This weekend Asha, my friend and roommate from grad school, was in town with her family. They’re spending today and tomorrow with us. We put them to work making pizza. It was DELICIOUS! You can find Monte’s pizza dough recipe here, if you want to give it a try.
We had a great time, and are looking forward to taking a sail tomorrow before they have to head home.
Friday!! Monte went to a hockey game tonight and brought me a t-shirt that he caught from the t-shirt cannon. I went to dinner with Jen and caught up. Looking forward to a nice weekend at home.
When Noreen was visiting, she gave me a very nice hand-colored print of an Irish greeting that she picked up during her visit to Ireland last year. Tonight I finally got around to matting it and putting it in a frame, and this is a pic of how it turned out.
The greeting reads:
Céad míle fáilte
pronounced (sort of like): KAID MEE-lah FALL-cha
which in English translates to:
a hundred, thousand welcomes
I like it! 🙂
You know the song “Time Passages” by Al Stewart? For some reason it’s been playing in my head for the last day or two. I’ve been on conference calls all morning. And it’s still playing! So, when I went to the kitchen to forage for some lunch, I caught a glimpse of the clock and the pendulum and well, thought I’d get a shot of this to go with the song in my head.
If you’d like to hear it, too, here is a youtube link.
….years go falling in the fading light, ooooh, time passages……do-do-di-do…..
Working from home this week. It’s still nice to stop and notice the pretty things. This is a shot of the leaded glass windows on the front door. On mornings earlier in the year, when the sun is a bit lower in the sky, these windows are especially lit up and cast little colorful light spectrum patterns on the wall. No so much today, and at this hour. But still nice to look at.
Yesterday morning I finally got around to weeding, re-tilling and planting the end of the flower bed along the fence line which used to be home to some decades old oleander that we took out last year. I planted a bunch of perennials that I hope will flourish and last through future seasons.
After dinner tonight I went out to the newly planted garden and, though it was dark, got this shot of a pincushion flower. I like how it looks like it is floating against a black background.
We spent yesterday and today on the lake. The little ducklings are getting big, and hang around the slip looking for handouts.
The jasmine in the backyard is in bloom. Stepping outside smells wonderful! I wish it would last all year long.
The bluebonnets in the way back have all gone to seed. On my walk back there tonight I saw a couple of newcomers — indian blankets. There are 4 plants that I can see there, and this is a picture of their first bloom.
I’m very excited to see what pops up next Spring. As I post this, Monte is out back spreading more wildflower seed that he’s collected.
I’ve been staring at a couple of brown bananas on the counter today. Instead of tossing them into the compost bin, I decided to bake some banana bread. Mmmm, smells great!
I used an easy recipe from our so-very-well-used-that-it’s-falling-out-of-its-binding Joy of Cooking.
Banana Bread
1 1/3 c flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
5 1/3 T unsalted butter
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c mashed very ripe bananas (~2)
1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Whisk together first 4 dry ingredients. In separate large bowl beat butter and sugar on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 2-3 minutes. Add dry ingredient mixture to butter/sugar and beat until blended. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in bananas & nuts until just combined. Spread evenly in greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 mins, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5-10 minutes then turn out onto rack.
We went to a special event at the Alamo Drafthouse tonight — a wine / dinner pairing and the movie Bottle Shock. The movie is based on the real story of the Chateau Montelena vineyard whose Chardonnay won 1st place in a Paris blind tasting in 1976, putting put Napa Valley wines on the map forever.
It was weird to eat food that you couldn’t really see in the dark. But the food, wines and movie were all great. Love the Alamo!
Mom and Dad cardinal under the feeder in the backyard — 12x digital zoom so they’re kind of fuzzy.
A pic of the lovely bougainvillea Mom gave us.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day today. We went for a long drive past Johnson City through the Willow City Loop to see what was left of the wildflowers. The bluebonnets are on the decline, but many others are taking stage against a hill country backdrop. This field was full of white prickly poppies.
Sheila365 