We had some of the most beautiful weather this past weekend (and I say this as I look outside at the very dark day (and it's only 7:45 AM) where it's raining. Again.).  Everything around here is green, green, green.  Usually by this time in the year, it's quite brown and crispy.  I know it's green because the blood tests I had done recently showed that my allergy markers were almost 700 (average is 30).  



bread and butter pickles



But it is gorgeous to look around and see everything still fresh looking and growing.  Especially the plants in the garden.  Our tomatoes are delicious and our cucumbers have been prolific so this weekend I took several of them and made some pickles.

   These are bread and butter pickles (made with white vinegar and apple cider vinegar and spices).  They are refrigerator pickles so after the hot brine is poured over the cukes, they are left to cool on the counter and then put in the fridge. 



garlic dill pickles



You are supposed to wait 2 weeks before eating them but I had to take a taste.  Oh my goodness! They are tangy and sweet and just a bit peppery.  The ones on the left are dill pickles.  They have fresh dill, garlic cloves and peppercorns in them.  I wish I had larger jars but these were the only jars I had at the time. 

It couldn't be any easier.  The jars look so pretty and the kitchen smelled wonderfully spicy. 

I did some knitting on Saturday and actually finished a few rows on my Ringwraith.  I am almost finished repeat 3 (of 16) and I love the color.  Only problem is that I cannot watch anything while working on it.  I can listen to a book and I need good light since the color is rather dark.  The yarn is soft and has a slight halo (it's part mohair) and I just love the way it feels to touch it. 

We ordered a guyaberra shirt for Pk to wear for Em's wedding and it came yesterday.  It fits perfectly and looks perfectly handsome on him.  El and I went shopping for a dress to wear and we found her a lovely floaty summer frock.  I didn't see anything that floated my boat so I will probably wear a dress I already own that I love.  It makes me feel good to wear (and I have a few options in terms of shawls) and it's comfortable and light.

I am waiting for the new pattern and material for Em's dress to arrive so I can get started.  She chose a silk charmeuse which I understand is a bit on the difficult side to work with.  It will be nice if the weather stays reasonable while I work on it.

The rain is coming down in buckets now.  I am SO glad it waited until I got into work.  On my way home Friday, the sky opened up and I got soaked even with an umbrella.  It was just raining so hard that roads flooded and it was impossible to do anything about it.  We had plans to go to the movies but instead just went home and put dry clothes on and lounged around.  That set the tone for most of the weekend.  We did what we had to do and the rest of the time, nada.  God, I love summer.  These long sunny days are perfect for either being productive and having fun or just lazing and relaxing.  But we can already start to see the difference in the light.  Summer is on the way out even though the calendar says we have a month left.

Before you know it, the countdown for the holidays will begin......