Limes!

We finally decided that our lemon tree is actually a lime tree: one ripened without turning yellow, a sure sign. 

We picked it.  Cut it open. 

We then juiced it. 

We tasted it. It was pretty Limey and sour.  So, then, what does one do with lime juice? 

Make Rum Punch, of course!

To the best Mommy

Happy Birthday!!

Mambo with her youngest grandchild. 

Hoping you have a marvelous day!!

Figs!

It's that time of year for figs-- actually it's a bit late. We usually are done with figs (and the rest of the garden) by mid-August. Everything is usually spent or burnt from the hot weather. 

This year seems to be different, with the wet, cool weather in June. We actually had a spring for once is DC. There has only been one week in July (when we were out of town) where the temperatures reached 100 for multiple days. The cooler temps in August (mid-80s), has meant slower developing fruits. 

Anyway, enough about the weather. The whole point of this post is show you my fig jam:

Three 4-oz wide-mouth jars of figs, brown sugar, and lemon juice are done. I'm sure ill be making more as there are about a thousand figs still on the branches. 

In fact I also roasted figs with Boursin goat cheese and prosciutto last night for dinner, along with chicken on our new grl! 

(The grill was a deal at our local hardware store. It is half times bigger than our old one and--the best part-- it was already assembled!). 

In actuality, it was a good way to end a great summer: freshly grown and made figs and a new grill. 

Returning to the Blog

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging. Sorry about that-- I took an announced break. You didn't miss much.  The rest of the Barbados vacation was 

We went home to Kentucky to see family.  

 Including having a birthday for Kristie. 

We came back and had visitors

Had some of the rhubarb cordial I made

Ate a few home grown tomatoes

And gave an abandoned puppy on our doorstep a new home. 

This puppy was ridiculous cute, by the way, so we are proud of ourselves that we didn't end of keeping it. 

Now it's September and we are ready to roll into fall. 

Barbados

We are having a lovely time on the island of Barbados with the Cunningham Clan. The house is on Gibbes Beach, one of the few beaches that hasn't had a hotelier move in. The crystal clear water in its aquamarine glory is literally a few yards from our doorstep. We have spent hours floating, skiing, snorkeling, and sea glass collecting in the sea. 

When we are on dry land, we are tooling around in our Mini Moke, what used to be the cool island car but now just pegs us for tourists. It might be the banana yellow color. 

What really surprised me about the island is the variety of landscapes. One part of the island-- the Scotland district-- is quite mountainous and named thus because it is reminiscent of the Scottish highlands. There is also a cave system and deep gullies with amazing flora in them. 

We also have been able to enjoy some of the local culture, from rum punches with local Mount Gay rum...

...To a day at the racetrack, where we were the big winners (and basically broke even). 

A week in to our two week island holiday and life is good, mon!

On our way!

Will and I are off to Barbados for a two week vacation! Bags are checked, off to security. Will's carry on?: his sun hat. How strange not to pull out a laptop as we go through security. 

Next time you hear from us, we will be on the beach, drinking rum punches! 

Rhubarb Vodka

We have more rhubarb than we know what to do with and in an effort to not let it rot while we are away, I decided to try to make rhubarb vodka.  Two+ pounds of vodka, one cup+ sugar, and one and half bottles of vodka were poured into our glass container.  We have to leave it for a month and then strain out the rhubarb.  The timing should be perfect: we return from Barbados and one week later will have the Italian and her husband B as guests.  We should be able to enjoy this concoction by then-- and hopefully I didn't just waste all that rhubarb!