A Walk About

A sunny lovely day. I did some yard work and caught up on Laundry.

This is a hydrangea that has turned such a pretty pink for fall. 

The acorns are falling in buckets it seems. 

I do believe that some little critter has been enjoying them on this rock in the sunshine.

The growth on an old stump. So pretty if you make the picture bigger. It has wonderful patterns on them.

Not sure what this plant is, it was in the woods. It is losing its

color still so pretty. 

The flowering cherry is starting to ripen, the birds will be landing in flocks soon to pick it clean before they leave for the winter. 

Wild Asters on the border of our woods. If you make this larger you will see a sweet little B on the bottom right collecting nectar. 

And because the weather is cooler, I thought I would try making white sandwich bread. It is with the tanghoz method where make a roux with 6% of your flour and add it to your mixture. It helps to keep it softer longer. Sandwich bread can be hard to get the right crumb and there are problems with this loaf, but it is better than the past ones. Let the baking begin lol.

Time does slip by so fast I thought this was so true.

Have a wonderful week. 

The Hurrican That Wasn't

Much ado about nothing. Yes, the waves were bigger but no flooding no big winds just nothing. I do not say that about Canada I think they got the brunt of it, and I am so sorry for them. 

Husband had a Dr's appointment in the city. So, I went along for the ride. This is not the greatest part of the city, but this fence is old. 

And lovely but sadly not being up kept that well. I always wonder if those who pass it daily  notices this pretty  fence?

Today after the non-storm (a bit of rain a little wind nothing much)

I headed out into my very neglected gardens, and I pulled weeds for a few hours and cleaned up. This hummingbird was all about my zinnias. He must be getting ready to leave. 

I found this years old farmer's almanac. We hang it in the bathroom and by the time the new one comes out it is well read lol. 

They are predicting a cold snowy winter. The weather man is not we shall see who is right. 

It really is a great book lots of info and recipes. 

I will give you my spice mix but I also wanted to let you know about this powered cheddar. I got mine at king Arthur Flour, but I am sure you can find it other places. This is made with Vermont Cheddar. If you want to make anything cheesy such as baked in breads and biscuits, I made a white sauce and added some of this to it gave it a nice depth. Sprinkle it on popcorn yumm that is just the beginning of ideas. 

Ok my spice mix 

1tsp basil

1tsp rosemary

11/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp of tarragon 

2 tab salt 

1 tab onion powder

1 tab garlic powder

1 tab of thyme 

1 tab of parsley

1 tab of black powder

you can leave out or add to

whatever suites your taste buds.

because I dried a lot of my own herbs, I put it all through the grinder and into an old shaker I had. I have been using this on everything and it is delicious!

My tiny garden that never really got started this year because of all the rain decided I needed zucchini late august early September. 

So, I made sweet zucchini relish. The best sound in the world is when canning and all the tops are popping to seal. 

I also went to our local farmer. He had lots of sweet peppers.

For 5.00 a bag I took some home and roasted them, peeled them and put them in olive oil. I still have more to do but this is a start I think I will end up freezing some of them.

My rhubarb is still growing pretty well so I cut some to freeze. 

I will make strawberry rhubarb pie for the holidays.

I guess that is it for the food part of my blog lol. 

I have been stitching this summer instead of hooking, so I treated myself to a needle minder. The witchy season is just around the corner. 

And speaking of the witchy season. I am going to 

"The Witches of Wells hook in" in October. 

I will be the one with the crystal ball......

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Have a wonderful week! 

Go Patriots!!!

The Spice Of Life

I rearranged my rug hooking room cleaning out etc. and found this cat mat that I am not sure how long ago I started. He is finished now and will go on a table in the spare room. 

And this is why I rearranged and cleaned out. We bought some new chairs and this one was odd chair out. So up the stairs (with a lot of effort I might add) into my rug hooking room. I just love it! so perfect! Now if I could just get husband to bring me food I would never really need to leave. (bathroom round the corner lol)

I am trying to up my cooking skills with more herbs and spices. 

I found a spice mix online as a guide and then I did my own thing. I dried the herbs I had grown and then put them in a grinder and made my own mix with other spices I had in the cupboard.  I have to say what a good mix it is! I have used it on chicken and beef so far. Do you want me to post the mix, or would it bore the heck out of you?

Today is my chicken's actual birthday yes, my daughter the one in the middle. I have no idea just how she got to 40 so fast! 

Happy birthday to one amazing daughter!!!

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On another note, we have Verizon for our phones, and we need a signal booster at home because we live in the mountains and the woods and not many towers in our area. Well, the booster went ka-put. I will say the tec took lots of time with me online and we really tried hard to get it going. They could not and those things are expensive! With out that we have no phone service at home. I think the tec felt so bad for us they are shipping us one free of charge!!

Yea Verizon!!!

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It has been so hot and muggy I am so over it. Today we are having down pours with expected severe thunderstorms later. It is supposed to be cleaning out this humid air one can hope. I just hate it!

And the hurricane coming will not make landfall here, but it could cause some issues on the coast, and you know I have some very close friends with lovely homes on the coast, so I am thinking of them this weekend. 

Have a great week!

The Rain Falls Mainly In Maine

A new week another trip to Maine. 

This week  my dear friend offer us her beach house when she went away. just as we got settled in the clouds come rolling in off the ocean. 

And it rained and it was windy, and it was a bit crazy for a good while. 

We stayed in after we got settled and the evening came, and it was lighting so vivid you could stand on the back deck and watch it roll in. The lights flickered a lot, but we never lost power. Not the same for others in the area. We went out and about the next morning and there were electric crews with 5 transformers lined up to be replaced. Trees and limbs down everywhere. We were extremely lucky.

That morning I was up and, on the beach, early for the sunrise. 

and a bit of a walk. 

And then Saturday afternoon we got some visitors! My sweet B and her best friend trying out the ocean. 

And my daughter and son in law. Such a wonderful bonus to have them there with us for an overnight. 

But as aways the sun sets on the good times, and we all had to go back to reality. 

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We have been hotter this past week than we have all summer. 

Usually, this time of year the evenings cool off but not this time. It was horrid 90s and super high humidity. It zaps my energy, and I am good for nothing. I did go to the thrift store for a walk around. (they are air conditioned) I only found this little owl he is about 4 inches high I thought he would look good on my Halloween shelf. Well, he is carved from a piece of Canadian coal. I had never seen anything like that. 2.00 a good deal.

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There has also been progress on our shower install the plumbers came and now it is up to husband to finish up and get the plumbers back for the finish. I will be so glad when this project is done. 

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I am going to get back to healthy eating and exercising I have been not such a good eater lately. Potato chips my downfall!!!

I will also count my blessings for I have so many!

Have a wonderful week.

Sand In My Sneakers

My daughter turns the big 4-0 this year! 

My Son in law gave her an early surprise party at the local country club. This is the view on their deck. (also, a golf course)

I am not quite sure how she could possibly be turning 40 when I don't think I feel much older than that lol. She had quite a gathering of friends and family and it was a pure surprise! 

A few days later we headed for the beach in Maine. We stayed in David's cousin's cottage. I walked the beach most mornings. 

Saw the surfers getting in some early runs. There were red flag warnings on one day. Bad undertow and blue flag another day. Dangerous marine animals. (I saw one jelly fish.) 

I walked to the jetty and back I do think it is about 2 miles round trip. I saw so many people running and walking on the beach with ear buds in their ears? Didn't they pay good money to come to the beach? why not listen to the surf and the birds?? I just don't understand it. 

Last post I described these as sea roses nope they are beach roses. And they are all over the coast. 

One evening while we were there, we headed to Bently's for the car show and what a show it was! 

Shiny like right off the showroom floor!

Husband loved it!

They had old fire trucks too.

This is husband's cousin and my partner in crime at rug hooking retreats. She recognized this guy he is one of three guys that have been to every Super Bowl! He is well into his 80's and hopes to make one more. There have been 56 Super Bowl's! Yes, football already lol. 

While we were there the super moon happened! I did not get a good picture of it, but it was bright orange and behind some clouds when it first came up. 

It was so beautiful to be at the beach to see it rise. The tide was coming in, so it caused some very high tides but no flooding.

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We saw longtime friends and lots of family that we don't get to see very often. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and had some wonderful cocktails. But all good things must come to an end, and we headed home Saturday. But this Friday we are headed back to our friend's cottage down the road from Donna's for a day or two. 

How amazingly lucky are we???

We lost an American icon Jimmy Buffett! 

We have spent hours listening to his music. His music gives you pure joy and makes you recall wonderful memories of past vacations. 

I do hope he has a margarita in one hand and has found his lost shaker of salt. 

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Have a wonderful week. 

The weather has been perfect, and the trees are starting to turn. 

I do hope this weather lasts a very long time. 

The Marginal Way

The sun's angle is making for pretty pictures lately. 

Yesterday we made the 2 hrs trip to Maine. We are staying in families cottage for a few days. 

Our first sunset was a good one. We saw family and friends on our first day always wonderful to catch up.

Thus morning we headed for Perkins Cove and walked the marginal way. It is a public path along the ocean. If you look at the point of land you can see fog rolling in there. If you are ever in the area it is not to be missed. 

Most of the sea roses have gone by but we did see a few that were left.                                   Have a wonderful week!