First Day of Autumn

You guys. I. . . I want to be able to break it to you gently, but. . . I’m not sure how to say. . . it’s the first day of Autumn. September is two-thirds over. Looking back through my calendar, I can’t find actual proof, but I’m pretty sure Winter was waayyyyy longer than Summer this year. Well, crap.

– Luckily, I made applesauce the other day, so I’m not entirely unprepared for this change in seasons. It’s a mixture of Red Barons and Haralsons (picked the other week by my own good self) — no sugar added, just a bit of lemon juice and water cooked down with the apples on the stovetop. It’s pretty amazing, not to brag. It’s not so much that it’s thicker than store-bought sauce, but there just seems to be more pectin — it’s more substantial.
– Today wasn’t quite the whirlwind of fun of yesterday, but I did manage to get myself to Coffee News Cafe for a bit of being-out-in-the-world. While I was in the area, I stopped by Wet Paint, a really lovely art shop. Would you believe they sell bento boxes there? (They’re selling them as eraser boxes, but I can’t be fooled.) All Christmas and birthday shopping this year can take place at either Big Brain or Wet Paint, thank you.

– I really do like baking my own bread. It’s different every time — not better or worse, just different. The flours I’ve used in the past couple of loaves came from the Seward co-op. I use not-quite three parts white bread flour (I can’t remember the milling company — it’s local, possibly Whole Grain Milling? — but it’s much less ‘white’ than what I’ve used before) to one part rye. This time, I added sunflower seeds to the mixture on the outside, and it’s amazing how so few seeds can alter the flavour.
– I brought a large mirror home from my parents’ house a while ago, and it went from sitting in their garage to sitting in my trunk to eventually sitting in MY garage until this morning. It was blocking the lawn mower in, so I carried it (the mirror) into the house and leaned it against a wall until I figure out what to do with it. In the meantime, Beany is smitten. She’s never met another cat as cute and charming before! My little Narcissus.
– Speaking of the lawn, it’s looking much better than it had been — ants and sun take their toll in the height of the summer. My ‘plan’ to ‘let’ it grow long and ‘recover’ was a clever plan indeed. In other exciting garden news, I picked the first of my cantaloupes, and I think I’ll cut it open tomorrow. I keep thinking I need to do a big garden update. Right after I finally post about my zine, I guess. . .