Garden Path

falling leaves
hide the path
so quietly


~John Bailey, "Autumn," a haiku year, 2001


falling leaves
rake rake rake
rake rake rake rake


~Yours truly


I just had to ruin this poetic moment.
Can you guess what we did today?

Geranium

Like much of the country we've had an unusually warm fall.  The temperatures are just now starting to get down to the 30's at night, so I'm gradually bringing plants inside.   This geranium seems happy on the kitchen windowsill.

New faucet!

I'm lucky.  Not only is my husband funny and smart (and did I mention good looking?), he's awfully handy.  Today he not only cleaned out all the gutters and trimmed some trees, he installed a new bathroom faucet.  Check it out.

Before

After

Pretty, don't you think?

  And then we were so inspired by how nice it looked that we cleaned out the bathroom vanity drawers and threw away lots and lots of old half-used products that were taking up space.  

I've been doing a lot of cleaning out/throwing away/giving away lately.  

So far, I haven't missed a thing and it's feels really good to lighten my load a little!

Secretariat - Belmont Stakes 1973

Just had to add this from YouTube.

Off to the movies!

We're not big move goers (we're Netflix people), but my folks called tonight to say they were off to see Secretariat, so I tagged along.  Good movie (stars Diane Lane and John Malkovich)--and such an amazing true story!  If you click here, you get info about the movie and watch a trailer for it.  If you click here, you can link to the Wikipedia site about Secretariat.  Yeah, I'm a full service blog.

I have to add this picture my Dad just sent me.  He took this of Secretariat in 1974 while on a trip to Kentucky.  And Mom says they got to rub his nose (Secretariat's, not Dad's)!

Jack--The Movie

Sorry--just wanted to play with my Flip video camera a little and Jack never complains when I film him (in fact, I think he loves the camera).

Garage Sale Find

I'm getting better about not hauling home every little thing that I find at garage sales and flea markets, but I still think that when you see something you love and the price is right (and you can smuggle it into the house without your husband seeing it), you just have to spring for it!  I thought this was too neat to leave behind.  It's true--I don't have a place for it right now, but it looks pretty happy out in the potting shed, don't you agree?

Views of the day

The best view of the day was my family here for dinner, but these weren't too bad either . . .

Pumpkin Soup

I have been craving pumpkin soup after making it for the first time a few weeks ago.  It has that wonderful pumpkin pie goodness combined with the warmth and creaminess of oatmeal or cream of wheat.  It was easy, the house smelled great, and I love the idea of making it with a pumpkin that just arrived home from Farmer’s Market.  It reheats well, in fact, I think it’s better the second day.

The original recipe was from Joy of Cooking.  I felt like it needed more brown sugar and  and spices (since I am such an expert in the kitchen!)—so here’s my take on it. 

3 cups pureed pumpkin

3 cups scalded milk

1 T. butter

1 T. flour

3 T. brown sugar

1 t. salt

1 ½ t. cinnamon

½ t. ginger

½ t. nutmeg

To make the puree, cut a small pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds (have your nice husband do this messy part).  Bake the pumpkin halves on a foil covered cookie sheet at 350 degrees for an hour.   Scoop out the pumpkin (you can almost just peel off the skin) and puree in the food processor until smooth.  I found it easier to blend the dry ingredients with the pumpkin in the food processor, too.  The recipe says the milk should be scalded--just microwave it for two to three minutes to warm it up before adding it to the other ingredients in the pan.  Then mix everything together and heat it up.

This makes a sweet soup.  I found recipes for more savory versions (with onions)  if that’s your preference—though this means you are probably not related to me.

Sorry--no picture of the finished soup.  It just does not take an attractive picture . . .

End of summer

Last bouquet of the season--Wedding White Zinnias . . .

768 Pieces

Yesterday I rotary cut 768 pieces of this red Jo Morton fabric for the New York Beauty quilt I'm working on.  It's a pattern that I've been wanting to do for years.  I bought and prewashed the fabric two years ago and finally started the actual sewing this fall.   I finished the curved pieces (in solid brown and cream) last week.  The red and white borders will probably take me well into the winter (hopefully, just this winter).

Here's how things are looking on my design wall.

Guinness Day!

Today was “Bake Something with Guinness Then Feast and Fall Down in a Heap Day"!  A previously unknown holiday, it was celebrated this afternoon at our house!  Ben made a Steak and Ale pie—he’s the champion cook--and I made a Guinness chocolate cake with the recipe from Vermont Cottage.  Both were a success—we ate like kings!

Being a new blogger, I thought I would record and share my efforts.  Don’t you love those blogs with the beautifully photographed cooking shots?  Right.  Here’s what it looked like during my cake making.

Ben is much tidier.  

Ta-da!  The finished products!  I wish you had smell-a-vision.

Farmer's Market

What could be prettier on a sunny fall morning . . . 

Sea of Red

Did some shopping in Lincoln today and stopped at the University bookstore--wow!  Wall to wall fans buying new RED shirts for the big game against Texas tomorrow!  You gotta love it.

These look awfully orange in my picture, but believe me, they weren't!

Change

"It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . It's like being between trapezes.  It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer.  There's nothing to hold on to." --- Marilyn Ferguson

And to this I say . . . WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
                                                                                       (It looks like I AM retiring.)

Gorgeous fall day . . .

Ben brought pumpkins and a squash home from the Farmer's Market with the nifty little basket on his swell Kronan bicycle. He scooped out the seeds and roasted them.  The plan is to make pumpkin soup tomorrow using the recipe on A Country Farmhouse.

We admired our fall salad greens garden.  These little container gardens are great!  The little squash from the Farmer's Market is just hanging out.  I think he likes having his picture taken.

One of the neighborhood trees--isn't it a beauty?