Rillettes de Tours on this cold, rainy day
It's just gross outside.
Environment Canada has issued a storm warning with high wind and heavy rainfall. Here is the Environment Canada satellite photo showing the huge storm just off the coast. :(
It's the perfect time to slow bake something and I'm in the mood for making a lot of something which will last the week.I'm looking back on my Cordon Bleu training and making one of my favourite slow baked dishes: RillettesRillettes is a savoury meat pate. A hearty and robust pate to serve with warm chunks of baguette. Every region in France has its own version, but the one I keep coming back to is the one made in Tours.It takes about four hours to cook so if you'd like to try this, start early.Recipe3 lbs of pork. Chose a fatty, well marbled pork roast; like a blade roast.2 tsp salt1 tsp pepper2 cloves of garlic, crushed1/2 tsp thyme leaves1 bay leaf1 cups of water
Cube the pork and place it into a roasting dish with the rest of the ingredients and cover tightly.Bake at 250 degrees for about 4 hours, or until the meat is soft enough to fall apart.Lift out the meat chunks, discard the bay leaf and pull the pork apart with two forks.Blend the cooking juices together with the pork meat, taste and add more salt if needed, and pack into a terrine, several small crocks, or any decorative container with a lid.I can never wait for it to cool completely; it's just too good, but it is meant to be served cool with warm bread and cornichons.Perfect to sit in my warm kitchen, do some sketching and snack on this yummy pate.
It'll keep in the fridge for up to a week, freezes very well, and it's delicious as a sandwich filling.
Got to find a new way to say randomness!
The weatherman was right! From blue sky to rain and overnight there's maximum drippiness outside. But lovely and warm inside. :)
I got in on my friend V's tea exchange again this year and was paired with a lovely girl from Japan. Coco sent me some blueberry cassis tea wrapped in her handmade tote. I love the little embroidered coco beans. And that spectacular envelope is going to be the base for a new painting I think. So lovely to have good mail come to break up the monotony of hate mail (bills). We should all send tea and ephemera to each other as often as possible! The world would be a happier place. :)
I'm about to have the furnace replaced in this old house and that means I'm going to lose this funky old thermostat for an ultra modern programmable whatsit because the mercury gizmo in this won't work with the remote gizmo in that...blah, blah, blah. I'm so keeping this old retro thing and sticking it up somewhere else in the house.
Becca, a wonderful photographer/writer friend of mine and a co-Wordsmither, has threatened everyone with Disney princesses lol unless everyone steps up and helps design a new logo for the site. So I took some photographs and put them out there to be used anyway anyone would like. Becca's been altering them so beautifully! I can't believe how lovely those images look now. When the design is decided I'll show you. :)
I want to redecorate the whole house to make it look like autumn.
Linking with Nancy for Friday five. :) And reminding everyone of my giveaway.
Bracing myself for a solid week of rain
Yeah, I know, I'll believe it when I see it! I've never known the forecast to be accurate in Vancouver. It's predicted for seven days in advance and then amended the next day...lol. But either way, I can see the front coming in from the ocean and this means that, even if there will not be a solid week of rain, the next couple of days will probably be pretty drippy. So the west coast is about to turn into the wet coast again, and Monday is garbage and green recycling day in my hood.And that lawn isn't going to get mowed by itself.And the garden isn't going to weed itself either.
I love having this little pebbly area at the back of the garden under the ancient apple tree. It's the perfect secluded place for a cup of tea and it's not too much trouble to weed it out because a good raking uproots the little weed plants almost on the first pass. Into the green recycling with you little weed plants!
There's a big, beautiful rosemary at the back of the garden...
And there's more rosemary in the little herb bed. This bed is a raised bed against my garage and full south exposure and completely overheated to the max. Most herbs do really well here but I have to be careful about other plants which would just fry. I want to plant a fig tree here because I think this would be the perfect spot for one.Morgan loves the stairs to the garage for maximum sunbathing.
Some of the summer plants are still going strong. I love plants like this sweet alyssum that cost under $1 and produce sweet smelling clumps right thru to the end of the summer. Plants like that are such good value.
The autumnal plants are in their glory right now. I'm very excited about the little red dahlia, (top right) Bishop of Llandaff. I bought a very small tuber this year and, would you believe it, this is the first flower it's had. That's late! But I'm glad I got to see it bloom and, hopefully, next year it'll be a much bigger clump of tubers and bloom its little heart out for me. :)
The maples in the shade garden haven't started turning yet. I'm looking forward to the turning of the leaves but not so much to the sweeping of the leaves off the patio!
Well, I'm glad I got all that gardening done today and especially glad I mowed the lawn. You know, I don't like mowing the lawn very much and my lawnmower is acting up a little. But it's a good John Deere gas mower and I think that maybe all the engine needs is a little tune up for next spring. And, Robert told me that fresh gas usually helps so I'll get some for next time.But now I think I'll sit in the evening sun and have a cup of tea. :)I'd love to hear about your gardens, indoor or out. :) And don't forget to enter my giveaway if you would like.
Linking with Sandra at Clearwater Farm and Kim at Little by Little
Late tea, being left-handed and a little giveaway
Early morning appointment had me clear across town and in mom's neck of the woods and so mom and I took some time and went to Caffé Artigiano for breakfast.I love the way the baristas enhance one's coffee and tea experience with their milky and spicy designs. I mean it's not necessary, my London Fog would have been just as nice with steamed milk, but the little heart of foam sprinkled with cinnamon was just so lovely. Mom's latte was amazing too, and I noticed that the barista who made our drinks was left handed.
Did I ever tell you that I have a fascination with left-handed people? I do! It's about the first thing I notice when I meet someone. Robert is left handed and I love that about him. I love watching his hand move as he writes or works.Apparently I was supposed to be left handed. Apparently I favoured my left hand as a baby, but there was some sort of weird stigma associated with left-handedness in Prague and things were taken out of my left hand and placed in my right and I grew up to be right-handed.This afternoon, while I was waiting for the water to boil, I cleaned up the kitchen sink.I guess you can see my right-handedness in my sink...lol. The pretties are on the left side. That's my new Begonia Escargot, (I love that plant), my Buddha, (a prezzy from Kerstie), my father's radio and a photo of C at about age 9 sipping water form an alpine stream in the French alps. And on the right is the dish soap and a ceramic vase which usually holds brushes which either need to be washed or are drying. I couldn't imagine switching these around. Things wouldn't function at all.
Usually I love to have pots of ivy in those green vases, but each time I go away for months at a time, the ivy has a fit and dies. The other day I decided to replace it and so went to Wal-Mart to "save" a couple plants. I don't know about you but I think Wal-Mart has absolutely no business selling plants! (Oh, soapbox moment, sorry)Anyway, the ivy was deader than mine but they did bring in some poor sacrificial African violets and so I decided to break with tradition and save two violets instead.For my tea I chose this little late summer cup by Royal Standard. I love the little storybook scene of hay stacks on the inside of the cup.
And I was going thru some of my watercolours and I thought that I would really like to send some more out into the world instead of having them stacked in a drawer in the writing desk.The first one I chose to send out is this little violet painting. I painted it on this note paper because the gentle swaying of the notes reminded me of that sweet violet scent which you catch just a hint of and then can't help yourself but bury your nose right into the blossoms. You know what I mean?
Of course I can never just send off a painting, so I'm sending it off with a funky moleskin journal, some of my photography cards and some other bits of ephemera to inspire you with.
I'm not sure if I can comment back on this post because of that random generator thingie and I don't want it to select me...lol, but I love your comments and get so excited when that little orange bubble is lit up for me! (Wordpress jargon) :)So just leave me a comment and I'll do the random thingie on Monday and announce it next Tuesday. (Having said that, all things being relative and hoping I'll have time for tea next Tuesday...lol)
Linking with Terri and Martha and Sandi and Bernideen and off to visit everyone. :)
Wrestling in the studio
There's chaos in the studio.I've started work again on a painting which I neglected for about a year now. (I know, what am I like?)
It's just that sometimes it's so difficult to paint and I have to keep reminding myself to keep going. And sometimes I get into the "small" habit, where I work on very small art, and when it comes to working on a large piece, (this one is 2' x 3'), and it boggles the mind.
I've got all this beautiful inspiration laying on the floor right where I can see it, but the problem is that all these artists, in my critical eye, are millions of times better than I am and therefore I sort of lose hope sometimes.
I have to keep reminding myself, (probably every creative person does), we all have to keep reminding ourselves, that our work is worthwhile and valuable. That we have a style, that our work is important.
And it always helps to have a buddy in the studio with you showing you support.
But sometimes the most important thing to do is to know when to walk away. To flip the painting upside down, do something else and come back with some fresh energy.Because we all need to take a break form creative work and blow the cobwebs out of our over-thinking mind.So now I can see the sun is out after hours and hours of rain and the oil is very wet and there's a real danger that I'll start blending this into mud, and so I think I'll walk down to the ocean and come back with a fresh perspective.
Where she relishes the last day of summer
How lucky can a girl get?The forecast was for rain, which must have been amended sometime between the downpour of last night and the shaky sun of this morning, and maybe it was a warm easterly wind and maybe it's just because the forecasters lie like a rug, but for whatever reason, we, Chloe mom and I, found a warm and welcoming day.We headed out to the seaside market and stopped in at Whole Foods for a little breakfast and tea; coffee for mom.
C grabbed a newspaper and she and mom decided to give the crossword a go. Mom said, "Saturday crossword? You'll be lucky to get seven." C got 13! (OK the iphone helped...lol)
Then we went for a nice long walk beside the ocean.What a difference a week makes. I can't believe that we were swimming in this same ocean just a few days ago and now the only people in the water were the fishermen in their waterproof waders.
At the allotment gardens the veggies and flowers were still going strong and I spent a long time smelling each late sweet pea, rose and marigold because I wanted to capture that sweet scent, remember it and hang on to it till next time.
By midday the sun shone down warm and inviting,
and while signs of fall were all around us...
just for today, nobody cared. :)
Friday randomness
On Thursdays I make spaghetti. I do this because Robert makes spaghetti on Thursdays too. It's somehow comforting to have a little family tradition like this; even if across 4700 miles.
I love this UK product. It's homeopathic remedy for feeling panicky and it really works. Morgan has been a bit on edge and hissy and so I decided to put a few drops into her water. My very good friend Catherine suggested I do this. Thank you Catherine, it was a great and inspired idea. :) And Happy Birthday my dearest! :)
Here is Chloe feeling moved to tears by music. She said, "No, don't take my picture!" So I promised to get the sun in and veil the photo. I think she's one lucky girl to experience that feeling.
Robert bought a Taxi to use the long chassis for his new Medusa car build. He gave me the sign from the top. I'm going to make a lamp out of it. Here I've stuck some fairy lights into it to start getting an idea of what I want.
C has been geocaching. This week I asked her to come for a walk and she asked me if I wanted to find the geocache close by. In the end I found it in the middle of a giant rhodo. It was placed there by a boy scout troupe so contained a lot of boy toys. We placed a few marbles in it, C signed her name, we replaced the cache and climbed out of the rhodo.
C said I'm no longer a Muggle, (non-geocaching people) I felt rather smug and looked around with fresh eyes while Muggles walked all around us...lol.Linking with Nancy for Friday randomness. :)
It does NOT look like CSI Vancouver round here...lol
Every day that I wake up and there's sun coming thru the bedroom windows is a day that I steal a little bit more summer.Today was one of those days. I decided that cleaning up the garden was much better in the sun rather than in the forecasted rain for tomorrow and so I took out the spent tomatoes and beans and dug over the soil.There are still a few brave tomatoes hanging on to the last of the summer, and they are the yellow cherry and the Italian plums. They seem to be more resistant to the blight than the other, bigger varieties.
So I cleaned up the garden and then I had room to sow some cool weather crops like radishes, lettuce, spinach and Swiss chard. I love Swiss chard.The only problem is that my love of Swiss chard is equal to my cat's love of a freshly dug veggie garden toilet. Especially if it's smoothed nicely with the rake. (the better to dig in) And I only have one cat proof cold frame.So I went to the local hardware store and bought some poly tunnels.On reflection, it might look like a crime scene in my ornamental veggie garden. Oh the things I do for four rows of spinach and lettuce and radishes and Swiss chard. :)
OK it looks dreadful! I admit it. But there are very few stylish poly tunnel veggie garden options. Hey, an opportunity presents itself: Someone send an email to Valentino! Oh, and mention to old Val that we really need him to be competitive, so under $21 please. :)
Maybe if we look at the tunnels thru the vintage pea gate. That might be better. :(
Morgan has expropriated the cardboard backing from the package. She sharpened her claws on it and then looked at me with her "you can try to hide your little seeds, but I'll get them yet...my pretty" look.
SighIn my next life I'll have an acreage with beautiful stylish greenhouses.
Time for tea.
This semester Chloe has some afternoon classes and that gives us time for tea and elevensies on Tuesday.I ran some errands this morning and came home to find C studying in the sunshine.Do you see the fluffy red cat ball on the floor. These cat toys are fantastic. They are layers of felt stuffed with cat nip. Eventually my cats rip it to shreds but it takes them a long time. Do you know these toys?
I made us some tea in extremely special tea cups. These two sweet little cups were a welcome home gift from C. Aren't they the sweetest?
One is this beautiful Royal Albert cup with these blue daisies.
And the other is this amazing yellow rose Aynsley cup.
Isn't my girl thoughtful? I stopped at a little bakery and bought a rum ball (C's favourite) and a macaroon (my favourite) for our tea.
I stayed for a second cup with a couple of my books. One is this little cat note book C bought for me (also a welcome home prezzy) and a second amazing book, which I bought in the UK.
This book is by printmaker extraordinaire Angie Lewin. It's so amazingly awe inspiring because it showcases Angie's designs, techniques and sketches and has glimpses into her studio and process.
I think I'll stay for a third cup and take some notes. :)
Sharing with Terri and Martha and Sandi and Bernideen and running off now to get some time in the studio while the light is so nice. I'll come visit everyone when I lose the light. :)Follow my blog with Bloglovin
This is the evening
It bucketed it down last night and into this morning. I'm glad in a way because the garden has been so dry, but I think the remaining tomatoes are having a nuclear melt down. The rain spread the blight but that's to be expected here in the Northwest.
So I picked the rest of the tomatoes and put the greenish ones on the window sill to ripen. The rain has been wonderful for the grass and the flowers though. My orchids have started to bud and bloom again. I love house plants that can be ignored for most of the year and still look fantastic!
And one other thing I love this time of the year, the warm humid days, is the mossy green that envelopes anything which I left outside.
Morgan is so not impressed. She's a real kitty cat and absolutely hates the rain. Actually she even hates the morning dew! Eventually she gets used to it somewhat, but still hates it. Look at her unimpressed little face.
But the dahlias are still going strong. I'm so lucky to live in this climate where these beautiful plants grow so well. :)