It's been raining for three days. At first, I thought, This is nice. We need to settle down into our home learning routine, and at least we don't have the sun teasing us to come outside. Now, I find myself wondering how on earth I will make it through the winter. It's definitely going to take lots of this:
Arrived in the mail today: two balls of Knit Picks Stroll in Agate Heather, and one ball of Chroma in Mesa for a Whipoorwill Shawl for A.
Today was our first day back to lessons. The kids were ready for it, but I wasn't. Living in New England, I have a hard time letting go of summer. I woke up at 7:45 am--a bit late. I had a terrible night's sleep with allergy symptoms keeping me up for hours. (My allergies are awful this season, the worst they've been in years.) I made pancakes for breakfast, and we dove right back into history (ancient Greece), writing, vocabulary, spelling, and math. L did "school", too. He is getting better at cutting, coloring, and tracing.
As the days begin to shorten, I often make this warm Mediterrean Salad, which is a simple, quick dish, and a family favortie:
1 lb. Penne Rigate cooked and rinsed (use hot water to rinse)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
fresh basil, salt and red pepper flakes to taste
tomatoes--any kind (I was using cherry tomatoes from the garden up until they got blight a couple of weeks ago)
sliced black olives (I usually put in two small cans)
steamed broccoli florets
Mix the oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper flakes in a large bowl. Add cut tomatoes and sliced olives and toss. Add steamed broccoli florets and hot pasta. Toss to mix and coat, top with grated parmesan cheese if desired. This salad is really best served warm. It is really yummy, and makes a great meal for transitioning from summer to fall. I usually serve the salad along with grilled chicken and fruit.
PS: I can't stop thinking about Sarah and the flooding in Vermont from Hurricane Irene.
Hello! It's been awhile :- )
Summer was:
My teeny tiny garden produced: peas, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, several kinds of peppers, green beans, cucumbers, zuchinni, carrots, and butternut squash. Three little 3 foot by 5 foot raised beds grew all of that! This was our test year with the raised beds. Next spring we plan on adding three more.
The squirrels planted two large circles of sunflowers for us right under the bird feeders. The flowers were glorious all through July and August. The goldfinches particularly loved them. But, then so did the chickens :- ) We had our first egg on July 29th, and we've had eggs every day since then. I haven't had to buy any store bought eggs for a couple of weeks now.
The nights are already noticeably cooler, and it gets dark about 7:30 p.m. Summer is nearly over. Tonight, we're having a bonfire and making popcorn. In the past week I've become interested in my knitting basket again (as well as this blog :-). I'm working on finishing a little bear that I started for my youngest daughter back in the spring. I hope to have it all finished by the time the new yarn I ordered arrives in the mail next week :- )