I've not read much in the past few days, but I have a stack of books from the library that I'll be getting into this week.
And so ends one month and another one begins. Thirty days of potential ahead.
I've not read much in the past few days, but I have a stack of books from the library that I'll be getting into this week.
And so ends one month and another one begins. Thirty days of potential ahead.
It's my birthday! I'm officially a senior citizen! We'll celebrate with our children next weekend (along with a daughter and daughter-in-law's birthdays), so today has been very laid back.
I received a beautiful bouquet of pink roses (my favourites) and lilies from my parents and a jar of Mom's pear marmalade. Tim gave me a down jacket that we had picked out together earlier and I pretended not to know what was in the package. All in good fun.
We'll be going out for dinner this evening. It's been such a sunny bright day. I spent some time in the garden cleaning up for winter.
This photo was taken three years ago, but I haven't changed too much in that time. Life is grand!
Inside there's been lots of wonderful visiting with my parents, along with putting a puzzle together. This evening they are having dinner with our eldest daughter and her family.
We don't have a lot planned for tomorrow other than going out for dinner in the evening, but it's lovely just being together. More sun is in the forecast. Hooray!
The supermarket had organic lemons on sale and I bought a bag of them. I was reminded of preserved lemons by Rosemary who gave a recipe for this condiment used in Moroccan and other Middle Eastern cooking. I prepared a jar and in about four weeks I look forward to adding them to salad dressings, chicken dishes, and perhaps a tagine, as Rosemary hopes to do.
When my parents arrive in a few minutes (it's easy to gauge because of the ferries), I'll make a cup of tea and serve cookies and lemon squares. Which would you choose?
Before I forget - several people asked for the recipe for the Date-Filled Oatmeal Cookies on my previous post. I've added them to my recipe blog and you can find it by clicking on the link.
I noticed that the Dessert section of my recipe index is far longer than any other category. So I've begun a new category for Cookies and Squares - things you can eat with your fingers, as opposed to desserts that are served at the table after dinner. It will take a little while for me to change everything over, but hopefully it will be done in a few weeks.
For me, baking requires more precision than cooking, hence the weight of recipes in that direction.
Today I played with Iris, made granola, and did a little cleaning. Tomorrow my parents arrive and I'm so looking forward to their visit.
I enjoyed one with a cup of tea. The sunshine flirted with the clouds and then disappeared. The wind rose and swirls of leaves rushed along the road.
For dinner tonight I made a beef stew and the fragrance filled the kitchen with the savoury goodness of beef, onions, carrots, mushrooms, red wine, and herbs. I add a bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, and a twist of orange peel. Just before serving I'll add some frozen green peas and let them heat through. Served over rice or potatoes, with bread, it's a good meal for an October night.
What do you add to beef stew?
This fun poem came to mind the other day as I watched the wind gusts tear leaves from the trees and swirl them about the street. The storm is now passed and all is calm - there were power outages and wind damage, but not here, and I am thankful. Ferries were cancelled for the day and there is a huge back up.
Regarding the container ship mentioned in my last post - the fire is mostly out and now the operation is moving to one of salvage. The ship will likely go to either Vancouver or Nanaimo for offloading the remaining containers. Thankfully no lives were lost. The 40 containers floating about the ocean have been located and salvage operations will begin as the seas calm.
The photos above were not taken this year - today was wet and oh, so dark.
Yesterday, a South Korean container ship lost 40 containers overboard in the storm. As the ship continued its route towards Vancouver, the instability of the remaining containers resulted in a fire that spread to about a dozen containers. In the photo above, you can see another ship to the left spraying water on the beleaguered container vessel. The water is to cool the ship down and prevent the boat itself from catching fire. Because of the flammable nature of the chemicals (used for mining) in the containers, there is little that could be done to extinguish the fires.
The Coast Guard rescued 16 crew members from the ship, and 5 were left to try to do what they could. It now appears that the fire is smoldering and not spreading to other containers.
We had planned to walk further after the breakwater, but were so wet and cold that we simply came home, peeled off our clothes and took showers. I settled in with a book and a cup of tea for the rest of the afternoon.
We've just finished watching Foyle's War on our public broadcasting station. The wind continues to beat about the house, and I'm so thankful for our warm, dry, and so comfortable home.
How was your weekend?
We had an "atmospheric river" recently, followed by a "bomb cyclone" and another "bomb cyclone" is due overnight and tomorrow. This is a new term to me, but it's been used since the 1950s, so it hasn't been made up just for this. When the barometric pressure falls rapidly over a number of hours, it's called a "bomb cyclone." Who knew? I took a screen shot from the weather report. Never have I seen a warning like this. We live on the southern tip of the island and have been told to expect storm surges, wind, possible trees down and power outages. We'll see what actually develops.
Is it wild or calm weather where you are?
In a few minutes we'll turn on Knowledge Network (our local public broadcasting station) and watch an episode of The Mallorca Files, a fun lighthearted British mystery series set on the Spanish island of Mallorca. The television is to the bottom right side of the above photo.
What do you put on your pizza? Or what kind of pizza do you like to order?
October Morning
It is the exquisite and early hour
The sudden sunrise reddens the sky.
Through the autumn mist
The garden leaves fall.
Their fall is slow. We can follow them
with our eyes and recognize
The oak by its leaf of copper,
The maple by its leaf of blood.
The last ones, the most rusty
Fall from the bare branches,
But it's not winter yet.
A fair light sprinkles down on
Nature and in the whole rosy sky,
You'd think it was snowing gold.
François Coppée
We have the wrong kind of fig tree for our climate, and we're planning on replacing it in the spring. We get just a few ripe figs in August and tons of green ones that never have time to ripen. Big yellow fig leaves are dropping every day now, and revealed about a dozen small ripe figs. I slit them, baked them with a drizzle of olive oil and maple syrup, then crumbled blue cheese into the middles and baked them a wee bit longer. They made a fine salad.
Beautiful things to see, do, hear, and taste. What's beautiful in your world lately?
We all had some free time one afternoon in Madrid, and on the advice of our guide, I took myself off to a busy little cafe where they served churros and chocolate. Oh my, so delicious. Thick chocolate, too thick for drinking, but perfect for dipping the crisp, hot churros. Worth every calorie!
I'd like to return to Spain one day, with my husband, and explore more of the country. We'd also like to visit Scotland and Ireland, and more of England. For now, we're content to explore our own backyard, for it is indeed a beautiful one.
To where would you like to travel?
Muted morning light. The sound of rain trickling in the eavestrough. Branches swaying. Leaves sodden on the ground. It's November. Tim...