Hurricane Irene...

I haven't posted for a few days because we had no power in Windham.  I took this from my porch during the storm.  The low area by our driveway filled with water and ran over the road.  We had our pond.

Blue skys and sunshine on the day after the storm.  Attempting to get out of Windham represented quite an obstacle course.  We drove under these wires.

This is Harrington Road and it is indicative of what we found everywhere we went.

Baba-a-Louis Bakery...

This is a local bakery that makes pizza on Friday night.

Lucky us!  Their pizza is scrumptious!

Another Sunflower...

I know, another sunflower.  I just can't resist.  With a hurricane coming, I am also appreciating the blue sky today.

Dinner for Four...

Dinner for four tonight.  Who's hungry?

Mushroom...

I was wandering around Vermont this morning when I came upon this most wonderful mushroom.  I think we will have it for dinner.

Just kidding.

Quilting Fun...

I was sewing on my quilt minding my own business.  I got up to iron a piece of fabric and this is what I found when I returned to my machine.  Lydia thought this was great fun!

More Bounty...

And then there were blackberries.

That turned into jam with 19 quarts of applesauce on the side.

Farmer's Market...

The vegetables were extremely beautiful this morning.

For once I am not exaggerating!

Stray Sunflowers...

More stray sunflowers that the birds strewed.

Sunflowers...

The birds dropped sunflower seeds all over our property this spring.  Most of them got mowed down but a few remain.  Trouble is when these get a bit more mature, they will attract the black bears that wander over our mountain daily.  We do not like black bears in our back yard.

Pickles...

Tommy picked a peck of pickled cucumbers.  His wife promised him half-sours.

Apples...

Apples from our apple tree.  These might become a pie.

Cukes...

Future pickles.

Jam Day...

Another day of canning and the window sill is full.  Tom picked enough blackberries for two batches of jam.  Fun!

Peach Jam...

Tommy and I stopped at Bolton Orchards on the way home from the Cape for some of their local peaches.  And today they turned themselves into jam.

Yankee Male Chorus...

Last night we cooked dinner for the Yankee Male Chorus, all 55 of them.  Tommy and I peeled 25 pounds of potatoes for scalloped potatoes, we had ham, tossed salad and rolls.  Then we listened to them sing, wonderful!

Too Many Apples...

Too little time.

This is what happens when we go to the Cape for five days in August.

A sad state of affairs.

The first of what ended up being three wheel barrows full of drops.

We are thankful that there are still plenty more for applesauce.  I am hoping to spend Friday cranking the Foley food mill.  Unsweetened applesauce is perfect for baking delicious bread next winter.



Peaches...

It's peach season in Vermont and there will be jam tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Tommy...

Today Tommy is celebrating his 16th birthday.  Where does the time go?  Just yesterday he was born.  Or was it?  He looks so serious in this picture but he really is a great, fun kid to be around.  But for me, he will always be my little boy, under my arm, listening to me read a book.

Cape Blackberries...

Laurie and I had such a fun day wandering around the Cape.  These berries were at a farm in Orleans and it was all I could do not to pick one.  I didn't.  When I get back in Vermont there will be plenty of berries for me everyday.

Marshside...

We had lunch at the Marshside restaurant today.  This was the view out our window.

Dinner at Laurie and Steve's...

Lucky me to have a son-in-law who is a chef and a daughter who writes a food column.  Dinner at their house is always special and tonight was no exception.  Steve prepared the exact dinner that they had in a restaurant in Wellfleet last night.  It was striped bass with a balsamic reduction over mashed potatoes.  To go along with this there was roasted asparagus and tomatoes.  Yummm!

Butterfly...

Beauty amongst the sunshine and shadows.

Table Runner...

This is the first square in a table runner I am making for Miss Dana.  Lydia made this same runner for our chicken barbeque raffle and I am now copying it.  Why, you say?  Christian was here with his family the day of the raffle and Dana loved this.  She and I both put all of our tickets in the jar to win it and we didn't win.  I was lucky to find the focus fabric.  As you can see, its not exactly ordinary.

Just the Beginning...

The beginning of the outrageous zucchini crop!