this is the riveting action you've been missing

Lastnight, I was cooking (enchiladas) and cleaning up preparatory to whipping a batch of homemade ice cream, when I could no longer ignore the fact that my left wrist was itching and burning and felt like someone was sticking a needle into the middle of it. Beesting, right? Except no bee and I hadn't been outside. In an hour. I had put my hands in the oven mitts to remove the enchiladas. The oven mitts had been left outside after a recent evening of grilling. I smashed all over the oven mitts, just in case. Mike went down to Bartell's to get an antihistamine and I spent some quality time on the couch with Harry Potter 6 and a bag of frozen vegetables. (But did I stay up all night reading it? No, I did not and now I am on page 234. I was reading at lunch.)

Further investigation this morning revealed that there was an empty egg sack just inside one oven mitt. So a spider bit me. I haven't figured out what sort of a spider would have such a nasty bite but not, you know, rot my flesh, like a brown recluse or similar. Whatever they are, I hope they're not a permanent fixture in my kitchen. I actually had a similar bite last summer! I put the mitts directly in the wash.

This morning, I brought a peach to work, which I peeled and ate. It was stupendously delicious. Wouldn't a peach pie be nice?

This last weekend saw the Marmot taking in some of Washington's many agricultural delights in the company of good friends! Such fun. We went to Vashon Island's Lavender Festival on Saturday. This is smaller and less well-known than Sequim's Lavender Festival, but possessed these features:
1. Lavender!
2. Ample parking!
3. Tasty treats!
4. Gorgeous gardens!
5. Friendly people/vendors!
6. Location v. close to Seattle!

And lacked these:
1. Hordes of people
2. Long ferry waits
3. Traffic jams
4. Gigantoid fields of lavender (I suppose; I've never been to big mama lav fest)

It was a sunny day, and there was shopping, and cheese, and fleurs, and brunch in addition to lavender. Huzzah!

Next day we picked raspberries and blueberry in the Carnation-Duvall area. Again: sun and a feast for the senses. And a healthy respect for the skills of those who pick our berries when we do not have the leisure to pick them ourselves. I'm not very good at it.

Tonight I am determined to make some raspberry ice cream from the raspberries I personally picked, and made into syrup with the help of my close personal friend, Mr. Kitchen-Aid food processor. I might make some chocolate toffee chip, too. All for the company barbecue, y'see. Gives me the opportunity to experiment and not eat entire batches.