Paris breakfast

Spoiler alert: I am not actually in Paris, but still contentedly here at Hugs, enjoying a sunny summer morning that for once is not too hot, with a tray of happiness all ready to go.

Over the last few years I've realized that while I love looking at old buildings and learning about other ways of life, what I really like about travel boils down to walking a long way, and then eating, or eating and then walking a long way. Either of which I can do at home if travel isn't viable. 

I am not a coffee drinker but I do enjoy a latte or cafe au lait now and then, so I acquired a metal tube with a coffee grinder on top for fresh beans, and rediscovered my tiny flat whisk for foaming milk in a pan. With the addition of a chocolate croissant from our excellent local bakery, Paris Breakfast was born.

I indulge myself with a Paris Breakfast on a day I particularly want to enjoy, which means today. I mean, it is so beautiful out.

The summer is just zipping away now and I fear I have not used it well. There are so many outdoor things I haven't touched, like paint-stripping the ridiculously small bedside table from the cottage which I hope to repurpose as an end table for the tiny home. Or sanding and restaining, again, the deck railings. Or even lying in the hammock and doing crossword puzzles, though that's definitely on the schedule for this week. Priorities, people. 

Even my sock project is barely limping along, which is just sad. 

I can knit a pair of socks in a week without thinking twice, and here I am spinning these out for months. I fear there will be a very sad Jan come Christmas if I don't get my act together and finish these, so I can knit her annual pair in time.

But let's turn to good news. I have a birdbath update for you: I found a bug in the water! 

That's the first time I've seen ANYthing enjoying our gift to our garden dwellers. I think it's a stink bug. I've seen another on our bedroom window screen too, looking like it might want in, but cute as they are  I've learned from three other stink bugs not to be deceived by their enormous size. They can still push through the gap in the frame of the screens. It was like it knew, too, because it was on the one window I'd forgotten to tape off to prevent such an incursion.

A few hours later I came back and found the bug still there, looking like it was more than ready to get out of the bath but couldn't get traction on the bottom of the bowl.

It was swimming so. hard. without getting anywhere. So I very carefully tipped out the water and freed it, and that was the end of our bird bath's usefulness. 

Still, I'm going to set it out again today. Pete really likes the water feature and I swear, we are going to have some outside fun today even if it's just Audiobook And Knitting. Or, you know, paint stripping.

(pretty sure it's not going to be paint stripping.) 

 

Okay - off I go. But I'll leave you with a quick look at my favourite thing in the garden, my tiny pot of lemon thyme. It's not summer without those pretty leaves and that intoxicating scent. Hope you have a lovely day and I'll see you next Saturday!