Recovery Day

This is the new term some co-workers and I have dubbed for our first day off after a long stretch of shifts. These are the days where you sleep in, eat balanced and slow meals, do the laundry that's been piling up, and shop for groceries and necessities that you've been running out of while you've been in the hospital for most of your awake hours.
Today I thankfully had a recovery day. It was the kind of day that makes me looooove summers in C'ville. It started with watering my beautiful newly planted flowers! I have managed to keep them alive for over a week now ;)


Then I had a leisurely breakfast on my newly organized and decorated deck. It included a fresh cup of Constant Comment and the recent newspaper of course! (worth noting--we live in a dense neighborhood and I felt funny about putting up a bird feeder...but I am thrilled to announce that we have BIRDS! and they are quite messy...birdseed has begun planting itself in the yard below, we now have random sprouts all over the place!)


Then I cleaned the house a bit (except for 2, John's entire immediate family is coming into town for the wedding of a dear family friend Mini this weekend!) There is nothing better than the motivation to clean (John and I are not fond of it) and the feeling of peace and calm once the place is back in order (my room has been a mess for months now, I found TONS of long lost clothes hiding in the dark lost corners of the room!) I feel like I can breathe again.

Due to multiple requests, I thought I would start posting some pics of the house as each room is put together. Hopefully I can post a full tour of the house soon. You saw the deck earlier, so here is the living room:


For lunch, I met John on the downtown mall (An historic avenue of quirky shops, restaurants, and businesses. The best part are the brick street lined with random townspeople, mature shady trees, and plenty of outdoor restaurant seating) We had some tasty subs and ice tea and for our listening pleasure, there were very talented bluegrass guitar and fiddle players preforming nearby. They were really good. There was a fresh light breeze and the temp was perfect in the shade. I was in heaven!

We finally gave in and bought a farm share from Horse and Buggy, which is a local farming co-op that you can buy into. We get a bag of fresh produce each week, all in season, but you never know what you are going to get! It makes me realize the challenge that old farming wives had to always cook with in-season food. If there is a surplus of anything, you have to get creative! It has been a fun challenge--we had to figure out how to make chard taste good the other night :P
This week, we got some of my favorites: zucchini, squash, peaches, cherries, and fresh lettuce. This summer is going to taste good!!