blue-footed marvel

I am in love!

It all began with a TV documentary about the Galapagos Islands. Then it spanned into a library book by Ruth Heller.

 From there we pulled up this video on YouTube.

                                          "Oh LORD, how manifold are Thy works!

                                              In wisdom hast Thou made them all: 

                                                      the earth is full of Thy riches."

                                                                                                       Psalm 104:24

soup around the fire

We made a day trip to visit with my mother-in-law for the day. After being in the car for a quad of hours, we knew without a doubt that being outside to enjoy our evening meal would be the most satisfying leisure

 A fire was kindled and bowls of kale and sausage soup were served.

Everything met with our expectations.

a walk in town

Always looking for a way to make the use of my time as profitable as possible when my children are at their private lessons.

Charlotte has a new piano teacher this year. This means she takes a 45 minute private lesson twice a week, and a 45 minute group theory class once a week. I only have so many errands to run while I am out, so I may chose to read, do handwork, or take a nap (after all, one of the classes is at 4:15 in the afternoon), while I am waiting for her.

I was glad the gorgeous fall temperatures allowed for a walk this morning while she had one of her lessons.

It was more of a walk in town rather than in a neighborhood, as I am accustomed.

Around the YMCA, through the city park, and across the parking lot of the city pool/tennis area, mainly I walked on the sidewalks.

 I wanted to share this sand sculpture that was created in the park for this past weekend's special event. 

The detail was amazing.

flat pastry cake topped with blackberries

In other words, the French meaning for the word galette.

I like to call them rustic tarts, but since we are studying French things, galette it is for now.

  Comfort food in simple form; make a buttery crust, throw in two cups of blackberries and a handful of raspberries, add three tablespoons of sugar and 3 teaspoons of cornstarch (I also tossed in about one tablespoon of flour because my berries were juicy), fold the edges of the crust around the mound of berries and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

 Of course, I will serve it with vanilla ice cream.

pleat...to smock...to sew

Once upon a time

someone sold me a pleater that was practically brand new,

never again must I run to find someone else to do my pleating for me when the fabric is purchased, the pattern is bought, and the project is begging to be smocked and sewn.

Joining up with needle and thREAD  today,

right smack dab in the middle of September.

I am now on to the smocking on what will be an autumn skirt for Charlotte to wear just when the leaves will be turning those gorgeous colors of fall.

In between reading The Story of the World/Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer to Charlotte,  I am pilfering bits of time to read Martha Peace's book,

 It's high time to admit,

"I am the older woman now".

the possibilities of apple preservation

Perhaps you remember a few years back when I posted about  my accumulation of a rather large apple supply. Certainly this year has been no different in that respect. I find myself with boxes of apples and on a hunt for ways to be creative preserving them. This book

has become one of my favorite cookbooks on the subject. The making of apple pectin with the cores, skins, and scraps has entertained me for hours and in the process has taught me the joy of making all sorts of jellies using apple pectin as the base.

Last year we spent a full day with my friend, Laura, and her girls in the making of apple pies to freeze with our abundance of apples. These apple pies froze beautifully and provided bubbly hot apple pies during the winter season to serve our guests. This summer I have make one pie and one tart to freeze so far, but the thought of making all those crusts this year gave me an idea. How about making apple pie filling and canning it to make the pies fresh during the winter months? This is the recipe I used. The only alteration to this recipe was the elimination of the yellow food coloring, instead, I tossed in a few apples peels with the syrup to give it a natural color.

As of today only a few lone apples sit on my kitchen counter. I am not complaining.

Impossible n'est pas francais

After having studied Latin for the past several years we are on to expanding our language study. Rose chose French, and frankly, I'm glad she did.

Before deciding which program I wanted to use, I did some reading on foreign languages and the suggestions of course studies, the specific programs, and even looked at the possibility of an online language course. The majority of the programs I researched were prominently programs of listening and conversing, but finding a program that taught the structure of the language, including grammar, was not as readily available.  Since we are not planning a trip to a French speaking country in the near future, I hoped to find a program that would promote learning to read French, as well as speak it. After all, we are Latin students and reading Latin is the goal of any serious Latin students.

Memoria Press offers this beginning course for learning French. It consists of a teacher book, a student book and an accompanying CD. This along with cd's from Berlitz and another French program (thanks to Alan's stash) we are on our way to learning French.

Good thing too. We found out this weekend that my nephew is marrying a young woman from France. She will be moving here which will give us a fabulous opportunity to converse with a native French speaking person.

Tres bien!

untouched photography

Witt and Claire invited us over for dinner the other evening.

As always the food that Claire laid before us was delicious to the eyes and the taste buds.

 There's no doubt about it, this couple knows how to put together big events as well as intimate gatherings.

My little iphone sufficed with untouched photos of some of the presentations, but the evening  lacked nothing but the grandest brush of goodness.  

lassoing summer

Yes, I realize the typical topic of my posts focus on summertime lately, and today will be no exception. Here I sit with the windows wide open enjoying the low humidity  and 75 degree weather that today has brought. As July is singing its "cicada songs" leading us into August, I have a mental picture of myself twirling a strong rope with a grimaced face and feet firmly bored into the ground attempting to lasso summer, to slow it down, just a little.

The plan was that the scrap book album of our summertime vacation was to take two weeks to complete, the girls and I  were to devote those two weeks to getting it done, period, finis. The project is still spread upon the entire surface of my dining room table.  It seems the girls did not "have the vision" I had...sounds familiar...so I trudge on, almost at the finish line though. Today I worked on it for the greater part of the day.

I also made some soup with fresh corn and potatoes.  First, I sauteed shallots and garlic in olive oil, tossed in some chives, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper along with the red potatoes, and then added chicken stock pulled from the freezer. The fresh corn cut from the cob was added after the potatoes were almost tender. It will make a delicious supper.

I received a letter today. This friend and I continue to write to each other, we have been doing this for close to twenty years.

Do you see the date? She began the letter in May and just discovered it unmailed, in late July! She just continued on writing and sent it along with a knitting pattern for a scarf.

a summer luncheon

A friend and her five lovely daughters came to visit yesterday. We all rallied together in the kitchen and prepared a lunch of pasta with fresh veggies, ricotta and feta cheese, cucumber sandwiches, and watermelon with pieces of mint.

Then we set a lovely table under the trees. After we carried the bowls of food and bottles of freshly brewed tea infused with sprigs of rosemary, we sat down and ate our fill of this delicious summer meal.

 Conversation of the feminine kind was in abundance from start to finish.

capturing another yarn along

The last time I joined in with Ginny's yarn along I was knitting a green market bag. I finally completed it and wanted to share it amongst a garden of green. I knitted this bag with the thoughts of gifting it to someone. I followed the pattern and as most knitters, or even seamstresses, know patterns can be adjusted to our own adaptions. For this particular bag, my first thoughts are I would make the handle more stout by adding 4-5 stitches. Due to the handle's length,  which is certainly needed, and the purpose of the bag being to hold market items, it will stretch when weight is added.

As a side note, I bought the yarn over two years ago with the thoughts of a project in mind, an apron. It is an inexpensive cotton, Sugar n' Cream. When I purchased the skeins I obviously paid no attention to lot numbers. As the market bag was carried outside to make the photos in the herb garden, what was hidden in inside light was highlighted in natural light, the colors of the yarn were slightly different. I like to think it adds rustic goodness.

I believe I recently posted about some of my summertime reading. I Capture the Castle is picked up most evenings to read, or carried from here to there in case I have a few moments to escape into another place. I am enjoying reading this book, but I hesitate to give a review per se until I finish it. I keep thinking something is coming up, yet maybe that is the heart of its beauty, a simple story with complex, intriguing characters. Characters that you wish you knew, which can be the best part of any fictional novel. I will mention one of my most favorite chapter scene so far was when two of the characters took an evening swim in the castle's moat, a moat that swans inhabited.

amongst a garden of green