imagine.

 I'm at it again, and by "it" I'm (dreamily) referring to my penchant for daydreaming-particularly when it involves the ocean. You see, years ago while vacationing in New England, I fell in love. With a house. That's right, a house. I know, right! I have always loved the ocean and when I saw the house sitting there, it struck me, I could live there, in this house, by the ocean. So what I'm saying is, I fell in love with a weathered-gray-shingled-house sitting on a rocky stretch of beach, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. [sigh]

In my mind I fill the rooms with over stuffed chairs, shelves bursting with books, photos, music, laughter and love. On the porch that overlooks the sea are rocking chairs and a swing covered in chintz pillows, pots over flowing with nasturtium and geraniums and a slow moving hermit crab making his way back home. A basket of beach plums waits on the steps to be made into jam... these thoughts are never far from my mind, even now, it's a little alarming how quickly I can drift there so effortlessly ...alarming, but not surprising, the ocean pulls me, tugs at my heart, calls to me, reminds me that I walked barefoot on the beach collecting sea glass and perfect, tiny shells to line my windowsills.

I see myself playing for hours with my boys, who were still babies, "burying" them in the sand and swimming until our lips turned blue, our limbs went numb and our skin puckered. Bathing suits and hair filled with sand and stood on end as music and laughter filled the air. We built sand castles and feasted on clam chowder, crab cakes and lobsters........

 I still imagine that it is my bathing suit drying on the porch railing, my pink beach roses growing wild in the sand, my dazzling view of the sea, my beach house...... my love.

chocolate peanut butter bars

 

Picnics on the beach always included some sort of treat, and these peanut butter bars with chocolate were a favorite. Ridiculously easy to make [you don't even need an oven]and mouth-wateringly delicious [who doesn't love chocolate and peanut butter together?], 

warning: these babies are impossible to resist and have the power to conjure up memories of long ago days by the sea......

(go here for recipe)