Designing in Life

Spider Silk and Mole Cake

As you may or may not know, I work in a world of silk.  Almost all of the ties made here at Beau Ties are made from silk.  I read this article in the New York Times last week.  It was fascinating until I came to the pictures of the spiders that make the silk.  Ick!  I've expressed my dislike of arachnids before, but these just made my hair stand up.  Still, it is an interesting read about weaving with spider silk.  The 11-foot-long woven textile is quite beautiful.  Still, I'm not signing up for working with those spiders if the job becomes available.

As if the thought of pulling silk from spiders was not bad enough, I happen to come upon this cake.

Mole cake.  I can not imagine serving this guy up as dessert, although I suppose it would be fine to pull out when you're trying to get those last lingering guests out the door.  To see more of these, visit Cake Wrecks' blog.  Let me know if you decide to make one...I won't be visiting for a while!

Hurray for the Home Team

Yesterday Jim (my son-in-law) ran in the 16th Annual Newport Liberty Half Marathon.  It was a rainy day in Jersey City, so unfortunately his supporters were not on the scene to cheer him on.  I'm told he was happy with his finish time.

To celebrate this momentous event (it was his first half marathon) I decided his young supporters should have something of their own to mark the day.

I made the image in PhotoShop, flipped it so that it was a mirror image, printed it on transparency paper (made just for this sort of thing) and ironed it on.  Easy and fun.  Hope the little ones got to wear them for their dad!

He's Home!

I picked up Nick last night in Rutland.  23 miles and this is why he had to stop.

Too many blisters to count.  Looks like he's got to get them healed before he can head out again.  We still have some good hiking weather ahead of us, so maybe it will be finished this year...she says with great hope!

A Reason to Get Up in the Morning

Sure, there are a million reasons to get out of bed in the morning, but this morning was a reason to remember.

When I opened the shade at 6:15, the color of everything out the western window had an eerie glow to it.  I looked out the front eastern window and realized the sky was on fire.  I grabbed my camera and ran out back in pajamas and bare feet.  It was amazing.  Yup, a great reason to have gotten up this morning.

What's For Dinner

I got a phone call from Nick today.  He was on Glastanbury Mountain on the Long Trail.  He had just come down from the fire tower that is on the top.  Good cell phone service!  He had hiked 10 miles and was going to hike 3 more.  He had hoped to hike 6 more, but hey, it's his first day and let's face it, the first day is gruelish! 
So, what's for dinner?  I decided a nice Greek Salad was just what I wanted.  I did add a fresh ear of corn.  You should eat as much fresh corn as you can when it is available, because it's only fresh for a short period of time.

Ingredients

• 3 vine ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 European seedless cucumber, cut into bite-size chunks
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chunked
• 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and chunked
• 1 cubanelle pepper, seeded and chunked
• 1 cup Kalamata black olives
• Several sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, about 1/2 cup
• 2 (1/4 pound) slices imported Greek feta
• 1/4 cup (a couple of glugs) extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons (3 splashes) red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in palm of your hand
• Coarse salt and black pepper

Combine vegetables, olives, and parsley in a large bowl. Rest sliced feta on the top of salad. Combine oil, vinegar, and oregano in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake vigorously to combine oil and vinegar and pour over salad and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and let the salad marinate until ready to serve.

I'll keep you posted on Nick's where-abouts since some of you have asked me to do that.  I have to say that I so want to be on that trail with him.  I'm just glad that he wants to finish what he started several years ago.

Sunday Drive

So, today is the day that Nick went off into the wild to finish the 56 miles he has left to hike the Long Trail.

This is what it looked like at "ground zero" this morning.  All those packages are each days worth of food for 5 days. 
At 2:30 we left for Bennington, where Nick would pick up where the two of us left off a couple of years ago.  I hiked with him on the south end of the trail until we got to Rt 9 in Bennington.  It has taken him a few years to finish the 270 mile trail that runs the length of the Green Mountain State, Vermont.

Here's the happy boy as he gets ready to go.  It's 4:45 in the afternoon and he has a few hours to hike into the first shelter, hopefully.  Did I mention that I drove 2 1/2 hours down to drop him off and then turned around and drove 2 1/2 hours back home?  Oh, and that I'm on call 24/7 in case I have to go pick him up?  No different than driving in  a NASCAR race - you've got to have that crew in the wings to bail you out when you need it. 

Days of Caring

Every year in September, the Addison County United Way has volunteer opportunities for the community.  It's called "Days of Caring."  This year more than 600 people from my county signed up.  Some of the jobs were working with kids, helping out with painting, preparing meals, library work – well you name it, and it was available.  I signed up to work at Project Independence at Elderly Services.  I participated in their activities - reading, singing and playing horseshoes.  It was a great day.

So, just let me say this.  If you have some time, get out there and volunteer.  It's one of the most rewarding things you can do.  Hey, I bet you'll look as happy as I did!

Late Evening/Early Morning

Next Tuesday is the Autumnal Equinox.  Fall will arrive.  Late summer shadows, beautiful skies and early morning sightings have emerged.

Just past the house is one of the most beautiful views of the Adirondack Mountains.  Although their appearance is not crisp and clear (thanks to mid-west coal burning) the long shadows are.  Those are round hay bales in the back.

A sunset glimpse from my Zen bench.

This morning's dew on a spider web.

For someone who hates the notion that summer is leaving (give me summer coming any day), I try always to find the new beauty in what is here and now – which reminds me – see ALL of those weeds in the photo above?  They are my next project.  I'm moving plants and making this bed smaller and more manageble. Saturday's weather should be perfect for it.

What's For Dinner?

I'm not sure why, but lately I've been thinking about soup with crab in it.  A nice thick tomato soup with crab in it.  Maybe some corn too – fresh corn, since it's in season.  So, I made some.  I admit that I did cheat on the ingredients.

Although I didn't really measure anything, (hey, you all know how to cook, right?) here is what went into the soup.

Saute in olive oil – garlic, onion, red pepper and corn from 2 ears
Some chopped tomato - grape, cherry or regular
Add 1 Box of tomato roasted red pepper soup, or tomato soup
Add 1 can of crab meat, but by all means, if you have fresh you should use that. (Don't like crab?  Shrimp works or make it just with corn and veggies.)
Add some chopped parsley and basil and some fresh ground pepper.
Simmer.........
(Add about a 1/2 cup of water or broth (vegetable or chicken) if you don't like really thick soup.)

I made some corn muffins – follow the recipe on a corn meal container.  I did replace the flour with spelt flour, and I used agave in place of the sugar (divide sugar measurement in half and use that much agave syrup).  Add a salad and a nice glass of red wine and dinner is served!

Zinnias

I grew 3 types of zinnias this year.  Cactus Flower, which have a feathery sort of head, State Fair, my all-time favorite with large showy heads, and Cut-And-Come-Again, small colorful heads with long stems.  Although they're all zinnias, they each have their own distinct look to them.  This time of year it seems every bud is fighting to blossom before the "big chill" puts an end to the growing season.  I'm trying to enjoy them as much as I can before that fateful day!