The Tree is Glowing

Sunset over Lake Champlain, and a particularly favorite tree at Battery Park in Burlington.

First Sunflower

The others are all facing into my neighbors' yard. I am trying not to take it personally, they probably just don't want to be picked!

Pesto!

I love pesto. Basil pesto especially. But I have not made it since I was little, helping my mom. She used to buy full rounds of parmesan cheese and the first step in the annual pesto process was grating it all. My sisters and I liked to chew on the hard edges - do we sound a little savage? we possibly were - and we called it "gnaw cheese". Good memories.

So I made my first two solo batches last week and yum! Better than store bought and super simple with the handy dandy cuisinart! I had pesto sandwiches and pesto with pasta and some pesto just licked off a spoon... And the rest I froze in an ice cube tray for instant dinner gratification in the months ahead.

Procrastination Project

This was one of those projects that people do - or I do, do you? - when there is something else quite pressing that should be done but is somewhat distasteful. In this case, vacuuming and mopping and doing some general cleaning up were the items on my to-do list that had been successfully avoided until about 10pm on the evening before I was leaving for an arts festival and C's mother was arriving. So of course I decided that this was the perfect time to make leaves using the serger and some wire, one of those ideas that come in bushels when there are other more important things to take care of.


The serger/leaf idea worked quite well. I think it could be done on a regular machine using a zig zag stitch. The beauty of the serger is the blade that trims as you sew, making a perfect edge. Here's the scoop: cut out a leaf shape, stitch all the way around, insert wire all the way around using stitches as a channel. I made some flowers by cutting strips of fabric, sewing a loose running stitch up one side which were tightly gathered and then the edge twisted into a spiral. I ended up pinning the entire wreath together rather than sewing it, so it can be taken apart simply when the time comes (next deadline, perhaps...). The wreath itself is a foam mold from the craft store, wrapped in a Guatemalan print fabric. I pinned some buttons into the flower centers to cover the spiraling and for a little extra sparkle.

Seeing the Details

These gradations of grey caught my eye as I was moving the camera from "sunset landscape" to "dog in the park portrait". I am making a conscious effort to live more in the moment, to see and appreciate smaller and seemingly simpler things, while at the same time learning to not stress out over the details.

Reaching for the Sun

This is volunteer vine that I encouraged to climb the porch. Now it has reached the top and still wants to grow!

Oh Summer!

I hope you have been enjoying summer as much as I have! Its been a busy month here, what with arts festivals to work and babies to visit! In between I am trying to keep up with my tiny little garden and do a few projects too.


Today a large package containing my new food processor arrived. I have big plans involving pesto and salsa, but for a trial run I sliced a dehydrator full of carrots and had so much fun. C and his friend were not nearly as impressed at the speed and power with which the carrots were chopped, but even that did not damper my enthusiasm. Too bad the dehydrator has only four levels, I could have chopped for hours!


The other night we saw Julie and Julia and now I have a very strong desire to de-bone a goose. Is this a normal reaction? I am also curious as to what kind of knife one should use if stainless steel is no good. I am guessing regular steel.

If you have not visited Tongue In Cheek", you really should. I recommend starting back a few posts to read Corey' and her husband's motorcycle trip through Europe. So beautiful and completely inspiring.

That's all the randomness I have for now. Good night friends!