ryan's cleverness = bowling alley table

ryan can do pretty much anything. 

he made a beautiful table out of bowling alley lane over the weekend! 

i'm so excited about it. 

i've wanted a nice, long table for outdoor dining for a couple of years. 

the one he made sits 12. 

last fall, when we used bowling alley lanes for our kitchen counters, 

ryan had in mind he would use the left-over wood for an outdoor table. 

the cool thing about the table

(other than the fact people used to bowl on it)

is that all the wood is reclaimed. 

the edges are made out of wood from our friend Denise's old fence. 

the legs ... i can't remember exactly,

but the pieces of redwood used to be part of our house in some way. 

ryan cut wood, sanded, stained. 

he's amazing! 

i love that he has big visions, 

and the wherewithal to achieve them. 

i can't wait to see our friends and family 

gathered around the table saturday night, 

as we celebrate my ordination on Sunday! 

jammin' & cannin'

Friend Jackie and I had the best time today making jam! 

i felt like such a homemaker puttering around in the kitchen, 

making the jam and canning it in those sweet little jars. 

and i kept thinking "we're doing this for fun - just think about the times

when women had to do this in order to have food in the winter." 

a humbling thought. 

jackie and i started at the pasadena farmer's market this morning, 

and snagged ripe strawberries, figs, and plums. 

above is a medley of three colors of figs, and they were so sweet. 

our canning supplies at the ready! 

jackie and i had jammed and canned before, 

but a long time before - 

i think my last time was 1994 or 1995, 

and Jackie's was 2000. We still had our canning supplies! 

figs, sugar, lemon zest = super yummy fig jam.

and the plum spice jam was A-mazing. 

the color is a deep red-purple, just lovely. 

i need a pic of a piece of toast with some jam slathered on it. 

the best part (other than eating it) is listening 

to the satisfying POP of the lids sealing. 

fabulous way to spend saturday with a dear friend. 

xo! 

strawberry pie!

i'm back! 

7.5 weeks away this summer. 

but home long enough to make a no-bake strawberry pie. 

and to take pictures that give it an eerie glow. 

i'm a minister, not a photographer, what can i say? 

in the midst of my summer travels we had some house work done: 

- drip irrigation installed

- exterior of the house painted

- a french drain installed along the side/back of house

pictures coming soooooon! 

can't wait to catch up on all my blog reading. 

love!