Scattered Sundays

We headed to Ocean Shores this week for a week at Troy’s parent’s place down there. The weather was absolutely perfect, even with a wind advisory that happened on Wednesday and Thursday.

On the agenda was our normal mix of bike riding, mini golf, ice cream, and more bike riding. This year, Bennett discovered a bit of a fort in the bushes and he and Troy spent a lot of time cleaning it up and removing some trees and stumps.

We referred to it as “Ewok Village”. Yub yub.

Ocean Shores must be the flattest place on earth; there is zero elevation gain throughout the town. This makes for excellent bike riding, especially for little kids with little legs. Unlike back home, Bennett can ride without issue. Well, mostly.

Our first day there, I took Bennett for a ride to get the wiggles out after a long time in the car. We weren’t even .5 miles into the ride when he somehow crashed without a single thing being in the road.

He was tired and bored from being in the car and was crying pretty hard. He landed near the driveway of a cottage and the occupant and his sweet labradoodle came running out when they heard the commotion.

Mr. Matthew and Gracie were the perfect companions to my little drama king. Gracie was a sweet and patient dog who sat quietly by Bennett the entire time. She even let him wrap his arms around her and sob into her fur. Drama.

If he had crashed and there had not been a sweet dog to help him, we absolutely would have had to go home. And I feel like it would have been me carrying a crying child while also attempting to lug two bikes back with me.

But Mr. Matthew and Gracie were exactly what he needed to pause, reassess, and then get back on his bike. We ended up riding 4 more miles after the crash!

On our Ocean Shores trip last year, Bennett couldn’t ride more than about 30 seconds without needing to stop, or go super slowly. He was so much faster this year and could go so much further.

We still brought our tow-along bike for rides that involved the main road, but for quiet back roads, I was so impressed to see him go for longer trips. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a mom that prefers the older kid years to the baby years!

On our last trip to the ocean, Jack and I stumbled onto a really amazing neighborhood and wanted to take Troy and Bennett there on bikes during this trip. But we decided to do a “test” ride first, just the two of us because we weren’t 100% sure how to get there or what the road conditions would be like.

Well, we definitely and hilariously got lost. Yes, I had google maps on my phone, but all the roads down there look alike so every 1-2 minutes something looked familiar and Jack and I kept thinking that what we were looking for was going to be “right ahead”.

We finally threw in the towel and realized we had no idea where we were. Oh, and it was incredibly windy and we were riding one-speed bikes. When you’re on a one-speed bike, it’s you. You are the speed.

I asked Jennifer (what Jack named the Google maps voice lady back when he was little) to get us back to my in-law’s place. By the time we got to an area where things looked somewhat familiar, we had ridden over 7 miles.

Once we were about 1 mile from the inlaw’s place, Jack asked how far we had gone. I looked at my watch and told him we had ridden 8.91 miles. In my brain, I thought “it’s annoying to stop at this point” but didn’t say anything because I knew Jack was tired.

In a moment that confirms my Type A DNA runs deep in that child, he said “I’m tired, but we can’t stop until we hit 10 miles. Let’s just keep going”. Ha! And so we did. And my butt is still store from that ride and the bike seat. It was so worth it though.

Jack is absolutely OBSESSED with pickleball these days. Longtime readers know he goes in and out of “obsessions” but this one seems to be hanging on. He and Troy played at a local court on our first day there and Troy come home complaining that Jack had smoked him.

I wanted to drop Jack at the courts and have him hustle some retirees but it doesn’t seem like anyone plays pickleball for cash. Pity as it could have paid for our gas for the trip.

For the last six weeks, we have had to keep our ancient chicken, PooPoo Sandwiches isolated from the rest of the flock. They attacked her and intended to do her permanent harm. Every time I have thought about reintroducing them, one of the other chickens tries to attack her through a fence. Chickens are not smart.

She has been lonely but alive. She has an isolation nesting box in the coop at night to keep her safe from predators (trash pandas) and the other chickens. By day she roams the yard and has create a fort under our Japanese maple.

We have an automatic door for the chickens that has worked wonders and also gives us the freedom to not be home at night right as the sun goes down. Or at least it did, before the attack on PPS.

While the other chickens file out in the morning and put themselves to bed at night, we have to lift PPS in and out of her little apartment. Our chicken sitters weren’t coming daily while we were gone, so I had to find PPS a foster family for the week.

We couldn’t have been luckier in the family that we found. The woman is an emergency vet employee who has one remaining ancient chicken from a former flock. This chicken lives in the lap of luxury and is best friends with their dog.

On Sunday night I packed PPS an “overnight bag” (her own food, a waterer, and a bunch of kale for her and her new roommate) and the lady came to pick her up. She mentioned that she would probably have her sleep in a kennel inside that night. Fancy chicken.

During our trip, we would get updates and photos of PPS and her chicken roaming the yard together. It was basically a Golden Girls scenario, but for poultry.

Our weather went from “it’s too cold” to “dang, that’s hot” in a flash. We finally had our first days over 73F since last September, with the weekend into the mid to upper 80s.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 90F, which is officially deemed “Seattle Hot”. Please note, Seattle Hot is different than a Seattle 10, which is someone with a newer Patagonia jacket who remembered to brush their hair that day.

Given that I’m done photographing recipes until mid-September, our meals are looking a little more standard. No longer will we be eating random meals like air fryer Cornish hens and some side dish that I happened to photograph on the same day.

One of the brain breaks I’m giving our family (but mostly me) for the summer is a meal subscription service. We previously tried Sunbasket for two weeks while remodeling the kitchen and enjoyed it very much.

But, by trying new companies, we get to take advantage of new coupon codes, so… 🙂 First up, we’re trying a vegetarian meal plan company called Mosaic Foods. I saw an ad on Instagram (and now given how AI works, you probably will too) and the food looked so tasty.

And because it is vegetarian, it is more affordable than other companies that offer meals with meat. Cause meat is expensive, yo. We get our first order from Mosaic this coming Friday and I’m excited by the multiple noodle bowls that I chose.

On Father’s day last week we gifted both our dads a Storyworth subscription. I’ve heard Storyworth advertised on podcasts because I am nothing if not the perfect demographic for their ads.

Basically, once a week for 52 weeks, Storyworth will email you a question (you can choose or they have their own selection) to answer. At the end of the 52 weeks, they will put all the answers into a hardcover book and send it to you.

This August will mark five years since we lost my mom. It’s a blink of an eye and a lifetime. I find myself weekly wondering things about her life that I wish I had thought to ask.

Storyworth doesn’t give you all those answers, but it’s a lovely and tangible thing to have and be able to look at and think “I’m glad I know this”.

Our blueberries are finally fruiting but everything is green. Fingers crossed we’ll be picking some soon because our freezer stash of frozen blueberries is almost exhausted.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are finally in the garden and loving the sunny weather. My timing was poor in planting them because we left for vacation right after I got them in the ground, and right at the start of hot weather. But they’re hanging on.

Our library recommended The Summer Wives by the same author as Our Woman in Moscow and while it isn’t my normal genre, I did enjoy it.

On our second to last day on the trip, I started This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. So far, so good! It reminds me a lot of The Lincoln Highway, a book I enjoyed very much.

READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Ruby left this five-star review on our Dill Relish recipe {Pin this recipe}, and in the comment back to her I did make some suggestions on how to convert it to sweet relish. If you’re interested, hop on over and read the comments. But I still think that sweet relish is Satan’s condiment.

I tried your recipe yesterday and I LOVE it! The taste it has ( I tried a spoonful or 2, lol) is THE BEST! But….. I would like a recipe for SWEET relish. I tried one from another site and it didn’t turn out so good. It only made 2 pints of actual relish and the rest was just “juice”. Can you convert the “Dill” recipe to “Sweet”? Thank you so much for sharing with us.

ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK

This week I shared three brand new posts. Throughout the year I republish old posts that I’ve spruced up and improved, but this week everything was brand spanking new to the blog! This means in three years I’ll be cringing at these posts and the photos. The circle of blog life.

Air Fryer Cornish Hen – Learn how to make the perfect Air Fryer Cornish Hens for a fast and delicious meal. These tender and delicious game hens look like an elegant meal but are perfect for a busy weeknight. {Pin this recipe}

Also, because I love sharing this stuff with you, this hen was super lopsided to photograph but the only one I had. See how even it looks? Under the right side of the hen, I propped it up with a bunch of croutons.

Instant Pot Bacon and Pea Risotto – This delicious Instant Pot Pea and Bacon Risotto is a one-pot weeknight dinner that is packed with amazing flavors. Ready in a flash, this pressure cooker risotto eliminates the long cook time and constant stirring of a stovetop version. {Pin this recipe}

Canning Apricots An easy step-by-step tutorial on Canning Apricots. This recipe for preserving apricots is perfect for beginners and experienced canners alike. Instructions include low-sugar and no-sugar options. {Pin this recipe}

What are you having this week?