That was yesterday, this is today

So, I was going to post some comparison pictures with yesterday's entry and something is screwy with the blog so I'll start a new post.

 I haven't posted a food picture in awhile so when the onion tart came out of the oven last night I thought it might be fun to put a picture of it in the blog.  Onion tart you say? pastry dough, creme fraiche (sour cream), onions and some chicken sausage.  really good.  So good and easy that I think we'll do it again sometime.  Tonight is Eastern chicken from the crock pot and I doubt that there will be any pictures.  Tomorrow we're thinking of making some preserved lemons, but only if there's nothing else to do and we have no power.  Will take pictures of the lemons if we do it.

 A totally unposed picture of the sheep, but kind of cute so I put it in.  They are all tucked in and ready for the storm.

 The house is all put away and looks rather empty and alone.  I raked leaves out of the garden yesterday but so many oak leaves dropped last night and today that you can't tell I did a thing.  We left the bench up because neither one of us wanted to carry it and if it gets blown over by Sandy it will be really something.

 It's not a pumpkin on the front porch, it's a generator.  At least it adds color...

 Getting it all hooked up and ready to go if we need it.  The pellet stove needs electricity to run so if we do lose power we will have heat and some lights.

 A completely different look from summer.  Really isn't enticing at all.  However, if you look closely you can see that we have carrots, beets and some greens growing.  We were going to put some garlic in to winter over, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

 Just some water on a dead leaf and some seed pods.  I thought it looked rather artistic so I took a shot.

 Here's another angle.

And this is the same plant that is in the picture from yesterday with the comment about it looking like it was out of focus and rather yellow?  This is what one day can do to a plant.  Interesting.

Right now I'm reading Mrs Woolf and the Servants. An interesting look at life in well to do homes in England at the turn of the century and the relationship of the help with the families.  Also trying to keep up with the New Yorker and The New York Review of Books.  I don't remember the New Yorker endorsing a candidate and being so political before.  I guess times have changed, but that magazine always seemed to stay out of the fray.

It's Fall

It's fall.  The leaves have fallen from the trees and the  ones that are left are dead oak leaves which are brown.  Most of the color has left the garden and we're left with shades of brown, yellow and a little green.

 The lambs ears are still soft and fuzzy-and green, but they are about the only thing that will stay that way till covered with snow.

 A desparate attempt at color.

 Weirdly enough, this picture is in focus and it's disconcerting to look at it because even in person it looks out of focus.

The Amish chairs are so darn heavy that there is no way Sandy will be able to move them even an inch.  It looks like we'll get some wind and rain, but that's about it.  We're missing the storm again this fall.  Last year Irene went South of us and this year it looks like Sandy will do the same.

 Fall decorative Kale.  On the table outside the door.

Even the Sheep look ready to be tucked in for the winter.

But Bob isn't ready to go in yet.  We're going to curl together this year.  It will be interesting and fun.  I'll curl 2 nights/week, one of them with Bob and the other on my own.  I'll keep you posted as to how that works for me.

Retirement, or lack there of

I really thought that I had retired from motorcycling and was quite happy with my decision.  The bike was sold, the money saved and the summer went well.  Then Bob went with Owen to Max's to pick up Owen's new bike and Bob saw this.  The next day Bob and I went down, he test rode it, fell in love and we brought it home.  Today I tried it out-just to be polite of course, and decided that it was a fun bike to ride. Now let the arguments begin as to who gets to ride it and when.  It's that nice a bike.

There's Bob fixing it up with tank bags and other bags so it will be ready to go at a moments notice.  Too bad its the end of the season instead of the beginning.  But it will be there in the spring and ready to go.

Last month we went to the The Common Ground Fair which is one of the most unusual fairs you'll ever attend.  No rides (other than on wagons pulled by draft horses or goats), no cotton candy or coffee (not raised in Maine), only organic veggies and some of the most unusual foods you'll ever find at a fair.  There were the usual assortment of  farm animals , veggies some of which were wonderful and fun to see.

There were buildings to suit every need.  The perfect guest house which would look sooooo nice snuggled down in the woods behind the house, greenhouses, furnace houses, pizza ovens, all kinds of things.

 Goat transportation for little ones or things.

And a chicken coop with a white picket fence.

 www.thegoodtable.me started their Wed evening cooking classes with a crepe class taught by Michael Roy who is the owner of Phi Home Designs.  The goal of the class is to get people who have fun cooking to come in and demonstrate their favorite recipes and Mike did a great job.  It was a nice evening.

Mike with one of the attendees, swapping notes on crepes,  backyard ice rinks and the state of cooking.










And, we had a great visit with the family last weekend.  It was so good to see everyone and even though the pictures didn't turn out that well, we all had fun and Kristine was missed.

 The nice thing about having 2 sons that look alike is you only have to take one picture and it can pass for either one.  Brian or Colin?  You make the call:)

 And then there's Owen cringing in fear of the "long bomb" that might not go that long.