silver strands: July 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Why I love NY ... Reason #4

Thrifting. This is an amazing place to thrift shop! Most of our darling apartment is thrifted. LOVE it.

Ok - well, the food wasn't thrifted, but the other stuff was. BTW - that's chia-seed-oatmeal ... it's AMAZING. Just add chia seeds to the oats, cook in water, add a little pure maple syrup or agave nectar, then chow down. The texture is a lot more like pudding than oatmeal and you don't even need to add milk. It's DELISH.

Everything but the food is thrifted - and those spices? From the Amish store in Seneca Falls!

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

ummm ... not to brag or anything, but

I am a great pie maker!

Remember last week when I joined my girls and grandkids at the cherry orchard?

Well, we loved eating tons of fresh cherries. But after a few days of the washed cherries sitting in my fridge, and with an off-handed comment from Brookie about how delicious cherry pie sounds ... well ... Let me just say that I have a real talent! We're temporarily in New York, so I'm minus rolling pins, pie plates, etc ... but I'm learning lots of things:
1- Things are burdensome. Who needs a rolling pin when you have a glass?
2- Flaky pie crusts make the pie!
3- Real, made-from-scratch-and-from-orchard-picked-fruit pies are tangy, sweet, and so satisfying!

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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Why I Love NY ... Reason #3

We loved our day at the zoo ... but more impressive than the animals was the fact that Brookie regularly navigates the crazy maze through downtown Syracuse into a forested neighborhood that becomes the zoo.

Last time I went to a zoo was (I think) 2008. It was time to go again! When Trevor was between the ages of 2-5 we lived about a mile from Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City - Brad was a student at the University of Utah. Almost daily I'd load Trevor into our little red wagon and pull him to the zoo. I miss those times!

So, posting this picture of us as penguins reminds me of a dream I had last night. You know how convoluted dreams can be ... well, we were at the beach and I was pushing my way through a sand castle (thanks to Gage's night-time book "Teddy and the Undersea Kingdom") and came to the water's edge. I knew it would be freezing cold, but I had to get to the boat, so I walked in anyway. To my surprise, it was comfortable ... I walked through the water for a short time until all of a sudden, the salt vs water concentration changed and it was too thick. I picked up a chunk of ocean and molded it into a ball, climbed up on top of the water and walked to the boat. On the boat was my family. I looked out into the very thick water and there were a couple of penguins. Apparently they could smell the salmon I was eating. They hopped onto the boat and were trying to eat my salmon and leave only the skin and bones for me. The penguins and I struggled - racing to be the first to eat the meat and leave the yuck. Weird.

Anyway, the Syracuse Zoo and spending time with family is reason #3 that I love New York!

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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Why I love New York, Reason #2

"I hear the breeze among the trees, playing celestial symphonies ... I see the branches downward bent, like keys of some great instrument" (Emerson)

I wish I could remember the quote, or even the author of the quote I once heard - about how children need wilderness ... they need to be able to roam and run and play and touch the earth and explore. Maybe it was John Muir ... not sure. Anyway, I totally believe that. And I believe adults need it to.

Today was a gorgeous day in upstate New York! Mid-70s, a sweet breeze, and at this farm, the fresh smell of earth was like a shot of energy mixed with calm. Vitalizing - that's what it was!

Fresh picked cherries = heaven!

So, just to be clear, we asked: YES - go ahead and eat as you pick. No extra charge :) So little KJ stained her cheeks and enjoyed sun-ripened cherries.