Peonies, fresh-picked from my boyfriend’s garden - he brought them over before heading into work tonight and now my house stinks purty! I do not count pink among my favourite colours in general but I can appreciate it from time to time. This is one of those times. These are gorgeous! And they smell even better.

I would much rather get a few simple flowers out of the blue than a huge florist bouquet on a Hallmark holiday.

Add to that, the aroma of this

(Note B’s feet - he just had to follow me outside and watch me take the picture.)

and I’m salivating all over the keyboard right now. I’m not a granola connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination nor do I eat granola other than once in awhile when I buy a yogurt that has it on top but this right here tastes pretty darn good. The recipe is called Megan’s Granola. I halved the recipe as apparently it makes a boatload and a half (I think it still made a lot but then it’s just B and me here). And definitely read through the reviews/comments too because there are some really good tips and suggestions in there. I did a few substitutions - replaced some of the oil with applesauce, replaced half the maple syrup with molasses, used pistachios instead of walnuts, replaced 1/3 of the wheat germ with ground flax seed, and added extra cinnamon. I was very surprised with B when I was spreading it onto the pan to cook. He wanted a taste and then very nearly had a series of fits because I wasn’t giving him "more! I want more!!" fast enough. Here’s hoping he thinks the cooked version is just as good. Maybe I shouldn’t be incredibly surprised though since he’s pretty good in the cereal department (back when I was buying boxed cereals); he’ll happily eat (and request) Raisin Bran and Shreddies. Since quitting boxed cereals, he’s been requesting oatmeal in a regular basis.

I’m off to do nothing but sit on the couch (layyyzeee!) in my deliciously perfumed house. 

It’s an absolutely beautiful day here, which is a fabulous change from all the rain we’ve had over the past few weeks (and the rain that is still forecasted to come). We woke up to clear blue skies, a much cooler temperature than the heat and humidity of the past two days, and a truly wonderful strong breeze. My living room curtains and sheers are currently blowing around, all my upstairs windows are open, and I’m listening to the sounds of the neighbourhood as my laundry dries on the line. I love that we are allowed clothelines here. Actually, I don’t know anyone offline who isn’t allowed a clothesline in their city or neighbourhood. The neighbour to the left of me and the two to the right all have lines that stretch across the backyard and I love seeing the clothes flapping in the breeze. I’m, strangely enough, not a fan of the smell of line-dried clothes but you can’t beat the efficiency or frugality of it and a good breeze helps to keep the clothes a little softer than the sun alone. Plus, the sun is really good for bleaching out stains (hang those cloth diapers, Rhonda!). I used to hang B’s dipes on the line and, later, his mama-made cloth pull-ups.

This is just a small load, about which I don’t feel too badly because I have a front-loader which is supposed to only use as much water as is needed. And I needed to wash B’s mattress cover. He’s fully trained (woooo!!) but occasionally has an accident during his nap. I find it funny that he can go all night without wetting the bed and not go to the bathroom for an hour or two after he wakes up but he sometimes wakes up wet from a 1.5 to 2.5 hour nap. I went and bought a second mattress cover when I decided to not put him in diapers at night. That way, I can strip his bed and re-make it right away without having to do the laundry first.

And in case you noticed them, those are boy-cut briefs at this end of the line and not granny panties! Just in case clarification was needed. Because I looked at that picture after I’d uploaded it and thought to myself, ‘Dang, those look like grannies!"