Rugs Bloom In This Heat

When it is hotter than can be believed outside, I hide. While hiding I: read extra, drink inordinate amounts of seltzer with ice and re-discover all the little projects I wanted to accomplish in our house. I have been painting trim like mad and spackling little dings and holes and nail pokes in all the walls. I established a secure relationship with our drill (I can now drill in and reverse out all screws with straight confidence...no fear). I made and hung tissue flowers from the dining room ceiling and then got all inspired and re-organized the pantry. But sometimes the best projects come on you in a fit of random inspiration....

One very lazy day I began to doodle on a plain green carpet I'd picked up at a local tag sale and the paint and doodling just kept on creeping along. Pretty soon there was a long trailing bloom explosion expanding pinkly from one corner of the plain, faded green. I passed through several stages of terrified and exhilerated while painting...worrying by turns that I was destroying the rug or exulting over having really *made* the rug work. I love it. Sometimes you just have to take leaps and do crazy random things because the spirit moved you, urges can be genius.

Too Hot For Skin

Its too hot for words. I just keep leaving the house and getting nothing done.

"The Naked Cowboy" a Times Square legend who is probly the only reasonably dressed New Yorker in this heat.

 We go to the library...we go to church...we go to stores...and try not to buy things....or we just drive around with the a/c on or the windows down. In the car we can breathe and the kids can take naps and I don't feel unexplicably angry at ridiculously small infractions. (Its not just me folks...LINK.) But then eventually we have to come home and figure out what to not cook for dinner and find some way to get the kids to settle in their beds and then lie there in the sweating dark trying to sleep ourselves. I am not a girl who deals well with extremes of temperature. I might have to get motivated and hike down from the attic with a window a/c unit and try to install it myself.

Some Like It Hot

Two of the tomato plants fell over yesterday. They're getting so top-heavy with fruit in this steamy, blazing weather that the turgid stems can no longer do the job. They've come to depend on a diligent gardener driving in stakes thicker than a broom handle to hold them up. Next thing I need to do is make a trip out to garden with twine to lash them to their masts so they won't fall into the raucous sea of cucumbers below. Those cucumbers of ours are going like gangbusters!

I had to pull the lettuce because it had all bolted up into hopeless towers of bitter leaves but the cucumbers and the watermelons (real watermelons maybe!) and squash of all kinds are taking over the ground in a crawling, spiky, explosively fruitful tangle. Every time I walk into the backyard there are more cucumbers to harvest. I have started a jar of refrigerator pickles and am dizzy keeping up with the munching and the jar stuffing by turns.

The weather is hot but not the blazing 90's it was a week ago where all you do is sit languidly in a dark corner in the house and sweat. We're having solid high 80's temps now and the garden is very happy as long as I water and the mornings and evenings are cool enough to be pleasant walking windows.

The boys and I are even enjoying a little yard play during the day when we feel buzzy or brave. And even Nana had a stroll in the middle of the day today, sauntering off down the block with her phone on a chat with a friend. You can manage to cook but the summer dishes do sound best, just a quick saute, no oven work...and salads...always a few of those on the menu as they sound better and better in this heat.

I think we're off to the beach again tomorrow...maybe we'll go north to Rhode Island or try some other beach we've never been to. We're drifting off into the weekend with dreams of picnic hampers, sand in every crevice, the feel of the surf and the scent of the beach rose swirling through our minds. Be well friends, be well!

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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.

Summer Coming In

We're into the real stuff now....hot nights when we lie on top of our beds listening to the fan whir away without even untucking the sheets, epic salads for dinner served in our big wooden salad bowl, days that stretch out longer than they have any right to be. Real summer.

Mango lemonade with mint

I have a window-box of fresh herbs on the back porch and its getting a lot of use. I drop snipped bits into our dinner salads, and snip them over all our meats and every glass of whatever we're drinking is better with a sprig of mint, right? I love fresh herb season. Next year I have to remember to make sure cilantro and thyme make it in. (Help me remember that, will you?)

Our corn went from this....

To this!

And here come the tassels...the male parts of the plant!

The corn/lawn experiment, in which I planted corn right in our turf grass and then mulched over the top once there were rows of green leaves..... is going well. I have never grown corn. My parents always did when I was growing up, but I've never done it myself. Fun to have the space and the sun. My dad always planted our corn when I was a kid, it was his special garden project, he pounded in stakes with taut string between to be sure of perfectly straight plantings, and then he put in the corn. I remember that we always planted from little paper bags full of seed that we got at the feed-store. Not a feed-store in sight here and I still seem to be managing to pull of my own tiny corn patch! Hooray!

The apples on our apple tree are swelling and starting to show just the barest hint of a blush...still wondering what color they'll end up, how big they'll be and if they'll taste good enough for eating. A few weeks ago I ate a jar of applesauce my aunt made, thinking wistfully that I hoped this fall we'd be eating our own. And apple pies, and dried apple rings and maybe a few apple turnovers for autumn picnics to boot! The boughs are starting to bend downwards with the weight of the fruit which makes me smile.

And the bees are happy about summer. They're buzzing around pollinating our cucumbers and tomatoes, and zooming over the hedge, to yards beyond our range of vision. I have been into the hive a couple of times since introducing the bees to their new digs. They're building beautiful comb and filling it with all kinds of good things, and I am hopeful that they'll find enough fodder in the neighborhood to make sure they are all lardered up for the winter. I have plans to build a small fence, with climbing, flowering vines planted on it, to enclose the area where the hive is, and create a little protected bee yard. We're working on teaching Dee to stay away from the hive but he did recently discover it and is now on closely monitored probation to ensure that he never get out of eye-sight. Time for a little landscaping to solve the problem. I'm thinking a short fence of some kind with honeysuckle on it, and maybe pots of jasmine in the summer to make it really highly scented. Mmmmm!!!! I'd like a barrier like that around my house, wouldn't you?



Closing with this song which is humming in my mind, on perpetual repeat, Sumer Is Icumen In, sometimes also called The Cuckoo Song. Can't remember where I first heard it but I know it was a long time ago and I know rings in my mind merrily and makes me smile. Its a very old song, one of the oldest written songs we have in English, written about 1260 or so....a little ode to "sumer." It says "Summer is a comin' in, loudly sing cuckoo, groweth seed and bloometh meadow and springs the wood anew..." Summer is a pretty timeless affair.

Virtual Cooking Lessons: Eggplant Curry

Image via Wikipedia

Cooked quinoa

Thought I would share today a recipe from another blogger that I think is terribly delicious. Since we're vegetarian this month (reference this post for the details) the recipe I am featuring is obviously meatless.








Generally, I am striving for a main dish with substantive protein content (hello quinoa!). If you're doing the same (as I know many of you out there are joining me in my Veguary adventure) then you might consider serving this curry over quinoa or adding chickpeas for a little dose of protein-ating fuel.

Eggplants are scary to me. I didn't grow up eating them, and intimidated, yea even a little worried about the whole idea of experimenting with them. I had no idea how to cook with them until about a six months ago. I am still very much in the learning stage, trying to figure out what in the world to do with them and how they are prepared. This is a great step on the road.

Curry, however, is my friend. A recent friend but, one I now feel quite cozy with and part of my go-to repetoire for recipes. They are easy to throw together and like stir fry, are elastic in their ability to encompass any number of ingredients. Usually the curries I make have either a yogurt base (Indian) or a coconut milk one (Thai). This curry has Indian flavors and spices but, is dairy-free...a boon to those of you who are lactose intolerant. At first the idea of a curry with no creamy base sounded off-putting but, I got over it as soon as the onions were browning away in the small mountains of fragrant spices. Curry is fantastically easy, very forgiving and just the thing to add a little zip to your winter menu.

It feels like stew, from the tropics!

Eggplant Curry
Like most curries this recipe keeps well, and actually improves with time. If you have leftovers simply reheat the next day, re-check seasoning, adding more salt if needed and serve on freshly steamed rice. I like to use ghee (see recipe below) in curries for the authentic flavour it gives. It is lactose-free, but if you avoid dairy altogether simply use a neutral oil. I like to use whole cumin seeds, but by all means use ground cumin if that's what you have. Make sure you use regular brown onions in this recipe, red onions have a higher sugar content and tend to burn too easily in curries like this, where long, slow cooking is required.  Serves 4-6

2 medium eggplants 
3 Tbsp ghee/olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, grated (I keep a jar of ginger puree in my fridge...look in your produce department near the jarred garlic or else over near the veggie trays.)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds/ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne or a small pinch of chilli powder
1 tsp sea salt
 1 14oz can chopped tomatoes
a small handful of fresh cilantro leaves to garnish (optional)

Wash eggplants and dice into 1 inch cubes.

Heat ghee/oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring carefully for about 10 minutes until a deep golden brown colour. (Be patient and don't be tempted to rush this stage).

Add the ginger, crushed garlic, fennel and cumin seeds. Cook for about 2 minutes until garlic and ginger are fragrant. Add ground coriander, turmeric, cayenne/chilli powder and salt. Cook for 30 seconds. Add the diced eggplant and stir well to coat evenly with spices. Pour in the can of chopped tomatoes, give it a big stir, then place the lid on and continue to cook over low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. Check and stir a few times to ensure it's not catching on the bottom. Turn temperature down a little if need be.

When the sauce has thickened and the eggplant is meltingly soft, check the seasoning once more. Serve sprinkled with coriander/cilantro leaves over rice. Enjoy!

(this recipe is lifted almost exactly from the beautiful blog, my darling lemon thyme...a dizzyingly delicious place to visit if you have a moment)

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My dishwasher is so clean, you can eat out of it!

Those, folks, are the two cleanest peas on the planet. They've been through turbo rinse and heated dry, a swish of Jet Dry and a whole lot of hot water and cheerily presented themselves to me this morning when I opened the machine. Bing! Here we are! Bright and shiny! The world's cleanest food.

Hotter than blazes.....

Whew! It has been hot this week! Holy moley! We are all sweltering in our no a/c house....even though I am sure we would have been hotter at our old house minus that lovely central air. This house is much cooler...I think honestly, even though its in the city it is a cooler spot....less massive parking lot in front of the door and many more trees and big grassy yards which are very relieving. I know that not having a solarium facing our parking lot helps a lot too. That solarium kitchen sure was nice in January but in August....not so much.

Even though its been so hot, it still seems good to get out for a little bit of time every day. Five children, four and under is a lot in one space, however rambly the house. Mommies start to slowly melt down if there is no outdoors time. Today we took a little stroll through the nearby business district (neighborhood exploring!) and found all kinds of good things: Cuban food, Guatemalan food, karate, Chinese take-out, a drugstore, a laundromat or two, convenience stores, and lots of other great little assets.  

It was also Nib's first time ever in a stroller. He liked it quite well and promptly slept through pretty much the whole walk, snuggled down in a corner. Cute man.

Also of note: Last night he slept through the whole night. He's three months old! I can't believe it. I'm not saying this is any kind of pattern, I'm just saying its amazing....that's all.

We're getting to the end of the cousin visit. Tomorrow they pack their rental car and head off for parts further south to say goodbye to the other side of their family before they head home to Germany to get ready for their Daddy's return from Iraq. We're so honored to have had them visit, we've all been having so much fun together and we've been having a blast the last day or two recounting all the lovely ways our kids have influenced each other....from eating more fresh produce to learning how to teach your baby doll to walk, there's been fabulous give and take on both ends.

Girl cousins are the best. How else is a fellow to learn about these sorts of things?

I also had to share this shot of our tiniest cousin, hugging Nib. She can't keep her mitts off him, hugs and kisses and pats on the cheek without end...I have taken to hiding him on top of the dining room table or back in the mudroom sometimes so he can get a little breathing time from all the love. Its hilarious how "motherly" she is to him, rocking him in his bouncer and kissing him when he's crying and putting his pacifier in....nevermind that she just learned to walk and is only 11 months old herself, he is clearly a baby and needs lots of mothering.

I also blasted through another last legion of boxes (not that I'm done yet....far from it) and I finally have another room completely clear of packing materials. Am starting to get the mad, mad decorating itch so, it will feel really great to finally get through all this putting away business and start slapping paint on the walls and adding the right hardware, rugs and paintings. Am just so dying to get into that part!

Here's a couple more little shots of the house. I need to take some with no macro lens. Sorry for the lack of pulled back, "big picture" style shots. I will try to get some of those with my other camera. This first shot is looking into the kitchen from the dining room. You can see one of the two kitchen windows, one of our fabulous radiators and the creamy tile floor in the room.

Here's the uncovered dining room floor, another little peek at that beautiful wood that was hidden by hideous carpet. You can also see how I need to add wood trim on the bottom of the wall to come down and cover the big crack between the wall and the floor. A little moulding should do the job, all I have to do is pick just the right stuff, in just the right size and paint and trim it to fit. Heh. Am slightly nervous but trying to not let on.

Here's a closer shot of one of the dining room radiators. Lovely old things. I can't wait to glossy paint them all again. They're so elegant looking.

And here's a couple of (urgh) close-up shots in the room I finished today which will be our homeschool room/playroom. It has all the toys, most of the kid books, and a little desk with a beautiful old Underwood, found at Goodwill typewriter on a desk for typing experimentation and letter learning as well as mechanical observation. Ru was thrilled and said something like "Oh wow, Mommy!" when he walked into the room for the first time.

The girls were most taken with the storybook corner and all the cozy cushions to snuggle in with books. Pretty lovely to see how enchanted the kids were with the space. I can't wait for paint and curtains and the like!!! Have big cool dreams for this space.

Pool Weather!

Today the thermometer hit 99 degrees and we had our first pool day! The pool here at our association is unheated and filled via garden hose so when we noticed about five days ago that they had opened it up, even though the boys were chomping at the bit to go SWIM NOW we put them off rather expertly, knowing it would be bone numbingly cold. Yeah. And then it became summer and the thermometer hit 99 and suddenly, it seemed like the best idea around. Hooray for the pool being open a little early even though its not quite Memorial Day!!!!

So, although we meant to plant out the baby tomato plants, and we still have laundry to do (don't we always) and meatballs were on the menu for tonight...instead we drank mint iced tea, made salads together, sat around in the air conditioning and talked and yeah...we swam some more in the pool.

What can we say? You'd have done the same.

Today was the last big relaxy day of enjoying my mom's visit...tomorrow we have an insane day of rushing hither and yon doing a ridiculous laundry list of errands and then we'll come home, pack Mama's bags, pour our exhausted children into their beds and get up to see her off in the early morning at La Guardia. Its been a very good run.

The air has that hazy summer quality and I'm starting to dream about all the things that are quintessential this time of year: key lime pie, lemon meringue pie, sun tea on the back porch, long drives with the windows down, country music you can sing along while said windows are down, tan lines and watermelon seed spitting contests and oh boy...sweet corn, fresh from the farmer's market...dripping with butter! Doesn't that sound divine?

Just the last little bit of May here and all of that will begin in earnest. It sure feels good to be recovering from a birth so quickly that 5 days out, I already feel semi-normal and can see life beyond Babyland. I love it when things you hope and pray for earnestly work out.