TBT: PUMPKINS , HARVEST AND SEASONAL TREATS

TBT: In 2011 Natureman and I were attending a wonderful October wedding weekend next to the Mississippi River in La Crosse, WI. 

There were pumpkins and the weather was cool.

I sure do miss my date.

Natureman knew how to appreciate all the seasons and their bounty. I am sure he would have lit the first fire in our fireplace by now to get rid of the chill.  We would have opened one of our home canned apple cider and  have heated it on the wood stove top serving it with a cinnamon stick. Fall days. 

He also would have bought a bag of his favorite trick-or-treat candy even though we never had any Trick or Treaters come to our house.  Guess who got to eat it all?  Yep, Mr. Healthy Eater did have his vices.

My Back-to-the-Lander Renaissance Man would also have loved being in Italy with truffle hunting, eating the local fare, admiring the architecture, history and Agriturismo. 

These hills and vineyards could have been in our 'hood.

Cherish your time with your family and friends. We just never know what tomorrow will bring... You don't have to wait for a holiday.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: THE HILLS ARE ALIVE...

MIDWEEK MUSINGS :  Art does imitate life  Who doesn't remember the lyrical line  " the hills are alive with the sound of music"?  Yes, Tuscany's mountains are like those in the movie in that you can hear music but symphonic music.

Tuesday was just one of those days when one could get gobsmacked and the hills are truly alive with music and a lot of history. Remember Tuscan comes from the word Etruscan.

Our day included a visit to the enchanted Renaissance town of Pienza. Pope Pius wanted to impress his countrymen and he certainly did by creating an architectural masterpiece that continues to impress us even today with views to die for. Once a sleepy destination, tourism is now thriving and fortunately for us, we beat the busloads of tourists timewise, not just seasonally but also with the time of the day as we were there before the shops opened.  

I can see possibilities of paintings that could challenge me for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, Wi Fi hasn't been my friend for downloading photos but time will be on my side upon my return to share each day's  sights and experiences.

Judicious elimination will be necessary to get a good blend of the landscape and architecture but also to include cultural, historic, and even agriturismo.

The music will continue... and be about a couple who had a dream and heard the music some 30 years ago...

Stay tuned.

TUESDAY TUNES:

 ITALIAN, of course. for this TUESDAY TUNE... It's by Baby K

BABY K

MONDAY MUSINGS: NEGRONI

 MONDAY MUSINGS: One cultural thing Florence has is a very long cocktail hour. In fact it's more than an hour, it's all afternoon into the evening dinner time AND to encourage your visit, snacks are provided.

As those who know me, know I am not a big drinker to say the least but a Gin & Tonic is my 'go to' whether it's summer /not. I happened to be in a city this past week that loves its gins and its signature cocktail Negroni.

So when trying to capture a sunset on a rooftop bar in the Continentale we ordered our own preferences of gins. Two drinks were being made in front of us and as the smoke was added to the one, my travelling companion quipped someone ordered the real fancy one which turned out to be theirs.

Shocked I almost missed capturing any of its presentation.

Almost captured were our snacks too. Beside the potato chips, blue corn chips, rolled chips, on the far right were a saffron-infused crispy accompanied by an octopus ink one. 

It wouldn't be very nice of me to not share the Negroni recipe. 

Molto bene!   ENJOY.

Negroni

Description

The negroni is a cocktail, made of equal parts gin, vermouth rosso, and Campari, generally served on the rocks, and commonly garnished with an orange slice or orange peel. It is considered an apéritif. Wikipedia

Main alcohol: Vermouth, Campari, Gin

Ingredients: 1 oz (1 part) Campari, 1 oz (1 part) Gin, 1 oz (1 part) Sweet red Vermouth

Preparation: Stir into glass over ice, garnish and serve.

Served: On the rocks

Standard garnish: Orange peel

Drinkware: Old Fashioned glass

IBA specified ingredients†: 30 mL gin; 30 mL sweet red vermouth; 30 mL Campari

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: NAVIGATING NOWADAYS

MIDWEEK MUSINGS  centers on how different our worlds have become traveling with technology. ..

Our cell phones get a workout regarding info about upcoming travel with departure/arrival dates/times and check-in reminders with assigned seats, luggage and other amenities.

Then, we are notified as to our plane and gate status. Once boarded we receive a text to reassure us our luggage has been loaded. Whenever did we think our bags would not be joining us en route to wherever? We knew they could get lost, but I guess now we will know when it happened.

Whether taking a train, tram/bus all of those schedules and maps are online and we can even purchase many tickets beforehand. 

Mapquest can tell us distance and get us to where we need to go whether by foot, bus, tram/ car. GPS /an app can even show us when we are heading in the wrong direction.  

All this is great but I don't know about you but I'd also like a hard copy map for the times reception is sketchy/ the once-charged phone is out of juice from working so hard. 

*An addendum 

I received these directions:

 "Let's meet at the duomo behind the baptistery opposite of the paradise door. " 

Guess I'll be lost in Paradise...

TBT: THE GOURD GIRLS

 TBT: 14 years ago in the End of the Rainbow Valley I wonder what all the gourd girls are up to now in their art?

I had met the original Gourd Girl bottom of photo at the Driftless Art Show and expressed an interest in learning Gourd art. She replied you get together a group for a class and I will come teach you. And she did travel across the state to share her craft. We were in for a treat. My art room above the garage had a wonderful day with all of us working on our gourd art.

BTW this week finds me enjoying marbling paper, making a leather box and a mosaic across the big pond in Firenze no less... Stay tuned for FOTO FRIDAY.

TUESDAY TUNES in KERRY COUNTY

TUESDAY TUNES :Kerry County on September 1st

 Donogu and the Girls at Skelig Hotel. 

Our view before it got dark listening to some Irish music... ENJOY.

 

MONDAY MUSINGS: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

MONDAY MUSINGS: I waited until after the lunch hour and walked right in to complete my early voting ballot. Painless. Just needed to hand over the ID and state one's name, address and birthdate. 

Pretty straight forward on the candidates and what surprised me were some libertarians running unopposed. Guess we need  representation from all of society. 

Sunday's paper had included an Arkansas Voter' Guide including options for obtaining absentee ballots, finding one's polling place, ballot measures. The sorry joke is it's not like the old days when everybody had a daily/ even just the Sunday edition of the newspaper.

 There was information about state and county candidates. If only those ballot issues could be so easy. Let me tell you that those extras like the casino, marijuana, and more taxation are such gobblygook one might think the people who worded them must have been on weed! I had read those issues were going to be removed but they were on the ballot.

Craziness. Well I did my duty, I voted and I hope you will too. 

                                            ¡Viva la democracia!

FOTO FRIDAY: MUM'S THE WORD

FOTO FRIDAY:  You can't always get what you want but they're in. The color I wanted wasn't available but Ninja Chef who also sells mums didn't disappoint and delivered 10 Majestic Red. 

Red does look good next to the gray house. They've had a week at their new place and are adjusting...

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Last week, in case you missed it was many  pics in Nothing PETIT about it

TBT: YEARNING FOR THOSE COLORS

TBT: This was a pic from my kitchen sink window in the End of the Rainbow Valley in 2013. I love the fact Natureman had placed the spent sunflowers in the bird feeder for the birds too. We fed the birds year-round in the new house and it was such a joy to watch them at the feeders.

 I'm not sure what is going to happen this year in Arkansas as the temps have just dropped to 60's this week. It's been unseasonably warm and it's been so dry that fires are predicted...

Keep your Fall colors coming because I have a feeling ours might not be happening...

MIDWEEK MUSING: VOTING EARLY

By November 6  our votes will be showing us all what our country wants... It is scary because the 2 candidates couldn't be more different. 

I will be voting early as I will be in the air on the 5th and if there was a delay and I arrived too late to vote, I'd be devastated. 

Then there's a part of me that doesn't believe absentee votes are really even counted.  Grrr. An atmosphere of distrust in general regarding anything political which deters folks from voting. The right so many people fought for...

Encourage everyone you know to vote. You all need to be part of what made this country great. Each vote is important. WE have to believe that.

TUESDAY TUNES: ARKANSAS from Irish Lips

 TUESDAY TUNES: Is not a song I've heard before, have you? Well the guitarist asked our group as we took over the front space in one of the local bars what states we were from. Little did I suspect that Arkansas would be in a tune from his lips! 

Turn out your volume and enjoy parts 1, 2 & 3

It mentions Memphis and Lake Pontchartrain also places I visited this past year. Is it autobiographical? It's too long a clip to download all 3 minutes but you can tell it was great fun.

Two other wonderful photos from our musical pub on the 31st of August... There were 3 siblings and spouses on our trip so one of them took a picture of the patrons of days of yore and substituted her in-laws heads.  Priceless?

And the other special thing concerned my Frida Kahlo earrings that day with more than one person commenting about Frida memorabilia in the bar. 

Funny thing I had my pic taken with her.

MONDAY MUSINGS: A DAY OF AtONEMENt & YES, GRIEVING

Religion serves many purposes. While there are historical answers as to why we perform certain rituals, ultimately, it's up to the individual which ones to embrace. 

In my home I light a Yizkor candle in memory of my parents and other relatives that have preceded them since they no longer can... 

This past Saturday, Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, I was invited to light one the Temple's seven candles in my Dad's memory since this is the one-year anniversary of his passing.

It truly was a blessing for my presence at this particular Yizkor, the memorial service, at Temple as the service's music in addition to its pianist and vocalists was accompanied by string quartet of Symphony members. The music went straight to one's soul.  

This afternoon service's purpose is to praise the Almighty to tighten the souls of those who have passed to past generations and for us to remember and honor them.

We were reminded by the Rabbi in his sermon re: Grieving Personal  Loss Amidst a Grieving Community. What struck a chord with me was the terminology "disenfranchised grief" which our Jewish worldwide community is experiencing after October 7th 2023. This collective grief is not recognized as mourners since we are not 'first degree' relatives. Fascinating subject matter re: the Circles of Bereavement.

I have attached the link for those who might want to hear more...

Grieving Personal Loss Amidst a Grieving Community

May we all find peace in both our own hearts and the hearts of others the world over in this coming year of 5785...

FOTO FRIDAY: NOTHING 'PETIT' ABOUT IT

 

FOTO FRIDAY this week took place on Petit Jean Mountain only a little over an hour down the road. 

I can't remember the last time I was there but my couchsurfer Adriana from Colombia had it on her list of places to visit.

So this past Sunday on an unseasonably warm fall day off we went with a picnic lunch. Adriana borrowed my umbrella for shade.

Still too early to see fall color but we had expansive vistas that remind one why Arkansas is called the 'Natural State.'

 

There's no way I could just pick one pic for this FOTO FRIDAY...

TBT: Hail, Hail, The Gang's all Here...

TBT: A little over a month ago I shared 10 days with these guys in Ireland seeing southern Ireland and listening to great music.  Besides each other's company, we also were blessed with wonderful weather and scenery.

One is never too old to make new friends and create new memories.

Kudos to our Irish guide Tomás who kept us on track and who I assume took this group pic...

Extra big thanks to John and Jo Smith (seated front center) 

for all your planning and time for this wonderful Irish experience... 

Please accept our heartfelt condolences for the recent loss of your son-in-law, Tim Waller.* He, too, embraced a love of music and contributed to the Coulee music scene which I, like so many others, enjoyed for 20+ years...

*If you'd like to donate monies to help with Tim's medical expenses, let me know and I will provide you with the info.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: A LABOR OF LOVE

MIDWEEK MUSINGS and here is an empty canning jar, not just any 'ole canning jar but a special one. Not many folks have leaky eyes over an empty mason jar... 

This one was special as it held the last of the green beans I canned with Natureman... 

It represents 20 years of memories of planting, growing and picking thousands of beans. They not only fed our household, but our families and friends as well. 

A true labor of love...

So when I opened this last jar to make one of my contributions to our family Rosh Hashonah holiday meal last week, I knew I had to do something different. It couldn't be for green bean casserole as we were having a meat meal nor with my usual doctoring with anise seed and butter, It had to be something new as I embark on this New Year with my extended family here in 'da Rock.

Here's a new recipe for you, dear readers,  even though this recipe called for fresh beans...  

Try them, you'll like them.

May all our labors of love be fruitful... Happy New Year.

MONDAY MUSINGS: WE WILL DANCE AGAIN

A year ago during a Nova Rave concert the euphoric crowd and world changed forever as missiles descended upon their fest grounds along the Gaza Strip followed by Hamas gunfire, torture and kidnapping. It was October 7th when the number of murdered Jews was the highest  since the Holocaust.

Our Jewish Community spent the evening commemorating last year's October 7th atrocity by watching a documentary called We Will Dance Again with video footage of the horrors and survivors's personal accounts.  It was 6 hours before Israeli soldiers came to the survivors' rescue. 

A young Israeli couple who had lived here in Little Rock were interviewed by phone before our viewing and answered questions re: their feelings which included : being more worried, feeling things are more dangerous and the noticeable increase in antisemitism. It is difficult to digest what has happened and now the children's Dad is back on the frontline for the past 5 months. Their young children were told their Dad was out protecting the land of Israel. 

The Jewish Holocaust saying is " Never Again." Yet, after the October 7th Nova Concert, the phrase now is We will Dance again.

This young man's angelic face became the face of those who perished...  Innocents just partying in their modern  Woodstock. 

I didn't bring enough kleenex.

One Year

FOTO FRIDAY : SMILE

 

FOTO FRIDAY:Holiday cheer being together this week.

And it's so quiet as they are all on the road... 

 Soon to be updated ... since son-in- law's pic is on another phone.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS : HOLIDAY JOY

Musing today as sundown tonight marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashonah.  As all holidays there is a traditional meal/two with family/friends. We dip the apple slices in honey with hopes for a sweet year. 

One might think everybody should be joyous during holidays but this year many families will have empty seats around their tables. Whether the absences are due to war, accidents, illness/ old age, they will be missed. 

My brother and sister-in-law will be hosting this year's potluck dinner for 26. This will be my family's first New Year's holiday table without my Dad. Even though last year he was quieter than usual,  he managed to eat his mashed potatoes with his cup of hot tea and have some dessert. 

May we bless the memory of our loved ones by sharing family stories. 

Best wishes for a more peaceful world ...

Shanah tova. Happy New Year!