Out of the cage, it's all the rage...

A few months ago while visiting Los Angeles, we stopped to see some of our friends that live in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains.

Last year they bought 6 hens and this spring they added 8 baby chicks to the mix. The children were in heaven!

Admittedly, I don't know much about hens and chicks, except of the succulent variety! In fact, I've never spent any time around them at all.

I'm equally embarrassed to share that I had no clue different breeds lay different colored eggs (hence brown, white, cream, green, blue, etc.)

Did you?

I didn't grow up on a farm, alright?! ☺

I was also surprised at how beautiful the birds were. The colors of the feathers were really lovely and they kept them so clean and well-looked after. It made me wish we had a larger yard and no HOA to deal with!

But what about that beautiful hen house?

Our friends built the coop entirely out of reclaimed materials from custom home remodels. I love that!

And to think it would've ended up in a dumpster somewhere...

Mute 3.3

{Off the market}

Stamford, Lincolnshire, ENGLAND

Garden to Table ~|~ Zucchini

Meet our first zucchini! Isn't she a doll?

The children discovered her a few days ago and couldn't wait to make zucchini muffins out of her!

We're partial to Jora's simple recipe. It's almost identical to my mom's, only this one uses brown sugar. And mmm.... it makes such a difference.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins

1 large zucchini (courgette, to all you Brits!)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners and set aside. Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater (to yield 1 3/4 cups); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Into a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, and stir to combine well. Stir in grated zucchini. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

She got complicated lips

Listening to: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

Blue Monday

Birch Aquarium at Scripps, La Jolla, California

We ♥ aquariums.

Drive by {shooting}

Hello, my dears!

I'm sorry I've not been around much. Summer confuses me!

What day is it again?

l

I've been so busy I've hardly had time to sit down, let alone be on my computer. This is a good thing, no?

We've been very social lately plus traveling a lot, so I've decided to go back to posting (hopefully daily) photos until I've caught up a bit.

Perhaps, this will help me get through my enormous backlog of photos to process!

l

I like the challenge of taking photos while driving. I know it's kind of dangerous, but that's what makes it so fun.

Luckily, this time I wasn't behind the wheel. After one attempt many, many years ago, I'm no longer allowed to drive in England. Right hand drive, left handed stick-shift, tiny streets and a lack of depth perception -- it's better this way. Trust me!

Anyhow, most drive by photos are total rubbish, but every now and then they work. I can't decide if I like the car in this photo or not. What do you think?

This picture was taken in Eastbourne, Sussex, England.