Fall Comes Creeping

 Nothing spectacular yet--just a yellow tinge on Barnett Mountain and more and more yellow on the nearby trees.

The slow spread of fall color is fine by me--when we get into the bright reds and oranges, it's beautiful but over too soon.

There's still time (and favorable temperature) to sit on the porch and enjoy the slow progression.

Where Did the Day Go?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm accomplishing anything these days, moving at a snail's pace as I do. My morning started with laundry and housekeeping (cleaning the cat's litter box) then moved on to my mental calisthenics (Wordle, Connections, and Spelling Bee.) Read the two Heathers and the NY Times. Enjoy the Schmitt memes.

Breakfast then clean up the kitchen and water the porch plants. Dive into the refrigerator to rearrange the fruits and veg that got shoved in after shopping on Tuesday. Make and refrigerate a galette crust for an apple galette in the evening.

Put away laundry, make lunch. Eat lunch.

Work on the watercolor of agri dolci (sp.?) peppers and squash. Not finished but getting there.

Go pick up Josie. Take a deep breath and tell her that today we are going to learn to tie shoes. She tells me she doesn't need to--none, well, almost none of the kids in her class can tie a bow.

I am firm. We sit at the table and I try to demonstrate. She HATES trying to learn something challenging. There are tears and whining and refusals. I tell her there will be no tablet time till she has tied a bow. 

After a lot of time spent saying she couldn't do it, couldn't see what I was trying to show her, when she finally realized I was going to hold firm on the no videos thing, she suddenly paid attention and after a false start or two, tied a creditable bow.

Mean Meema. But she got to watch her videos and actually apologized for being so unpleasant (so toonky, as my late MIL would say.) 

By this time I had a migraine coming on and went and lay down. But the tied bow was the highlight of my day!

 

Black and White

These are Picasa edits from the past. Picasa was a free program that did lots of nifty things and I really miss it.

 

Rabbit, Rabbit Morris Dance

The Morris Dance is traditionally danced in May to welcome Summer. But Sir Terry Pratchett posited a Dark Morris for the fall, to welcome Winter. The Dark Morris has been added to the repertoire of a number of Morris sides (dance teams) and is part of Steeleye Span's Wintersmith album. (Thanks to Mario for telling me about this!)

 

More Ras El Hanout

According to Mr. Google: Ras el hanout is a complex, warm North African spice blend whose name translates from Arabic as "head of the shop" or "top shelf," representing a merchant's finest offering

 It delivers an aromatic, rich, sweet, and earthy taste with a warm depth rather than heavy heat.

 There is no single recipe; blends often combine a dozen to over forty spices.
 Core ingredients usually include cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, and peppercorns.

We enjoyed it so much with the spinach and garbanzos that I decided to use it with chicken. I rubbed chicken thighs well with ReH and a little salt and browned them in olive oil. Then I removed the chicken to another dish and sauteed onions, sweet peppers, garlic. 

When they were getting soft, I stirred in a lot of cut up tomatoes--some cherry tomatoes and some regular and browned them a bit. I also added a bit more of the spice. When the veg began to get goopy, I returned the chicken to the pot, added a bit of hot water so that the chicken was half covered, put a lid on the pot and let it simmer about a half an hour.

I served it over noodles (though a grain would be nice too) and topped it with sour cream (yogurt would also work) and chopped up green onions.

Accompanied by a salad--spinach, plums, blue cheese, and vinaigrette--it was really good.

 

A Drop in the Ocean

As I did for the last election cycle, I participated in the Moms Rising postcard effort to get mothers out to vote--without endorsing a party but in the hope that they will realize which candidates are most likely to improve their lives--more affordable healthcare and childcare are issues they should be concerned with. 

I'm not that sure that my postcards will convince a busy mother to get to the polls---but there is so little that I am physically able to do to support the candidates that I desperately want to prevail and take down this corrupt, incompetent regime. So I write my little message and and sign it with a heart and my first name. 

And somehow, I feel a brief connection with Tiffany and Alexia and Shanika and Autumn and Cierra and all those others. It's not praying--I don't do that--but it's wishing these women--my sisters-- well--and hoping they pay attention to what's at stake in this election.

Go HERE for information about Moms Rising and about the post cars project.

 

Harvest Moonrise

This was Saturday night and these are from my phone. Having difficulty with the card reader on my computer . . .

 

Dear Sirs

                                       

Head Start has long been a valued presence in my rural county. I’m asking you to oppose proposed regulatory changes to Head Start that could undermine access to educational support and health screenings, especially impacting children with disabilities and rural communities. Head Start fosters stable home environments, improving health, educational status, and well-being. Please oppose these changes to early education to serve the families that need it most.

Ras El Hanout Garbanzos and Spinach

A quick and easy (and delicious) vegetarian dish of North African origin.  I served it over barley but rice or some other grain would be fine. I also topped it with a bit of yogurt, but if you're going for vegan, a squeeze of lemon juice would work.

2 Tb. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 tsp. Ras el Hanout

3 Tb. tomato paste

1 c. stock 

1 Tb. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)--rinsed and drained

1 bag spinach leaves

1/2 c. yogurt

Harissa oil (optional) 

3 Tb. olive oil

1 Tb. Harissa stirred into oil

Heat 2 Tb, olive oil, add minced garlic and stir for a minute. Add tomato paste, stir a couple of minutes. Now add stock, soy sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium low and simmer 10 minutes. Now add garbanzos and simmer another 10 minutes. Add spinach and cook a few minutes till it's wilted.

Serve warm, over a grain and topped with yogurt and a bit of Harissa oil. 

 

Between Earth and Sky

 

Floating

Between earth and sky

Ancient mountains remember

A time without man. 

They have seen him come,

Death in his every footstep,

They will see him go.

Patient in their age,

The mountains wait.

Josie Makes Pumpkin Bread

On Monday, we got ice cream. (Note the earrings.)

And the sophisticated pose.

Wednesday was a teacher workday and she stayed with us. She made pumpkin bread (with a very little bit of direction from Meema.)

The recipe was one that the science teacher at the school we taught at in another life had her students make. It's in a cookbook that was a fundraiser for the school. I lowered the amount of sugar and substituted Tunisian 5 Spice for the spices called for. Josie added chocolate chips. (I prefer to add dried cranberries but she was insistent.)

The recipe makes 3 loaves. One for Josie to take home, one for us, and John took the third one (still warm) to the crew of tree guys that are keeping the power lines free from branches. One said later it was the best pumpkin bread he'd ever had.

 

Autumn Sights

Tempting supermarket chrysanthemums . . .

Stocking up for the cold Time--we get hay for the cows . . . and the squirrels are  in a rush to be prepared . . .

Goldenrod in fields and on roadsides--and one volunteer in a porch pot of other flowers.

 

Autumn Wisdom for the Equinox

                              

from The Education of Little Tree

"Fall came early to the mountains that year. First, along the rims high against the sky, the red and yellow leaves shook in a brisking wind. Frost had touched them. The sun turned amber and slanted rays through the trees and into the hollow.

                                           

"Each morning , it made its way farther down the mountain. A timid frost, not killing, but letting you know you couldn't hold back time; letting you know that the winter dying was coming.

                                              

"Fall is nature's grace time,  giving  you a chance to put things in order, for the dying. And so, when you put things in order, you sort out all you must do . . . and all you have not done. It is a time for remembering . . . and regretting, and wishing you had done some things you have not done . . . and said some things you had not said."