The Kitchen Window Sedums, from Above

Giles thinks I need to start getting some new photographic angles, and he demonstrated what he meant by standing on the kitchen counter to get this shot. I might wait until he comes home again to get something this interesting, just for safety's sake.

This Morning's Light

A Green Afternoon

Daisy and I are taking some of our Friday afternoons for little excursions. Today we went up to my in-laws' cabin. It was just us, with our books, stitching, and sketching materials.

We found some muscadines. Muscadines are magical. If one is ripe in the area, you can smell it. One is all I ever need.

The cabin's built on the site of an old farmhouse. The stone chimney, unmortared, is still standing. Mostly.

The river was running remarkably clear for September, which can be a stagnant month. But then this past season was, as the long-term weather forecasters called it, a "garden of Eden" summer.

So Much Beading

Here's a little progress report on my current jersey embellishment. As you see, I am going to town with beads, having finished the reverse-applique step.

Fragrant Pear Preserves

I finally tackled my baskets of pears. I'm drying several sheets right now (you can hear the dehydrator, right? I sure can).

I also made two batches of pear preserves. To do this, I cut up a bunch of pears, added some sugar, a lot of chopped candied ginger, and the zest and juice of a lime. This smelled unbelievably good while it was cooking.

Corky's Third Day

 I'll probably slow down after this, but I finally got the light behind him.

And I can't get over the fact that here in my front yard, there's a second cow where there was only one before. 

Amazing.

Mabel's Calf

Sunday morning when I went down to the milk stall with Mabel's feed, she (most uncharacterically) wasn't waiting for me with an accusing eye.

Instead she was hanging out below some bushes, patiently cleaning up after this little guy! Her calf, whose delivery date was the subject of wild and varying speculation, was here.

We're calling him Corky. He's so attractive--that velvety fawn skin (he's 3/4 Jersey), an inquisitive nose, and plenty of eye makeup.

And, Mabel started mooing at last. With her lips closed. 

Ah, Mabel, you were born for this!

Weekend Blowing In

La Tartine Gourmande

For whatever reason, I have been excruciatingly slow to embrace gluten-free baking. Maybe because the gluten-free goods from the store have tasted so terrible . . . or the cookbooks remind me of the depressing unsold cookbooks at the thrift store, put out by the American Heart association . . . or the feeling that I've given up enough, cooking without dairy, beef, and pork. I've always preferred to make something *else* entirely, rather than bake with substitutions.

But La Tartine Gourmande is seductive. Beautifully photographed, oh-so-French, so . . . aesthetic. Beatrice Peltre seems to revel in her careful choice of flours, from hazelnut to buckwheat to quinoa. *That* I could get on board with. So I have finally laid in a supply of flours, and have enjoyed the sight of the Composer eating five oatmeal-apple muffins in one sitting, many hazelnut-banana muffins at once, and some beautiful tiny molten chocolate cakes for his birthday.*

(*Do not try this at home unless you too are running sixteen miles every Saturday and have the metabolism of a twelve-year old.)

Baskets of Pears, and a Snake

Walking up the driveway today I discovered a pear tree that I had no idea was growing just ten feet into the woods. Daisy and I went it with a big metal bucket, but before we could pick a single pear, she spotted an enormous snake. I think (hope!) it was a king snake, and it eventually unfolded all five feet of itself and slithered into an invisible hole.

When that was behind us, we fell upon the pears. I'm sure we picked twenty pounds in five minutes. We will be ripening these in baskets, and then embarking upon pear sauce, pickled pears, and dried pears.

Hedge of Four-O'Clocks

These four-o'clocks have grown into a huge hedge along the edge of the bistro. They hide the metal border and make it look like it's been here forever, *and* they smell good!

"The Vocation of All Human Beings"

"The vocation of all human beings, it seems, consists in this: to stand at the interface between God and his creation, bringing God's wise and generous order to the world and giving articulate voice to creation's glad and grateful praise to its maker. . . .

Worship and stewardship, generating justice and beauty: these are the primary vocations of God's redeemed people."

--N.T. Wright, After You Believe

Cake, Cake, and Cake

Felix is home for the weekend, and will be going back to a houseful of hungry college friends, so I made cake, cake, and cake. Mocha cake decorated with huge malted milk balls. Molasses cake cut into dark squares.

And the Dundee cake (a Scottish fruit-filled cake) was still in the oven.

All the recipes were from Jane Brocket's Vintage Cakes, which I adore, but the mocha cake recipe had some weirdness you will need to correct (change 1 1/28 cup sugar to the more doable 1 1/4. Also, there's too much batter for a single layer; make two).

Crib Quilt: The Neighborhood Pool

This crib quilt is pieced from three by six inch blocks in very cool turquoises, pale blues, and pale greens--and some strips of dark velvet. And hand-quilted in cream.

It'll go in etsy in the next day or so.

Daisy's Okra Pickles Have a Date with Destiny

That's right. They're going to the county fair. As first-timer pickle competitors, we didn't realize they needed a ring over the flat lid in order to be entered into the fray. A quick side trip to the hardware store fixed that, and Daisy was in business. 

We will go see them in state in a couple of days.

Bella's Big Adventure

Bella left yesterday for a semester working at an orphanage overseas. She'll be back for the holidays and then return to spend the spring semester there also--and she's so ready for this adventure.

She navigated the international airports gracefully and arrived safely this afternoon, and I know that anyone who saw her saw a beautiful self-possessed young lady with a plan.

Only her mother saw a spunky four-year-old driving off in a car made of Duplos.

Anna Locket

A Good Spot for Quilting

This is my current quilting-and-listening-to-my-Bible spot. This activity usually happens after lunch. If I am very lucky, a raccoon or woodchuck will walk by the window. That happens about once a week.

Colette "Oolong" in Deep Purple Jersey

This is the Colette pattern "Oolong" which I've made up in jersey before. It's a lightweight cotton-bamboo which is good for fall because it's not hot but it looks nice and rich.

It's easy to reconfigure this pattern for a stretch fabric--just turn the pieces 45 degrees and cut them out on the straight grain. It goes together quickly . . .

 . . . and looks good with a corsage.

Inspiration from Janet Bolton

Sometime in the days before I began sewing (2004) I studied Janet Bolton's books over and over. Those little shapes. That fabric texture. Those delicious little stitches.

At the time I was working in watercolor collage--inspired directly from these books. My collages were very much like paper versions of these jewel-like little pictorial quilts.

I almost never work in paper now, and am hardly ever so representational, but the idea of telling my own stories through my quilts has stayed with me.

These delightful books are available at Amazon.

Labor Day Brunch and the Rest of the Day

Several years ago we fell into the tradition of a big Labor Day brunch. Brunch is good, because when else are you going to make a quiche and/or cook truly *enough* bacon? We also had sticky buns, dried cherry scones with clotted cream, turkey sausages, and lots of cut-up fruit. And coffee and cocoa and orange juice.

And it seemed like there were a lot of people--Baby J in his high chair, and grandparents, and Felix and a friend. I did several rounds of dishes afterwards, and the Monday laundry, and then people started going home, and then the Composer built a bench out at the pool, and suddenly, at bedtime, things are quiet again.