Everyday Images On A July Monday

Good Monday morning friends. July is rolling right along and I'm going to do a bit of a photo dump today, and link with the current Everyday Images photo prompts while I'm at it (hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup Of Coffee) Kym shares prompts every two weeks and I'm typically getting mine posted just under the wire. She leaves the link up the whole two weeks, so it's not too late if you want to try these. 

I have some random snaps on my phone that need to go somewhere and a blog is a good place to save them. 

Question-Do I actually need to save pictures of my cherry tomatoes? 

I'm going to say yes. One of my favorite things about blogging is the look back at ordinary life it offers, and pictures help all the many words I use come to life. Here are the most recent photo prompts: 

~at home (monthly)~who I'm spending time with~what I'm working on~where I'm going~when I'm taking a break~why I'm happy today~signs~

at home...

We don't have a garden but we grow a few things in pots and our cherry tomatoes ripened while we were away. We're enjoying picking handfuls every day and adding them to salads or just eating them right off the vine. This picture says summer to me. 

who I'm spending time with...

Last week it was my mama as we celebrated her birthday with a fun dinner out. I haven't been with my mom on her actual birthday in a number of years, so this was special. My sister, niece, and nephew-in-law joined the party and my mom loved having family around the table. 

She had a piece of delicious peanut butter pie for dessert, with a candle of course. 

what I'm working on...

Recreating this appetizer for one. We had this in a restaurant on Saturday night and it was absolutely scrumptious. I have friends coming for dinner this weekend and I want to make this starter for them. It's prosciutto, fresh peaches, olive oil, honey, Calabrian chili flakes, and chopped pistachios, plus a little something green which I forgot to write down and now can't recall if it was mint or basil. Either would be good. 

And of course I'm always working to perfect the selfie. Not there yet. 

where I'm going...

This week nowhere. I mean here and there but nowhere out of the ordinary. Recently we went to the land where the palm trees grow-

Technically palm trees do grow in my state, hence it's nickname The Palmetto State, but these are Florida palms.

when I'm taking a break...

When you're retired you have the opportunity for a lot of breaks. Pretty much as many as you want. This is from our recent trip to the beach which I wrote about in great detail (here and here). This is definitely my idea of a break-a beautiful view and a book on my lap. 

why I'm happy today...

Many reasons, but one would be having grown up girls with very green thumbs. Daughter1 harvested these potatoes and sent a picture while we were away. I didn't get to taste them, but there's more where these came from (aka her garden) so hopefully I'll get a sample soon. 

And look at these carrots! Daughter2 dug these up from her garden last week, then made carrot top pesto which I didn't even know was a thing? She said it tastes a bit more like parsley than basil, but still a great way not to waste any of the produce.  Her kiddos were super excited to pull carrots out of their very own garden. 

signs...

This was at the entrance to the beach path at our hotel. I made sure to shuffle my feet, but we did not see any stingrays. We didn't see as many dolphins as we usually do either, but the water was clear and there were plenty of shells. 

Insert young middle aged lady with an old soul talking about birds here-

There were literally a couple of hundred of these Black Skimmers in one particular section of the beach just a short walk down from our hotel. A volunteer with the local Audubon Society was there taking pictures one day, and he told us more about them. 

I'd never heard of this particular bird before, but their lower jaw juts out and skims the water allowing them to grab fish as they fly by. This beach is a nesting place for them, and they come back every year. They lay eggs in the sand and then the parents teach the little ones how to fly. We saw several young birds trying it out which was really cute. 

A restaurant had this sign posted as we left one evening-

We miss you too St. Pete's Beach!

Linking with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday today too because hey, it's Monday. Have a nice week everyone!