Green Bean Pickin'

Another fun day at the farm :)







My brother met me after work :)




Love this photo.



I'm having a blast.

Fly, fly, butterfly

I've always been quite fascinated with butterflies, so once upon a time I was understandably stoked when my then adolescent self found that many baby books defined my first name as "a Greek word meaning butterfly". I have since found otherwise. Author Jonathan Swift came up with the name after a friend, though it was later used to define a butterfly genus, which is equally acceptable as far as I'm concerned. Greek mythology, it turns out, often links butterflies with the soul (psyche). Yet another symbolism with which I connect.
There is something else about them. It's something beyond the obvious transformation. I'm naturally drawn to their unique beauty, but also moved by their delicate flutter, their fragility, the irony of their life as "bugs", and of course the green in me must mention their important ecological role as pollinators. I read somewhere that some butterflies migrate over 3000 miles, and that contrary to the popular belief that their life span is short, certain species can live up to one year. They are a lot more tenacious than one would think.

I digress.

What brought this subject to mind was the fact my friend captured some beautiful butterfly shots on film during his visit to the Chicago Brookfield Zoo last weekend, and here are a couple.
I am due for a trip there myself, soon.

Swooning overTulah Ray

Tonight I saw perfection in the form of a (fall) bag. I was doing my annual presale stint at Nordies, and there it was: the perfect blend of pleated dark berry leather with a sliver of dark graphite peeking out of the middle via way of a zipper. Love at first sight! The leather is tougher for a change. I can tell this is the sort of bag that I can throw around and will withstand much wear (and get many compliments as well - it's THAT pretty).
Alas, the bags allocated for presale there are all gone, in less than two days! The very nice manager of Savvy promised to get me one first thing on the 18th, even if it means running downstairs first thing in the morning. We'll see. She said she'd be calling between 7 & 8 am. This is the one thing I am looking forward to the most out of this year's entire pre-sale shebang.
I will post pics as soon as I have that baby.
Oh yeah, my loot. I bought some dark wash True Religions with white stitching, a pink/grey striped Splendid sweater, a very cute chunky Kenzie grey sweater, a sharp faux leather dark grey jacket, and the cutest patent leather Stuart Weitzman booties adorned with a satin bow. This sale definitely ranks on my top five every year.

ETA - here it is:

This week at the farm - kohlrabi, etc.

I was in Las Vegas last week, so I missed my weekly visit to the farm. Fortunately the veggies didn't go to waste since I had arranged for the person I'm splitting with to take the entire thing. It is nice to go out of town and relax, but it is just as nice to be back home back in the swing of things. I've always felt vacations make you appreciate the wonderful things you're surrounded by daily. I missed the forest preserve I drive by every day, and the flowers that bloom around me this time of year. I missed the walks we had started to take recently, and of course the comfort of my own home cooked meals.
This week was my turn to pick up at the farm. It is the end of the sugar snap peas, but we got some delicious new potatoes and fresh basil so fragrant I am most excited to use it. We also got some more summer squash, broccoli, turnips and radishes. New this week was Chinese cabbage, which brings back wonderful childhood memories. My grandmother used to make a wonderful chinese cabbage soup, and a mean stir fry as well. I am looking forward to trying it myself.
Then there is the kohlrabi, a shade of purple almost too pretty to eat. I like it cooked, but I might try it raw if we get more next week.