Suddenly, Summer is Over

Vacation was the star on the horizon to which I fixed my gaze, and now it is over, and D is back in school, Keith will go back Monday, and SUMMER IS OVER.

Keith became Master of the One Match Campfire on this trip.

I made pancakes and they were good.

The girls spent all of their time in the River.

First Day of Seventh Grade

I walk down Kingwood Street to work every morning and when Dawn and the Mimosa Blooms all come together I know it is summer.  Unfortunately for me, most of my sunrises this year were obscured by rain clouds - I'm not complaining, I have a bounty of Spaceship Squash and Tomatoes because of the rain.  But I am a little disappointed, because I am a hot weather girl, and I had about 4 weeks this summer of weather that was warm enough for me not to wear a sweater.  This week, when I started back after our hiatus, it was no longer light out on my walk to work, and the Mimosa showed me her gigantic seed pods, and the last hurrah of her freaky pink blooms, and I could smell the stale beer/vomit odor that heralds the return of the WVU students, and I knew... SUMMER IS OVER.

Technically it doesn't end till the autumnal equinox, but practically, in this town at least, all sense of ease and peace that the long warm days conveyed has evaporated in a haze of pot smoke and booze fumes and Hummer exhaust.  As I walked home this afternoon, some new resident of Clark Street stood on his porch, chucking beer bottles from the night before in the general direction of the trash cans sitting on the sidewalk, sometimes making it, sometimes hitting the concrete with a resounding shattering of glass.  The little old man in my soul wanted to holler, "you know the city has curbside recycling, right? Put those bottles in the GREEN CAN MARKED RECYCLABLES!" But I said nothing, mostly because I do not trust myself to have a civil conversation with a kid who drives a car more expensive than my house, but also leaves broken glass all over the sidewalk.  I walked on home, past the newly broken window of the AstroVan at the corner of Cherry and Clark - The owner is a customer at the shop, he has a little kid, he put cardboard over the window till he can afford to get it replaced.  It rains almost every day here... SUMMER IS OVER

I made a new necklace with fishing line and some beads.

It has been a rough summer for me, in my brain - maybe I could go get my meds adjusted but I think I need to go hike more instead.  My kid is asserting her independence beautifully, although she mostly speaks to me in monosyllables and when I touch her things she yells "No!" at me as if I were a dog.  When I sit on the couch next to her to watch TV, she turns off her show and goes upstairs.  I just offered to make pancakes for breakfast and she went into the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal.  She does well in school and everyone says she is polite and kind and a pleasure to be around but I feel like I have failed somehow in the only job I ever had that was really important. This summer felt like the Universe saying to me "you are not Mother Material, You got one and she survived, but in spite of you, You do not deserve another."  That's how it felt.  But now SUMMER IS OVER and there has to be peace in there somewhere if I can just accept it.

Three is a Magic Number

Waffles!

Oh, how we love to eat waffles! Almost every Sunday morning I get up early, put on a pot of coffee and start scouring the internet for new and interesting waffle recipes.  My Better Homes and Gardens cookbook has a super good recipe, but this morning I wanted something a little bit richer.  What I came up with was inspired by this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  Have I posted about waffles before? Probably.  Will I post about them again? Definitely! 

 This Sunday's Waffles

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 c sour cream
1 1/2 c buttermilk
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla

2 egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks

• whisk together dry ingredients
• stir together wet ingredients, except egg whites
• add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients, stir till moistened
• gently fold egg whites into batter
• spray waffle maker with cooking spray, or brush with oil.  Make sure your iron is up to temperature before you put any batter in it!
• 1/2 cup of batter fills my waffle iron perfectly - your mileage may vary.  The batter will be thick, but don't worry, it will spread out when you close the lid. Bake for 4 or 5 minutes till desired crispiness is reached.

You can hold the waffles in a warm oven till they're all done, but watch out, a plate that's been in the oven for half an hour gets HOT!

Serve with some lovely berries, maple syrup and Delia's most favorite, WHIPPED CREAM! 

Leftovers freeze well and you can pop them in the toaster for a late night snack or a weekday breakfast.  I like to take them on hikes and eat them with apples and peanut butter.

This Moment

An idea borrowed from Soulemama.

Bedtime Ritual

It is eight thirty, a fine glitter of snow has begun to fall. You can see it if you look out the window at the streetlight. Hard to tell if it is sticking, but it is winter...

"Go To Bed!"

"Dad, can I borrow your chicken bone?"

"Sure."

The girl pokes around in the part of the kitchen where we cure the chicken bones but comes up with nothing.

"Where is it?"

"I don't know"

"I know where the is a wishbone. I've been saving it since Thanksgiving, it is a powerful one."

Synchronous gasps of delight.

"We can both make the same WISH!"

"For a Snow Day?"

"Yeah!"

"One, Two, THREE!"

I watch both halves of the wishbone snap simultaneously, and the little y shaped piece from the top spiral through the kitchen. There was a moment of silence as each one checked the piece in hand, which lasted until they looked up at each other and broke into jubilant cheers.

And with that, the girl took a spoon up to bed (it goes under her pillow).

And so it was Christmas

Christmas Eve I was at work before the sun came up. Of course, I am always at work before the sun comes up. My boss was drinking a Coke in a classic glass bottle, and you know, that's pretty special since you don't see it very often.
"It is Mexican Coke." she says. "It's made with-"
"Real sugar. I know, it was my Dad's favorite."
And so after that I had to go sit in the bathroom and ball my eyes out at pretty much thirty minute intervals till I finished baking all the Cookies and Christmas Bread. Don't get me wrong, I still like Christmas. But when Elvis sang "Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree/ won't be the same Dear, if you're not here with me," it meant something different this year...
Then I walked home, in the not quite cold air, and it didn't really feel like Christmas at all. I got myself together and decided not to cry anymore, because it would just bum everybody out and I didn't want to do that to them on Christmas, you know?

The first thing Husband said to me when I walked in, as cheerful as always, was "So how was work, baby?" Of course I just threw myself into his arms and sobbed something about Mexican Coke, and he just held me like he's so good at doing. No heavy sigh emanating from his lips to let me know how unfortunate it was that I was ruining Christmas, just that strong hug and the familiar "I know, baby." Because he does, he knows about the unopened bottles of Coke in my parent's basement that my Dad was saving, and he knows how much I miss my Dad. And then I just had to sob even harder, because it hit me real hard how it might be to go on living without him, and that my Mom was living in a world like that. This great bleak panorama of all the women in my family history outliving their husbands played out behind my watery eyes, and it was humbling and terrifying all at the same time.
A girl can only cry for so long, and trust me, I've been crying semi-professionally for my entire life. When the tears were about dry I ran upstairs to hop in the shower and get ready for the big Christmas Eve Dinner at my Mother-In-Law's house. There was something really healing about the quality of light in my giant southern-facing bathroom. I don't get to take a shower at noon very often, but the sun shines full into my bathroom through layers of sheer curtains and the draping pothos vines and citrus trees I have in front of the windows. The combination of that soft, bright natural light with the steamy shower helped me rinse all my tears and worries down the drain. The nap I took after that helped a lot too. By gosh and golly, at 3 PM we were all ready to go down to Clarksburg and have some good Christmas fun with Keith's family. My Mom went to Seester's house this year, so we didn't get together at Sun Valley. Which might have been just as well, me being an unstable snot/tear factory and all...

Dinner at Grandma Virginia's house was Absolutely Lovely. Constance baked a wonderful turkey and scalloped potatoes, and macaroni and cheese, and stuffing. There were also deviled eggs made by Grandma Virginia - and instead of being sliced long ways they were sliced the other way and they were super cute and delicious and I think Delia ate half a dozen of them. I whipped up some gravy when I got there, FROM SCRATCH, with a can of beef broth that Grandma had under the cupboard. There was not a speck of green vegetable in the house, much to Delia's delight.
After dinner, and after Grandma's Galettes, we opened presents, and everyone was delighted. Constance gave us, among other lovely things, a real boss coffee maker that has a water filter and timer and a couple of other bells and whistles that are sweet. The girls all got cute PJs and sweaters and makeup and perfume and were happy as clams. I kind of felt bad that I didn't get presents knitted for Becca and Schyler, but they can place requests and I will make them something in the future.

Of course I didn't take enough pictures in North View, in fact, the only one I got at Grandma Virginia's house was this one of my niece Kaitlynn in the present I made her! The hat is Leethal's Short-rows Wavy Hat and the scarf is Karen Baumer's Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. Both are knit in Bernat Mosaic, Psychedelic colorway, a 100% acrylic self striping yarn that I picked up at AC Moore in Bridgeport. Both were knit on size 8 Clover Bamboo needles.

She is just the cutest thing.

After Ryan and Deb and the girls took off in their sleigh to go visit Deb's fam, Keith and Delia and I wandered next door to Grandpa Carson's house.

My sweet girl in front of Grandpa's Christmas Tree.

They say Christmas is for the children (well, at least Barry Manilow says it!) and you know, Madyson was the star of the party at this house. She had plenty of packages to open - but she got a little sidetracked after the first one, which was a shopping cart. She pushed that little thing all over the house and wouldn't sit down to open another thing! During this time Delia decided that she was going to buy herself a viola with her Christmas money. My girl has priorities.

Grandpa Carson and Cathy got this awesome slide for Maddy, and she LOVED IT! I think she slid down it a hundred times.

Grandpa helped her climb, and Uncle Keith caught her.

It was super fun. I must have taken 30 pictures, but most of them were of a blurry Maddy in mid slide. Blurry is in this Christmas I hear.

Keith, Delia and I made it back to Edgehill House before midnight this year! Once my sugarplum was tucked into her bed, the Elves got to work Elving, and we had a nice quiet little time waiting up for Santa with The Twelve Beers Of Christmas, courtesy of Keith's bosses.

Christmas morning came early, Delia woke us at 7:30 and we enjoyed coffee from our new coffee pot and bacon & eggs while we opened gifts. I am ever so thankful to have this little family.

Alton Brown Looks Like My Husband

Image lifted from here.

Taken just now in my living room

Don't tell me the thought has never crossed your mind either. They share the same propensity for spectacles (the optical adjustment kind) and the same hairline. They are both dryly funny and straight to the point. It is no surprise that Alton Brown is my culinary crush, seeing how closely he resembles my sweetheart.

For tonight's supper, we turned to Alton's Mac N Cheese recipe. Of course, I had to mess with it, but I kept it's spirit intact. Delia has never had real baked Macaroni and Cheese. I have not made it since I have been a Mom. So this was a first for both of us, sort of. When it came out of the oven, all bubbly and crispy, I could barely wait till it cooled down to shove it in my pie hole. Delia took one bite and shook her head remorsefully. It's ok, because I ate hers too.

When I was a kid, to make Mac N Cheese, I made a white sauce (didn't know the French word for it back then) and melted Velveeta into it, cause that was what we had. Now I kind of think Velveeta is a crime against nature. But Macaroni and Cheese is still the World's Best Comfort Food, and with a little finesse and a pound of cheese I have managed to create a classical modern adaptation of Alton's solid recipe. Here you have it!

• Bring a big pot full of water, like the biggest pot in your house, to a roiling boil. Add an absurd amount of salt. As Si at A Bountiful Kitchen suggests, your pasta water should taste like seawater. If you haven't had the pleasure of real ocean brine in your mouth lately - get thee to the beach!
• Add about 3 cups of elbow macaroni and stir, stir, stir. If you have a nice baking dish that gets used frequently, you oughta know how much pasta it holds. Make that much pasta. My Corning French White Casserole just fits this recipe. Cook that macaroni till it is al dente. It will cook a bit more in the oven, so you don't want it to cook it too soft here.
• While the pasta boils, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in 3 Tablespoons of flour, 1 Tablespoon of dry mustard, a teaspoon of turmeric, and a nice pinch of nutmeg. Cook for about five minutes over medium low heat.
  
• Now whisk in 3 cups of milk, a goodly splash of strong beer (bout 1/3 cup of Sam Adams was used here) 1/2 cup minced onion, 2 smushed cloves of garlic, half a teaspoon of paprika, and a bay leaf. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring frequently. It should thicken up somewhat, but not too much.
• Sometime around here your pasta will get done. Drain it and then toss it back with a bit of butter so it doesn't stick to itself while you are finishing the sauce.
  
• After the ten minutes are up, stir in a bunch of shredded cheese. I used 8 oz of sharp cheddar and about 5 ounces of this really nice English Cheddar that I got at Aldis. Save a little bit of the cheese to sprinkle on top, about 1/4 of the total cheese.
  
• Stir your elbow macaroni into the cheese sauce, and pour into a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the casserole.
  
• In a saute pan, brown about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (or more if you like) in some butter. Then sprinkle them over the top of your mac&cheese.
  
• Bake at 350 for about half an hour. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes after you take it out of the oven before cutting into it.

Happy Halloween

scenes from the shore

Saturday Afternoon With the Girls

The Kid's Been Busy

On Monday night, Delia and I went to the New WVU Erickson Alumni center to attend the Celebration of Young Writers. WVU held the ceremony for all the kids in the county who placed in the Young Writer's Competition and their teachers. Delia's story "Mystery Demolition" won 3rd place in the 3rd - 4th grade category. West Virginia author, Cheryl Ware, gave a presentation that wove together pieces of every child's story. When Delia heard her words being read aloud, she was just tickled pink. I tried to get a picture of her walking up to the podium to accept her certificate and WVU swag bag, but of course they didn't turn out. I did make her stand with her classroom teacher and her TAG teacher who both came to the shindig to support her! It was pretty awesome. Keith and I are SO PROUD of her, and most importantly I can tell that she is proud of herself.


Last week was the Social Studies/Science Fair at Mountainview. You all know how much I LOVE being packed in the cafeteria like fish in a barrel with the parents of my child's peers. The school did things a little differently this year and herded all the parents into the library for cookies and soda while the judges went around and judged the projects (incidentally, nobody ever told us who won!). Delia researched aluminum in antiperspirants, hand lettered her presentation board and used her very favorite craft item - STYROFOAM - to illustrate how sweat couldn't escape through your skin like it should when your pores are clogged with aluminum. Even though at least one parent kindly pointed out that studies have PROVEN that it is NOT DANGEROUS (ahem, whatevs...), Delia was still convinced by her research to avoid it. Yay for Science Fair!



Our bud Naomi did her project on her cat, Sharkey, who turned out to be a Korat. Naomi (with help from her Mom) sewed a stuffed Sharkey replica and labeled the breed's iconic features with bright green ribbon tags, and her display board was covered in grey faux suede. Very tactile.
The kids are taking West-Test this week, and even though I told her several times that she doesn't really have to study for them, Delia decided to bring home all of her textbooks to study. I don't know how much reviewing she's getting done while she watches Neds Survival Guide on the Netflix... School is almost out for the summer!

First Hike at Canaan

Delia planning our hike over a cup of hot chocolate.

Even though the world was overcast for most of our stay up in the mountains, it didn't rain all the time so we got to go on several hikes. The first one we planned out took us from our cabin to the lodge, over about a mile of mildly hilly terrain along the Club Run Trail.

Delia inspecting some ruins we found along the trail. Are they from the railroad? We couldn't tell.

Club Run made a loop back to the cabin area, and since we wanted to go on to the lodge, we took the Ridge Top Trail connector to the Middle Ridge trail. I love watching my girl learn to use a trail map.

Our hike led us to a wide open area and the Balsam Swamp Overlook. Things were muddy and spare, as spring hadn't quite come to the Highlands, but the barren alien landscape was still strangely beautiful.

The Overlook is situated along one of the paved roads in the park, and we walked along it up the hill to the lodge. It was a terrific first hike of our trip!

Views from the Hipstamatic Lens

This Moment

An idea borrowed from soulemama, a moment from the past week that I just want to savor.

Valley Falls

It was a nice day for a hike. We got a late start so we decided to go someplace that wasn't too awful far away that we hadn't visited in a while, and Valley Falls won! I don't think Delia had ever been there before - she thought the falls would be taller.


The sun was shining but there was still a chill in the air. No ice on the Tygart Valley River though. We walked a little section of the River Trail until we came upon a patch that was snow covered, and the consensus was to turn around and go back. Nobody wanted to slip on the ice and fall into the rushing river!

Before we left home I uploaded a trail map to my iPhone so we would have it if we needed it. Very Handy. After a quick scan we settled on one that looked like fun. We set out up the park road in search of the Deer Trail trailhead and found it in a few minutes. The lower section of the Deer Trail is broad and wide, mostly well graveled and very easy to walk. It follows the river a little ways above the railroad tracks.
We came to a switchback which is near the edge of the park boundary, and the trail climbs steeply uphill from there. There are no blazes, markings or signs after the switchback, and the trail narrows to about a foot wide and has no gravel. A seasoned hiker probably wouldn't have much trouble following it in good weather, but novices beware! After it crossed the little stream pictured above, Keith and Delia couldn't find it again and thought about turning back. A mountain bike track in the mud on the other side gave us a good clue, and we eventually found the trail again.



The steep uphill climb was pretty hard on us all, so out of shape from being inside all winter. Delia wasn't particularly happy with us when I snapped the above picture. She began to get concerned that we would be walking in the woods FOREVER. It wasn't long before we spotted the park road and began our relatively easy mile or so downhill back to the parking lot. The snacks (that we forgot to carry on our hike) were ravenously consumed!

All these pictures were taken with my new iPhone (thank you Keith, second best Valentine EVER). I love it so much, it can keep my trail maps and flora/fauna identification guides small and handy. It even has a compass. Anybody know of a good trail map app?