geraldine newfry

wordless wednesday...the kitties and me

the little christmas tree that wasn't

john and i wanted to buy a small christmas tree that we could put on our dining room table.  what an adventure!  we went to two hardware stores and they were all out of the small ones.  at home depot we picked up a couple of branches so we could have that pine smell at home.  they look so sad on our cast iron tree stand.

we did manage to pick up a kissing ball for our chandelier.  that brought the fresh smell in too.

but no christmas tree.  the next day i decided i would look for an artificial tree.  i must have gone to five stores.  all sold out of small ones.  i was pretty sad.

finally, in desperation, i picked up a poinsettia.  it wasn't so bad, i told myself.

but i missed the tree.  john suggested looking online, but then how would we get it by christmas?

the story continues...

malay chicken salad with curried ginger dressing

this was our dinner last night:

i realized how hard it is to take pictures of food!

here's the recipe:

• 2 c jasmine rice, cooked
• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 c mixed salad greens, or more
• 2 mangoes, cubed

combine flour, cumin, coriander and chicken in a large zip-lock bag.  seal and shake to coat chicken. heat oil in a large skillet,  add chicken to skillet and saute until done.

curried ginger dressing:

• 1/4 c fat free mayonaisse
• 1/4 c peanut butter
• 1/4 c orange juice concentrate
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp curry powder

whisk all ingredients in a small bowl.

divide lettuce, rice, chicken and mango among 4 plates. top each serving with curried ginger dressing.

so easy, but very tasty. nom!

what will i do with all these veggies??

lately, in our csa box, we have been getting a lot of fall squash.  some of it i can identify.  there are two acorn, one butternut and one pumpkin.  the others?  who knows.

if you have a clue, let me know.  better yet, if you have a recipe, that would be great.

my other dilemma is that not all of our tomatoes ripened before the frost.  we picked them anyway.

considering i don't like fried green tomatoes, is there anything else i can do with them?  we do intend to save some of the seeds and see if we can start new plants in the spring.  we have no idea if this is going to work.

aha! some recipes from zemanta!  but still, if you have something tried and true, i'd love to hear it.

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discombobulation

Image by wallyg via Flickr

Sally Jean Alexander just reminded me of this quote:

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." ~ Christopher to Pooh, A.A.Milne

i've been absent from blogging this week and absent from the studio.  i'm discombobulated.  monday we found out that my husband had been laid off.  my very first concern was about the health insurance.  i am two months away from qualifying for medicare.  not because i'm 65 (oh no, just mid 40's) but because i'm on disability.  we're still not sure what the cobra will cost and if we will be able to afford it.  i've been visiting all my doctors this week while we're still insured.  getting prescriptions refilled, checking in.  we'll see what the future holds.

we're also getting used to both of us being at home together all the time.  is this what retirement is like?  this area is going a lot more smoothly.

but my mojo has been missing.  it feels like the perpetual weekend, and i don't usually work when john is home.  i'll have to make adjustments.

and i do really need to get in the studio.  we'll need the cash.  i'll let you know when the etsy shop is stocked.

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in the august garden

john and i are growing squash for the first time.  we had no idea when to pick it.  so i asked twitter.  the answer is: way before now!  look how big they are.  my feet are there for scale.  we grilled one last night and barely made a dent in it.  i foresee a lot more chocolate zucchini bread in my future.

in other parts of the garden, i was shocked to see these lilies.  i absolutely do not remember planting anything here.  once again, i asked the internet what they were.  the answer: amaryllis or surprise lilies.  they were a big surprise to me!

i planted this yellow rose last year.  i'm happy to see it's doing well.

 

we've really enjoyed the garden this year.  i think because it has been cool things have lasted longer.  we're just now getting into more of a fallow season.  unfortunately the cool has been affecting our tomatoes.  we have seven plants but we've only been able to pick some golden cherry tomatoes.  once they're ready though we'll have a ton!  i think i see canning in my future.

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carrots and canes

i believe we may have gotten a little carried away with the carrots this week.  we got some in our csa box, and then couldn't resist some round ones at the farmer's market.  lots of carrots.

 

fortunately, john likes to take them into work for his midday snack.

along with the round carrots we got some itsy bitsy ones.

 

aren't they cute?  we ate them right away.  they were as sweet as baby carrots (which aren't grown small at all, but are big carrots cut up).  and now that i think about, there are about 3 bags of these in the refrigerator too.  our eyesight should be improving by the minute!

i've been reading farmer john's cook book from angelic organics.  i need to figure out what to do with the veggies we get.  i might try one recipe that calls for cooked cucumbers.  that will be interesting.  if i can get it in gear, i'd like to make zucchini bread today.  we have a lot of zucchini, and the squash we are growing is also getting quite big.  john doesn't like zucchini bread (!) but i have a friend with whom i can share.

in polymer news, i worked yesterday on reducing my name cane.  i was really reluctant and frightened to do this because i haven't had much success reducing in the past.  but now i have marla's and kathi's advice to go by.  i was actually quite successful, with little waste.  i'm very excited.  i used the littlest one on the back cover of the book on which i'm working.  for scale, the large grid is one inch.

i really like the idea of having a signature cane.  heartfelt thanks to kathi briefer-gose.

views from the kitchen

i just happened to notice this overwhelming display of coffee and tea paraphernalia the other day when i did the dishes.  there's my hot to go starbucks mug, my cold to go bottle, my french press, the coffee filter from my regular coffee maker, coffee mug and tea strainer.  do you think i love caffeine much?  actually i only start the day with caffeine.  i switch to decaf after lunch.  unless i have to stay out past my bedtime.  then i might make an exception.

i also wanted to show you our community supported agriculture box.  we split a box with my friend, and still look at all the veggies we get!  sometimes we go to the farmer's market after picking up the box.  so our refrigerator has been quite full of green, leafy stuff.  i'm not sure how to cook it all, but my friend just got me "farmer john's cookbook" which should be quite invaluable.  our box is from angelic organics.

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works in progress

i want to write about the remainder of the ipca retreat, but couldn't help sharing what i've been working on the past few days.  at the retreat, heather campbell demonstrated a polymer batik technique (i couldn't find a way to directly link to the post, but if you scroll down one post you will see the example).  i seemed to have used the wrong inks, and made some other mistakes, but here is the book cover i came up with.  i'm considering what to do with it, since it didn't quite come out like i'd wanted.

these are the covers of an address book i'm making for my mom.  she had a small three ring binder, and the original cover came right off.  i have to create a case out of these and then figure out how to attach the original three ring element.  i saw iris weiss use these white dots at the retreat and i fell in love with them.

this is a commission.  i haven't pressed any of the elements down yet, or done my texturing.  i'm not sure that this is what i want the final piece to look like.  i'm going to play around with it more today and take several pictures so i can compare.  kim boehm made the PMC piece.  the book is for her.

i also have a self portrait for "self portrait wednesday".  i took it this morning while chechu kittie was making it impossible to work on the computer.

unity chapel and walking iron b&b

one of the best parts of visiting taliesin was going to the unity chapel grave yard.  all of frank lloyd wright's relatives are buried there.  his grave site was really beautiful.

the entrance to unity chapel.  unfortunately the chapel was closed, but the grave yard was open.

frank lloyd wright's grave.  interestingly, his body is no longer here.  when his third wife died, he was exhumed, cremated, and their ashes were mixed and scattered over taliesin west.

i think this says, "love of an idea is love of god."  i should have brought my journal with me to write that down, since it's so hard to see.  you can also see the wrought iron name on the grave itself.  i really like that vertical rock too.

this was our room at the walking iron b&b.  babo, an ugly doll, travels with me everywhere.  i thought it was nice that when they made the bed, they put him in a place of honor.

these were outside the inn.  you know i wanted to take them home!

in the garden at the b&b.

i took my smoky treats on the porch.  i thought it was nice that they had an ashtray.  must be former smokers.

there are a ton more pictures of our trip on flickr.