In The Summertime

I'm getting a wee bit lonesome for green.
Winter is a fine time of year and I am so very glad to live in a climate where there's a clear distinction between the seasons. But I could do with seeing fresh new life poking its way out of the warming ground.
It's going to be awhile yet before we see any plant younglings so I decided to put up a summer photo to remind me that life will return.

And here's a bonus because I like to look at mountains.

Both photos are taken along the David Thompson Highway (Hwy. 11) in or near Banff National Park.

Inviting

Don't wade across.

They look like islands.
Of course that's what they are now, but they were once the tops of hills, mountains almost.
The waters of Lake Nasser  reach very close to the tops. Many hills contained archeological sites. Some got moved, others flooded.

Two Sentence Tuesday -- Done

I've mentioned from time to time that my husband reads me a bedtime story. It's been that way for 21 years and I have yet to think of a logical argument as to why it should end.
We've made it through the Harry Potter books, The Adventures of... books by Thornton W. Burgess, and many, many more.
These nights I am lulled to sleep with the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.   His repetition works. The rhythm he uses in his sentences is wonderful.
I don't recall being exposed to them when I was younger. It's just as well as I do not believe I would have appreciated them as much then.
Plus I would have had to read them myself.
It is simply not the same.
Two from The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo, Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling (Lancer Books 1968)
"He went to Nqa at six before breakfast, saying, 'Make me different from all other animals by five this afternoon.'
Up jumped Nqa from his seat on the sand-flat and shouted, 'Go Away!'"
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I finished --for now-- the rewrite of BloodLovers.  I hunkered down on Thursday determined to get the thing done as quickly as I could. It may not have been the best approach, but the deed was done on Sunday. The last few chapters didn't need all that much work.
Or so I claim.
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Here's a bit more than two:

"Alexander, you poor misguided fool. Humans are my food in the same way you take the cow. You don’t listen to your beasts and I don’t listen to mine. The only difference is I can have a conversation with my food first if I want. We can even make an evening of it. Some of my best dates have wound up as my dinner."

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Thanks for coming by. For more or to get in on the fun please see the Women of Mystery.

Gratitude Monday -- Our Daily Bread

Baking pitas in an outdoor oven.

I had some of the most wonderful pita bread ever during our trip to Egypt, as well as the best feta cheese I have ever eaten.
The compound at the Cairo Marriott had a few outdoor restaurants including one where the fresh breads were made. Two women did this from at least 9 a.m. to well after 10 p.m. I can't say it was the same women all day, but I saw with my own eyes how long a day the ovens worked.
One woman shaped the breads and set them out on a table covered in barley bran. When her side was full she spun the table around so the second woman could bake them.
I'm grateful to have seen this, grateful to have eaten it, grateful for their hard work, and very, very grateful that I do not have to make a living this way.

Photo-Finish Friday - Coffee Time

A Cuban man turns coffee beans as they dry in the sun.

The Crumbiest Pie

Rhubarb with a Streusel Pecan Topping

I made the crumbiest rhubarb pie recently.
And I couldn't be happier.
I had one pie crust and plenty of rhubarb filling. What to do?
A wonderful, sweet, and hands-on fun solution came to me:  pecan streusel topping.
I used breadcrumbs instead of flour, cane syrup and brown sugar, coconut lard, and chopped pecans. If you want to know how much of each, my best guess is "enough."
This dances up a rhubarb pie better than anything else I've ever thought of. I am tempted to make all my rhubarb pies this way.
I might make several other kinds of pies this way just to make sure it's really good and not just an aberration.
One can't be too careful.

Two Sentence Tuesday -- Daring Things

The best thing about birthdays is they can be quite fluid. While the official big day for me is November I often collect my gift from by best friend a few months later as part of our late Christmas. I bring hers along and she stores it until her big day in April.
This year one of her gifts to me was The Pocket Daring Book for Girls. It's got great ideas in it as well as how to execute them safely.  A quick skim of it rendered some wonderful treasures. Regrettably, my friend has expressly forbade me from building my own back yard zip line.
Two non-contiguous lines from The Pocket Daring Book for Girls: Things to Do by Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz (Collins, 2008)
From the Essential Gear section about caring for your Swiss Army Knife: "Clean with hot, soapy water, and add a tiny drop of mechanical oil once every three blue moons."
From Miscellanea, about Taking Things Apart: Old televisions and fax machines, a cell phone that no longer works, or a computer that's ten years out of date and living its final years in the back shed: no discarded machine should go undismantled."
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My latest writing is no where near so daring or fun, but at least I have done something.
Here's a wee sample from Blood Love:
"But they found Kevis Loney’s body all pale and drained. That raised a few brows."
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Thanks so much for coming by. For more or to get in on the fun please see the Women of Mystery.