ruby crowned kinglette

hello?

well, there really are not good excuses for my absence.  certainly i haven't been crafting, at all. nor have i been in the hospital, or on a world tour, or looking for a church to be married in.  i have been reading a ton, 24 books and counting this year so far, but mostly i just fell off the face of the earth, and finally, just, have found my way back.

at least for today.

my computer died suddenly, pretty suddenly, on december 17th.  when i tipped it over today to get some serial numbers so i could finally just go buy that damned logic board and limp through the next year or so until i buy a new computer entirely i accidentally turned it on and it worked. i am kind of surprised and a little bit sure it won't last, but i have been monkeying around now for 4 hours and 24 minutes and so far so good.

what preceded my (what now seems like) abandonment of my blog what some issues with uploading some photos, it didn't work and then other things didn't work and then nothing worked.  i have a camera full of photos - mostly scrabble game boards and i am nervous  to put them on here for fear it will goof everything up again, so today - at least - there won't be a picture....

tomorrow? who knows.

i owe apologies to many for just disappearing -
julie and alice especially. i am quite embarrassed for how i lost touch entirely, but miss you both tons.

so here is to finding my way back, if only with tiny steps and an unreliable apple by my side, i am at least on the right path.

-steph

consider this post dated december 12-31.... and then some

well, my intentions were pure.

pretty pure, anyway.

but then there was a little hiccup with the computer so it was in the computer shop for a few days. and they said it was fixed, but it isn't really. because what it isn't doing is downloading my photos into something that i can use... and honestly, what good is a blog without a photo? or several?

and all that is important because..., i was going to cheat my way through the month with almost all photos and this glitch puts that little plan to rest.

topping that off i am kind of busy, and kind of distracted with my lack of organization and planning.  no tree this year, and presents? not yet, but i do have that covered.  this one above, a recycled photo from last year.... but i like it so that helps.

instead of worrying about my promise to post every day i am going to sign off for 2008. i want to wish a very wonderful and happy holiday season to everyone out there. i am looking forward to 2009, and am already planning for, and expecting, it to be a great year.  thank you everyone who has continued to stop by and check in with me with my sporadic posting schedule, it means the world to me that you keep coming by.

so, enjoy the next few weeks of 2008 - i will see you in the new year.

-steph

autumn beauty

the lovely, and continually beautiful, oak leaf hydrangea my mom gave to me about 10 years ago.  i love this plant.

feeling better

getting things done - as opposed to not getting things done - feels pretty good.

more for the holiday show this saturday from 11 to 5... if you are in seattle and want to stop by, send me an email or comment and i will get you some directions. 

glowing maples and golden bricks

i love the trees when the leaves have finally fallen.  i have a smaller maple in front of my house that i think is so much more lovely without the green leaves. it's dark grey trunk exposed and so elegant in the cool grey of the winter...

this one is my neighbor's maple, it's self quite lovely in the morning sun.

i tried.....

but my computer conspired against me... so here are three.

three, to make up for the days i have missed.

this was my lunch on thursday.... garbanzo beans like molly says on top of sauted swiss chard... pretty good really.

i woke up and looked outside while still lying in bed and all i could see was a golden glow... so i whipped on some clothes and went outside to take some pictures... exactly what you would expect at 7:30am on a saturday morning... right?

and look! some goodies for the holiday season.  i have a little show with some gals this weekend and am furiously (kind of) getting ready.  these will be a few of the items that i will have. hopefully. as i mentioned before, december has kind of come up on me without me even realizing it was fall, let alone the holiday season.

wet

the dewy wetness of a december morning...

love, dad

it's december 4th, and i am honoring my father's memory. and his presence too, still, after thirty years he is very much a part of who my family is.  amazing, the way people stay long after they are gone. i will always wonder what our lives would have been like had he been here to share them with us. different to be sure. but, i do know he would have been proud.

that is why this project intrigues me so much.  there was discussion at the nearly-empty-except-for-the-wine-glasses thanksgiving table about why documenting family history is so important.  since i don't come from a family with a whole lot of documentation, of heirlooms or stories, i think these kinds of projects and treasures they produce are such wonderful ideas.  although life's events and peoples histories can be reconstructed from sources found, wouldn't it be so much more wonderful to sit down and listen to the people you love, to honor them by asking of their stories before it is too late?

so... i am here today, not regretful, but feeling the still large presence of a man who passed away thirty years ago today.  i wish i knew more of his stories... because i know they would have been good ones.  

out side my window...

this one sits, just waiting for dinner.  i was lucky to have seen her when i did, as she was just beginning to build her web.  so much fun to watch.

i had no idea that she was as pretty as she is... still, she must always stay outside.

we had pie

joanne's pumpkin pie, to be exact.

now it seems that i was a bit selfish earlier and didn't post a recipe - and this pie is so good that you should have the recipe.  so good.

so, so good.

 

joanne’s pumpkin pie

1        10” baked shell

1        envelope gelatin – unflavored
1/4     cup cold water

3        eggs – separated
1/2     cup sugar
1 1/4  cup canned pumpkin – unseasoned
1/2     cup sour cream
1/2     teaspoon salt
1        teaspoon cinnamon
1/4     teaspoon ground cloves
1/4     teaspoon nutmeg
1/4     teaspoon ginger

1/4     cup sugar

1        cup cream – whipped
1        cup sifted powdered sugar
1        teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2    cup chopped pecans

note:  i usually double by half the whipping cream mixture to be certain there will be enough to cover top of pie.

beat egg yolks in 1/2 cup sugar until lemon colored.  add pumpkin, sour cream, salt and spices.  cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until boils, continue boiling for 2 minutes.

remove from heat – stir in softened gelatin.  stir until dissolved.  cool.

beat egg whites until frothy.  add 1/4 cup sugar gradually and beat until stiff.  fold into pumpkin mixture when it has cooled.

whip cream slightly.  gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla.  mix well.

spoon half of the pumpkin mixture into shell.  add 1/2 of cream mixture. repeat.

sprinkle with chopped pecans.

december... you are here too soon

so, it goes without saying, i am not ready for you.

at all.

still and all, i do consider myself a blogger though, and in a valiant effort to get back into the game i am going to post every day.  at least a picture. maybe some words. maybe not.

crossing my fingers...

nope, not me....

oh. thank. god.

let the better part of ourselves begin to shine again.

this is why i think i can be a farmer

it is a beautiful day here and tomorrow is supposed to be nice too, but they may be the last beautiful days for a while.  and these? these are what didn't entirely ripen this year because it was such a late spring and cool start to the summer, so in turn, the tomatoes were late too.  i didn't reap nearly this many ripe fruit, but i will put some of the more colorful ones on the window sill to continue to ripen, and i might make some kind of green tomato somethings with the others.  has anyone pickled the tiny little green ones? was it worth it? did they even taste good?  it could all end up compost but that is ok with me.  the fact that three plants grew so well, and finally produced was good enough for me.  and, it has me inspired to plant more next year - and then some...

these little red ones i was quite excited to find... didn't have more than a couple that ripened so i am thrilled to eat these two in the next few minutes.  i can't remember the variety, chocolate something or other... the tag is outside, but i am inside now and doubt that i am going to outside again in the next little while....

this here is the plant matter i cut down today...  three little plants in june.  i am, from here on out, quite in love with tomato farming.

{this is my second post with photos using typepad's new and 'improved' platform.  i have changed the picture size but it is impossible to tell in the preview what that really is... i found that out last post as they were all to be the same size and well... you can see they are not. so, more fussing is probably in my future. hang tight}

{ok, the photos are huge, but i might like that, so will stick with it for a while and see... but, does it mean it takes forever to load on your end?}

dear typepad....

you've changed and i don't feel any love for you right now.  if you don't shape up we are going to have to part ways.  that makes me really mad and frustrated, so i suggest you shape up.

consider yourself on notice.

-s

road trip!!!

when returning from lopez last month i took the back roads home.  i love the back roads. they are so pretty, rural and make me feel so content with the world. especially on a sunny autumn day.  i thought my friend paul would like to get out of town and look for a pumpkin patch so we tentatively decided that if is was sunny on our day off we would go.

it was sunny.

and we went.

for 350 miles.

a whole lot farther than i had intended but it was necessary because we went east over the mountains and then into the agricultural part of the state and then, to get home, we had to head some distance south and come back over the mountains again.

we started out at the maltby cafe for breakfast, and a little walk around the grounds there.... where i saw something that i might have to go back for, something that will take some reconditioning but will make everyone super, duper green with envy and something that i will have in my ever expanding collection of stuff but probably will never use...  we will see.  i can't show you, because i didn't take a picture, because, i am not so much the photojournalist i should be as blog owner - and sometimes poster.

this is what we came to first... snow!  it was beginning to melt in the sun so it was dripping and plopping from the branches and sounded so peaceful - when i got far enough away from the still running car and stopped talking and looked away from the highway and the ski resort right there in the middle of things.  still, it was quite wonderful.

this is the wenatchee river.  the highway follows it as it runs east down from the mountains.  i love the drive because around the turns the river comes into and out of view as you roll along, always with a peek at the running waters.  we had to stop here because i couldn't take it any longer just spying it from the car.

this is for julie.... except for the beer can - that escaped my notice until just now.  this isn't so far off the beaten track that all kinds of garbage wasn't strewn about. 

people.

 
this was real pretty too...  we didn't see any four legged animals on the drive but here it would have been lovely to have a deer walk up and lap at the water's edge.

 
this is paul, humoring me.  i humored myself by not getting in front of the camera.

 
i did have to take some pictures of the rocks and the water.... and i took a rock too. because i always take a rock.

and then, we got back in the car and carried on our way.  and i forgot that i brought a camera along and i stopped documenting the journey.

so, you won't see photos of leavenworth, and the nutcrackers and the pastry shop and the  lederhosen that paul bought to wear for halloween - ok, not really, but he considered the idea.

and you won't see us drive out of leavenworth heading east through the apple orchards and into wenatchee and past the sonic drive-in. the same sonic we had been talking about earlier in the day because two gals from work drove over the week before just to eat there and we thought that a bit far to go....

and then you won't see us driving even farther east - after a slightly wrong turn toward mission ridge, and then a turn around toward east wenatchee...

and then you won't see me driving and gazing at the river and the apple orchards and the cherry orchards, hoping to see a pumpkin patch since that is really what we were after.  i say me, because at that point paul was taking a nap.

so, he missed (and so will you) the rappellers skittering around the enormous chainmaille being hung and anchored from the cliff face in order to hold back any rocks that wanted to errode onto the highway. but, when i say skittered i don't really mean that, they were being very careful... very, very careful.

and, you won't see us pass the rocky reach dam and journey on toward ephrata.
but, then, take a little turn off at a rest stop - and the rest we took. then the assessment of our location - realizing we were more than half way across the state and our decision to head along the columbia river south toward home.  paul found a nice pod on the ground so that was considered a success in my book.

so, you won't see the farm stand we finally came upon that sold apples, and pears and ripe little yellow tomatoes and butternut squash... and pumpkins.  i bought all those things.  well, one pumpkin, that took much too long to pick given that they really all do look alike.

you won't see all the birds of prey sitting on the fence posts along the fields of alfalpha, grass hay, spearmint, field corn and peppermint.

or the magpies and kestrals along the wires.

and, you won't see us drive through cle elum, and try to have bar-b-que but didn't because they were closed, not because they had john mccain and sarah palin's names on their big sign along the road.  we had mexican food instead. and when we were stuffed we headed west some more...

but you won't see any of the drive over snoqualmie pass, and past another ski resort either. or north bend where we had to stop to use the facilities...

nor the heavy traffic at 6:30 pm as we rolled back into town just moments after i suggested how smart we were to have planned the trip, coming back just after the rush hour and avoiding all the grid lock... moments after.

it was long, and fun and pretty.  exactly what i wanted it to be.

ps.... i don't think we took what could be considered any back roads on this trip, if we did, we could very well still be driving...