FuoriBorgo

On Halloween

Remember the wild boar mandible the boys found in the woods (here)?  It's still with us, and tonight is its night!  I'm posting at the Co-op on Simple, Green, Frugal and Festive. 

Upcycling rubble

When I went rummaging through rubble, I took Rebecca and Mr Cat with me to give things an appearance of normality: mothers with young children and pets in tow rarely raise eyebrows.

 

We walked the little green trail to the worksite, to hunt for treasures.

Can you see them?  The treasures I was after were fragments of old tiles.

We didn't find that many, unfortunately, and although I had a small child and a pet in tow, I didn't feel quite comfortable enough to bring a spade and dig deep in the rubble. But they'll do, because I'm going to add some of my sea tiles, and some broken pieces of pottery that I've kept, to make a home repair mosaic.   

My plan, in fact, is finally to repair the wall in the kitchen, which has been damaged by chairs scraping against it.  It's an eyesore, and every year the damage gets worse.  A mosaic made with upcycled tiles and pottery should repair and protect the wall - and decorate it too.

I'm thinking of something like the above.  I'll now need to learn a few techniques: how to cut tiles to size, and how to plaster them on a wall.  But I think it'll be a fun home-repair job for winter!

Corner view ~ water

I was taking Jeremy to the doctor yesterday, and he was happily chatting in his 10-year-old's amazing- wonder-for-life state: "Isn't it amazing that people were able to build cars and transportation?"  "Isn't it amazing that you can send text with a cell phone?  Is there an invisible cable through which text travels?"  And so on.

While I was listening to him, I thought about my post for today.  So I asked him, "Jeremy, what do you think about water?"

Well, Jeremy thinks that water is amazing too:

Liquid state water:

Solid state water:

Gaseous state water:

Three states, one substance: that's what my 10 year old thinks of amazing water.

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Thanks Trinsch!  For more amazing views on water, guest-hosted by Dana (thanks Dana):

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama

athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, braja, mulot, anne, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, dominique, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, urbaNiche, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, emily, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter

An infusion of summer

I've been making many, many infusions from dried linden flowers: bring water to a boil, add dry linden flowers and a little cold water, bring back to a boil, add brown sugar or, better still, honey, drink ... and hopefully it'll help soothe a cough!  We've had a few nagging illnesses in the past several days, and the pots of hot linden infusion were very welcome.

I picked the blossoms this summer, during our brief trip to Provence (here).  One day we took Rebecca to a small playground shaded by magnificent linden trees.  They were in full bloom, and in the summer sun their fragrance was thick and sweet and irresistible.  And so, while French kids played and French parents chatted, I picked some French blossoms.  They made the rest of trip with us in a basket, delicately scenting our car.  At home I put that treasure basket in a shady spot for a few weeks, and they dried out nicely.

What is more comforting in a time of early-winter colds than a hot infusion, full of the warm scents of a summer holiday?

Walking

We took a walk along the paved road: it rained quite a bit the other week, and the dirt lanes had turned to mud.

We walked along the road that we always drive, several times a day sometimes, often just racing down the hill, late for something.  Walking slowly, at the pace of a toddler, we found many things: some pretty, pretty flowers, and some tasty hazelnuts.  I'd never noticed either of them before.

I've been thinking about the pace of things lately.  About the speed at which we go down our roads, and how different things look - and feel - when you find a way to slow down.  Do you have these thoughts sometimes?

Autumn palette: shop update

Since the last time I took out my sewing machine, to finish Rebecca's felt jacket, I've done a fair amount of sewing for my shop.  But first, let me show you who has been keeping me company during my sewing (and how):

I can assure you that this house had never witnessed a toddler quietly and intently playing for hours with pins and needles: she took every single pin and needle that I wasn't using, and carefully stuck them through pieces of fabric, or inserted them into the pin cushion.  Every single one, over and over again.  And while Rebecca was busy with pins and needles, I worked on a shop update I'd had in mind since the beginning of the fall: a couple of bags inspired by the autumn colors that have appeared on the hillsides hereabouts.

I don't think my neighbors realize just how much I love their handmade tools, like this ladder, and their old, weather-beaten wooden doors, which make a fine background for displaying my crafts, I find.

I used the crochet leaf I'd made some time ago to adorn a Crochet fall leaf bag, which is inspired by the changing fall colors, and has a "natural closure" (an oak gall).

And a Vintage lace bag decorated with a piece of delicate, antique Italian bobbin lace, which I picked up at an antique lace fair I visited recently, for another project I'm working on, which I hope to complete this weekend. 

I hope you have interesting projects lined up for the weekend, too!

Autumn in the kitchen

Today was the perfect cold, wet fall day to stay indoors and finally bake some cookies inspired by the Gourmandises d'automne images in my French magazine.   I can usually work out French recipes with the help of my Italian, so the kids and I were moving right along, quickly mixing up the cookie dough and rolling it out, until I noticed that the recipe called for leaf-shaped cookie cutters.  We have no leaf-shaped cookie cutters.

But one of the positive things about living in the middle of nowhere is that we've learned that we don't really need many things, especially ... well, leaf-shaped cookie cutters!  It would have been a great project for the kids to go out, choose some interesting leaves, and then cut their shapes in the dough, but, it was pouring, and so this time, it was mamma herself who got to play with the cookie dough.

I cut out simple leaf shapes, and decorated them with sunflower, pumpkin, and poppy seeds and pine nuts which we had on hand.

 

In case you're wondering about my botany, the cloud-like cookie sprinkled with mixed seeds is actually an oak leaf.  I'll turn it around for you:

Now it looks more like a oak leaf, doesn't it? 

And then it was time for all of us together to eat the leaf-cookie harvest.

Corner view ~ my dream

Do you remember your dreams?  Sometimes, I'll wake in the mornings filled with that special joy that comes from a dream, and I'll try to go back to sleep to follow the dream-thread that came undone.  But I never can.  I never remember my dreams.

But I dream when I'm awake, too, and I know that dream well: in it my family is happy and healthy and, if I follow this dream-thread, we'll have raised children who are happy, healthy and mindful adults.  This is the dream that fills me with real joy.

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Thank you Kay, for more corner views on dreams:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,

caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, allison, lise, cate, crescent moon, erin, otli, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, aimee, sunnymama, jenell, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, jodi, gillian, travelingmama

athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, kelleyn, iris, demara, mus, ninja, guusje, di, sammi, theresa, cherry b, victoria, kathryn , lisa, liza, juliette, braja, mulot, anne, lucy, leonor, elizabeth, helene, dominique, shokoofeh, cole, jenna, podane, grey-lemon, line, nihal, urbaNiche, inner toddler, puna, lucylaine, adrienne, emily, lynn, skywriting, eliane, the wanderer´s daughter

Garden planning & issues

Our basil grew, grew and grew this year.  It grew as tall as Rebecca, with some leaves almost as big as my hand (compare to this photo taken back in July).  And it continued growing well into October, because the night temperatures didn't drop as they usually do this time of year.  In fact, we've enjoyed spectacular weather this fall until now, with warm and dry days.  It would have been a whole new growing season ... if only I'd planned better and taken advantage of it!

Even after living deep in the countryside for ten years, I sometimes forget that many of my city-girl perceptions of nature come from turning the pages of a calendar, and lack appreciation of nature's unpredictable cycles and rhythms - like late frosts, early rains, unexpected heat waves and cold snaps.  So I still make many mistakes when planning my gardening. 

This year, in fact, I should have planted another crop of tomatoes, peppers and beans in July, and a few weeks ago, instead of putting away the gardening tools and turning off the water, I should have put in another twenty or so lettuce plants.  If I had, I'd still be enjoying fresh produce right now.

A couple days ago, temperatures dropped to fall levels, and I harvested nearly all of our basil, which was bolting.  I need to collect all the tiny seeds, and, since I already have plenty of pesto stored for the winter, I'm going to try drying the leaves.  I've never liked the taste of dry basil (doesn't it taste a little straw-like?), but my neighbor tells me that it really improves winter soups, so this winter I'll try her theory.  And in the coming year, I'll try a different approach to gardening: after all, you can never stop learning!

Chestnuts

They look menacing, but their prickly, spiny burrs hide a great deal of goodness, which at this time of year we harvest in our woods.  Today I'm posting over at the co-op about chestnuts and their role in traditional Italian cuisine here.