pumpkin field

after harvest and plowing.

a responsibility to be vigilant

"You are the heirs of a great testimony, a precious witness to Christ. He is the Light of the World; he is the light of our lives! The martyrs of Korea...handed over their bodies to their persecutors; to us they have handed on a perennial witness that the light of Christ's truth dispels all darkness, and the love of Christ is gloriously triumphant. With the certainty of his victory over death, and our participation in it, we can face the challenge of Christian discipleship today, in our own circumstances and time...

Keep close to one another, draw ever closer to God, and with your bishops and priests spend these years in building a holier, more missionary and humble Church, a Church which loves and worships God by seeking to serve the poor, the lonely, the infirm, and the marginalized.

In your Christian lives, you will find many occasions that will tempt you...to push away the stranger, the needy, the poor, and the broken-hearted. It is these people especially who repeat the cry of the woman of the Gospel: Lord, help me! [This]...plea is the cry of everyone who searches for love, acceptance, and friendship with Christ. It is the cry of so many people in our anonymous cities, the cry of so many of your own contemporaries, and the cry of all those martyrs who even today suffer persecution and death for the name of Jesus: Lord, help me! Let us respond, not like those who push away people who make demands on us, as if serving the needy gets in the way of our being close to the Lord. No! We are to be like Christ, who responds to every plea for his help with love, mercy, and compassion.

A responsibility which the Lord gives you...is the duty to be vigilant, not to allow the pressures, the temptations, and the sins of ourselves or others to dull our sensitivity to the beauty of holiness, to the joy of the Gospel."

                                                             -   Pope Francis,    from Magnificat, September 2015

creaming

Note to Self:  When mixing ingredients for a cake made with butter, please ignore instructions to mix all together at once - remember to cream butter and sugars together thoroughly before adding other.

Today I baked a spice cake; the butter *was* sufficiently softened. The recipe said to mix it all together at the same time, so I did; and no matter how long I made that KitchenAid work at it, I saw small pieces of butter which would not completely incorporate into the batter. I even tried using the whipping beater - nope. I got out my hand-held mixer, thinking I'd have better control; but that didn't do it. The pieces did get somewhat smaller, but they wouldn't disappear. So I had to just hope for the best and bake it anyway. Well, it does look pretty normal - it's in the freezer.

I'm hoping for the best.

yogurt

I can't believe I actually made yogurt today. I've been wanting to for years, but kept putting it off.

I used Anna's crockpot method, and Margo's guidelines for temps and starter amounts.

It's very thick - I haven't tasted it yet.

I can't believe it.

knitting a hat

I made myself take yarn from the stash recently and find something to knit with it. What my hand ended up grabbing was a skein of Berroco Flicker; I got it greatly reduced when a local yarn shop was closing its doors.

I'm not sure why I chose it at the time, as the color is rather insipid, and I just ended up with the one skein - everything was very picked-over.

I chose the Simple Slouch Hat, a free pattern I found on Ravelry.  It's looking pretty good, which is a pleasant surprise. The yarn is funny and I didn't know what to expect from it - it's a braid, and if you can't see it, click on the picture and you will. It's also got a fair amount of stretch - maybe because it's braided?  There are also gold sparkles throughout, which I think I captured in the photo.

It's coming along much better than I expected, so maybe this funny braided yarn isn't such an odd thing after all. Nothing could be simpler than this pattern which is all stockinette to a certain point, then just decreasing down to a nothing. No edging, but still a very cute design.

cat naps

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia."

                                  - Joseph Wood Krutch

pink applesauce

After one batch of slow-cooked applesauce, I am relieved that our slightly mealy apples still made good sauce with a slug of cider to help them out. And since we don't spray the trees, I didn't have to peel. I like pink applesauce!  So, I can safely make larger amounts next time. Which will be Saturday.

fabric bow

with brown packing paper for the wrapping. I just tore strips the width I wanted; the paper got ironed this time.

I guess I'm just tired of buying wrapping paper which doesn't always thrill me. And ending up with too many mediocre bows. I'd rather use what I have.

plenty

It's been either so hot, or rainy, and I hadn't gotten out to pick any apples, but while mowing this evening, my brother thought he'd better - the branches were touching the ground.

This shopping bag is three quarters full. He said there's loads more. I guess Thursday will be applesauce day.

while she sleeps

Sshhhhh.   While Dolly is sleeping, I'll tell you a little story.

You have heard this story before, in different versions; so if you're not a cat lover go ahead and change the channel.  But we don't seem to tire of it, because Dolly is our little princess.

Anyway, I was in the kitchen last evening, the dishes draining, baking a few cookies, and it was around eight I guess. I'd heard my brother say something to Dolly so I knew she'd gone into his room to sleep for the night. The radio was on in the kitchen.

They were playing oldies and standards, but when they announced they were going to play "Honey" by Bobby Goldsborough, that was it. Said I, "there's a limit to what I'll listen to!", and I shut it off and switched on the cd player.

I've been bringing home jazz cds from the library, and what was in there was the Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz at Oberlin.  The first track is "These Foolish Things (remind me of you)", and you immediately hear Paul Desmond's smooth saxophone.  

my brother:  Is the radio on?

me: No!  They were playing "Honey" - I shut it off and turned on the player.

bro: The instant Dolly heard it, she woke up and sat up - she's listening to it.

I went to his room. There she was, sitting up perkily on his bed with her head tilted, reminding me so much of the little RCA Victor dog - remember him?  

I guess they sell statuettes of him - and this is just how she was looking

me: For Pete's sake, am I going to have to buy her the collected works of Paul Desmond and Stan Getz for Christmas?  (Dear Readers, I already bought her Trane's Blue Train - must we own every jazz saxophone classic ever recorded?)  

Of course not - I'm joking about that, but whenever this happens, no matter how often, we can't help laughing in amazement. She just loves those saxtones.  Funny girl.

pretty peppers

alas, not from my garden

apple bounty

We have got a crop of apples redder and more abundant than two years ago! I must take a picture. I've picked several which have absolutely no marks, dimples or holes in them, and that's sayin' somethin', since we don't spray.  I've really got to take a picture! The ones I tried so far are slightly mealy - this is unfortunate, but they're not so bad that I can't try and make applesauce out of them; if I add some cider to the pot I am hoping something nice will come out of it.

Meanwhile, they make perfect weights when cutting out fabric.

 I'm finally trying to make a Dottie Angel frock - we'll see how it comes out.

making quiche

When I made this very tasty quiche recently I grabbed what was at hand, using Julia Child's basic formula: into a 2-cup measure, beat up three eggs, and then add enough milk or other liquid to bring up the level to one and a half cups. When I say other liquid, it means milk, heavy cream, light cream, half and half, buttermilk, watered-down yogurt, etc. Whatever's in the fridge.

I also like to pre-bake the crust for these: I do that at 375 for fifteen minutes or twenty, and then let it cool for the same amount of time.

So, for this quiche, I took the cooled crust and sprinkled some shredded parmesan on the bottom - it may have been one quarter or one third cup. I had already seasoned the liquid mixture with salt, pepper, oregano and maybe some onion powder. I then poured it into the shell. There was a bit of leftover zucchini around, so I put that inside, and topped it with some fresh tomato slices and dried basil over all. This baked at 375 for about half an hour or slightly longer.

This is all you have to do to make a quiche: just have your cooled pie shell ready, remember the amounts of egg and milk/cream, season accordingly and include whatever leftovers you think will make it tasty and interesting; cheese is often a good idea.  Voila!

oat bread loaves

with the ever-present cat food can nearby.

the cat who loves greens that much

Did I ever mention how Tootsie loves greens?  Like a rabbit. Back when she lived with us, I was concerned that she'd eaten some long green thing which I feared was an elastic band. Turns out it was a corn husk which had fallen near the fridge. So, I gave her some more. I said corn husks. She ate them. I waited for consequences. There were none.  (by the way, I've never know her to throw up, in the common way of cats - ahem)

I would never give corn husks to Dolly or Henry. (well, they wouldn't eat them, anyway) But there's something about the little Tootsie-cat  - my brother says she's like a street kid, and I think it's apt. I could give her a three inch piece of lettuce - and I have - and it would disappear into her mouth as if she were a bunny. She gets all excited when she hears the rustle of greens.

So yesterday I couldn't see the onion greens in the garden so I decided to pull them out. Well, I'm not sure they are any larger than when I planted the sets - but I don't really know what I'm doing in the garden, anyway.

When she realized there were greens, she jumped onto the counter. These were greens I didn't want her to have! I have heard that onions and garlic can make a cat very sick. So, down she went. But she sure wanted up again.

The onions are now in a bowl atop the secretary.  Otherwise, she's been a good girl.

The End.

meager fruits

As pitiful as my garden is this year, it still is amazing to be involved in the mysterious growing process.

yellow wildflowers

growing abundantly across the brook. They look like small dandelions with long slim stems, but they're not.