I finished painting our kitchen this morning. The fresh white backdrop is so much cleaner and brighter than the previous yellow and brown and green floral print. I nailed up my little hand-painted plate, and I just love it! I feel a great affection for the kitchen. I never realized how much I would enjoy these summer weeks of domesticity. Tom is bewildered by the whole thing, calling me a “Service Machine!” I have just enjoyed creating meals out of my healthy grocery finds. Okay, so less healthy perhaps, but I made the most incredible lemon bars the other day. I found the recipe in the Lion House Classics recipe book that Mary gave us as an Engagement gift. I don’t know if it was because I had had the lemons for several weeks so they were fully ripe, or because the recipe was just that good either way. I have always loved Lemon bars but these were especially good- very lemony. I was proud of myself because I altered the recipe to make a smaller batch. Usually when I try altering recipes they don’t turn out so hot, but this was a great success. The crust was actually much better with less butter. Yeah, I was excited. I still am!