Figs

Joey and I both have childhood memories associated with figs. Joey's Granny would give him a shotgun at the very mature age of 8 or so along with the instruction To Kill the Mockingbird(s) who were eating up her figs. God bless Jackson in the '90s ;) My memories don't conjure up such hilarity, but my grandmother, Phyllis Jean, and my great grandmother Twila Grace each had fig trees. Phee still makes fig preserves which are oh so good. She and I agree, what else are you supposed to do with figs? I especially have memories of Mamaw making her strawberry fig preserves, which was so delicious. I loved nothing more than spreading bright red preserves on toast with butter when I was a little girl....I still like it as a slightly less little girl.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that one of our trees in the backyard was indeed....fig. So I called up my beautiful Phee and asked her to embellish her great figgy wisdom upon her first grandchild. She sent me the recipe for the strawfiggy preserves that Mamaw made. So Joey and I gullumphed to the store, bought some mason jars and set to picking and peeling figs. I did a little (a lot) research as to how one is supposed to sterilize the jars, which was honestly the hardest part of the whole thing for a recovering germaphobe (My darling coworkers have given me this label...I'm not sure I like it, but it might be true. I digress). I don't want to get botulism, and after all, we've had our share of severe bouts of food poisoning and other tales of woe in this two-person household, thanks very much. So I probably sterilized them more than necessary, but what can I say, I'm a dreamer...and I dream of not getting botulism.

Our toils made two and a half full jars of preserves! It was a fun little Saturday project and brought back fond memories of home and family. The figs are still comin', so I plan to give away my loot to lucky friends in the area. If you'd like to try your luck at fig preserves and need a recipe or tips on how to stay botulism-free, let me know and I'll be glad to share.

Yours in figs,

Recent travels

Although I'm thankful I don't have to do it all the time, traveling for work can have its perks. Especially when Joey is able to accompany me! Earlier this year I went to Seattle for a conference. Neither of us had ever been and we've always wanted to visit, so it was a great opportunity. It certainly lived up to its reputation of raining constantly, but nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves. Here are a few photos from the trip (when I wasn't working):

The famous Pike Place Market

My favorite part of the market was the fresh flower arrangements for sale. They were stunning and so affordable! If I lived in Seattle, I would always have fresh flowers in my home :)

World Famous Pike Place Fish Co.!

More flowers

Dining out on the pier

Air view of the city

We enjoyed the visit, Seattle!

Recently I went to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side, for work. It was a very quick trip and Joey didn't come with me, but I had a chance to sneak away to see the Falls for the very first time (ok it was easy because I could easily see them from my hotel). They are breathtaking! I sauntered down one evening to check them out up close and when they were all lit up, but sadly the camera on my phone couldn't pick up the images at all. But here they are in the day time:

Rainbow over the Falls! They said this happens all the time. 

Lastly, I traveled over to a little place called NEW ORLEANS back in May for a tradeshow, which is probably my favorite place to get to go since it's home. I don't have any pictures from that occasion, but most of you probably know it well ;)