full.

I am thankful for so very many things. I'll just make a quick list to remind myself, while I wait for my family to pick me up and whisk me away to central florida this morning:

my health. Jackie & Ruben. the beautiful and delicious food i'm surrounded by, and being able to afford to buy it from local farmers. our chickens. the love and support of my family, especially my parents. my nephew. my brother. deep roots. the wisdom and generosity of my granny. my eyesight (as poor as it is, I'm so happy to be able to see). great music. my jobs. getting to spend time with my dad. silver linings. knowing how to make great pie crust. having a whole room for my sewing and art supplies. freedom. my home.

This list is not complete, but i'll leave it at that because my family is here to get me. I've gotta grab my pear pie and get myself in the car...Adorable nephew, here I come!

canoe and camp

We just got back from a music-filled camping trip to Bear Creek, where R's band played on Saturday. I cooked up a big batch of stir-fried greens, radishes and turnips, and roasted a bunch of sweet potatoes ahead of time, and we ate off those (plus a whole lot of eggs and english muffins) all weekend. My favorite part was getting up early (when, frankly, a lot of folks were just hitting the sack) and taking a walk to get a cup of coffee from one of the food vendors and then sitting in the sun knitting or reading for a while. I sure do need my quiet time.

our conestoga wagon

Transitioning back to work on Monday was a bit rough. Ever since the time change it is dark when I leave for work, and dark when I get home-- and I've always been a dark-means-sleep type of girl, so it's a real struggle for me to be productive. To counteract the frustration this brings, I've definitely been taking lots of mini breaks during my work day to do fun things like plan the dishes I'm going to make at our family's meal next week: Flageolet gratin (from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook--amazing!), these biscuits, and Aunt Harriet's sweet potatoes (involving lots of cream and chipotle peppers). And I've already been making (and eating) cranberry sauce for weeks now. I love fall!

This is one of my favorite fungi.

Cyanthus striatus

I remember finding these as a kid and believing in fairies. This is really a terrible photo-- they are so much more charming in person. You can find them growing on wood chips or bark mulch. I just read that the little "eggs" contain the spores for the mushroom, and that when rain drops hit the nest-like shape, the little eggs are splashed out, and this is one way for the mycelium to spread.

Speaking of mycelium, have you read Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets? His platform is that mycelium can save the world! Even if you don't share his complete enthusiasm for fungi, this book is a wonderful resource and an interesting read too.