snapshots of my brain

well, i’ve been disregarding this collection of babble for a while. i’ve formed a far easier habit–arranging one striking moment of my day into three lines and posting them on a communal haiku blog here. (todays thought, of course, involved rain. lots and lots of rain. in fact, i’m wondering if i shouldn’t upend the rose pot again to dump out said lots and lots. note to self: three layers of rocks are insufficient, must tomorrow drill holes in pretty pot so as to not drown pretty rose…) here’s today’s snapshot for you, in case of interest, but mostly because i am rather pleased with this one, which rarely happens.

withered cell walls gasp,
plump, swell, blossom, divide and
burst. there is too much

in other news, we are experimenting with that odd critter called mac after reeling from a massive attack on our main laptop. because of course mine has been limping along for nearly a year and in need of replacing. i really don’t think i want to defect, but i’m very much interested in having a much lower chance of infection. i take a spartan dislike to bouncing icons (icons in general, i prefer to keep my view in list form, guess i’m a fuddy-duddy)

wait… how many words can i come up with to mean plain-old-fashioned?

what else. oh yes, picnics, picnics, grills and more picnics. this summer seems to be about gathering people together to create and enjoy large amounts of edibles. and something is eating my eggplant plant, which i must solve if i am to continue to grill delectable eggplants. also, the barely teenage folks at our fountain farmstand say i must hand pollinate my zucchini, because [warning! warning! fad {yet totally legitimate} environmental cause alert!] i don’t have enough bees. *sigh*

back in the technology age

up in the mountains in the house my grandparents bought in 1937 we have no climate control, no cell phone access, and no internet. the phone book is even a few years out of date. it’s a twenty minute drive to get to the nearest anything. although there is a dvd player, cable and satellite need not apply.

now for those of you who feel panic at the thought, i challenge that you come to the mountains with me for a few days. it is ultimately relaxing to let go, to be unable to manage or deal with anything other than the people you are next to and the critters that stroll by on the lawn.

we saw deer, groundhogs, three snakes (hog nose and garter) birds bugs and rodents of all kinds, and listened to lonely coyotes try and find each other in the night. we found a local farmer who up and decided to become a beekeeper–his wildflower honey is delicious. we took a two mile hike to see a mellow waterfall (always a destination for us). we baked a delicious blueberry coffeecake. we ate our way through two visits to our favorite farmstand. we sat on the porch and listened to the whine and buzz, smelling damp green things.

prepare to be whirled…

right. so new bird named salad. he’s lovely. another senegal–it wasn’t our fault, really, the rescue center called us up with a ‘free to a good home’ message, we met the bird, and… well, he’s home. extra-muscled legs with a freakish amount of feathers, a tendency to chew on anything near his beak, a charming upside down pose he strikes when put back into his cage before he was ready to be home, a not-so-charming shoulders up aggression pose when he’s too sleepy to come out, frequent clicking, and a great love of my mediocre singing. he was on a strict junkfood diet, which caused him some joint problems in his feet (resulting in a hilarious, yet sad, tiptoe effect when walking on flat surfaces) and which we are battling to overcome. so far, salad enjoys eating papaya, banana, cranberry, and dried root veggies.

speaking of veggies (which i was, you know…) the carrots have finally sprouted! ridiculous frilly tops, have the sturdy carrots. also, the first few eggplants are growing on the eggplant plant. (hee!) they are making very satisfying progress. the many green bean and zucchini seedlings have been transplanted, most of them survived. of course they reached the appropriate height and strength during the heat wave… so a few fried. but i still have more than enough. back yard is getting crowded.

we have been using the new grill a lot. so easy. so, so easy. and tasty. i could go on, but there’s no need.

what else… ah, yes. surprises. my very sly collection of siblings and cousins threw me a surprise brunch and matinee, on fathers’ day. yes, you see why i was surprised–a couple weeks before my actual expiration date (for those of you who haven’t seen logan’s run, i’m turning 30. and you should see it.) and on somebody else’s holiday. i was easy to fool, being generally agreeable about activities (they pitched a high end audio convention, which my brother and boyfriend would have loved had it been real, and i just said, sure, why not.) it was lovely. brunch place had choices for everyone (yay spinach and chickpea omelette) and the show was a really good try at absurdist theatre, which i like. if only they’d had a professional choreographer and an extra week of rehearsals… wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, which made it all the more special as a choice for me. also, i spent the day covered in feather boas and a pink sparkly tiara.

also was gifted some yarn that is “me” colored, out of which i am told to make stripey knee socks. i can’t complain about the idea, but i might complain once i get to turning the heel, when for some reason the pattern seems to be written in sanskrit.

on a side note, my yoga teacher often slips bits of yoga theory and sanskrit in during class, and i happen to like the sound of the language very much. still meaning to brush up (ahem: relearn) my french and pick up something new. particularly interested in sign language and pretty sounding non-romance varieties… maybe after i learn to play the piano, yet another large project on the list.

okay. enough for one update. i need to get myself to sleep. try now, might make it by 4, 4:30.

 

dreams and schemes

of cooking, of course. victory! the oven is fixed. had i mentioned it was decalibrated? had i mentioned yet that it is fixed? there is a 19lb turkey that is begging to be in that oven. i will send an email out with details, but if you think you might like to eat some of this turkey let me know. and of course the marble and apple stuffing, the wild rice stuffing, the roasted root vegetables, the glazed carrots, spinach and bellas, cranberry-blackberry sauce, and of course a pie…

this is not only in celebration of the oven victory. we have finally ‘grown up’ and gotten some decent knives. a delicious little wustoff outlet shopping mini-spree. my favorite is the 5 in santoku. his fave is the 8 in chef’s. hmmm. in this font, the apostrophe next to that f looks like an expanded serif.

also recent is the (even more victorious) return of the lime chiffon pie. perhaps my mother’s only baking failure ever has now been redeemed. we successfully did a test run a few days back, and then i made one of my very own on saturday. it took ages, but tastes delightful and looks so very green! also i got to reassure the check out man that i did indeed have a tasty use for lime jello and condensed milk and nothing else. he was doubtful. i described it as meringue with milk instead of egg. which is in fact what it is. so there. lime!

i’m clearly loopy. perhaps it’s time for bed.

just a quickie

so…

fantastic visit with the boston crew. my nephew is ridiculously happy and learning so very quickly. i think my highlight of the weekend was the nose game. in which one either points to or touches a nose, any nose. i also now have my very own copy of the joy of cooking, and my life is a few percent more complete. also some replenishing of yarn (most of which was destroyed by mice… did i mention?) and spices (penzey’s, oh penzey’s) which is of course good for that soul-y thing.

coming up is a sister visit. finally. we are not managing to see tom stoppard speak because the darn tickets are sold out. we may manage to see the frida exhibit. and we will most certainly cook. and stay up too late talking until i have to tell her to drink some water to rid herself of the gravel throat.

also, yet more progress on the house. i have cleared the large closet, squirreled away (sensibly and neatly) all the extra linens, all the bags, scarves/hats etc, and our ‘fancy’ clothing. with room to spare. extremely tedious and icky but satisfying to be done with.

also, will be working a dance show in april. hmmm.

form a habit

since i last wrote (not too long ago, this time)

a very nice lazy afternoon spent on the green couch, with soup, tea, meandering conversation and some knitting.

made very difficult by the nasty slice in my right index finger i acquired moron fashion by playing with a soda can top. nothing like a little adrenaline and a lot of inconvenience to kick start productivity…

also we picked up fred today. as we have a cement backyard, we had him cremated. they put his ashes into a very simple box, and kept some of the feathers. it was one of those situations where a stranger is trying to be nice and helpful and inadvertently makes a mistake–other than the (freak) yellow tail feather, which was my favorite and specifically requested, they chose–well, strangely. but he is back home with us and, though very, yes, strange, it feels like the right choice.

so my brain is lazy. odd, unusual, abnormal, weird, curious, other, etc.

the aforementioned soup was a tomato lentil–ingredients bought earlier in the day from the italian market (a total cost, i am proud to report, of $2) and tossed into my slightly inadequate 8qt pot. as usual, i reminded myself to put a 10 or even 12qt pot on  my wish list. and i cemented the decision to get an immersion blender. transferring batches of soggy vegetables (which have _still_ not broken apart after far too much cooking) into our small cuisinart and making a silly mess is perhaps an activity i can do without. i have already had creamy vegetable soups (with proper texture) floating through my cooking dreams.

also a character in the soup was the new aero garden basil. it is busily outstripping the other herbs, and some heavy pruning will be necessary to keep the poor parsley and mint from having to grow in the dark. the large leaves of this basil, in fact are quite minty. proximity in this case is coincidental–did you all know that basil and mint are in the same family?

what else. we have just watched several episodes of simpsons season 10. i seem to have missed many that year. it was the year simpsons went all digital–lost some of the color nuances, improvement in sound.

but i babble. it is officially nighttime and i am pumpkined strangely early.