturday. and it's spilling over into sunday. more reading. more laundry. banana blueberry bread. isaac's homework. and soon we're heading to the lake ~ it's still warm enough to jump in!
i hope your weekend has been peaceful and easy, my friends. or, if it hasn't been, that you will find even small moments and tiny pockets of peace and ease.