Deconstruction

 The deconstruction of the shed is about to begin.  We've had the shed since we bought the house and it had developed leaks and had all kinds of things living under and in it so it was time for it to go.  Plus, there was just something about it that really didn't fit in with the house.  Or, I didn't want it to fit with the house.  It was a little too Waldo...

 The new shed is nice, relatively tight (to keep out those looking for a place to sleep for the winter), and more Belfast than Waldo:)  That's Bob still filling it up with lots of good things.

The two ends of the shed are gone and Bob is about ready to start taking up the floor.

 Lunch today was our summer squash with our tomatoes, oregano and parsley with onion and Greek olives and a piece of bread on the side.  It's fun to go out and pick the food, bring it in and cook it for a meal.  There are times when I wish I had planted more and most of the time I'm glad I did amount I did.  Next year we'll definitely do potatoes again with tomatoes and more herbs.  And I think we're going to join a CSA down the street to be sure we get fresh veggies and herbs 10 months out of the year.

 This was Sat night dinner.  Grilled Avocado and fresh faux veal chops from the farm down the road.  The chops were great and the avocado was good but I'm not sure it was worth the effort to grill the avocado or maybe we didn't do it right.  But, it was fun to try.  We've had grilled peaches which were good (idea from Garden and Gun magazine, I thought) but couldn't find it on their website so I linked this Frito Pie Recipe from Garden and Gun instead. It's totally kind of beyond belief and probably could only be thought up by someone south of the Mason Dixon Line.

Summer days and balmy nights is still my favorite cookbook this summer even though it does NOT include the Frito Pie Recipe we're still making a lot of the recipes in it. However, Plenty is running a close second.  Though it is technically a vegetarian cookbook, the author does eat meat and does include meat pairings.

They were haying this field the other day and the pictures just don't do justice to the actual scene.  It was like giants were playing a game of rolling the hay bales or something the way they were scattered around the field.

I took so many pictures trying to get one that captured the picture but wasn't really successful.  They were all picked up today and put away for winter feed.

Its finished

Bob proudly standing in the side doors of the Red Shed.  And it is red.  It was finished today so it took 1 1/2 days to build and now we have to finish painting the shed and the trim, build a ramp, put in shrubs and fill it with Bob things.

 There are Bob and TED (he's running so fast he's already out of the picture) on the way to the Bob house for their favorite things to put in the Red Shed.  They were even thinking of having a sleep out in the RS, but I don't know if that's going to happen.







Front view of the RS.  That's what you see from the Bob House.  By this weekend it should be all settled and comfy for manly men to work in.

Pictures and no pictures of what's going on

Today's post is a jumble of pictures, things that are going on and what I'm reading-or not reading because of all that's going on.

First, the potato harvest was rather weak.  I still have some plants in the ground so I'll let them stay and see if the potatoes get any larger.  I even had some blight which was really slimy and decided not to post that picture or any comments about starvation, corn, or the Irish Protestant that happens to live in the house.

 Sat night dinner.  A nice manage a trois.  We did add steak to the mix, but that changed everything so I didn't take that picture either because what would you call it?  Manage a quatre?  It just doesn't isn't the same, in oh so many ways.

 I'm still walking and I noticed that the cows seem to be hiding more often that not.  Of course I took it personally (they didn't like my taste in music, my outfit, etc, etc)

And then I saw this sign across the street.
I guess they figure that if they stay in the shadows no one will make the connection between their side of the road and across the street.  Too bad, we saw the cow carrier at the barn today and it looked like it was filled up.

 And now, for the latest happenings on Cross Lane.  Bob had a friend come over the other night to play and he brought this for the 2 of them to have fun with.

 They are preparing the ground for the Red shed that's coming tomorrow.  So now we have the Bob house, the TED shed (in the picture and will be moved soon to a less conspicuous spot) and the red shed.  The red shed will replace the shed that is next to the house right now.  It will be made out of wood and painted (you got it-barn red).  Pictures this weekend.  Fortunately I will be at work for the installation.

This weekend was the Belfast Harbor Fest with the annual boat building competition.  Bob's buddy and curling partner Owen participated again this year with the only female in the contest as his partner.  Since he wears a work kilt they called their group Us Girls.  Not sure how they did as we left before the results were in.  Update:  They came in third overall which is great since Sarah had never rowed before last weekend and had never built a boat.

Owen and Sarah working away.

 One of the many boats on display and for sale.

 And this cute little boat which is a little chubby in the middle is appropriately named, TED.

 Another boat and  view of the event.

 There's Owen in his work kilt and other gear finishing up the boat.  Speaking of kilts and skirts...  Someone has a birthday coming up and would be thrilled to get 2 skeins of this yarn, both the same color.  It would make a really nice scarf for a lucky daughter-in-law or any other female you may know...

 Tomatoes are starting to ripen.  The cherry ones are coming in now and the regular ones should be coming along in a week or two.

 The pink phlox are in bloom and they held up in the rain the other night.  The red phlox didn't do so well, so that's another picture not taken.

The fall/winter garden has been planted.  Lots of carrots, beets and some lettuce.

 The spot in the yard where the TED shed will be this time tomorrow night.

 And Bob pondering the state of the sheds, life and hopefully dinner...

What have I been reading this week?  A couple articles on Paul Ryan like this, and this one about Sonny Rollins and a delightful book of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto  written while Julia Child was in France and Avis was in America.  It was the Kindle deal of the day for Julia's 100th birthday (that's the link to the book).  It is a correspondence between 2 women that loved to cook, comment on the politics of the time (the 50's and 60's) and life in general.  I highly recommend it to all.  And this one was in my email today but I haven't had time to read it.  And for more birthday ideas you can always click here.  I know I'm shamelessly promoting and putting out suggestions, but what the heck?

FLASH:  This is required reading for my relatives.  Not that I have even close to that many books, but I'm still relatively young and if you count the Kindle books and the ones I've given away, maybe????

Boating

 Bob got a new to him boat last week and has spent the last couple of days fitting it out with everything he needs to make it a nice fishing and riding around boat.  And it is just that.  We took it out on Swan Lake, Maine (and no, we were NOT in tutus...) for the afternoon and had a great time.  It's nice and stable so you can stand up without fear of going overboard.




Speaking of going overboard....
One foggy morning last week, we were down at the dock and in the mist we spied either the Mutiny on The Bounty boat or the Pirate boat from Pirates of the Caribbean depending on your generation.  You either imagined Marlin Brando or Johnny Depp pacing the decks.

Did some one mention walking?  Last time I walked these 2 were staring at me and kind of thought I was crazy.  I couldn't figure what their problem was at first but it finally dawned on me that they don't have the Nike+ app so they can't walk and their ear tags don't get Pandora so they can't listen to Van Morrison as they munch away on grass.

 This is Bossy Bessie and she wants to be the mascot.  I don't think so and was pretty darn happy that thin wire that separated us has a small electric current running through it so she'll stay on her side of the fence and I'll stay on mine.











And this is a sample of the sunsets Bessie gets to see every night-without walking very far.  She is a lucky girl, that's for sure.

This is still one of my favorite places to go, click on this and click on that and get lost in this great web page,
Brain pickings

 Finally, I started weaving again.  I warped the loom and did a sampler which turned out fine.  And then I Tried it again and it took forever and I made a zillion mistakes.  It's a challenge, that's for sure.  It kind of looks like the rigging on the pirate ship except that their rigging weren't as screwed up as mine.

And if I had waited...

And if I had waited one more day, this is the picture I would have posted...

And if I hadn't waited one more day to put down the umbrella on the pack patio, this wouldn't have happened.  Just a little too much wind with a glass table and umbrella up instead of down.

I guess "they" are right.  Timing is everything.  We'll get a new table for the patio and this time it won't be glass.

Waiting...

Its that time of year.  You really don't want summer to end, but this part of summer isn't really fun.  It's hot, humid and yucky and there's not much you can do but wait.

Wait and figure out what's for dinner that's easy to prepare and can be done on the grill. And while I wait for that I get to look through my favorite new cookbook  Summer Days and Balmy nights which is open to a tomato and black olive tart recipe.

 Wait for the parts for the kitchen faucet that the company said they were shipping  right away and that was 2 weeks ago. And there's nothing to do but wait while I'm waiting for that package.

Wait for the next round of flowers to bloom. And while I'm waiting for them I'll sit outside in the shade and work on my summer reading flow chart.










 Wait for the second planting of vegetables to grow. Since that could take some serious time, I just may have to read several things.... I've found this page to keep me occupied for awhile and when I get overwhelmed by all the thinking involved I will move onto Fiber Farm or here (mentioned last week) to dream about things to weave and knit.

Wait for the Japanese eggplants to grow so we can have them for dinner but probably not tonight:) and since I won't have to wait too long for these to be ready to harvest I'll finish reading the article on J. Edgar Hoover reviewing the new book out about him or finish the Olympic article in the New Yorker which is filled with interesting little facts that are fun.

 Wait for the tomatoes to ripen so we can be overwhelmed with red and have too many all at the same time. And there's nothing to do while waiting for that to happen because it gets overwhelming on Labor Day Weekend every year.

 Wait for the potatoes to be ready to be harvested.  How and when you know is beyond me, but I don't think it's now.  There must be something I can read that will give me a clue on that one.  I feel like my Mother when she and my Dad planted carrots the first time and she had no idea that carrots were a root vegetable and waited for them to bloom and grow above ground.  My potato plants have bloomed and maybe the potatoes will grow on the branches??????

 Wait for it to cool down so I can go for a walk today and hope for a breeze so the horse flies won't have me for a snack.  Though I have to say they are great coaches and motivators.  As soon as I start to slow down or dawdle they nip at me and I speed right back up again.

 Wait for the boat guy to call and give Bob the word on a more stable fishing boat to rest here and go in the many area lakes. Since that isn't my wait I can just watch Bob ponder that empty space and what's going to fill it.

 Wait for the weather to break and get cooler so we can put the addition on the Bob house.  But it's only going to be one story so it won't have more square footage than the main house-I hope and I was promised.

But not everything is waiting.  Some things are still blooming and are wonderful to see and smell.  The wonderful part of August is that we can count on some things to bloom every year and bring us joy.  What are you waiting for?  Something at School? Work? Vacation?

And now it's time for lunch.  No more waiting!!!