Fond du Lac Christmas 2008

Andrew said I should post the Christmas Party Pictures right away. Well, I missed a few shots and it took me longer as I had to learn how to put the text next to the individual photos but here it is...


Emily crocheted Andrew a rug out of old plastic bags. Just hose it off and it will last forever! She had at least a dozen of us looking for "colorful plastic bags" in our bag stashes.

Note Bette's use for the tulle bow.



Darleen sewed pillowcases for Pete; seasonal fabrics and just some fun quilt prints. Pete commented he is afraid Jackie will one day see just the print she needs for a quilt block and he will find a hole in his pillowcase!





Jeff received a really cool wooden shelf filled with neatly marked containers of screws, nails and bolts. I think Pete took on the project partly to prove to Jackie that there really is a good use for all those Crystal Light contains that he has been saving for years. Jeff and I are hoping this shelf marks the beginning of a HUGE basement clean up at our house.

Rachel gave her Grandmother a pot she threw.















Bette got one of those fantastic glass blown pumpkins from MIT. We all admired the fancy stem.














Rachel opening some of her many gifts.


















Gordon gave Jackie a collectible Disney Tea Table.













Jeff covered a picture frame in birch bark and used the frame for the picture above on Fresh Bait as a gift to Chris.

Chris painstakingly preserved dozens of beautiful fall leaves for me. She also make a book safe, by gluing all the pages of a book together and then cutting out a hole in the middle for me to hide treasures.

Joe cleverly got his Dad a few boxes of junior mints, popcorn and 6 months of NetFlix.

Deanna knit Emily a beautiful circular scarf of variegated yarn.
The design has a name but I don't recall what it is, basically it is one big circle of a scarf!

I heard the tale of Amanda's gift of beer from Andrew.... poor Jill had to stand in line for hours......

Bette gave Joe a bunch of old wooden pulleys and a duck decoy.

I didn't get to see Bryan's quilt. I saw the pattern and helped pick out the fabrics. Maybe we can see a picture of Bryan and Amanda cuddled under the throw drinking the famous beer!

Darleen Whines

Be prepared... I am going to whine - To complain or protest in a childish, annoying fashion.

It started with a tickle in my throat Thursday night. Now I barely have enough energy to get out of bed. I can't breath, can't sleep, can't stop coughing and my ears hurt. I believe it is the common cold. I am miserable.

Electricity, Story Time, and Christmas

In the past month, we have lost power 3 times. It has been quite an adventure. It makes me a little nervous, since we haven't even had a nor'easter yet. I have now become accustomed to keeping my headlamp near me when we have a storm. The first time was due to 60 mile/hour winds that knocked down a huge tree near our house, we didn't have power for almost 46 hours. I was house sitting and dog sitting for a neighbor with a generator at the time, which was good since I had to make the dog's food everyday.




The other two times were due to wind and an ice storm but the outages were not as only, only a few hours each time. The morning after the ice storm I took a walk around our house. The above is a picture of our house from the edge of the field. See our house way in the distance. I also found a rock wall in the woods that morning. Sorry the picture is a little blurry, it was still pretty wind.





My job at the library is going well. It is beginning to make sense, although it is difficult to not have a designated boss/supervisor and working at home. For one thing, there are many distractions such as Huckleberry, our cat who really likes to jump up on my desk. One day, I left to get some tea and came back to find him sitting on my laptop. He is trouble. Right now he is trying to catch flies again, which is good.



I have started a Pajama Story Time on Thursday nights for preschoolers. We read a couple of books, sing some songs and do an easy craft. They really like to glue things. It is quite the success. I normally have about 8 kids. (This is good for our library. Our Wednesday morning story time has on average 4.) This is a picture from our first night. If you are wondering the space you are seeing is almost our entire children's room. We also had a really fun Halloween party at the library. I dressed up as Minnie Mouse. I thought of the costume the night before and am pretty proud of it. It was inspired by my yellow clogs.



My roommate, Nate and I put up a Christmas tree last week. We only had a few ornaments from his mother, so we collected leaves and pine cones and painted them silver, gold, and blue. I was a little skeptical at first, but they turned out really nice. The picture doesn't do them justice. We also had a few friends over that helped us make the garland.


















Ok, I better get back to work. I'm flying back to Wisconsin on Friday so I'll see most of you soon!

Christmas Party at my Mom's Nursing Home

Mom in her room with the wreath I won.

My Mom and I.

It was the annual Christmas Party at Vintage on the Ponds. We attended last year and were entertained by a huge buffet, a nice "one man band" ( guitar and electric piano) with a wonderful voice ( he even sold CD's) and I won a door prize--- a great LLBean wind-up flashlight. The party is a bit of excitement in a very dull world.

This year was also great- although Jeff was disappointed there were not little wieners and meatballs in BBQ sauce like last year. Piano and drum duets, acoustic guitar and Girl Scouts entertained us. When we arrived, my mom was sitting next to one of the more mobile male residents of the home, Bob. At the Valentine's Day Ball last year Bob really danced up a storm with not only female residents but the staff. I think in his youth Bob would have been a "ladies man". He had those women really swinging around without their much needed walkers. During this Christmas Party he was REALLY excited to be sitting next to Rachel.

Bob also had lots of food, on his plate, on the table and on the floor. Peanuts were everywhere and I kept trying to brush them back towards him. Unfortunately, we got up to get food and came back to my "pureed only food" mom eating peanuts. At the same time an aid stopped by with a piece of lemon meringue pie for her and said " I don't think Faith can have peanuts". Well she may not be able to have them but she sure enjoyed them and did a good job of chewing them up!

They only give out 8 door prizes and I won again. I selected a wreath and we put it in my mom's room. Jeff also won. He picked out this odd, 18" long snowman ornament that would complement a Dr. Seuss themed Christmas. It is kind of cool but we are all puzzled as to what to do with it. I didn't take a picture of Jeff with his prize but if we figure out some way to use it I will post it.

Graduation and What Comes After

There are not many photos from Andrew's graduation last weekend, because the auditorium was dark and difficult to photograph. However, there's a good picture of his T-shirt quilt as well as a nice shot of Andrew looking thoroughly graduated.


After our whirlwind week, we spent this weekend at home: finishing holiday cards, drying the cranberries left from Thanksgiving, canning Bryan's sauerkraut, making granola to see us through the week...and decorating for Christmas. Since we're gone so much, we didn't want to have a tree, but we did want to put up our decorations and display ornaments.


Okay, other people should post now!

More Thanksgiving Photos

Deanna emailed me a few more Thanksgiving photos. So check out the slideshow again.

The Big Thanksgiving Feast of 2008

A Huge Thank You to Jackie!
Without her help and expert advice, Thanksgiving Dinner would have never gotten on the table.


The Menu

Beverages
Cranberry Punch
Hot Wassail
Manhattan's
Assorted Coffees

Hors d' oeuvres
Whipped Brie with Cranberry Salsa
Crudite Platter
( which included yummy carrots Jeff dug the previous day from our garden)
Cheese Platter with Assorted Crackers
Deanna's Bean Salsa with Chips

The Feast
Turkey with Herb & Wine Sauce
Cornbread & Mushroom Stuffing
Sausage & Herb Stuffing
Grandma Bette's Creamed Corn
Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Praline Squash Casserole
Roasted Root Vegetables & Brussels Sprouts with Rosemary & Thyme
Cranberry Jello with Grapes and Oranges
Chris' Molded Cranberry Jello
Cranberry Sauce with Oranges and Apples
Mr. Whiskers Cranberry Bread
Squash Dinner Rolls
Burnt Dinner Rolls ( Sorry!)

Dessert
Jackie's Pumpkin and Pecan Pies
Darleen's Apple Cream Pie
Jill's Apple Cake
Sweetened Whipped Cream for Everyone!

Don't forget you can click on the picture to make it larger.

The Day After

Our Thanksgiving dinner was glorious. The house smells heavenly again this morning, because we are using our turkey carcass to make stock. (It's too bad there's no way to upload smells.) Bryan had a moment of distress this morning because there was "no breakfast". However, I quickly reminded him that there was pie...what else would one have for breakfast on the day after Thanksgiving?

There will be no shopping for us today. The thought of going to the mall, or any store, is nauseating. Maybe we'll walk downtown to mail letters and go to the library. We'll spend the rest of the weekend relaxing, and delving into the leftovers whenever we are hungry. I can't think of anything better.

When I picked up all our vegetables last week, I put the onions in a blue pottery bowl, because I didn't have another place for them at that point. I really like the way they looked in the bowl, so I took a picture.

For those of you looking for bizarre, slightly sinister yet remarkable crafts to keep you busy over the weekend, check out these! (A warning to the faint of heart: these crafters are irreverent, to say the least...but their ideas are very cool.)

I started knitting last night while we were sitting around with our guests. I have some recycled cashmere yarn that, so far, only other people have knit with, so I cast some on some 16" size 10 round needles and just started going. It will be a round thing when it's done. Maybe a headband, maybe the neck of a turtle neck. We'll see. The yarn is lovely to knit with!


Last weekend, I finished and posted the Christmas tree skirt that I made for Bryan's aunt Jan. She's not a quilter, so please don't anyone point out to her that my corners don't match.

Is it time for second breakfast yet?

CSA blog

Rather than sending an e-mail each week with our CSA newsletters, our farmers have started a blog. If you like to read about farms and vegetables, you may want to add this one to your list:
http://massaudubonblogs.typepad.com/views_from_drumlin/
Our first pick-up for the winter share is this Thursday, and Bryan and I are sharing a full share with our friends Becky and Peter. We'll let you know whether we decide to do the bread share!

Bus Trip to Branson

I had an interesting trip to Branson, Missouri last week.  I went with my girlfriends Jennifer & Marian on a bus trip sponsored by the Hospital 's "retirees" organization.  We were the youngest ones on the bus, and they made us sit in the back seat because we were too noisy and laughed too much.  But it was a good time, and the shows were fun to see!  It's kind of a "Wisconsin Dells" place - with lots of fudge shops and roller coasters scattered  between all these fancy theaters and hotels.  

The Ozarks and the lakes are beautiful - a very pretty part of the country.  But I could sure tell I was in one of the RED states!  Give me those New England liberals any day (Amanda & Bryan?).   I've only ever driven through a part of Missouri before, but this time I had a little more of a taste of it - although I realize Branson is a rather  an artificial taste.  It just takes traveling to make you realize home is best.  Pete asked me if they had indoor plumbing there - yes, they do. And you can even flush.  And no, it's not where they filmed "Deliverance" (another one of Pete's questions).

But on the long bus ride I read a whole book and paper-pieced a new quilt I'm working on.  So that was fun.  Vacations are a good thing.  Now it's back to work!  

More Polls?

I wanted to play with the gadgets on the Blogger template. The only poll I could think of was favorite Thanksgiving foods. So... vote for your favorites. Sorry the template doesn't give me color changing options for the percentage numbers or the ability to have a "write in" vote. If you are adamant about a food that I neglected to list, you will have to email me!

Minnesota Nice

That's us all over the place.

Well Joe darn went and did it and I am sure glad he did. He went out yesterday afternoon and got a buck. It has long spikes and seems to be good sized. I am so glad. When you think about all of that meat for around $25.00, you can't beat it. Anyway, now comes the butchering and all of that. I plan on canning a bunch of it and freezing the rest.

We had some snow over the last couple of days, a little on the ground, but nothing to write home about. I keep threatening to move to the UP where I would be pretty much guaranteed snow. Guess that would be quite a commute for Joe, however. Maybe we will have to find a nice retirement cottage up there some day.

Ta-ta for now.

love

hi everybody,
now this my first try. it's snowing here. thats the news of the day. watch for a blog someday when i can really think this through. emily, i want to tell you that ardi and ed's is closed is closed for the winter. and mandy, i am so proud of your food processing . and andrew, don;t drink all the beer. deanna and i want some. and rachel, you turned 16 , and that that is a milestone. be happy everybody. talk to you later. gramma.

Our Night at the Brewpub

Jeff, Rachel and I were going to a favorite restaurant in Mineral Point that brews their own beer and Bryan's post about beers made me want to try some. Bryan said that many places offer small "samplers" of their beers so I was hopeful. But, I should have know... this is Wisconsin... "Land of Supersize It."

Brewery Creek is so wonderful with locally grown products and everything made from scratch ....the owner even goes out into the woods and picks his own mushrooms. But no "samplers" offered here. Instead they offered something with a cute name (which I already forgot) and it turned out to be 1/2 gallon of beer. Obviously I didn't order that!

I had Krista Weiss. It smelled nice, like fruit and bubblegum. It was a pretty golden color. Unfortunately I didn't taste fruit or bubble gum when I drank it. I didn't like the flavor it left in my mouth when I ate the wonderfully fresh, mixed greens salad with raspberry horseradish dressing or my entree of Sesame Ginger Chicken. I soon switched to water and coffee and Jeff drank most of my beer.

Jeff had the Irish Stout and enjoyed it a lot. He actually liked my Krista Weiss too. I was attracted to the creaminess of the Stout. Jeff had a red wine and shallot bistro steak. Followed by Bourbon Pecan Pie. I should mention out hotel was close so we knowingly chose to walk to the restaurant!

Rachel was the real winner in the event. She ordered home brewed root beer. She liked it so much she followed it with a glass of home brewed cream soda. She loved her Pasta Alfredo and the two of us shared a piece of tres leches cake with raspberry sauce. Divine.

HI

HI, I'm new to this blogging stuff!! The skies look like snow but, we've got to drop a few degrees before it comes ... anyway, I just found my long underwear! Bring it on!!

Wrap Rage

All these years Jeff and I have toiled and suffered without knowing the name of our condition. We have used scissors, knives and yes, even our teeth to try and solve the problem. Today I found out we have "Wrap Rage."

As if they already didn't carry everything, Amazon has the cure (and with less waste). Click HERE to go to the site and then click on the black arrow in the yellow circle to watch the video. Don't you just love the pirate ship? Wish I had someone to buy it for.

Christmas Names

Rachel has the Christmas Names for 2008 on her desk. (Actually she has several former years there also if you are curious)

If you can wait until about 9:00 PM every night Rachel can take care of it. If it is an "emergency" request, Rachel has given me permission to look at the list and email the appropriate name out.

Just email. It is probably better to email me and I will verbally forward the request to Rachel.

Night of the Funk

Many of you know that Amanda and I are into beer. A few times a year we get to indulge our hobby to an extent unbelievable to any who haven't experienced it first-hand.

The name "Beerfest", unfortunately brings to mind scenes from a terrible movie of the same name, or dreams of wild college parties. The events we attend are far removed from such inanity, however.

Take, for example, our latest visit to "Night of the Funk", and smaller, more-focused evening part of the larger "Belgian Beerfest", run by the BeerAdvocate website/magazine.

To attend Night of the Funk is to forget what "beer" usually means. Not often during the evening to you hear the words "bitter", "roasty", "watery", "conventional". Belgian beer (forgetting the funk) has its own stereotypes: rich, golden color; thick head; full body; sweet taste. This stereotypes stems from the common practices of adding very little hops to the beer, while at the same time adding candi sugar.

Now, add the funk. What's "funk"? Infection. Many Belgian beers are "open fermented" - that is, after they've boiled the wort, they put it in a large, open vat, and allow yeast from the air to ferment it. This "wild" yeast often has a "tang", or sourness to it. In some cases, a brewer will even add a yeast or other bacteria (often "brettanomyces"), that is known to produce a sour flavor.

Occasionally, a brewer will decide to go above and beyond and add yet other flavors - aged/smoked wood, cherries, other fruit, honey. They may even choose to introduce some of the more floral hops (or even other flowers!), or other roasted malts, uncommon to Belgian beer.

The result is beer that ranges from fresh and palette-clearing, like lemonaid, to lip-puckering, like crab apples. From tannin-filled woody, like a fine wine, to sweet and creamy, like syrup.

At the end of the night, it's more likely that your tongue will be tired from tasting so many different flavors, than from numbed inebriation. There are, of course, those who fall into the second category, but through proper pacing, and enjoyment of the chocolate, cheese, waffle, and other food pairings also provided (and plenty of water!), there is no reason to.

Boston happens to have a strong community around this hobby, but these fests are becoming more common in other parts of the country. In fact, it's likely that you'll be able to find at your local beer store beers from either the Ommegang brewery or the Unibroue brewery - they each have some interesting (and tasty! brews). Chimay is another Belgian-style that is commonly available around the country. If you're interested in giving the event wider world of experimental brewing a try, drop me a line, and I'm sure we can find some way to hook you up.

Track Suit Weekend

My girlfriend Jill and I went to a hotdish potluck last weekend and decided to wear our matching tracksuits. We also had an extra. Don't worry, we're bringing them to Thanksgiving, too.





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I am a Daffodil?

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

I noticed these cute little flower pictures on several gardening blogs. So, today I finally took the quiz to see what "flower" I am.

I was tad disappointed with the results. I would much rather be something more exotic, something with a pleasant fragrance; a moonflower, an orchid, a purple heliotrope, old fashioned nicotina or even a star gazer lily. I could see myself as a morning glory or hanging wisteria. But alas I am a plain, old, bulbous daffodil. Perhaps there is some truth to the quiz!

HERE is the link if you want to give it a try.

new member

its been a hard journey, but with darleen,s hard work we made it! will talk to you all later. right now i have to take a nap.

What a Wedding!

We were in Chicago last weekend for the wedding of our friends Michelle and Corey. Michelle went to Wellesley with me, and Corey went to MIT with Bryan and was one of his fraternity brothers. They've lived in Boston since they graduated, and they just moved back to Chicago this fall. Their wedding was a spectacular black tie event.

The wedding was on Sunday evening in the ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton. We entered into a hallway lined with violinists playing "Over the Rainbow", and that really set the tone for the evening: lavish. Michelle and Corey are Jewish, so after we collected our place cards, Bryan went into one room with all the men to congratulate/roast Corey as he gave a Torah lesson, and I went with all the women into another room to congratulate Michelle. Eventually, everyone gathered in the women's room so that Michelle and Corey could sign their marriage contract (a beautiful work of art), and then we all went into the ballroom for the ceremony itself.

The officiant was a rabbi from MIT that Michelle and Corey had gotten to know in college, and he made the service really fun - he's used to explaining all the Jewish traditions to non-Jews, and he translated all the Hebrew. After the service, there was a cocktail hour while the ballroom was set up for dinner and dancing.

The meal was special as well. The food was all kosher, but in addition to that, it was gluten-free, since Michelle has a gluten allergy. Everything was delicious - and very fancy. There was dancing throughout the evening, including the traditional one where the bride and groom are carried on chairs. With all these weddings, our ballroom dancing lessons have been put to good use!

It was wonderful to see so many friends from college: lots of MIT men and Wellesley women, as well as lots of MIT-Wellesley couples, many of whom had been originally set up by our friend Meghan. So, enjoy the pictures! I am trying to think of many other opportunities for Bryan to wear his tuxedo!

Turkeys Advance on the Crows

I have been reading a blog called gardenpath for over a year. I discovered it while reading the online version of the Rockland newspaper. Sandy, the blogs author, takes fantastic photos, writes nice poetry and has beautiful woods and gardens around her house.

Today's post was all about a fight between the turkeys and crows. I thought her play by play description of the action was pretty funny. HERE is the link.

News from the North

Speaking of tomatoes, I had gotten some from a friend and today I canned six quarts of stewed tomatoes and one jar just full of juice that I will add as a broth for something. There are more in the basement ripening as we speak.

Dinner tonight is a Moroccan Stew called Harvest Tagine. Lots of interesting flavors in it. Should be quite tasty.

Joe is out getting in the last lawn mowing for the year. Then it will be time to rake leaves and that should take care of the yard until spring.

The dam is complete and the pond is now almost full. We have seen, and heard, mostly wood ducks. Saw five fly in and land this past week. Nice to check out around dusk.

That's all for now from Northern Minnesota.

Tomatoes!

A sale on tomatoes at my favorite farm stand in Walworth, so I bought a flat. (Who could not LOVE a farm stand when the farmer's last name is Pepper. Actually Mr. & Mrs. Pepper were neighbors of the Rambow's back in the 50's and 60's, but then I guess that is another story.)

Trying to think of what to do with them all. I have eaten BLT's now for 2 days. I was kind of thinking that the breakfast casserole in the previous post might be good with a few chopped tomatoes in. Spaghetti Sauce doesn't excite me and I only like fruit salsas, like peach and mango. Any other suggestions?

Breakfast at the Shack

Hi Everyone!

We had a lovely weekend up at the rural Dunbar accommodations - beautiful weather and a rainbow of gorgeous fall colors surrounding us.  Grandma made this new recipe for one of our breakfasts, and she wanted me to share it with you.  It really was very good, and I'm sure it could be easily "tweaked" to use whatever you have in your refrigerator.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STRATA

1/2 cup softened butter or margarine, divided

12-16 slices day old bread, crusts removed

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cups sliced onions

salt & pepper to taste

1 pound bulk Italian sausage (she used Jimmy Dean), cooked and drained

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

5 eggs

1 T Dijon mustard

1t ground nutmeg

1t ground mustard

2 T minced fresh parsley

Using 1/4 cup butter, spread one side of each bread slice with the butter.  Place half of the bread butter side down, in a greased 13X9 baking dish.  In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms and onions with remaining butter.  Add salt and pepper.  Spoon half of the mushroom mixture over the bread in the prepared pan.  Top with half of the sausage and cheese.  Layer with the remaining bread, mushroom mixture, sausage, and cheese.  In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, and ground mustard.  Pour over the cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Uncover, bake 10-15 minutes longer or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Sprinkle with parsley.  Yield: 12 servings.

I think you could easily use another kind of cheese - and lots of other veggies.  A convenient breakfast for company!  Andrew - you could easily make this without the sausage.   Happy Cooking!     Jackie

Up North at the Shack

Beautiful Weather, Delicious Food, Good Times with Family---





( If you want to see these larger, click on the photos and go to my album )

Guess who is famous?

Check out this article in the local paper.

http://knox.villagesoup.com/commbriefs/story.cfm?storyID=128981

It was 3rd page of the paper! Must have been a slow news day:)

Leaving on The American Eagle

Thought you all might as well worry about storms with me. The last hurricane didn't do much but I read "Message in a Bottle" AND saw the movie, so you never know....Emily is sailing Wednesday night on a 92 foot Schooner called "The American Eagle". I don't know if I have the story correct. But I am sure Emily will post when she returns.

"Nate used to work with someone who left their job last year and now is the cook on a schooner. When the boat is not full, the cook has 2 cabins. She invites people for free if they help load and unload the boat. They only go out 100 miles into the ocean and Emily returns Monday morning".

I am quite jealous, tree color and all but I console myself with the thought that it will be COLD on the sea. You can read about the boat HERE.

Attack Update

Well if you recall last night I couldn't shut my eye. Finally took 2 more Benadryl, rubbed lidocaine on my eyebrow and slipped into a drugged induced "coma". This morning I woke feeling 100% better as I noticed no pain.....then I tried to open my eyes. Now the eye lid won't open.

When I placed my glasses on my nose it was such an odd sensation to have my eye lid rubbing on the glass lens. Yes, my eyelid is so swollen it hits the glass. If I tip my head way back, I can see only a tiny bit out of a little slit at the bottom of my eye. This must have been just what Rocky faced. No way am I going to let someone cut my eyelid though.

I have learned several things throughout this whole ordeal;
1. I am going to take care of my eyes as it is highly annoying to be seeing out of just one.
2. I am keeping a fly swatter with me at all times when I go outside.
3. I will always keep Benadryl, lidocaine, Advil and ice on hand.
4. I am really wimpy about pain.

You Idiots! They're Plastic Apples

I have a large vine wreath on the back door. The whole wreath is covered with fake apples. The apples look somewhat real, in fact I noticed the plumber giving one a little squeeze the other day. The red apples look nice on my white back door. I would take a picture of it for you but unfortunately I can't as I am not going outside again until we have a hard freeze.

You see, this morning I felt great. I started by dusting the ceiling, walls and all the horizontal surfaces. While I washed the woodwork, 3 rag rugs swished in the washer. I was just getting ready to vacuum the floors when the washer finished. It was such a nice day outside I thought I would hang the rag rugs over the porch railings to dry. Saves energy and one can't beat that smell of laundry dried out-of-doors.

When I opened the door, I noticed about a dozen hornets ( maybe wasps, I'm not an expert) all on my wreath. I hung out two of the rugs and as I went back in I said (out loud for some reason)," You Idiots, They're Plastic Apples. Fly about 50 feet southeast and eat some real ones off the tree". I grabbed the last rug and not wanting to risk disturbing the hornets again, I went out the French Door in the kitchen.

I guess my comment made them angry as when I placed the rug over the railing I didn't even get to see it coming, or leaving for that matter. All I felt was multiple stinging over my left eye. By the time I walked back into the kitchen to get ice and then to the bathroom to look in the mirror my eyebrow had swollen to the size of a apricot.

I have never been stung by a hornet before. Bee yes, but not repeatedly by a wasp or hornet. During the past 12 hours since the sting, I have tried "lightly dragging a credit card across the area to remove the stinger", ice bag after ice bag, hydrocortisone and baking soda pastes, two Benadryls and 4 Advils. And, it is still not much better. Well, the swelling is down a little ( it was up to plum size) and before if I walked around it hurt more. Now I can walk. At least I didn't have any signs of anaphylactic shock. You might wonder why I am still up, well it is because my eye lid is so swollen it won't shut.

So, the floors never did get vacuumed or washed. Rachel wants to go to Little Farmer tomorrow for apples. Slim chance I think.

Saturday Dinner

It is raining very hard here in Boston today...but it's probably not as bad as the weather Emily is having up in Maine. Apparently, there are hurricane warnings there, which is uncommon. However, I have spent more time than is desirable wandering around outside in sodden jeans, because the downpour runs off my raincoat and onto my legs. Blech.

We made up for it by cooking yet another delicious dinner. I didn't have time to take pictures, because eating it was more important:

1) Deanna's canned venison. So delicious, and all we did was put it in a pot with some salt and pepper, and cook it just a little bit. Wow. We need friends who hunt and can, because we have got to get more of that!

2) Mashed potatoes. Boiled potatoes mashed with four shallots (melted in butter over low heat) and half a brick of cream cheese. (Bryan: "We don't really have any dairy products." Me, after a pause: "There's cream cheese!" Bryan: "That's amazing. Do you just keep a catalog of our dairy products in your head?" Me: "Yes.")

3) Garlic greens. Bok choy, collard greens, and broccoli sauteed with garlic and olive oil. Not the most exciting part of the meal, but always tasty.

4) A delicious Belgian ale, La Chouffe from Brasserie d'Achouffe.

5) Dessert. Mexican-style Taza cinnamon chocolate. The company is nearby, in Somerville, Mass., and I got some of their chocolate at the farmers' market last week. We will try to use it for hot chocolate as well. 

I hope that you are all eating as well as we are!

Dinner, and Conservation Restrictions

1. Tonight for dinner, we made potato leek soup. It is incredibly easy: saute chopped leeks in butter, add about two cups broth or water and bouillon cubes, add about six diced potatoes, cook until the potatoes are soft, then remove from heat and add one and a half cups of milk or cream. We had a bunch of carrots, so I added those with the potatoes. Our dairy product of choice was half and half, since I'd bought some for a recipe last week and wanted to use it up. I love dinner.

2. Chris e-mailed me and mentioned that potentially the last weekend at the hunting shack is coming up, because the other owners are ready to sell, and it would be very expensive to buy them out, and people were going to be talking through all the options soon. I wondered whether anyone had looked into setting up a conservation restriction/easement (different names in different states). These can be structured differently, to allow for different kinds of use in different areas, and they very often come with tax benefits for the landowners, and a lower purchase price for the land when it's sold, because it doesn't have an unlimited potential for development. Local land trusts, conservation organizations, and even the state are all bodies that can "hold" the conservation restriction. Just thought I'd throw this out there - perhaps it's something worth pursuing, if protecting the land from development is the most important thing.

Anyone else read "Five Quarters of the Orange"?

I joined a new book group this fall. The one I was in last year met at the library for an hour. We sat on hard wooden chairs and drank instant coffee. Nice ladies, but not much discussion. The librarian choose the books.

A group NFDL friends got together this summer and I was invited to join. This group has more rules than the library group; lots of food MUST be served but don't try to show off, alcohol must be available, the person who hosts the group at her house gets to choose the book and lead the discussion. It must be the food and alcohol because there sure is more discussion!

Last month we read Jeanette Walles memoir The Glass Castle. I kept thinking, " What is wrong with these parents?" It is hard to imagine that most of the kids in that family were resilient enough to succeed in life.

This month is Five Quarters of the Orange. Since two themes of the book are food and migraines, the book was VERY interesting to me personally. It is full of symbolism. I was impressed how the author Joanne Harris wove two timelines of the story together. I had to take notes to keep it all straight. But, my lack of understanding French and German got to me a little. I kept having to run to the computer to look up words and phrases. What would I have done before the computer? Call the reference librarian? And then, as if the French and German wasn't enough trouble, the father in the book made up his own language "Bilini Enverlini". Even when the code to understanding was given, I still found it difficult to find the real words hidden in all the extra "ili's" and words written in reverse. Fun read but I wonder if is available in "Cliff Notes"?

Flies, Wild Turkeys, and Me

A few weeks I moved into this great old farmhouse. As you can see from the pictures above I now have a fireplace, wood stove, big wooden beams, oil paintings and great views. It is going to be an adventure living here over the winter. The woodstove is our main source of heat. There is also a propane monitor and electric baseboards, but from what people tell me I won't need them. I don't know, right now I am having trouble just keeping a fire going in the fireplace.

There are a bunch of small hiking trails in the woods that surround the house. I went walking for over an hour today and never had to retrace my steps. I saw 2 cranes, a chipmunk, and a woodpecker. There is a flock of wild turkeys that live in the field and several deer. There is also an Barred Owl that we hear every night. It is so fun to live in the woods!

What you cannot see from the pictures are the house flies. Within the last two days, we have had an out break of flies. Any advice on how to get rid of them? I looked briefly on the internet today. I made a fly trap, which turned out to be for fruit flies not house flies. I also read that if you hang a sandwich bag filled with water above your door the flies won't come in. It sounded kind of crazy, but right now I have a bag full of water hanging above my bedroom door. I'll let you know if it worked.

Ok thats all for now. This is just so fun!

Up North News

Our news is that we are finally having our pond fixed and should be completed this week. Maybe it will be done in time for a bird migration to hang out in for a while. I am excited to have a pond full of water again. Everyone come see it!

Also, soon I will post on our trip. For those that don't know, I took Joe to San Fransisco for his 50th birthday (9/04/08). We had a blast. More on that later.

Masters of the Pizzaverse

Bryan said it: we are masters of the pizzaverse! (Use your best announcer voice when you say that in your head.) Dinner this evening was pizza with olive oil, parmesan, swiss chard, fresh tomatoes, onion, and some cheddar to top the whole thing off. Oh boy, do I love dinner! Yes, it's this good practically every night.

In other news, we have canned the hot peppers. There are 12 half-cup jars of pickled peppers. Mom, if you're reading this, they are packed in cider and white vinegar, and I processed them for 10 minutes in boiling water. I heard all the jars make the sound, but I'd like some reassurance that I'm not going to give

anyone botulism. The USDA canning guide is just not as convincing as you are!

It is almost time for the squash to begin arriving from the CSA...but there's still squash in the freezer from last winter, so on Sunday, I made pumpkin bars (Dad's sister Ruth's recipe) with some defrosted winter squash. I took many of them to our CSA potluck. We are doing our best not to eat the remaining ones all at once. They are delicious.

Yes, our lives revolve around food. Are you hungry yet? When are you coming to visit?

This blog is a brilliant idea - thanks, Darleen!

Front page of the Pioneer Press

During my last semester of college, I'm interning with the Pioneer Press (the St. Paul city newspaper). This piece that I wrote about Vatican art was on the front page of the paper last Friday. Neat, huh?

You can find it here.

Welcome to Fresh Bait!

I decided last night that we should have a Worm Family Blog. A place to jot down what you are doing, post a picture or two, suggest a new book to read, or ask Bette for the Christmas Cut-Out Cookies recipe. A place to easily "Keep In Touch".

Eventually I will "invite" all of you as "guest bloggers". Right now I don't know how to do that. After all, I was born in 1953 and can now go on Elderhostel trips, but I will search the "Help" section and try to figure it out. I will also try to make the picture behind the title just a bit smaller and the slideshow a little bit larger!

I have set the blog to be unlisted, but I still think "a stranger" could find it if just clicking the "next blog" button so obviously don't post your social security number or anything else important. Maybe posting the treasured Christmas Cookie Recipe is not a good idea either!