GLORY...GLORY

This is the view from my deck a couple of mornings ago.  Even though I often 'edit' my photos this is an entirely untouched, unedited photo.  It was the most amazing sunrise I have ever witnessed.  I had been sitting on the couch with my morning coffee, looking out the window to the west, when I noticed that everything was a glorious pink color.  I quickly grabbed my camera and went on the deck which faces east.  What a blessing this was!

Today, Sunday, is another glorious day.  This autumn, at least so far, is absolutely stunning, and the weather has been the best we've had all year.

I have just returned from a bike ride where this tree is only one of many

whose colors are unbelievable.  The reports are that Autumn's peak will not be until the 3rd week in October, but that is really hard to believe at this point.

On my return home I decided to harvest the Sweet Potatoes...

Sweet potato vines do not die back like white potato vines, indicating when one should harvest.  I dug one hill and determined they were ready, and proceeded to dig them all.

A nice crop of sweet potatoes (a garden cart full) which will cure for a day or two before storage. 

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

Quite honestly it seems just a few weeks ago that I held 3 month old Iris on my chest, her cheek nestled gently on my bare skin, as I sang softly to her.  So much love and happiness has filled the years since, and tomorrow she turns 8 years old.  I did daycare for her three days per week for three years, while her mom went back to work.  There is a strong and special bond between this young girl and I, and I have been privileged to have been entrusted with her care.  

I know I took this venture with an utter and sever seriousness.  I so wanted to be worthy of being her care taker, that I spent the ensuing three months prior to my retirement in deep spiritual study.  

I love this child so much, and pray that I will be a good and honest model for her.  

(Needless to say I deeply love her younger sister, Elsa madly as well.)

Happy Birthday, Iris.

Each year I welcome the challenge of making the birthday cake of whatever choosing the girls want.  This year Iris wanted a Bunny cake, which when she told me, I thought it was the simplest of her requests, i.e., in the past a Conestoga Wagon, a dog, etc.  She wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, too.

 

The bunny cake....

She loved it.

(Iris shares her birthday with her Nina, Andy's mother, who was here for the celebration, too.)

A flannel nightie I made for her

and below is her birthday card.

This year I needle-felted her birthday card, as one of the gifts I was giving her was a needle-felting kit...

...so she can needle felt scenes of her own.

This child has adorned my life with such love and joy!  In some ways I regret that as I grow older, time seems to speed by so much faster then ever before.  Still it is good to slow down, hold each moment close and precious, and see how filled with eternity it really is.  I feel blessed beyond words, and being a grandmother is by far the greatest highlight of my older years.

THE HARVEST 2014

It has been a very busy harvest season, quite extended compared to the last 13 years.  It has seemed unending...

...awaiting the harvest...

  In the past we have sold both our red/purple grapes, St. Croix, Sabre Vois, and Foch and our Edelweiss (white) grapes to Weggy's Winery just outside of Richland Center.  He contacted us earlier and said he did not need our Edelweiss as he still have much juice in vats, and his own reds were prolific so he wouldn't need those either.  We decided to pick the reds and take them to the Amish Produce Auction, and for that we used the buckets.  I contacted Wollersheim's Winnery, having heard they might need grapes, and in fact they did want our Edelweiss, (to be picked in the yellow trays).  I spent about two weeks in contact with them in preparation for the harvest.

Edelweiss grapes looking good.

Purple grapes looking good.

So, off to the vineyard very early one Friday morning to harvest the St. Croix and get to the Amish Produce Auction before 11 a.m.  Although we have worked the vineyard pretty much daily this summer, what we found devastated us.

This photo was actually taken today, so the damage is quite a bit worse than what we encountered, but I would say while we were harvesting about 1/4 of most bunches looked like this.

 

BIRD DAMAGE, the birds peck a hole in the grape which invites the ants to come along to the feast.  Birds aplenty it seems, despite Scare Balloons and Owls set throughout the vineyard.

We harvested anyway, leaving the worst of the bunches hanging.  We harvested 22, 5 gallon pails, which were intended for the Auction.  When we got down to the barn to repack the grapes in peck boxes, we could not bring ourselves to do that.  So we loaded the buckets in the pick-up and off Freddie went to give them away to the Amish.  They grabbed them up, (although most offered to pay), and the pick-up was empty in just a couple of hours.  We learned later that we could have taken them to auction labeled 'Bird Damage' and they would have easily sold.  (A lesson learned.)

A few days later we had people come 'pick your own' and as the grapes were being used for either wine or juice it didn't so much matter about the damage.  Our Sabre Vois were picked, and some of the Bluebells, which are a mighty delicious table grape.

The rest of the Bluebells we harvested and filled 35 peck boxes, all labeled, 'Bird Damage', as they looked like the St. Croix, and off the the Auction they went.  As this was just yesterday, we do not yet know how they went????

On to the Edelweiss...Wollersheim was anticipating harvest in a day or two.  I walked the four rows randomly collecting individual berries and tested the Brix (sugar content) of them yesterday late morning, they were at 15.5. Wollersheim wanted them at 17 brix.  I emailed them, and the response was a day or two yet.

Freddie came home a few hours later and walked the Edelweiss rows, came down and reported to me that they looked devastated, too.  He thought we could not take them to the winery.  He insisted that I come look myself.  And he was correct, first of all instead of the anticipated 400-600 #'s, we might, at most have, 250#'s of decent grapes, and with Wollersheim being about 1 1/2 hours from here, surely not worth the drive. 

Although there were many bunches still intact, there were many, many that looked like this!

and this!

So we have contacted Mennonite friends who might want them, and if not, they will go to the Amish Auction as well.

We start working the vineyard in late March pruning 880 plus vines.  Our labor continues throughout the spring and summer pretty much on a daily basis, and ends in September with the harvest.  We planted the vineyard in 2001, and really never made any money at it, but I do believe that this season is far and away the winner of 'WORST HARVEST EVER'.  

This could be depressing, but for some reason we are taking it in stride.  What will we do differently in the future?  That is yet to be decided.

We hope to be off for a much needed vacation in a few weeks.  

CREATIVE KIDS

I feel lucky to have had the 'creative bug' most of my life, and I am thrilled to see it manifesting itself in these youngsters.  Iris and Elsa come by it rightly, as their father and his father, too, are quite artistic and musically talented as well.  Their mom, perhaps not a 'drawer' has plenty of creative juices of her own.

Both girls like to sketch and spend much time in detailed work.

 
On our last Nonnie day we had arranged to have Iris and Elsa's close friends Quinn and Abe come for a couple of hours.  Unfortunately I arranged for them to come in the afternoon and not the morning, because typical of children, every fifteen minutes or so I heard, "When are Quinn and Abe coming?"  

Awhile back I heard about a new game created by a Wisconsin man, I think called YOXO, but have never been able to find it.  The object of the game is to make things out of cardboard tubes, etc.  The 'game' provides connectors, etc., I believe.  At that time I started saving all the cardboard tubes we came across.  I had quite a collection.  So I put the tubes out, duct tape, masking tape, Popsicle sticks, other cardboard pieces, markers, and a random bunch of things.

The kids picked these up and immediately started making music, and having such fun doing it, too.

The I simply left them alone, with only one suggestion that they work cooperatively as a team.  

They worked long and hard and made the above ship from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

and the Chocolate Factory itself.  Their 'invention' was quite elaborate and took them a good long time of being a working team.

On another note when Jonel was growing up our household was rarely without multiple cats, both adult and kittens.  When we lived in the country we always had a plenitude of outdoor cats, so it was a real pleasure to see the girls get their first kittens.

They called me almost as soon as these two little ones got to their 'farm' and begged me to come see them, and without much hesitation I was on the road.

These cats are so adorable, and woke up my latent longing to have a cat as well.  Perhaps this is in my near future, too.

And not to forget my love of food...
Sunday mornings I prepare dough for fresh pizza, which we have with a movie each Sunday evening.  The batch of dough is enough for either 3 loaves of bread, 3 pizzas, or any combination thereof.  I usually refrigerate the remaining dough to be used during the week in some way or another,

...this time it was for calzones...

I fried lots of onions and garlic in olive oil, when they were soft and sweet I added Italian sausage removed from its casings and cooked until no longer pink.  I then added chunks of zucchini, and when that was soft topped it with a bunch of basil and cherry tomatoes.  Added salt and pepper and just a touch of sugar....

Believe me, I cannot tell you just how delicious this was...

It is amazing that it took only about 8 minutes in a hot oven to bake.

With the abundance of veggies I believe we will be having calzones on a weekly basis for the near future.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

A lazy Sunday morning, well, not so lazy, made bread, canned tomatoes, and froze beans, when a call from the Jonel and Andy came, wondering if we wanted to join them for a bike ride on the trail starting at Union Center.  Sounded good to both of us.

Freddie's bike shorts have lost their ties (I said when they were clean I'd repair them) in the mean time, he uses his dress belt to hold them in place....

which actually goes well with the black dress socks in which he rides.  

Just before embarking on the ride...

Elsa getting ready to pedal on the Tag-along behind her papa, and Iris preparing  to ride her bike which, she will soon outgrow.  These two girls are growing so fast, before we know it, they will be beyond bikes and wanting cars.  

On our return to the cars, this Monarch hitched a ride on Jonel's  back much to everyone's delight.

Oh, if only time (especially as we grow older) went a bit slower.  Still I will not complain, time has been good to all of us. It is important to truly live in the moment, knowing the utter fullness and beauty that surrounds.

Building fairy gardens on the front lawn on the Nonnie Day

great concentration and effort went into these beautiful creations.

My Italian Heirloom tomatoes are coming in daily, the one above came in at 2#'s, it sits next to a Peace Vine cherry tomato.

I have started preserving 

some of the whole tomatoes and enchilada sauce I have canned thus far

and the green beans are still abundant

ready for the freezer.

 I vividly recall the basement of the home in which I grew up.  It was pretty crude, nothing fancy, and I swore that the 'boogy man' lived in the coal cellar.  Still I spent much time there with my grandmother Josephine and my mother and my aunts.  There was a stove and table, and lots of shelves which were filled each summer and fall.  The small town I grew up in (Fredonia, NY) had a canning factory, which I think was called Red Wing, and in the summer and the fall the entire town smelled of stewing tomatoes.  This is what our basement smelled like, and it was wonderful.  The shelves were soon filled with beautiful jars of red, red tomatoes, kind of like summer jewels sparkling throughout the year.

I think about those days while I am canning, knowing that the 'old ones' surround me still.

VEGETARIAN NIGHTS

Zinnias are far and away my favorite summer flower.  Their vivid colors, distinct and varied shapes and sizes never cease to amaze me.  They are in their full glory now.

I almost cannot keep up with the flow of vegetables from the garden, despite battling rabbits and deer, and NOW a groundhog, the yield is prolific.

Below...eggplant, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, broccoli, all being marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, prior to being placed on the hot grill.

Potato slices at the ready, too...

Home made pita's just out of the oven...

...chopped all the grilled vegetables into smallish pieces, filled the pita's, topped them with Bart's versatile tomato 'relish', made for a great meal.

The next night an oven frittata of zucchini, cauliflower, onions (lots of caramelized onions, with some reserved to spread over the top along with sliced cherry tomatoes.)

...unbelievably delicious...

And the next night...

...eggplant sliced the long way, salted and left to drain in a colander under weights for an hour or two...

dipped in flour, then egg, and then Italian bread crumbs, roasted in the oven until tender, Organic Valley Raw Milk Jack Cheese sliced and placed on top and back into the oven for a few minutes until melted.

These were delicious plain, and even more delicious with Bart's tomato 'relish', served with a cool cucumber salad.

NUTRITION AT ITS BEST

The garden is prolific right now, despite this summer's lack of hot and sunny days.  There are so many shades of green, all of them appearing to shimmer with growth and joy. I grew up in a home that had a huge garden out back, always fresh vegetables in the summer, and through the winter, those same vegetables either preserved or frozen. 

I am blessed to have grown up in a family of old world Sicilians who knew nothing of 'fast' or prepackaged food.  I feel some inherent knowledge of good nutrition thanks to my grandparents,  and rarely pay attention to that aspect of what I put on the table.  

I planted 8 broccoli plants, 7 of which have already been harvested.  It is a wonder that we have not taken on one of those shades of green, with all the broccoli we have consumed, both raw and cooked.

The last of the heads yet to be harvested...now I await the countless side shoots...

raw broccoli salad with onions, craisens, raw sunflower seeds, crumbled bacon, and plenty of mayo...

gently steaming either for freezing or...

grilling along with a 'grilled smashed potato and Organic Valley's  Italian chicken sausage (which happens to be excellent)

Garlic plants turning brown, harvested

and hanging in a cool place

green beans and cucumbers coming on daily, make a wonderful salad

Zucchini is abundant as well..

Zucchini Fritters

One and a half #'s grated, salted and left to drain, squeezed tightly in a clean towel until pretty dry;  6 tbs. cornstarch (incorporated before other ingredients), 2 cloves garlic chopped, 2 tbs. fresh dill and basil, 4-6 oz. Organic Valley feta, one large egg, and as the zucchini was salted no need to add more, fresh black pepper

quickly fried in very hot vegetable oil and served hot, topped with

Bart's (my dad) famous, versitle tomato mix

chopped tomato, chopped fresh garlic, (I add a finely chopped cucumber) plenty of fresh chopped basil , salt and pepper, and good olive oil.  Leave at room temperature for a couple of hours.  This is excellent over grilled meats, or simply on fresh bread!!!

and for dessert the last of the peaches in a pie, Organic Valley heavy cream, whipped, drizzled with Black Currant coulis.

All those Sicilian ancestors, I know are gathered around my table each night.  I am deeply and profoundly grateful for all of them.