music and food

In keeping with my recent realization that weekends go better when Gwen and I do things in the kitchen and I play good music, this weekend we:

• Turned our tomato crop into green tomato pickles using this recipe


• Made lemon blueberry bread


• And listened to Death Cab for Cutie, the Postal Service, Genesis, IQ, and Simon & Garfunkel (the last at Gwen's request. I've started singing her "Scarborough Fair" and "For Emily" and "April Come She Will" before bed, and she also loves "Slip Slidin' Away" and requests it by name)

We also went to the library, then Gwen got a ride on a teacup carousel before we went to a reptile/birds of prey exhibit where Gwen's day was made by getting to hold a giant African snail -- twice!:



-- after which we ate lunch out because it was already 12:30 and we still had more errands to run, namely, birthday presents to purchase, then today we got out the glitter glue sticks which I haven't felt brave enough to let her have for the last year, and she spent a good three hours doing picnics with her animals which while requiring some participation on my part still allows me to sit on the couch and get other work done.

The blueberry bread is smelling really yummy...