Double Pesto

*I grow lots of things on our back deck that I can cut quickly for mealtime.*

It’s been an absolute whirlwind. We’ve been here and there and everywhere. I started writing this post while sitting at the Buffalo airport, waiting to board a flight to Tampa. Family calls, and I’m going.

*We were surrounded by kids and dogs. Here Caroline is wearing one of my dresses I picked up at a small shop in Ellicottville NY several years ago. Buy well, wear often, keep, and share.*

*Caroline and I have a wine party on the lawn by the sandbox. Never* *mind my no-manicure look, it’s been busy.*

*Peyton accidentally dropped the chips on the deck so we simply had chips on the deck. 🙂*

We had dinner every night as a group, and here I’m all in for denim on denim. The denim shirt is actually Cucinelli and from my husband’s closet, he doesn’t wear it as it’s oversized on him, I was happy to adapt. The jeans are Moussy and two or three years old. The zinnia and basil were cut fresh from my garden.

We packed up the country house on Tuesday late afternoon after enjoying a solid eleven-day run with family and friends like family. We had newborns, toddlers, seniors, and son-in-law’s parents: it was a beautiful mess of stylish and delicious memories. We always set the dinner table for a dozen or more each evening, the kids were a ball, and Bill was the most gracious BaPa and stellar wine steward.

*Some of my pots on the deck. I move them around at will. The tiny houses in th*e *background are for overflow guests. Caroline and William actually snuck out there one morning at 5 am so as not to wake the entire full house.*

*I need to feed the hydrangea. The pink color will have to do for now. No time for feeding the hydrangea presently, I’m feeding and caring for humans.*

*At the front of the house, you can just barely see the lavender.*

I wanted time in my garden and had to let it all go except for a few hours that I could sneak out here and there. Daily walks with my oldest daughter were the self-care and solitude part of the day; the garden will wait.

The morning after July 3^rd, I woke up and thought I couldn’t do this anymore (putting on dinner and drinks for multitudes), but I can and will. Bill simply tells me, babe, we have a big family, which puts everything in perspective. Big family means considerable energy, so here I am.

I’m here in Florida to be with Elizabeth, our third daughter, so she too can one day have a beautiful mess of her own if she chooses. This little window of July is delicate, and she’s headed to graduate school in London this September. The world continues to turn.

*I started prepping the basil on the drive home by simply carefully plucking the leaves and placing them in large Ziplock bags.*

*Ready for the freezer. Notice the twenty-three-year-old high chair in the background. It was Elizabeth’s when she was a baby as there was a six-year gap* *between her and Sarah. Mary then used it and now it’s Williams’s turn. It’s funny, he can barely see over the top of it. Sorry about the kitchen sponge on the counter.*

Minutes before I left the countryside, I cut the basil back. While Bill was driving us home to our life in the city, I plucked each leaf off the stems. I was determined to make pesto and to put it up in the freezer for another time. I finished just before I left for the airport, and Caroline laughed at me lovingly and said, ‘only you, Mom, would make pesto before flying.’ Like most things I do, I made double pesto.