Fog Fest and a photo-sandwich

As ordered our Islands first "Fog Fest" started out "foggy", of course!

We went to two musical arrangement and had a good time.

Harper's Mae, vocalist

Just the right arrangement we needed around here in that kind of weather.

Phillip Albert, jazz piano

Coming back late I just chucked the diverse vegetables, cold pork roast and potato/rice into a big pan and had a stir-fried-like supper ready in no time.

The evening was squandered away with "Gimp". Not an easy way to photoshopping (I can tell you, Barbara). It is a program for IT-folks, but I finally got it to work somehow. I sandwiched to photos! Don't ask me how.

1) Sunset

2) Moon

3) Moon with Sunset sandwiched

Not too bad for squandering away an evening....

Greens, Gras, and Spiders

Summertime brings a lot of fresh produce out of my garden patch. Nothing compares to vegetables when it comes to the "real" stuff. They just taste different, better.

There is a lot of green on our plates. Luckily my dear husband agrees heartily to that.
No such gruff remarks like: "Men don't eat vegetables", or "That's rabbit fodder".

Here a two of  my variations.

1)
Baby-Iceberg lettuce
Leaf lettuce
Collard greens
Celery
Carrot (shredded)
Bell pepper, yellow, cubed
Apple, sweet, sliced
Parsley
Basil
Summer Savoy

Vinaigrette:
Salt, pepper
Sugar
Lemon juice
Vegetable Oil
Peanutbutter

2)
Baby-iceberg lettuce
Leaf-lettuce
Parsley
Old cheddar, shredded
Bread Crumbs, (croutons)

Vinaigrette:
Salt, pepper
Sugar
Lemon juice
Vegetable Oil
Coffee Cream

The other day, after a rainfull night, I saw these patches on the lawn.
My curiosity got the better of me and I went out to take some photos of it.

It were spider nets, like circus tents artfully build between and over the grass straws.

I was hard to find a spider itself because there disappear as fast as a lightning when someone approaches the trap they have build.

One photo showed a spider just about to vanish into her hiding hole.
Then I went online to find out what it was about.

Quote: "These spiders are commonly called "Grass Spiders" because they build funnel-shaped webs, which are not sticky, close to the ground.  The spider hides in the narrow end of this funnel, which is usually protected by leaves or rocks.  When an insect, spider, or other small creature crosses the wide end of the funnel, the spider feels the vibration and rushes out to grab the prey.  Funnel weaver and grass spiders are incredibly quick, and can dash from the protected part of their web to the other end at lightning speed. Funnel weaver and grass spiders are beneficial predators.  They very rarely leave their webs, so they don't often enter homes."
www.spiderzrule.com/grass08.htm

Spaghetti squash and a curious sparrow

Our guests invited to a savoury chilli today and, I pitched in with a baked spaghetti squash.
It was just the right size for 4 people and it's easy to do. The only difficult task is to cut it in halves.

I got into the shed and found a machete-kind-of-knife and a tent-pole hammer. With a few whacks I got the squash divided.

Next thing was to scrape out the seeds and strings.

Seasoned with pepper, salt, garlic and a piece of butter the squash halves were ready for cooking.

With a fork the soft flesh was scraped out into a pan and reheated with butter just before serving.

For additional seasoning I used fresh herbs out of the garden.

While picking the herbs I was watched by a curious sparrow. It always seems to be there when I am weeding. I have heard it singing many times, but never saw where it sat.

This time did and I took the camera, bend down over the lettuce, pretending to pick weeds, then came up slowly and directed the camera at the bird.

It even winked at me!

________________________
Ingredients:
I spaghetti squash
salt
pepper
garlic
butter
basil, thyme and parsley
Directions:
Split the squash in tow halves. With a spoon scrape out the seeds. Season and butter the inside. Cook at 350° F for about an hour until the flesh is soft. Scrape the flesh out, and mix with butter and fresh herbs. You can easily use the squash halves to serve it in. I didn't this time.

Red Currant Jam

I was just telling my hubby: "If I were supposed to live off my postings I would be starving".

There are too many prolonged times of writers block! Sigh.

Although there is always something to write about it seems to be so unimportant at times. And the fear of a "repetition" is there all along.
"Didn't I write about that already"?
On the other side: isn't life mostly a repetition of actions with a new thing interspersed now and then?
Well, before I get too philosophical I'll stop right here!

(This is taken on the black top of my ceramic tile stove, hence the black background.)

Today I was invited to pick some red currants at a friends house.

I rushed over because there was a threat of rain in the air and we picked about 2 pounds of the bright red berries before the downpour started. Whew!

Now, 3 hours later, the cleaning, cooking and filling of jars is done and I can look upon 5 jars of currant jam! A nice treat.
There are many flowers out in my garden. I love to take photos of them and I created another page just for the fun of it.

My Peonies that died on me in the spring because of blight. I was devastated. But after I cut the plant back it surprised me with new growth and seven new buds. 

Therefore they all bloom now in July. 

(Of course it has to be raining on them, isn't that the case every year, whenever day they start blooming -you can bet on, it starts raining.)

And now - it is pouring down!
Good thing that I cut the lawn yesterday and I don't have to water the garden today ... :)