September Time

 We are making our annual tomato sauce. First time in the new house, last summer I just didn't have it in me. I'm experimenting with a new method, no skinning, no seeding which means less finger work and less boiling, just a lot more slow simmering over the stove and the use of my food processor. The house smells amazing, ripe luscious tomatoes, top to bottom. We sat there, snuggled on my bed, reading for our Story Hour and it was incredibly cozy with the bright sunshine, the cool fall breeze coming through the open window and the warm, round scent of tomatoes drifting into every nook and cranny.

 Part of why I am making sauce today is because I need to use up our current tomato harvest. I only had to buy one box of tomatoes this year, half of my normal purchase, because I had so many tomatoes ready from my own garden. That felt like a great coup! We have been eating every which way but we're leaving town for a week in Michigan and we can't take tomatoes along since they don't exactly make good traveling companions and they sure won't wait quietly for us at home, at least not in a solid state. Heh.

 My biggest sauce helper this year was Nib...he was always in the kitchen and pottering around picking things up and poking holes in tomatoes and helping me make sticky orange footprints on the tile floor. Fun to have him becoming such a little boy and independent person.

 Otherwise we have been enjoying quite a bit of outdoor time, the weather is exactly my very favorite right now. 75 degrees, slight breeze, sunny. You can wear whatever you want and do anything from swimming to wood-stacking in weather like that. We're soaking it in.

 We've been doing a lot of painting around the house which I am am beyond excited about!We started by finishing the white walls in the playroom. Such a relief! I got really bogged down there. I painted the corner cupboards with a pretty terracotta inside and a smooth, new layer of gloss white on the outside. I am so pleased with the way they turned out and am so thankful to the friend who brilliantly guided me to this color idea. Gotta love it when people come over and you leave five inches taller and stuffed with great inspiration!

We've also finally painted the stairwell to the second floor which was all layered in retro, faux wood paneling. It is now a smooth, light taupe/grey with the beginnings of fresh, gloss white trim. I hope to finish the trim sometime very soon (I am working on it a little bit at a time in stolen moments) and continue the taupe on up into the upstairs hallway. I am somewhat addicted to the smell of fresh paint.

 This beautiful Siamese kitty has been slinking around our property from time to time, sometimes even slipping into the garage. I have always been rather taken by Siamese cats, I know that Disney painted them as villains in Lady and the Tramp but it didn't take for me. I think they're gorgeous. Is it okay to admit that I am considering leaving some bits of fish or a little dish of milk out for this kitty in hopes that I could lure it to stay around and curl up in the sunshine on our back porch? *wince* Don't tell my asthmatic husband who does not want a pet.

September is a good month and I'm excited to make a pilgrimage to my childhood home this time of year. I plan to swim in The Big Lake no matter how cold it is, roast a marshmallow, catch a fish and stay up way too late playing guitar. I am hoping to get the chance to take some pictures and maybe even log a few posts from way up north...I'd love to share my roots with you all. 

Related articles

• Tomato Water: What to Do With the Rest of the Tomatoes (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Gallery: Squashed tomato battle paints Spanish town red (calgaryherald.com)
• Sundried Tomatoes, Sans-Sun (twinklingalong.blogspot.com)
• The Enchanting Aroma of Tomato Sauce (viewfrombippus.wordpress.com)
• Tomato Recipes (thehappyhousewife.com)
• garden fresh tomato soup (backtoherroots.com)

Poetry Friday: A Heat Wave Poem

Golden moment during our after-dinner swim the other night.

Happy Poetry Friday everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful time wherever you are in this beauitful shining world. I am listening, all day now to the rattling buzz of cicadas and thinking fondly of sunflowers. (I will plant some next year!)

I am thinking about swimming to excess because we're headed off to the beach for the weekend. My poem today is perfect for a person who is a bit fixated on shore-life. I can think of very little else. So, enjoy this little glimpse of summer in my world and have a great weekend!

I will be back, re-charged and ready to conquor the world on Monday. Cape Cod, here we come!

August Remedy

When I was small we would end unbearably hot days
With boisterous runs to the perfect coolness of Lake Michigan.
I sit here this morning, sweating while sitting still and think
Of those childhood runs for the water, all of us flailing joyfully.
The sun is blazing through the open window, no breeze in sight,
I listen to the voices of our three boys, playing in the sprinkler
And I remember how I sat like this when I was nine or ten
Squinting in the sun, waiting for Papa's truck to crunch in the drive
How the house became a buzzing whirl of swimsuit searching
And six children slap, slap, slapped up the path to the minivan.
We are having a heat wave here in Connecticut and I watch
The wiggles radiating off the sidewalk and think of the big, wet ocean
Only minutes away from our house (if you have a minivan).
Almost Lake Michigan.
I miss the solace of knowing that when the car rolls in the drive
I'm headed for that cool, silver feeling when your head first slips under.
Survival sometimes depends on these notions
Our three sons slog into the house, tired of hose-play and too hot for tag.
We drip popsicles on the front stoop, and re-fill the ice-cube tray until
We peter out and sit languidly in front of the box fan.
I slowly fold a tower of clothes, they poke each other.
And so I dial, waiting for you to answer from your cool office, far away
And I tell you that tonight we need to stage a re-enactment,
A certain re-dancing of the steps I have been taught for these dog-days.
When you come home, we munch sandwiches standing up,
Dripping pickle juice down our wrists and on our bathing suits
Then our boys run: slap, slap, slap to the minivan, elbowing into seats
Even the baby jigging along behind, talking to himself as he goes.
And that is how I find myself, taking this flying run across the sand
Splashing into the water and drinking in that first shimmering plunk.
I pull the glittering cool into my very veins, sipping potent heat-remedy
And float like an otter, my grin lifting me skyward, along with my pink, boyant toes.

If you get the chance, stop on over at, A Year of Literacy Coaching, today's Poetry Friday host-blog and read through the other offerings, a summery smattering of everything.