More Food

Today I stopped by the Portuguese Grocery again.  Linda, my co-worker, asked me to.  She tried one of the rolls I'd bought yesterday and declared it 'wonderful'.  And she doesn't normally eat bread.  So I got more, it was a whole wheat baguette, and yes, just great.
I haven't figured out the name of the rolls yet, but they are delicious as well.

I didn't do small children today - their mom had taken the day off, and it gives them a chance to be a family without grandmother.

On my way home I saw an accident.  It was very scary.  I was on the highway, three lanes going east- and three lanes going westbound.  All of a sudden I saw a car coming out of the left - from the eastbound lane (I was going westbound) turn, and cross our three lanes.  It looked like it was done on purpose, but I'm sure he lost control and came swinging out across our lanes.  Of course that car was hit full side-on by at least two other cars.  We all slowed down (there actually was another car behind me, honking at me to go faster).  I slowed down, pulled over to the side - safely beyond the accident, and called 911.  Would you believe, I was so shook up, I couldn't remember the name of the road anymore?
No, I didn't go back to the accident scene, I have no emergency skills, just calling 911 is all I'm capable of, plus others were already crowding around the car.

I carefully drove on, and soon I saw a trouper come with red lights and sirens toward the accident.  And I'm sure I wasn't needed as a witness.  Besides, they have my cell number.

How do you segue from that?  Nothing smart comes to mind.
I came home, turned on TV, and saw the president giving an address about what's happening now with terrorism...

I did go out and started to blow some of the leaves in the yard.
And made a great soup!  No recipe, just left-over buttercup squash that was baked, with some butter, some chicken broth, some honey, some ginger and a cut-up pear.  Very good!

Lunch

Lunch was improvised, but oh, so good.  I forgot my leftovers - stuffed pepper - at home.  We went out to eat last night after soccer.  And I had (two) stuffed peppers.  I restrained myself to one, and intended to have the other for lunch.  Promptly forgot it at home.
I stopped at the Portuguese grocery store (at least I think it's Portuguese), and planned to just get bread and yogurt,  and walked out with a cabbage (for cole slaw and stuffed cabbage soon), and a couple of freshly baked Portuguese rolls.  OMG!!  Sooo good!  (And I'm German.  Which qualifies me to be a judge of fresh-baked goods.  Americans go to Germany and RAVE about the things they find in bakeries.)
I will have to say that those rolls I bought today are right up there with any baked good - yummy.  (Yes, I was hungry, but still!)

Crippy cold

I've caught a lousy cold from Jim and Jessica.  I hate that!  I dislike feeling stuffed up and tired around the brain, and woozy, and stuffed up.  I haven't gone for my morning walk since last Friday, not over the weekend because the children were there (enough walking that weekend anyway), and since then I just haven't felt well enough.
The weather is totally weird, temperatures in he 70's, it being humid to boot.
Anyway, I'm trying to get back to normal, and walked to and around my pond this morning.  Totally in the dark. We won't change over time until he weekend.

On deck for the weekend is leaf removal - the driveway, deck and yard are covered with leaves.  And I want to finish one of the  fleece jackets I started and finally use buttons my brother made on something I'm wearing!

Speaking of brother - I talked to my sister-in-law Vera yesterday.  Claus broke his pelvis!  The last time we talked, he mentioned his hips were hurting.  I actually told him, that doing the 'butterfly' exercises helped my hip, and he just groaned at the thought of doing those.  He finally went to the doctor, was x-rayed, and they found a broken pelvis.  I looked at the picture of a pelvis on Wikipedia, and I haven't a clue where the break would be.  There is nothing they do for it, he is up, moving on crutches, and went to physical therapy.  And he's home for the next two weeks.

In the meantime, the fall is progressing rapidly.  And so gorgeous!  Right now the leaves are starting to fall, it smells like fall, and we sill have decent temperatures, which will change by tomorrow.

Hmmm.  And since this is a blog, I get to stop writing my entry abruptly, without easing into a conclusion.

Weekend Photos

We walked in the woods between the schools near my house

which Matthew thought a great adventure

Here is one of the soccer fields - one of probably nine or more

we were freezing!

And here the boys are playing

back in the woods near my house and the playground.

 A dramatic morning sky on the way to work

 And yes, the colors are really this magnificent - nothing doctored, just the morning sun.

Granmother with three

All three local children spent the weekend with me (we missed you, Noah!).
I picked the two older ones up at school and almost forgot that we made arrangements to meet and I got the three-year-old as well.  The first/Friday night was a bit rough.  I pile them all in one bed (think it'll be an awesome memory), read some books, and since everyone was still super-excited to be here, the last (little one) dropped off at 10 PM.

Early -6 PM - rising on Saturday, and we still managed to be a little late for the soccer game.  The field was easy to find, but to find Matthew's team was another story!  It was a huge, and I mean even by American standards, huge field, with probably 10 - 12 fenced-in fields, and each field had two soccer games going.  And it was an all-day event!  I had some problem hooking up with his team, but we found them.  And Matthew had a great time playing in two soccer matches back to back.  I walked away thinking that they won one out of the two, but was informed today that they lost both.  And the coaches let them believe they won the first one.  I don't think that's right, but ...

Photos later, or tomorrow, I'm off to the movies.  Sherri is back from (very hot) Israel, and we are ready to sit and just relax.
All the kids are back home, we all had a blast, and I probably played more soccer with Matthew this weekend, then I ever did with my kids.

Fall

Yesterday, after I picked the kids up from school, I walked around the corner.

isn't it gorgeous?

And some more photos:

  A little girl skipping on her way home.  Remember?

On the way back to work, having picked up stuff at the supplier's

just  thought I'd share some highway signs, how many of you see the one on the left on your way?

Jessica is taking an art class.  And she drew a pumpkin for me, carefully, with the stem not starting at the top, but like this, and she knew to draw the lines of the pumpkin.

Happy weekend!

Collections

It is getting colder now.  And I will spend more time indoors.  So I am turning my focus to the inside of my house, looking at my collections anew, figuring out if I want to change anything, or move it.

Somehow I collected a whole lot of the Westerwald pottery, which I've loved since I was small.  There was one of the potteries in our area, not the Westerwald, but across the Rhine river in the Hunsrueck. (Don't worry, even few Germans have heard of the Hunsrueck, unless they watched the TV series 'Heimat').

Anyway, the collection is a little bit of home.  And since somehow I got two carpets from my parents house, it's even more home.

Here is a view of my pottery:

 I found this 'bottle' at a flea market in Germany.  It came together with a crock, and I was only interested in the bottle.  My brother nudged me, and told me not to be silly, to get the crock as well.  Of course now I'm happy I did.  I think this crock is probably one of the oldest in my collection.

 These are all pitchers.  The collection fills the space above the glass-sliding doors to the deck, and fills the space across from one wall to the other.  How I collected that many, I have no idea.  Some I brought back in a suitcase, some were found here.

 That's in my kitchen, and a lot - I mean lot - of them are from my cousin.  Either lugged in luggage, or given to me when I visited Germany.

This pitcher has special meaning.  My brother saw it in some barn in Germany, asked for it for me, and it still had some very solid linseed oil in it from years ago.  We tried our best to get it out.  It then was carefully wrapped in clothes, put in the middle of the suitcase, and off I went.  9/11 happened on that trip home, and the plane turned back to Germany.  

I had to stay several more days, tried getting on a flight, all the time dragging the suitcase with the crock with me to the airport.  I finally made it on a flight to Washington, DC, while the suitcase went to Newark.  Long story in between, and I finally was re-united with the suitcase. 

The crock was still intact, but all that travelling had shaken loose whatever leftovers of linseed oil were still stuck in it, and I had linseed oil all over my clothes.  

To tell the truth, after that catastrophe and absolute horror of 911, I really didn't care about the clothes, and wasn't  even worried about getting the suitcase back.  

I did, and the crock survived it all, and every time I look at it, it's my reminder of that day and period.

Changes

I was looking over my blog, and decided to remove a couple of sites I follow.  I do still follow them, but it doesn't really represent who I am, and so they had to go.  The M.ormon sites I eliminated, I like them, but it is so not me, that I didn't really want to show it as something that's important to me.
I'm still searching - after all these years - for that, funny really.

I'll have to run pick up children in a few minutes.

I do want to mention, that I left a comment on 'flossie teacakes', she asked for comments, and I said something about not liking the japanese patterns so much, because they reminded me too much of the patterns my mother used.  The ones printed all on one big page in different colors and patterns, it looked like a big jumble on the printed page - do you remember them from your childhood?  If you grew up in Europe, you will.  In the US, your mom would have used Butterick, Simplicity, etc., and she would have had patterns all single, on tissue paper with seam allowances. Anyway, Flossie's comment back was that she thought the Japanese patterns were unique and she had no idea that they were used elsewhere like that.

Then those patterns where copied on newspaper with the little wheel with the teeth, then carefully cut out with scissors, and then 'don't forget the seam allowances!'

Soccer/Football/Fussball

Matthew and Jessica will spend the weekend with me.  Their parents are going to a wedding far away.  We also are inviting their 3-year old cousin to spend the night(s) with us.

Matthew has a game on Saturday.  20 minutes away, and the game starts at 9 AM.  Practice starts at 8 AM.  

And then there will be two games back to back.

Not so bad getting there by 8 in the morning.  The problem will be getting two, possibly 3, kids dressed and fed out of the house by 7:30 AM.

Wish me luck.

PS:  Yes, I've done it before.  With three.  (okay, I'm older....)

Grandsons

Just got back from B.urger K.ing around the corner.  Jackson is here with his Dad, who needed to work on some electricity.  So I took him to the burger place around the corner.

And he wanted chocolate milk.  Then we went into the play area, which apparently he never had been in before. (have to have a talk with his parents).

I insisted I show him how to climb the two-story slide - you know what those things look like, right?  With the rocket ship on one side, and the sphere on the other?  Yes.  I had to climb and slide with him.  And I did.  No wonder he thinks I'm a buddy.

Middle of October

And the weekend is over again.  I spent most of it in the company of two little boys, one only 3 months old.  And it was fun.  The three-year old thinks I am a wrestling buddy.  And wrestled with me, so loud, we woke up his brother upstairs. So sorry!

The drive to the boys was just marvelous, we once again have the amazing fall colors.  No, I didn't have my camera with me,  and I can take pictures galore, it never comes out as good as the reality.
And fall here makes up for every crappy day the rest of the year.  The humid summers, the sometimes blustery, icy winters, the way spring never really does come, it stays cold until May and then slips right into hot and humid.

 This year I am taking digital photos for 10 years!  Christmas 10 years ago I asked for money, so I could buy a decent digital camera.  And I loved it, the photos are amazing, it was an Olympus.

Since then I worked up to a digital SLR, but like the small Canon better, it carried better, in a purse, pocket, jacket, and so on. 

My last post is not easily visible.  When I click on it via google reader, it tells me the post is not found.  When I click on the link to my home page, it comes up.  I can't figure it out.  Oh, well, it does exist!

I walked on the treadmill most of the time last week.  It's just too dark to make it down to the pond.

Today?  Picking up the other kids, doing art class and hopefully Jessie will be willing to go to piano lessons.

Friday again

A week ago today we set off for our days on the Finger Lakes.  Today it's windy and chilly.
I will have to bring Matthew to a soccer game.  I'll have to dig up a blanket, since I will have to stay, as per Matthew's request.

My friend Linda sent me a few more pictures from our time upstate.  Not that I needed them.  I took them with her camera, after having a hard time figuring out how it worked.  I even took a very decent little video without knowing I was taking it - if I had done that on purpose, it couldn't have been better, no shaky camera.

Anyway, this is from our Sunday up there.  We explored Lake Canandaigua, which has a little more hilly surroundings then the rest of the lakes.  

 My new shoes, which gave me such a blister only on the left foot!

 I wasn't fast enough, the steam boat left....

 A late lunch by the lake

More upstate New York

The weekend was just gorgeous.  We had great weather, and enjoyed each others company.

I took so many photos of the beautiful gorge in Watkins Glen.  We met other walkers there, some who were walking it for the first time, others photographers who even stepped out into the water to be closer to the falls. I considered briefly doing the same, but then decided the view from the walking path was good enough.

So I am sharing more photos from out walk.  I took one or the other camera with me every day, thinking maybe the light will be different, maybe I'll get the million dollar shot...  and who can resist a place like that!

And we stopped here, at Taughannock Falls, just amazing.  Last year we walked from the bottom to the bottom of the falls, but somehow one of us (not me) didn't have the energy (hurting feet) to walk the distance.

 Some of the wine country

 We had a great lunch there.

 Skaneateles (funny story, my daughter came home years ago and announced she was going to upstate NY for the w/end.  Where, I asked?  Upstate is as big as some countries in Europe, after all.  Don't know - but I'll find out, she said.  And came back saying, I know, I'm going where Pres. Clinton is going for Labor Day w/end - Skinny Atlas!  I googled Skinny Atlas - nothing.  Took me quite a bit of digging to find out how it's spelled!)  Anyway, a gorgeous little town, picturebook perfect with big old houses set on big lawns, the lake in the background....

 Yup, for real.  Good wine, too.  The favorite of one of my girlfriends!

 And we visited the grape pie ladies again.  They run a bed-and-breakfast from their parents old home, called Tall Pines, and we chatted and laughed like we were old friends again.

No, I don't have a recipe for grape pie.  I know they use the local grapes, which have flavor, unlike the store-bought ones.
I bought 1/2 bushel (about 9 fairly large) butternut squash and 1/2 bushel of buttercup squash.  So reasonable, I will wish to have bought more in a couple of months.  We ate one of the spaghetti squashes I bought also last night, and it was delicious.  It was big, and between the three of us (the children politely declined and ate broccoli), we just about polished it off, just baked, then salt, pepper and a bit of butter added.  Good!

Back from the ladies weekend

We just had a thunderstorm with hail.  

I am hoping my friends, who are driving back to Connecticut, have a save trip.

We had a wonderful time.  

The weather was perfect.

The rooms were great, as usual, the food we had was terrific.

The wine tastings were fun and we enjoyed them.

Being together with old friends is the best.

We laughed, we teased each other,

we talked about our families, 

and the things that worry us.

But mostly we were happy to be together.

And we started every morning with a walk through the Glen.

That's sort of a misnomer, it's a gorge with 19 waterfalls.

And simply amazing.  Very, very loud in places, with stairs going up, and up.

Up and up

at least 800 steps up to the end of the trail

 We walked it right after getting up, had a cup of coffee and walked about 1 mile to the start of the trail through the gorge

 I just couldn't make the trek without one of the cameras, trying yet again for the perfect shot.

 and it is like a mystery - what is around the corner?

 one of my favorite spots, the water coming over the path, a veil of water

 and it gets more quiet toward the top.

and the way back....