The Think Write Thursday topic is to tell us what you do when you find yourself with an abundance of tomatoes because ’tis the season!

Well. Can I just say that an abundance of tomatoes is a very very good problem? Because it is. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like a homegrown tomato. I mean, really, there are even songs about the beauty of homegrown tomatoes.

So, when I have too many I focus all of our meals on tomatoes. I make grilled cheese with tomatoes and english muffin pizzas. I make tuna melts with sliced tomatoes and caprese salad – which is a bonus because it also uses up the abundance of basil. I roast tomatoes in the oven and I make BLT sandwiches. I make gazpacho and salsa and tomato jam. And if I still have any left I bring them to work.

This makes me quite popular, I must say.

What do you do when you have an abundance of tomatoes? Share your blog post below and let us know. And, as always, if you wish to play along with Think Write Thursday you can sign up for the weekly topic here.

The Think Write Thursday topic for August 3, 2017 is to write a post to welcome August. Yes, another Hello post, in this case Hello, August. We like this because it’s easy and quick, if you want it to be, but you can also expand on it and make it longer and more complex if the spirit moves you. Whatever you decide, however you approach it, we hope you will share it with all of us!

Hello, August.

I have to admit that I greet you with a little tinge of sadness. You are the last of the full summer months around here and your arrival signals that summer – at least the part that is defined by Dale not working – will be over when you are. Now, I know that your follower, my gal September, brings lots of warm days and beautiful weather but still, she also brings the arrival of autumn. And we all know what comes after that.

Still.

I’m not thinking about any of that if I can help it. Instead I’m thinking about trips to Cape Cod, one coming right up this weekend, as well as our vacation later this month. I’m thinking about hot nights and cold beer, bike rides and ocean waves and orange sunsets. Playing games and laughing and telling jokes and stories.

I’m also thinking about how I could possibly invent a time machine to make this all last a lot longer.

Hello, August. Stick around awhile, won’t you?

If you wrote a post for today please share your link below. If you want to join us on Think Write Thursdays just click here to sign up for the weekly email.

The Think Write Thursday topic for July 27, 2017 is to share your favorite summer meal ideas, including recipes if applicable. Are you all about the grill? Or maybe you prefer salads. Do you use your crockpot a lot in the summer? Or would you rather have sandwiches? Tell us what you’re eating and tell us how you prepare it!

I love food and I love to eat, as you well know if you’ve read this blog for, oh, about 5 minutes. When it comes to summer time eating, I like to keep it easy and I can’t say I have many recipes. I go with what’s coming out of the garden – lots of cucumbers and squash these days – as well as what’s fresh from our local farm stand – lots of native corn right now. When it comes to fresh vegetables I think simple is best so I generally just steam or grill squash, I lightly steam native corn and then slather it with butter, and as for those cucumbers, I slice them and put them in a bowl with a little bit of vinegar and a lot of pepper. Any of those vegetables dishes make simple and delicious sides for protein like marinated grilled chicken or steak tips or even a simple cheeseburger. I’m not one of those women who is blessed with a man who loves to grill so the cooking still mostly falls on me. And I’m pretty much okay with that. When I’m not? We go out!

Of course, nothing is better in the summer than a homemade blueberry pie with fresh picked local blueberries. The recipe I follow is here and it’s the perfect sweet ending to any meal!

What are you cooking these days? If you wrote a post for today please share your link below. If you love Think Write Thursday and want to know what we’ll be writing about each week just click here to sign up for the weekly topic email. And to those of you who join us frequently, Kat and I say THANK YOU!

The Think Write Thursday topic for July 20, 2017 is to tell us what you do to beat the heat! We’re deep into summer here and some of those love the heat and some of us hate it but either way we all have to cope with it. What do you do that works for you? Share you tips, stories and more on coping with summer heat!

Some of us (me, for instance) love the summer. And some of us (I’m looking at you, Ms. Etherknitter) don’t. But I’m pretty sure that none of us love the super high heat and the uncomfortable humidity. That’s what we’ve been having. In other words, as Becky put it, it’s hotter than a firecracker out there! So what do I do when it’s hot, hot, hot? I stay inside. That’s right. Me, the one who love outdoors, stays inside because everywhere I go (my car, my office at the library, my office at the COA, and my house) has air conditioning. I still have to go outside when I move between those places but I take my time and go slow and it’s not so bad. In fact, the AC at the library was working overtime the other day and the air outside felt pretty good. Almost like coming in and sitting by the woodstove on a January day.

And that image is all I need to remind me that this, too, shall pass. It will become cold again and I won’t like it one bit. So for now I will delight in the modern wonder of air conditioning. I will swim in cool water when I get the opportunity. I will drink cold things and eat ice cream and not turn on my oven unless absolutely necessary  – which, by the way, it will be since I’m bringing a blueberry pie to dinner at a friend’s house this evening. I will revel in the heat because everything – even high humidity – is temporary.

If you wrote a post for today please share your link below. If you want to join in on the Think Write Thursday posts just click here to get the weekly topic emailed to you.

The Think Write Thursday topic is to write about 3 good things that happened this week.

1. We picked our first summer squash of the season. I steamed it last night and served it with some grilled chicken and it was delicious and fresh and perfect.
2. I attended a work meeting that included a very frank, open and honest discussion about management styles, rumors and gossip, and ways to build trust. I didn’t expect this discussion to happen but it resulted in some great team building among my peers and I’m grateful for the opportunity to see some of them in a whole new light.
3. I finished #The100DayProject! Yes, indeed, I took one hundred one second videos from April 3rd through July 12th. It was fun and I definitely learned a lot about how long a second actually is and how to (slightly) improve my video taking skills. There are quite a few things I’d do over with those videos given the chance but it’s still a pretty nifty look back on the last 100 days. I haven’t decided yet whether I will continue doing this but I just might. I also haven’t figured out a way to share it here because the video exceeds the size of a file I can upload. Damn. You can see it on instagram, though, if you’re so inclined.

What good things happened for you this week? If you wrote a post for today’s topic please include your link below so that we can all come and read it. And if you’d like to receive the Think Write Thursday topic in your inbox each week (usually by Monday afternoon) then click here to sign up.