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New and noteworthy

When my entry for the day doesn’t have a theme I never know what type of picture I should post. I love pictures in blogs. It’s why I like magazines so much. I’m very much a visual person. I have a hard time picturing something in my mind. I need it spelled out for me.

Today you get total randomness:

Three of my sisters and me waiting to board an airplane in Buenos Aires? I think Buenos Aires. Guess which one I am? Yep. The tormented one. My sister Mary looks to be the tomentor but I actually think she is trying to comfort me. My bet is on Kate who has kind of a sly smile going on. Nicole looks like she would rather be a bobillion miles away from us. As this is a black and white photo you can’t tell that my mother has dressed the three younger (and more easily persuaded) ones in matching plaid skirts and red jackets. I think my mother had this notion that traveling children need to wear red jackets. I think the real reason for my dismay is the goofy criss crossing of my skirt’s suspenders. I remember hating that. It just seemed so babyish that I couldn’t wear them like my older sisters.

Or maybe it’s the bangs.

Anyway – this is so not the point of this entry. Let’s move on.

Every blog listed to the right is wonderful and noteworthy and visited by me daily. I’m rather new to this whole blogging business but I get immense enjoyment out of reading my list of favorites here. If you are on my list and reading this ~ Thank you. And if you aren’t on the list it’s probably because I don’t know you have one – leave a comment with your link so I can check you out.

I did want to point out a couple of new additions to the list.

The Girl Who Ate Everything ~ I love how photorific her blog is. Makes me want more and more pictures in my own (of course it would help if I could take decent pictures). Her blog also makes me want to eat baguettes with creamy camembert cheese. It also makes me wish I was 20 and living in Paris.

Posy ~ She’s very crafty and her decorating style is the Cath Kidston, Rachel Ashwell type of style that I strive for but always end up looking like I’m trying too hard. She makes it look so effortless and just the way things evolved (which is actually probably exactly how it works at her house). It would also appear that she has MY garden. Well the one in my head anyway.

Bailiwick ~ Another clever, crafty sort. I love her photography – especially this picture – why don’t my pictures look like that? I love the pictures of the materials she uses in her projects. And if you check out her 9/29 post you can see a montage of some of her finished items. Gorgeous.

Thank you all for the inspiration and the eye candy.

Sensory overload

My niece and I checked out the new Whole Foods market that opened near us. Imagine, if you will, two balls let loose in a pinball machine – that was us – bouncing from one department to the next with lights flashing and bells ringing in our heads.

To be perfectly honest I’m a little conflicted about Whole Foods – I think it started out with its heart in the right place – a grocery store with organic options, great local produce, out of this world deli department but I think that they may be manipulating me – like they figured out what my demographic wants in a grocery store and they are calculating in the delivery of that product. Or maybe they just honestly want to bring me fresh, wholesome food and if they happen to make a bazillion dollars in the process so be it.

Is that an entire display of Vosges chocolates?

We didn’t really have time to do the place justice and it truly was overwhelming, all the sights and smells but I did manage to buy a few things. A couple of Asian pears, some hummus, some whole grain crackers and a Vosges Red Fire Bar.

Dark chocolate with ancho and chipotle chilies and Ceylon cinnamon. There is a method to eating a Vosges chocolate bar. You can’t just be popping it into your mouth willy nilly (ahem…). No – first you need to take three deep breaths in order to fully engage your senses ("Three breaths??" my Dad says – "I’ve been breathing all day – what do I need to take three more breaths for?"). Then you take a good look at your chocolate bar. Appreciate the red flecks of the chilies, the glossy sheen. Then rub your thumb over your chocolate bar to warm it slightly and to release the scent (by now certain members of the family have finished off their first piece and are fishing around for another bite "Wow. Was there something spicy in there? I could have sworn it tasted a little bit spicy."). Snap off a piece. Then take a bite and break it into small pieces that spread across your tongue. Press it into the roof of your mouth. Breathe (again with the breathing). According the fine people at Vosges you should detect subtle nuances in the flavor; leather, dairy, vegetables, flowers, toasted tobacco, caramel….

Okay I’m mocking it a little but it is fabulous chocolate. And there is something irresistable about chocolate and chilies as far as I’m concerned.

This Whole Foods has a Gelato bar. Hand made soaps that you buy by the slice – it looks like cheese or some kind of nougutty confection. And a frozen dog food section. Hmmm – their target group must be more of a dog loving kind than cat owners…. I didn’t even get a chance to look at their fresh meats and seafoods.

I’m going to have to go back when I have more time to browse. The guy at the checkout said that you can taste anything you want so I definitely need to go back and give the Gelato bar a bit more attention.

WIP

I was going to get working on last year’s knitting project but realized that my knitting needles are 165 miles apart (one being at home and the rest of the project at my dad’s) so I hit up one of the local yarn purveyors for some fresh supplies.

First of all I had to get these luscious rosewood knitting needles. Can’t you just see that anything made with these needles will end up being lovely? And the yarn – mmmm – the shop had a shawl done up with this and it looked like a web of rosebuds.

I’m planning on doing a scarf (surprised?) and since the needles are size 17 this project should go pretty quickly. I’ve already got about a foot done. While I was there I inquired about beginning crocheting classes and was told the owner of the shop does private lessons for $35 an hour. Or I could do a group lesson. I’m thinking the private lesson is the way to go though. Those of you that both knit and crochet – is one faster than the other? Easier learning curve?

I just saw the strangest thing. I was out of Diet Coke (an emergency in my book) so I ran out to get some. I was at a stoplight and this man is walking down the sidewalk towards me. Very normal looking. Nicely dressed, good shoes, neatly groomed, looked to be in his early 30’s. Then he started spinning in circles (like a top) as fast as he could as he was walking down the sidewalk. I was at the stoplight for about three minutes and he kept it up the entire time. Then he stopped and kept walking. Didn’t appear dizzy or anything.

He looked totally normal. Well, except for the spinning.

When I got back I instant messaged one of my coworkers and relayed the story. There was a pause then he types back "I don’t even know how to respond to that."

That’s exactly how I felt.

This and that

My latest obsession. Pillowcases with crocheting and embroidery. My grandmother used to create pillowcases with crocheted edges on them. We didn’t have a lot of them so it was always a treat when one ended up on our bed. We were never sure of the Laundry Fairy’s system on who got what bed linens.

I’m still determined to learn how to crochet. I don’t think I can teach myself so I’m going to hit up the local yarn shops and see if there are any beginner classes available.

I picked this one up (one of a pair) from a woman in Maine that scours estate sales for vintage linens. The embroidery is so sweet. She had another pair from the same sale that had little bluebirds on them. Someone beat me to it and snapped it up before I had the chance. Embroidery I can do though – so I may try my own hand at embroidering.

Change of subject ~ Last night my sister and I were in charge of Sunday night dinner and we each did a crockpot meal (we have a huge crowd to feed so one crockpot wouldn’t have been enough). I wanted to do a spicy chicken meal so I looked at a few recipes to get ideas and came up with a pretty decent dish. Crockpot meals never photograph well so I don’t have a picture but here is the recipe:

1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken (I used chicken tenders but whole breasts or thighs would work too – I would cut the breasts into smaller pieces)
1 lb. andouille sausage, cut into 1/4" slices
2 or 3 bell peppers, sliced (I used red, yellow and green for color)
2 15 oz. cans of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 15 oz. can of chicken broth
1 Tbsp. Zatarain’s creole seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dump it all in the crockpot and cook on high for about four hours, until the chicken is cooked through (your crockpot times may vary, depending on how hot it actually gets). Shred the chicken a bit, into bite-sized pieces. Turn crock pot to low until ready to eat. Serve over white rice. The andouille sausage gives it a nice kick (as does the creole seasoning).

Now I need to find a good chicken and dumpling recipe. My dumplings always end up looking like a science experiment that has gone horribly, terribly wrong.

The Grounds

(as always ~ click on pics for a larger view)

This looks pretty innocuous. But……

In a few more weeks all of this is going to come down.

I took a late afternoon stroll on the property today. The light is particularly pretty this time of day. Long shadows and bits of of sunlight peaking through the branches. We have a creek that runs through the property. There is so much life that it brings. The constant sound of running water and the wild life it supports. We’ve seen beaver, bobcats, rabbits, skunks, turkeys, coyotes, racoons. Eagles, bats, otter, turtles, snakes. More lizards and little tree frogs than I can count.

The man who built our house also built a number of bridges on the property. The covered bridge (which I somehow managed to get out of roofing this weekend…), a regular foot bridge and two suspension bridges. The suspension bridges are always a huge hit with guests. It sways, it bounces, it threatens to heave its crossers right into the creek below. Get a couple of glasses of wine in someone and they feel the need to conquer the bridges.

We’ve managed to tame the grounds closest to the house. Pretty flower beds surround the house and we have rolling lawns. But beyond that nature just flat out wins.

There are memories of secret staircases

Stone benches that are slowly disappearing.

And the creek itself. It looks pretty serene in this picture. But on Dec 31st of last year it was 100 feet wide and nearly took out the bridges. That was really something. I woke up after a night of constant rain. There was a bit of a lull and I was looking out the window and something just didn’t look right. The field at the bottom of the lawn appeared to be moving at at a pretty fair clip. I put on my glasses and called Rick to come look. The creek had risen and had flooded the field and was lapping at the very bench you see above. It was truly amazing.

Especially since the Summer before I had planned to clear the field and plant a cutting garden. Put up a pretty picket fence and have a proper rose garden. The rose garden would be three miles downstream if I had gone through with my plans.

I’ll stick to gardening in higher grounds.

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