These are our first homegrown white nectarines. They’re a variety called Arctic Star. We have a tiny sampling of plums, peaches, and nectarines coming in. This batch was mildly sweet, but the first fruits aren’t usually expected to have that wow factor. We’re hoping that as the tree continues to mature, our enjoyment will elevate, as it produces the low acid, super sweet flavors that are to be expected with this variety .

Some of our plums on the other hand… oh they taste like candy. I’ll be sure to share those with you too (if I’m able to contain myself and snap a picture before I eat them).

We’re in the midst of renovating things upstairs, and I’m going to redecorate True and Brave’s shared room while they are gone in Texas, but I’m so stuck on bed placement. I moved the beds back to be side to side, but not sure if I really like it like that. Their drawers are starting to fall apart and need some fixing, but I’m thinking of doing away with a dresser completely and just have all the items in the closet (I’m going back and forth on that too). I wouldn’t mind less stuff around. Also, while I love walking into the room and seeing our large French Favor poster, but I’m thinking of switching it to another wall in that room.

With all these changes, upstairs feels like a jumbled mess, which makes my brain feel like a jumbled mess too. I definitely have a bad case of mess stress right now, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll soon have clean white walls (upstairs) and pretty wood floors. I’m so excited!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Thankful we have two official school days left!

I started my painting adventures (I’m trying to do all of upstairs) and I’m about halfway done (follow me on instagram if you want to peek on my progress). I will be ecstatic when I’m done. Then, the new floors can go in. Woot! Woot!

If you’re in SoCal, or have plans to visit, be sure to check out the Long Beach Aquarium. For Cakies readers, you can get $10 off membership here.

We’ve been playing around with bed placement in True and Brave’s room. I like it like this (picture above), but Ben missed the openness of each bed in the corner. We are testing different ways out until one feels just right.

I want to try this recipe since we have finger limes growing in our garden.

Well, hello frozen s’mores!

I wouldn’t mind a few of these handira pillows on my bed.

Definitely wouldn’t say no to these sandals.

Lately, I’ve been noticing how much Glow loves to draw. She always has a little sketchbook and pencil on hand.

True has expressed an interest in scrap booking. I’m totally not a scrap booker, but it seems I have a daughter who is. Any tips to get her started?

Enjoy your weekend! We’re going through a heatwave and I’m not really liking it one bit.

Gilded Bead Necklace

Supplies:
Various beads (similar here and here)
Leather cording
Gilding adhesive
Gilding sheets
Paintbrush
Bristle brush
Scissors

Directions:
1. Paint adhesive on various spots on each bead and allow each one to dry until surface is tacky.
2. Rub gilded sheet gently onto adhesive and allow to dry completely.
3. With bristle brush, brush over to remove excess gilding.
4. Cut 36″ long piece of leather cording and string beads onto the leather cording.
5. Create a sliding knot with the ends.

I still had some gilding sheets and adhesive from this project and I put it to good use with this craft. While doing online window shopping, I came across some beaded necklaces with bits of gold on it and thought that would be simple to make, and it was indeed. If you don’t want to make a new necklace, take an old beaded one (or pick one up at the thrift store) and spruce it up with a little gilding.

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See other photos and videos by Christian and Reinna here.

True and Brave are going to Texas for the summer, so we wanted to do Father’s Day early since they won’t be here. Ben’s request is a tree and a gardening day, so we spent Saturday gardening with him outside (and I told him we can pick up another tree on actual Father’s Day), and then we surprised him with a garden party at golden hour later that evening. I made herb shrimp capellini with spicy bread crumbs and oatmeal pecan pie for our special dinner. The girls and I set up the dinner table outside, and we had lots of cards, signs, and presents ready for our golden papi.

We themed our celebration around gold/golden, so we picked up some golden accents to decorate our table from Michaels (these are the mercury glass candle holders). The peonies are sitting in some golden glass goblets we picked up at the thrift store awhile back. Then, all our gifts stuck to the theme and had a little corresponding poem on a gold gift tag (similar here).

Golden delicious apple… “You keep us all nutritious, you are as sweet as golden delicious!”

Gold star… “You set a high bar, you deserve a gold star!

Heart of gold (using this I HEART GUTS softie)… “Let the truth be told, Papi, you’ve got a heart of gold!”

Gold medal (made from glitter craft foam)… “You’ll see yourself in record books, for being the #1 Papi, the gold you took!”

Ben is such a treasure as a husband and father and we enjoyed showering him with lots of love.

Supplies provided as part of the Michaels Makers Series. From paper crafts, party goods and baking supplies to new outdoor lighting, glass and floral, Michaels is your DIY destination for all of your summer celebrations.

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Hello again, it’s Ben here to share about the citrus tasting we went to back in December (Ruby’s been asking me to write about it, but I’m not as fast as her in this blogging thing).

I fell in love with fruit trees a few years ago. While the trees we have are at a season of infancy (the majority aren’t bearing any fruit), my favorite type, at this point, is citrus. Why citrus? The range of flavors might be enough of a reason (sweet, subacid blends), and the invigorating smell of the oils being released during peeling helps support that decision. But what pushes me over the edge has to do with the season they’re usually ripe…the winter. In the gloom and cold of winter, outdoor vegetation lacks life, hibernating until the warmer months. Then citrus trees come in at winter’s peak, adorned with their evergreen bed of leaves that provide the vigorous backdrop for their decorative, spherical symbols of life in warm colors that are only matched by the spectrum provided by sunrises and sunsets. My reasoning extends beyond the taste of citrus…it’s about the whole experience.

Speaking of experience, I’ve been wanting to attend the annual citrus taste test through the UC Lindcove Research and Extension Center in central CA for some time, but it’s always in December, which is typically a busy month for most (Christmas, cold season, etc.). Add all the birthdays in our family and all the time is used up. At the last minute, I’m thankful we were able to make the trip up this year!

We were able to taste HUNDREDS of varieties of citrus that Saturday morning; our mouths were drunk on the zesty flavor of citrus! As you can imagine, it was a memorable way to celebrate my birthday!

-Ben