kittycafe

Corner View: Music

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane, now hosted by Franscesca where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.

 

I started to have a hard think about this theme.

I enjoy so many types of music from classical to heavy metal. There are only a few genres I am not so keen on. I listen to music at work and in the car but lately at home I prefer some quiet time. 

(Unless I am dancing in the kitchen!)

What to choose?

But as I sat back in my chair it came to me, literally.

The Canada geese were flying over head again, honk-honking as they flew over the house.

They do this at least twice a day. They like to stop at my neighbour's pond. Or in the farm field behind.

Music to my ears.

 

(not my video)

Added later, because of course when I went outside shortly after posting, there they were...

At first I just saw a few

 

and then I got closer and saw the whole gaggle

maybe a little too close because someone gave the signal (honk honk)

and they were off

and away

 

 

Two Weekends

I've been very remiss to show and tell my afternoon blogger meet-up with Lynne of Wonderfully Made

I drove south, she crossed the border and drove north and we met in Niagara wine region, at Jordan Village.

It's funny when you meet bloggers in person because it is very like catching up with an old friend, you already know them so well. We share many interests and she has an uncanny knack of picking the same knitting patterns that I want to knit! It is much nicer to be face to face of course and we had a wonderful, if too short afternoon. Lynne, did I ever mention that there was a huge outdoor flea market around the corner when I drove home? Next time!

I was surprised when I got home and found I had a little camnesia and only got this photo of this colourful yarn shop we visited in the village. Lynne did better and you can read her very thoughtful post here.

The reason I was so neglectful in blogging this?

I was preparing for a show and sale at Carrot Fest at Everdale Farm

Long time readers may remember when I first visited this farm and their sustainable living tour before we moved to the area. Alas, we did not build a straw bale house or any eco-house for that matter as this green living? Unfortunately very unaffordable. I never thought I would be living a stone's throw from this organic farm, though.

Again with the camnesia (so unlike me) and only have this one photo of my table and the pottery was turned to the end at this point.

Behind me was this view:

Not exactly convention centre walls, right?

In front of me, there was many child-friendly activities changing throughout the day.

 

It was gorgeous and warm and really, I don't think I've had such a chance in quite a while to sit and chat and relax as I did this day.

I always marvel at the comments I get at these events.

I was asked many times, "You made these pots? All by yourself?" 

"You made all the pottery? And the soap?"  pause "And the calligraphy? You're very right-brained, aren't you?"

 

Most fascinating is how people perceive the scents of the soap. One woman was certain the floral one was grapefruit scented. Another could not smell the lemon grass at all, though her friend raved about it and so on. One person walked away when I mentioned that one in the middle basket that she had picked up was unscented. Everyone, male and female seemed to like the more masculine scents, cedarwood, patchouli, and the beer soap. I should be documenting this for a study!

Best of all was today,  when I finally got a chance to sit outside and pick the leaves off the basil plants (frilly purple basil on the left) to make pesto and enjoy the last very warm days of September.

I let others do the busy work.

 

 

 

 

Corner View: Silly

Corner View is a weekly appointment - each Wednesday - created by Jane, hosted by Franscesca where bloggers from all corners of the world share their view on a pre-arranged theme.

 

 

The days here are still warm but the nights are becoming very chilly and so we have started to light the wood stove in the evenings.

That first night, smelling the sweet wood smoke, my inner child took over and I ran to the pantry for a campfire fork (a fancy telescoping one at that), the kind we use for outdoor bonfire/cook-outs.

 The marshmallow was toasted to perfection. It was delicious. So I had two.

There was eye-rolling from my spouse. My girl was not home so I was the only child in the house that night.

Corner View: Indispensable

The Internet.

An indispensable tool. As someone who is always seeking out new ideas and information or that recipe that I have to make right now, I've come to rely on the internet.

And  there are also wonderful like-minded people to connect with too. As I've said before, a potential friend with similar interests and sensibilities may live right in your neighbourhood, or even on your street but the modern world being what it is, you may never share more than a wave or a nod of acknowledgement.

Unfortunately, one cannot share a cup of tea with internet friends, tea being equally indispensable.

More Corner View links found at Francesca's 

 

The White Witch or Oops, I'm Out of Vodka Again.

Last month a co-worker gave me some calendula flowers she had growing wild on her property. I was going to dry and use them to naturally colour my soap. Most botanicals turn brown when reacting with lye but calendula and a small handful of others don't. I only use natural colour for my soap or none at all.

But then..

I was harvesting some echinachea root for tincture and I thought, why not use the calendula petals to make a salve instead?

I opted for the passive solar method of infusing olive oil for two weeks, rather than heating it on the stove.

I can't tell you how good this smelled after two weeks, very sweet.

Anyway, I strained it, heated some beeswax (from my local bee keeper) I added lavender essential oil as a preservative and voila, a container of salve. I only made one as I don't think we are heavy users. Of course, I've burnt myself twice since, but that's the hazard of working in a kitchen all day.

For the echinachea tincture, I took roots from a well established plant and chopped them up (with great difficulty!) and infused them in the vodka left over from the previous liqueur experiment, still doing it's thing in the dark pantry. They are now doing their thing side by side.

You can infuse the flowers separately but I was out of vodka so I gathered them up along with some other wild flowers on the property and made a bouquet. Wild flowers resist this sort of thing, as they want to wilt as soon as they are picked but I got a nice couple of days enjoyment out of them before they drooped dramatically.

So, my co-worker S who gave my the flowers wanted to know how the salve went and we were discussing the tincture and the elderberries soon ready for picking for flu prevention/relief syrup and tincture (I've got them all making this, thank you Norma) and she turned to another co-worker and said, matter-of-factly, "She's a witch, you know"

I just laughed but I was a bit taken aback because I had just finished re-reading a favourite book of mine from my teen years, Thornyhold by Mary Stewart, about a young woman who takes over the house of her mother's cousin deep in the woods in England after WW2, who discovers she was a wise woman or "white witch". I loved the book back then and tried to learn all about herbalism (and didn't get very far at my local library - pre-internet)

So there is a line at the end of that book almost the same as the one S uttered at work that day.

The universe is paying attention.