A few weeks ago my lovely friend C came to dinner. She had enough patience to also include a trip to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients for said dinner. On our culinary excursion she picked up some Welch's Grape Soda. It was love at first sip. It taste like summer time when I was ten. In the middle of last night the husband went to the store in order to retrieve a bottle of my desire. What I refer to as My Purple Pop---how I love thee fake purple sweetness of good. 
This dignified zucchini and his lady friend cucumber came for a visit via my friend's M garden. They are so adorable and have such distinct personalities. Little do they know how much I enjoy fried zucchini as well as fresh cucumber tossed with an onion and sour cream. Yum, the taste of garden goodness. 
These are possibly the most precious peaches. To others I have been referring to them as my Obama Peaches. The peaches found their way to me via my splendid friend and fellow artist, M. She brought them to the gym one morning along with a large dignified zucchini. On a following gym day I heard from M that Obama had stopped at a local orchard market. She so lovingly picked these peaches at the same market that Obama purchased peaches for all the reporters in tow. It pleases me to know that our peaches were once waiting in the bushels next to the same peaches that would feed the campaign trail paparazzi. I can imagine his simple pleasure in enjoying these pretty peaches full of the taste of summer...and the kindness of friends.
Sometimes it is nice to have a simple day. Initially the plans involved going to see an outdoor production of Hamlet with a friend that traveled from Pittsburgh. At close to the last minute we learned that the tickets were $36 a piece and the play took place come rain or shine. The sun predicted for the day morphed into a thunder storm. And we discovered that the play was located by a lagoon. This was a very negative factor. Point of interest about me in the summer time: Mosquitoes love, crave, destroy my skin. With that excursion dismissed, we planned for dinner and a movie in an air conditioned theater sans mosquitoes. After going grocery shopping for the details of the meal we actually made a small dinner. Yep, I turned the oven on and everything. The meal:We made the table look lovely by including the new up-cycled napkins. To add to the social feel of the evening my sister came to visit. The conversations were so pleasant. The time ticked away. Before we knew it it was very late. The movie times had come and gone. It was just lovely to be able to have an evening to share stories, ideas, and a little art. Maybe this autumn we will plan an even bigger social dinner... Bonus: my sister did the dishes!
