morning poem

perhaps you'd like to buy a flower?

perhaps you'd like to buy a flower?

but i could never sell.

if you would like to borrow

until the daffodil

unties her yellow bonnet

beneath the village door,

until the bees, from clover rows

their hock and sherry draw,

why, i will lend until just then,

but not an hour more!

by emily dickinson (1830 - 1886)

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summer weather

our normal summer weather is here . . it's hot and humid. today's thunderstorm missed us, but the humidity crept in. i'm glad it has waited until july to really hit. our courtyard is beginning to look wonderfully green and overgrown.

 ----

it was so hot today, that i decided to give pluto an ice cube:

after batting the ice around until it melted, he settled on chanda's bed for a late afternoon of bird watching.

on the road to florida

 jersey city, tuesday morning, the 15th of october . . 

where we gassed up and put air in the tires. greg had had the oil changed and the engine checked and the tires rotated the weekend before.

crossing the delaware river on the delaware memorial bridge. we stayed tuesday night in fayetteville, north carolina; a drive of about eight to nine hours.

we were on the road early this morning (wednesday), after having breakfast at the hotel (they had a large offering of eggs, sausage, muffins, orange juice, coffee, tea and oatmeal . . i had the latter and greg all of the former). there was some rain which was heading north, where it got very heavy at home in nyc and at my sister's in connecticut. fortunately, it wasn't at all bad for us. we drove out of it.

there's some pretty areas with a lot of rivers and lakes . . 

welcome to georgia! we stayed at a bed and breakfast in savannah once. . it's a very pretty city.

 florida ahead!

the blue, blue sky of florida with its huge, fluffy clouds . .

we dropped our bags off at greg's mom's house and then drove to pick her up at her assisted living apartment . .

 to go out with her to dinner as we were both very hungry after driving all day . .

 dustin's bbq, one of his family's favorite places to eat . .

 you could get "endless soup and salad bar" for $10.59 . . everything is so much cheaper in florida.

 relaxing in the evening in the driveway, as there was no wifi and our connection was weak. it was only slightly stronger out there, but we managed to do free duolingo and send text messages to the folks back home.

beach day in connecticut

we relaxed at the lake today . .

and had fun canoeing, kayaking and paddleling on the long board  . . . it was my first time kayaking alone and i loved it. the double ended paddles are much easier to maneuver than single paddles.

my latest knitting (which went nowhere) and the beautiful bag made by san .  .

toby relaxing with us on the deck . . 

i enjoyed seeing my sister's photos from her trip to norway and paris . . so many beautiful waterfalls in norway!

amelie is knitting on a shell shawlette with some yarn i found in one of my bins. it was the perfect skein as the dye color was called beaches (by tuskenknits).

(this evening we grilled salmon . . we'll head home tomorrow morning in time for amelie to make it to her physical therapy internship and for me to park before the time change at 12:30).

poems, peaches, pickles and ballerinas

 i sent chanda a poem for a sunday morning about summertime by robert louis stevenson, but there's also a nice summer poem about sunflowers from the book a journey through time in verse and rhyme by heather thomas. these sunflower pictures are from my friend marisa's garden in vermont several years ago. she always grows the most beautiful sunflowers.

sunflowers

by heather thomas

sunflowers in the summer growing,

growing up towards the light;

light and warmth which draws them upwards,

upwards striving in their might.

mighty golden heads with seeds there,

seeds to sleep in winter's ground;

heads which turn from dawn till sunset

following the sun's path round.

 

summer sun

by robert louis stevenson

great is the sun, and wide he goes
through empty heaven with repose;
and in the blue and glowing days
more thick than rain he showers his rays.

though closer still the blinds we pull
to keep the shady parlour cool,
yet he will find a chink or two
to slip his golden fingers through.

the dusty attic spider-clad
he, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
and through the broken edge of tiles
into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

meantime his golden face around
he bares to all the garden ground,
and sheds a warm and glittering look
among the ivy’s inmost nook.

above the hills, along the blue,
round the bright air with footing true,
to please the child, to paint the rose,
the gardener of the world, he goes.

 the peaches korrina picked out yesterday from the green market were juicy and sweet. sometimes it's a gamble with peaches, but these were good. they're local peaches from upstate new york.

 we also bought some pickling cucumbers. korrina made bread and butter pickles from a recipe she saw at the farmer's market. after slicing the kirby cukes, she soaked them in kosher salt, then rinsed them.

 here's she figuring the measurements for cutting down the recipe. 

 she combined brown sugar, cider vinegar, white vinegar, celery seeds, mustard seeds and a little pinch of ground tumeric.

 she made a syrup and then packed it down into the jars with the cucumbers.

 i followed the nourishing traditions recipe in my book: i combined a tablespoon of whey, a tablespoon of sea salt, a tablespoon of dill and one clove of sliced garlic with the cucumbers in a mason jar filled with water. the jar will sit on the counter for three days, after which i'll put it in the frig for about two more days before eating them. korrina's pickles sat out on the counter for an hour, and then the jars were transferred to the frig for about two days . . and then she'll try them. 

here are some photos from chanda!

 she's very pleased with her ballet classes, but not at all as pleased with the food. in fact, she's been downright miserable about the food, unfortunately.

 however, it is very pretty where she's staying. 

 summer ballerinas . .

and two pics from their visit into richmond town, which she said had a lot of lovely shops, and a unitarian church:

cooking at the freeman farm

 morgana made an apple pie in the freeman farm kitchen today. the ingredients were apples, cinnamon, cloves, a quarter teaspoon of rose water, and a little sugar. the pie dough was just flour, butter and a little bit of salt. it was cooked in a baked kettle with hot coals over (as seen here when a blueberry pie was baked).

 winter vegetable soup: she sauteed onions in butter with parsnips, potatoes and carrots. then added water, sweet marjoram, parsley and chive. croutons were made with stale bread browned in butter.

 the "receipt . ."

 remember summer? she keeps growing . . as does someone else in this house . .

and the pigs keep growing too . . ummm . . greg thought their day of reckoning was drawing nigh . . 

oh, that's too sad for me. the pigs are so sweet. look at them here. they are such clowns . .

knitting on the "community" knitting project . . she finished her muffler and hasn't begun a new project yet, so she contributed to the community muffler.