My favorite spot changes depending on what's blooming. Right now the honeysuckle is so fragrant and alluring. We constructed raised beds with cottage stones in multiple layers all throughout and around our yard, and made them butt-friendly height for sitting. So sitting by the honeysuckle now. We have a deck that is always very enjoyable and relaxing to sit on unless it is hot and sunny outside. Eventually it will be shaded. 28 bird stations around the house so always lots of bird and squirrel activity for entertainment and their songs are wonderful. Porch swing on cool days is nice. LaFuma chairs on the bridges over the creeklets is decadent :-) Sitting on raised bed ledge in depth of willow thicket completely surrounded by jungle effect is soothing. Sitting by pond when water running very nice. Walking down paths staring at trees and growth and examining everything is good. The bench looking out into the front 'swimming pool' and mermaid fountain is nice. Have tables and chairs and picnic table, enjoy reading or doing projects outside. Enjoy dining outside. In the winter it's been a bit bleak but as the conifers grow it will be better. Planning to plant some winter interest bushes eventually, may not be enough room. In general, planting a wide variety of trees and having lots to look at, lots of greenery, was a really good choice. But like hemnancy, there's just so much to do, always things to clean up and weeds and rechaining and chores so it's hard to relax without feeling guilty. Most thrilling of all: When it rains (Hallelujah!) being inside with all the windows open and sitting in recliner listening to that miraculous beautiful life-giving pitter patter, sighing in relief, thanking God for water, listening to the birds and smelling the flowers and vines wafting in the moist fragrant cool breeze, watching all the leaves flutter and sway and dance.

Google helped me find the brand of Chocolate Mac Nut ice cream we loved on Maui: Roselani! It would fly off the shelves. A local grocer, Heinen's (headquartered in Ohio), celebrated Ice Cream Day over the weekend: Three containers of Tillalmook for ten dollars. I'm not overly fond of Tillamook ice cream, but I did buy some Peaches & Cream. I haven't tried it yet. Tillamook seems to me to be less 'dense' than premium brands. It's easier to scoop out of the container.

Something similar to @chloebud 's sandwich is something I've done on a number of occasions is the Two Fat Ladies' Shooter's Sandwich. You get a sourdough type loaf and hollow it out a little, then fill the cavity with a mixture of grilled sliced mushrooms and onions topped with slices of grilled steak. Season, put the top on, wrap well and keep in the refrigerator overnight with a weight on the top. Serve in slices. Yum! Also what I called pizza bread, thinly rolled out bread dough in a rectangle with the third on either side cut into diagonal wide ribbons. Layer pizza toppings of your choice down the uncut middle, including of course mozzarella cheese, then pull the side ribbons of dough up over the filling, alternating them to make a herringbone pattern. Bake, and serve cold. In Australia pretty well every public park has (usually free) barbecues for public use. so barbecue picnics are popular. Some years ago, a person planning a trip in my state which would include an early morning stop in my town, was asking on TripAdvisor where they could get breakfast. At the time, there wasn't anywhere, and the person sounded nice, so I said, "Well, my house, but if you prefer, we can meet in the park down by the river and I'll make you breakfast on the barbecue." So we organised to meet in the park and I took an esky with bacon, eggs, sausages and tomatoes and a big thermos of coffee down and the traveller and his wife and my DH and I had a really fun breakfast down there under the trees with the ducks steaming past in the river. I had brought bacon from my favourite butcher (who smokes his own hams and bacon, and it's divine :-)) and our guests were so grateful as apparently good bacon is hard to come by in South Korea, where they were from. The husband was from the UK, teaching English in South Korea, and his wife was South Korean. Being English, the husband was especially fond of bacon for breakfast :-) One week later, a massive windstorm came through and tore up trees and roofs all over town and the farms surrounding for several kilometres - we're in a valley and it just raced clear through the valley and did the most damage in the areas upvalley from our town, our town and then lesser damage down valley but still some in the next town down, about 30km away. The park we had breakfast in was wrecked, with about half a dozen huge old gum trees torn out of the ground and destroying much of the infrastructure such as barbecues and picnic tables etc.

Do any of you have a book that you can't let go? I have given away almost all of my books, but I have a copy of Little Women that was given to me by my mom when I was young. I had a copy of Gone With the Wind, but I made the mistake of letting someone borrow it and somehow they lost it or gave it away instead of returning it. Gone With the Wind was my mother's and was her favorite book. Beyond those 2 I have a couple of bibles, one that was mine from childhood, one that belonged to my mom and one that belonged to my grandmother and I have copies of my high school yearbooks. I also have Leaves Of Gold - a classic collection of inspirational writings, including prayers, poems, quotes, and prose, compiled by Clyde Francis Lytle, that belonged to my mom and a copy of "How to Eat Like a Child, and Other Lessons in Not Being a Grown-up" by Delia Ephron - a humorous book offering witty, satirical "lessons" on childhood behaviors, from eating habits (like building mashed potato dams) to sibling torture and playing sick, all from a child's perspective. that belonged to my Dad. And I have about a 1/2 dozen books that I often reference or recommend to others - Right sizing your home, Your Purebred Puppy, How to Housebreak your dog in 7 days . . . and a couple of coffee table books and one velvet covered book on flowers that are used more as decoration than for their content and another 1/2 dozen that I have not read yet. In just the past few years I got rid of the other books that I had been hanging on to, but knew that I won't re-read. I had a collection of historical books from places where I had traveled. (Go to a historical site - buy a book, read the book, put it on the shelf . . . ), a bunch of biographies, and other books that were high on my list of favorites. Just last month I reduced one last time (at least I think it will be the last time) when I retired and got rid of all my reference books related to work.