Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
fourth showing of the week
Again, I'm grateful.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Starting now. I'm stopping the rushing.
The children are settled well in school, the house is fine, the cars have fresh tires, and the pantry is full. It is time to sit back and breathe and appreciate fall.
This week I'm going to take care of everyone just as I usually do, but I'm also going to take care of myself. We might have sandwiches for dinner. I'm going to the gym. I'm going to paint my nails a dark fallish color. I'm going to take pictures, bake bread, and make soup. There is a cable scarf on the needles and a stack of books beside my bed, the bed I will be in by eleven every night.
pear chutney
She wrote that this is delicious made with apples, peaches or mangoes and will keep for months once made.
3 pounds Keiffer pears (the hard old fashioned pears)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 ounces fresh gingerroot
6 dried chili peppers
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 T. salt
2 T. mustard seeds
½ pound sultana raisins
10 cloves garlic (1 ounce), peeled
Peel and core the pears, cutting each into eight pieces. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pears and let them rest while preparing the rest of the ingredients.Crush the peeled ginger in a mortar with a pestle. Do the same with the chilies (about 3 T. chilies). Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil in a non-reactive kettle and let simmer 10 min. Add the ginger, chilies, salt, mustard seeds, raisins and pears. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes, until the chutney thickens. Crush the garlic cloves in the mortar with the pestle and stir them into the chutney. Pour the chutney into jars, fasten the lids, and store in a dark cupboard a month before using. Refrigerate after opening.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
self
Ok, so pretty soon I might be back to the daily narrative, but I've been taking this photography class and it has taken over my evenings after the children have gone to bed. I'm smitten with layering one picture of top of another. I've even finally read the owner's manual for my camera, so watch out.
Our house still hasn't sold. I know that three months is nothing in today's market. We have to keep it up until Thanksgiving, but then we'll take a break for a while and ride it out until early spring. I was so sure that I wouldn't be spending this year in the car, so sure that we wouldn't spend another Christmas here. By the way, Ella called me into the bathroom the other day to let me know that she knew I was Santa Claus.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
home
We were home for Labor Day and completely enjoyed gathering around the dining room table for projects, painting, sewing, and drawing. I suppose this would be our rhythm if we were homeschooling.
Ruby has mastered cutting and glueing and can go through an entire gluestick in one session. She is drawing people, circles with faces and two stick legs. Today she wanted to make her own alphabet book.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
medusa, nine
She obsesses for weeks about her Halloween costume. Today we did it all at Goodwill in ten minutes. Thank you Percy Jackson.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
butterfly
This little one has Lyme Disease. She is going to be just fine. I can see how people could get past the acute stage on the illness. She was starting to feel better when she was diagnosed.
Sunday, September 04, 2011
climbing out of summer
I'm starting another photography class tomorrow with the lovely Vivienne McMaster. I took her You Are Your Own Muse course last spring, and this is my favorite image from that experience. Strangely enough, this is the first and only layered photograph that I've ever made. Since then, I've been collecting photos to layer and planning some concepts that I would like to experiment with. It is such an inspiration to share a virtual classroom space with such a variety of women and artists from around the world.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
picking apples
Today we hiked around Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County and then picked a bushel of apples in Bedford. Along the way I got to knit in the car.
It seems too hot to pick apples, but tomorrow we'll dive into making applesauce and apple pies.
ella
This big sassy fourth grader has been under the weather for a while now. We went back to the doctor this week, and she is getting another Lyme test. She had a rash, large circular marks on her torso and legs, and has had a headache and nausea. Last week she had a very high white count, and by the end of this week it was going down. Today the rash seems to be gone. I'm looking forward to hearing from the doctor on monday.
