This Perfectly Imperfect Life

  The unofficial end of Summer is upon us! I'm not sad to see Summer go, y'all know I'm not its' biggest fan, but I am a bit startled by how fast this year has gone by! August 31st?! How the...? I await Autumn's arrival every year and every year it manages to sneak up on me and I'm not ready for it! I'm not sure how that happens. Every year. Week before last I made arrangements to finish an interior design e-course derailed by my illness/surgeries/recovery from the middle of 2010 through 2011 and I'm going to tackle Botany for Gardeners as well. I'm very excited! I begin Wednesday. Teachers get the back to school blues too, so yesterday, a teacher girlfriend and I spent the afternoon watching Eat Pray Love and chatting. She brought Dunkin Donuts which made a good day even better!  Now the Hubbs and I are on our way up to our northern home for the weekend. Rain is expected, but we don't mind, it'll be nice to get away for a bit. How a

Oma is German for Grandma/Grandmother. My Oma was born in a German village in 1905. I believe she came to America around 1926, when she was 21 years old. (And I believe the photo of her with her hair in a long braid was taken before she made that journey). She passed away 24 years ago this Saturday, the 24th. The photo of her late in life was taken just before Mom and I left Oma and Opa's in Florida to fly back to NJ. I only met her that once, a week or so, when I six years old, but talked with her on the phone every Sunday and on holidays. I suddenly realized earlier this year some of who I see in the mirror is Oma.  The angle of my face in the photo above doesn't show it well but now I see where I get some of my features from.  And this nose! I can't remember the sound of her voice now and it breaks my heart.

One of my favorite photos from this week!

S Some of my favorite photos from this week!

Welcome back everyone! This week's #GardenWalk Thursday Featured Tweeters are: A Charlotte Garden: August isn't so bad this year! http://t.co/Jzv3towml4 #CLT #gardenwalk #GBBD — Daricia (@aCLTgarden) August 15, 2013 come on...you know you wanna!!! http://t.co/Q8AHjjDMfM #gardenchat #gardenwalk #dirtyfingernails #flowers #garden #summer #grow #bloom — Glenda (@Tootsie_Time) August 15, 2013 And now for the Weekly Round-Up Featured Tweeters for the week of 8/10 through 8/16: All summer the Two Faced Scarecrow http://t.co/iROYkiM2Cc #gardenwalk #gardenchat pic.twitter.com/U6U4sCJTaU — Old School Bill (@BillsGarden) August 10, 2013 Garden Walk - August 2013 #RoseChat #GardenWalk http://t.co/x6nOU1aoud — Chris VanCleave (@RedneckRosarian) August 11, 2013 @edbegleyjr Gardening 100 ft from the beach. Notice the guys on bikes with surfboards? #gardenchat #gardenwalk http://t.co/V914oD1o1h — Melissa J Bond (@MelissaJBond) August 12, 2013 “ @Bloo

Please visit my latest post on Through My Eyes 360*, New Jersey Through My Eyes: At The Shoal, for more photos by clicking here .  It was such a gorgeous day yesterday, I had to share my photos from this spot! 

Unfortunately, the new BlackBerries are not yet available via our carrier, Hubbs broke his and mine was on the way out so we've both ended up with iPhone 4. Talk about fish out of water! So this is a test post to see what happens and hopefully all will go well in sending this via email. And might I add? This weather makes my soul jump for joy! (Location purposely removed on photo, not newbie error). Happy Friday!

A few years ago, I shared my recipe experiment for Honey Roasted Tomato Brushetta - my attempt to replicate a very yummy appetizer I had at a local restaurant.  (Click here for part 1 and here for part 2). This morning, in between down pours and t-storms, I harvested another round of cherry tomatoes from the garden. Today's harvest, added to the last three days or so of harvesting cherry tom's, plus the cooler temps that came with the rain gave me a hankering for Roasted Tomato Brushetta!  So here is my new twist on an old favorite: Preheat your oven to 300* and then... Cut up your toms and add them to a large bowl. This equaled a third of a bowl. To your toms, add 2 tblspn of extra virgin olive oil, 1/8 tsp salt & pepper (fresh ground if you have it), garlic & onion powders to taste, basil & parsley flakes to taste.  Add a drizzle or two of honey to cut the bitterness. Mix/toss well.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with tin foil, spray

Instead of doing 2 posts for the #GardenWalk Featured Tweeters each week, once on Thursday and again on Friday or Saturday, I'm going to try combining the 2 posts into one weekly post, which will appear here on Friday or Saturday each week and will feature both those who share for #GardenWalk Thursday and those who share daily throughout the week. First up, our #GardenWalk Thursday Featured Tweeter for Thursday, 8/8/13: Favorite pick today in the veggie and cut flower garden. #gardenwalk #gardenchat pic.twitter.com/I6GiBfq8yy — Bren (@BG_garden) August 9, 2013 Heres what Im bringing in from my #gardenwalk tonight @bloominchick pic.twitter.com/nhYo5HVHcB — Bren (@BG_garden) August 9, 2013 And now for our #GardenWalk Featured Tweeters for the week of 8/3/13 through 8/9/13: Evening #gardenwalk #rosechat #gardenchat #flowers #gardening http://t.co/5mrmQt7QGZ — Teresa Byington (@agardendiary) August 4, 2013 The #hibiscus are so full of #flowers thi

Welcome to the #GardenWalk Weekly Round-Up for Saturday 7/27 through Friday 8/2! Here are the Featured Tweeters from this past week: Spotted! Amethyst coral berry, 2013 Cut Flower of the Year. Pink fall berries and summer blooms. #gardenwalk #buffalo pic.twitter.com/kbpe4jjce4 — Shannon Springer (@Shannon_PW) July 27, 2013 Box Turtle in the back yard this morning ;-) #gardenwalk #gardenchat #wildlife pic.twitter.com/41iVBIzD4E — Tom M (@SolakNC) July 28, 2013 #Flower power in the garden! Happy Monday. #gardenchat #HGTVgardens #gardenwalk http://t.co/s87DwPMHAJ — robert bornstein (@robbornstein) July 29, 2013 I love summer #houseplant containers. http://t.co/hG2r3Y4YO7 #gardenchat #gardenwalk — Houseplant Guru (@HouseplantGuru) July 30, 2013 My mystery pepper. I though it was Tequila Sunrise from our @Seedsaversx #schoolgarden . #gardenwalk #gardenchat pic.twitter.com/sCN43OazEK — Modern Mia Gardening (@modernmiagarden) July 30, 2013 My

Aside from that never-ending pile of books I'm always trying to tackle, there are a few permanent fixtures at my bedside. On my nightstand, which is actually an antique record player stand, (too dusty for a photo right now) I have several books nestled into the slots which have been there for quite a long time. Years in fact. And I've re-read them often and likely will continue to! Comfort reads I call them and that's what they are to me. New England Fancies by W. Elmer Ekblaw from 1935, first edition with an inscription by the author, hardback. A gift from Hubbs back in June of 2007, bought downtown here in our coastal town at a tiny antique bookshop we browsed through after dinner at the Thai place and before a movie at the theater across the street. About each season in New England. It's such a wonderful book! I adore it (and Hubbs knew I would). A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle, First Vintage Edition paperback, 1991. I found this gem of a memoir at a loc

Welcome to the #GardenWalk Thursday Round-Up! It's #GardenWalk Thursday! Share your bloom pics & your tweet may be featured on The Portable Homestead later today! #rosechat #gardenchat — Jo (@BloominChick) August 1, 2013 Today's Featured Tweeters are: (Click on the link in each share to view their photos) Good #MorningGlory #gardenchat #gardenwalk #vines #floralicious #gardening #eyecandy #flowersofinstagram http://t.co/B3rtHsNxpO — Nancy Wallace (@SassyNancy) August 1, 2013 One of my fav potting areas in my garden... #gardening #gardenchat # #gardenwalk #pottingbench http://t.co/qPQfyI0Iuv — Teresa Byington (@agardendiary) August 1, 2013 I want to thank Nancy/ @SassyNancy and Teresa/ @agardendiary for sharing with me via the #GardenWalk hashtag on Twitter for #GardenWalk Thursday! Want a chance to be a #GardenWalk Featured Tweeter here on The Portable Homestead? Participating is super easy: Post your photos to Twitter using the 

(Written throughout the last week of July and beginning of August). Except for the tinkling of wind chimes, the whir of fans and chirping of insects in the grass, all is quiet. Late Summer has arrived here at The Portable Homestead! We've had a blessed break from the oppressive humidity and heat, which started the end of last week and has only gotten better with each day. Windows wide open until about 3pm, our hottest time of day here, then the a/c for a couple of hours and back to widows wide open until afternoon the next day again. The appearance of Autumn-like weather has been just what my spirits needed and just in the nick of time too! Because of the humidity & heat + bronchitis & sinus infection, I've spent most of July indoors at home and cabin fever had me in such an awful , sad mood. Normally I go for a garden walk every morning. This daily morning ritual isn't just about having to water early (especially during heatwaves), taking photos and spendin