Is it really almost August ????!! YIKES!

Time sure has been flying by ... or melting & dripping by !! The last few days have been much better. But it has been a SUPER BUSY month regardless of the heat.
We have been planning some renos at home and were waiting for it to be cooler ... but that day wasn't coming so we jumped in !! My kitchen has had the old pantry counter ripped out and new stainless steel shelving added. Baskets & bins will make it all more organized. A new cookbook shelf is rapidly being filled ... yikes , another obsession ... and a baking shelf has been organized with lovely sparkling jars full of ingredients. I've filled totes with my ever expanding collection of cupcake papers, Hallowe'en candy EYEBALLS, coloured sugars, and all things yummy. It is all starting to come together ... now if only I could get the "temporary" table covered in all the odd pans, jars, ... out of the living room. Soon. Soon.
I have several boxes filled for the CAPS yardsale and more to come, I'm pretty sure. But I also had an email about 700 salt & pepper shakers ... I just put 2 sets in the yardsale box and was feeling pretty IN CONTROL OF MY LIFE .... now I feel all that absolute non hoarder control SLIPPING AWAY !!!
We went to Halifax on Saturday and scored some great new "Jack" things ... that's "Jack" from Nightmare before Christmas ... I love him and all the fab art that goes with him. We both now have great mugs to drink from and a great skeleton car antennae thingy. Pretty sweet ... might give us our skull fix until THE HESTER RIDES AGAIN !!! And, on that note, she is coming along really well. It will be a while before she can be painted but it is looking very FALL POSITIVE !!!
I picked up the new "Whoopie Pies" cookbook ... last night was sample run night ... tried out the Classic Whoopies with Marshmallow Filling ... so far so yum !!! Another flavour might be in the works as well as another batch of the originals for tomorrow's CAPS baked treat.
The other book ... okay - ONE of the other books (BOOK JUNKIES !!) was the Ultimate Guide to Root Cellars ... riveting reading I suspect ... but I am excited about having a root cellar ... I can then store all the bounty from my amazing little garden. Tonight I have to weed and then stake my tomatoes ... I have 31 tomato plants ... anyone wanting to attend a tomato festival ... ???? Anyway, I planted it 3 weeks ago and it is growing LIKE CRAZY !!! I have turnips (thousands!!), sugar peas, sunflowers, beets, black radishes, regular radishes, yellow squash/zucchini, green zucchini, 3 kinds of potatoes, basil, corn, ornamental corn, birdhouse gourds, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, red & green cabbage, cauliflower, parsnips, WATERCRESS !!, spinach, leaf lettuce,onions, mesclun, red peppers, jalapeno, tomatoes of all colours & shapes, tomatillos, eggplant, and melons. PHEW !!! That was a lot to remember !!! I love it out there in my little patch ... patches .
I also spent a few days doing a MAJOR CLEAN-UP and ORGANIZATION of my work space ... studio ??? like they say in all the mags !! .... and I LOVE IT !!! My table is bigger and everything is all around me. I look out at the water and over at my sweet cats, all sprawled on their new bench. This is happiness !!
Next on the agenda is finishing the kitchen ... getting rid of that table in the living room ... and starting on the upstairs room that will be the laundry room after some shifting. Exciting times !! (wink wink !!) But in between all this we are planning a few big ol' BBQ parties, building some ladder ball games for the ULTIMATE TOURNAMENT, and just plain kicking back. Someone said on her blog to be sure to pause and enjoy summer and while that is a good idea ... I have to say ... PAUSE and ENJOY IT ALL !!! Everyone looks forward to summer to have fun but WE CAN HAVE FUN EVERY SEASON !!! Kick it up, plan something every month. LIVE IT LARGE !!!

Wow ... I have babbled on like a waterfall ... have a great week !!!
Pictures next week !!