Red Sox win World Series

at home.

 Good night.  :)

last bit from the garden

As I was cutting things down in the raised bed there was another welcome stalk of dill weed in there. But that's all, folks.

Except a beautiful autumn mess.

a kitchen day

I did something different and took a day in the kitchen.  It wasn't as productive as I'd hoped, but I finally made rock buns, which I've been wondering about for years. The recipe I used is here. They seem to be scones in rock bun clothing - I mean, doesn't that look like a scone recipe to you? You roll the dough into balls, but you could do that with scones if so inclined.

I ended up adding quite a few extra teaspoonfuls of milk but they're quite nice.

leaf garland in the kitchen

I saw it online, colorful leaves strung together with something thin-looking like thread. So I took a walk and did some gathering, and now they're over the sink.

Maybe closer together next time, but this is still very nice.

fall spice baby blanket

Dolly watches the World Series

for a few minutes. I watched the whole game.

Henry as art

I heard the Voice

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
So weary, worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
And he has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink, and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's light;
Look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found
In him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I'll walk
Till traveling days are done.

               -  from Magnificat, October 2013

drying things

The weather's supposed to take a cold turn in a few days, so today I was drying things. These sunflower heads will be for the birds, and there are more.  I picked the last of the basil and again dried it in the microwave. And some pita bread I tried to make the other day got turned into bread crumbs.

bright day

A day only October in New England could produce - warm, glittering, balmy. Perfect.

gray day

but I don't mind gray autumn days much, once in a while. The trees are just as pretty as on the bright days.

an evening with Ben Webster

Dolly, the cool cat, listening to Soulville.

happy at home

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition."

                        -  Samuel Johnson   (from Simple Abundance)

making do

Well, yesterday was Columbus Day, and tomorrow is our observance of Columbus Day. Today is in between the two, so I decided to make a weekend of it. This is an Italian household (well, half Italian).  Our friend who was coming to dinner, had been looking into panini presses, so I told him I'd serve panini next time he came.  Today was the day -  minestrone and panini.

I've never had panini, but I had an idea of a heated-up pressed-down sandwich. Wikipedia says, "in Italy, the word for a sandwich made from bread other than sliced bread... Examples of bread types are ciabatta,...."  Looking for recipes online, I saw a few versions which had meat slices, apple or pear slices and fancy cheese, with some kind of tasty dressing. Well, I've been in a bit of a frazzle lately and ended up forgetting to buy a few "essentials".

I'd imagined there was some spinach for the soup in the freezer, but there wasn't. However downstairs I did find wilted romaine - bingo!  I remembered to buy ciabatta, but forgot about any fancy cheese. I would just have to make do. I defrosted leftover chicken and picked it all off the bones - there was plenty; sliced up a couple of apples, and decided plain old American cheese would be good enough. But what about a dressing? I really didn't want to bother looking up a recipe, so I mixed up mayo with a cherry pomegranate dressing that we don't like too much but which is good for salads with fruit - bingo again!  I melted some butter in my Scanpan and heated them up, pressing down with the spatula, and oh how tasty!

panino is singular; panini, plural

Very filling, too. One sandwich was enough with a bowl of soup. And, Stella D'Oro Anisette Sponge cookies for dessert, because I really have been too frazzled lately to make dessert. So, aside from the ciabatta, which was kind of expensive, I used what was around. And maybe next time I can try and make my own.

the mother of invention

For some reason, as we gathered our stuff for the trip, I grabbed my knitting, even knowing that I wouldn't have time for it at our destination. And I always get sick doing anything in the car. But for some reason, I was able to do some knitting in the car! 

At the point where I put the thumb stitches onto a stitch holder, I realized I hadn't thought to bring one. What could I use?  

The eyeglass cord from my magnifiers, looped through the stitches and tied in a knot!

being prepared

It really does pay to plan ahead. I knew I wanted to wear my lighter weight linen dress to this early October wedding, but had no idea of what weather to expect. Looking online I found an archive of temperatures on that date, in that region, for the past five years - it ranged from sixty three down to forty seven. And that's daytime temps; nights are always cool in autumn. I bought a pretty wool shawl, I knitted wool hand warmers, I bought under-layers and even footless tights!

When packing time came I almost left the mitts home - it's been pretty nice around here and I was wondering if I'd been overdoing it. Saturday was a nice day, even when we checked in. But I ended up with my shawl over me the whole time, and even my mitts, because the reception area was partly open-air and it was overcast and kind of damp.

I'm glad I don't have to think about this anymore, but it seems that planning was a good thing.

a wedding in Vermont

There and back again in twenty six hours.  A foliage tapestry in the hills everywhere you turned on the way up; a pretty backyard plot at the inn where we stayed with a flower and corn shack right next to it;  a simple and lovely ceremony at an old meeting house with a string trio playing lots of Handel beforehand, and a bagpiper playing afterward in the town green; the bride and groom driving themselves off to the reception in an old Ford; a rustic but charming and well organized reception venue which was "decorated" outside with an antique car. (Model A?)

Back home to one kitty who was so excited to see us (Dolly), and one kitty who surprisingly hadn't thrown up from eating too much (Henry).

pastry-shop Christians

Today Pope Francis is in Assisi, on the feast of St. Francis. This is a part of what he had to say:

"The Church, all of us should divest ourselves of worldliness. Worldliness is a murderer because it kills souls, kills people, kills the Church. Without divesting ourselves, we would become pastry-shop Christians, like beautiful cakes and sweet things but not real Christians."

a whole lotta bangin' going' on

at least, there was. The cats are breathing a sigh of relief now in the quiet, especially The Dolly.

mitt progression

I finished my super bulky, thick and thin hand warmers. I absolutely love them.

You may be able to see the predictable hole near the thumb on the left-hand one.  The other is better since I wove in the ends and tightened up the holes. And that's okay, but I'd rather learn how to knit that thumb gusset without holes instead of having to sew it up!  

I'm practicing; I started another pair, with yarn I thought was a charcoal color, but is really more of a plummy brown. 

see the cat hair?

They work up in a trice! I'm still reading Outcasts United, but sometimes I want something a little different, so I've been going through L. M. Montgomery's work. Thanks to some tips I stumbled on at Ravelry, I picked up stitches further down when I did the thumb on this one, and that's an improvement. But I still don't have it quite right. I'm so sorry this yarn is discontinued - it lends so much interesting texture to these mitts. But I think there are some etsy sellers who make something similar. 

Here's a closeup of what I mean -

How satisfying to quickly whip up something with so much personality! 

Joining Ginny today for yarnalong.

a new roof's on the way

September afternoon

"It was a lovely afternoon -  such an afternoon as only September can produce when summer has stolen back for one more day of dream and glamour. Harvest fields drenched in sunshine lay all around them: the austere charm of northern firs made wonderful the ways over which they walked: goldenrod beribboned the fences and the sacrificial fires of willow-herb were kindled on all the burnt lands along the sequestered roads back among the hills."

                                             -  L.M. Montgomery,  Emily Climbs

a good prayer

"May we walk profitably in this day's light, in the strength of the most high God, in the good pleasure of Christ, in the light of the Holy Spirit, in the peace of the Apostles, in the brightness of the saints, in the endurance of the martyrs, and in the purity of the virgins."

                                                            -   from Magnificat,  September 2013

Anna's tea loaf

Today I finally made Anna's tea loaf. Loads of fruit, but no shortening of any kind. It calls for a small amount of orange marmalade, which I used, but you could just as easily use honey, I'm sure.

Very good!

very bulky hand warmers

Since finally getting comfortable with dpn knitting recently, I am happily supplying myself with hand-warmers. These are the Simple Wristlets, made with super bulky yarn - so fast! 

This is the recommended yarn, which is Malabrigo Gruesa, a terrific thick-and-thin wool which gives such an interesting look to these mitts - I don't even like them in plain old yarn. Gruesa has been discontinued but I managed to find some online. I bought two neutrals: a natural color and a charcoal. (but yesterday I ordered some more in lettuce green and a cool light blue!) Anyway, needless to say I love the stuff. I'm also finding that for double pointed knitting, I actually like wooden needles - my work seems secure on them, not likely to slip off too-slippery needles. For regular knitting, I've always preferred the old-fashioned aluminum or plastic I learned on (now I'm showing my age, I guess).

My book is Outcasts United, about a mostly-African refugee community in Georgia. It's about people from nations at war trying to make their way in a strange place. Also, a young Jordanian Smith College graduate who's good at soccer - she ends up in this town and coaches the young men from these families, giving them some focus and teaching them about teamwork. I like it so far.

Thanks to Ginny.

wild asters in front of a clean window

Almost all the windows are done -

ah, it's the Little Things.

prayers for all in authority

"I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity."

                                                -  St. Paul   1 Timothy 2:1-2

clouds go by

I was very busy today, but still had time for some picturesque cloud-watching.

herbs dried and stored

The herbs got dried this morning in the microwave - the whole place was fragrant, and it took no time at all. 

I really wanted to use the oven method since that seems more natural, somehow. The instructions said two to four hours on a low temp, less than 180 F with the door cracked open. After twenty minutes Tuesday night I had a coughing spell and decided to give up the idea. I didn't want bronchitis from breathing in that wonderful but strong aroma for two hours. That was the dill weed; so I just left it on the trays in the oven till my next day off, which was today.

After a day and a half sitting in there it was all dry, so I just put it in this jar!

The microwave instructions said between two sheets of paper toweling, for one to three minutes. I did several batches of the basil that way, eventually settling on a one minute, ten second time for each batch. There was some dampness remaining, so I just left the stuff on a tray on a shelf; when I came back to it, it was dry. That is also in jars now.

The basil seems far less aromatic now that it's dry, and I'm sorry I didn't use this method from Organic Gardening magazine. It advocates freezing fresh herbs in olive oil or butter for the utmost flavor preservation - you can simply break off pieces of it as required! If I get my hands on any more basil I'm going to try it  Still, I'm beginning to feel like a squirrel who's storing nuts for the winter.

drying the herbs

They're talking about a bit of frost in the morning for the next couple of days. I thought I'd better pick the herbs.

Some Italian parsley went into the freezer. I'm going to attempt to dry the dill and basil in the microwave. Wish me luck.

carrot tops

I so wanted to cook those lovely slim carrots with their tops, but alas! no skillet of mine could accomodate them.