falling from trees

Our magnolia trees have been dropping loads of seed pods.
Fantastic to look at close up.

the acorns have started to fall -

100s & 1000s of them!

we can hear them plop plop on the roof.

and this little Grey squirrel fell from his tree this morning.

We have kept him warm (baby Mango's' heat lamp has a new purpose) and tried to hydrate him with Gatorade, as instructed by numerous Internet pages, and will be picking up some puppy formula to mix as his food - here we go again, what am I letting myself in to? But with two boys who give you puppy dog eyes when it comes to baby animals, I can at least try to give it a chance. Having a tame suqirrel in the back yard might even be fun!

looking at photos on-line we guess that he is about 4.5 weeks old with eyes still closed.

Wish us luck. :-)

bed revealed

not really 100% finished as I plan (one day) to decorate one pillow with beads and gold bullion thread. Clicking on the photos will give you the details. The colour on the cable velvet throw are a bit off, it is more of a chocolate brown.

lots of pillows to take off every night!

backyard entertainment

Our backyard hummingbirds are fattening up for their migration to South America.

I put out fresh sugar water to attract the birds. We usually only have two that show up during the season, but have seen three. They are very territorial and spend most of their time defending the feeder by dive bombing and chasing one another. We watch them perch on twigs in the trees above the feeder while they wait for the other bird to dare to feed. It is very rare for me to have two on the feeder at once. I have only seen it very early in the morning, maybe for their first meal of the day.

The ruby throat seen on the male bird is really just a reflection of the feeder ..it has a darker throat area which picks up the colour. Both birds have an iridescent blue green back which does not show up well in the pictures.

here is my amateur video of the birds. I have not spent any time learning how to edit and crop a video so this is raw footage!!! :-) the real action happens after 30 very boring seconds, although you will see a few flashes of two birds having a territorial war. one zips in front of the feeder and two flash past by the fence. (yes our fence needs power washing!)

Knitting for Mackenzie Frances

This post was lost so I am putting up the photos again.

Little Mackenzie, born Sept 1st in Christchurch is my third cousin. I made the plain white items and had them waiting for pink or blue details.

tribute to Floyd

My mission yesterday was to get all the ingredients purchased - done !
then this morning to cook, you know, let flavours develop - done!


It is now simmering away in the oven for a few hours, with potatoes peeled and ready for cooking later. And it is only 12:30... not at all like me. I am more famous for wondering what is for dinner at around five o'clock.
The intention is not to give my mum a heart attack, having prepared dinner in advance!! but to pay tribute to Floyd.




IMHO Keith Floyd who died yesterday was one of TVs most entertaining chefs. He started out with French-influenced food and fish dishes, so I think something French with wine flavour would be appropriate. I went for Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. Unlike Floyd and maybe Julia - the wine only went into the dish, any remaining will be consumed with the dish later tonight.



So having cooked all morning I have yet to tackle today's share of the big sewing project.


I have had a few false starts, unpicking, returning to the shops and the like...so progress has been slow. The bed skirt and duvet are on the bed as are a few scattered pillows but am still working on some finishing touches.


My biggest issue was my new machines zipper foot....when did they start designing a fat zipper foot that does not butt up to the zip?? my old one was supper skinny with an indent for the needle, the needle was moved to the side and all was flush with the zip and fabric. This new one won't work for what I needed to do which was sew on cording. Maybe I am supposed to go out and buy a special cording foot! The end result is messy as I had to have the cord under the foot. Anyway once done, turned and on the bed it is obvious that a larger cord should have been used...it is too small and is lost in the big picture. one day I might replace it but not now.

You can see my issue in this photo ( the needle needs to butt up to the cord) and the next shows the finished bed skirt.

It's love bug season again!!

These little bugs visit twice a year, swarm around for a couple of weeks and then disappear. They float joined together thru the air. If you happen to be surrounded by a swarm and look up, it feels and looks just like you are in a soft black snow fall.
Here the volume is nothing like that of Florida, where the bugs were more of a pest. They congregate around doors for some reason, sometimes an inch thick, daily sweeping required.
Their bodies are very delicate and smash nicely onto car hoods, grills and wind shields - the result turns to concrete if not removed while the remains are fairly fresh.

You see trucks coming in from the orange groves in Florida, with the front completely covered, black and where the window wipers have cleared only the reach of their sweep. Some Florida interstate rest stops have a drive up spray shower just for love bug season! - anyway I think that's what is if for??


I wish I could say that I took this photo, it was in our paper this morning. If I had a rose bush I might have used it as inspiration for my own photo. I like the picture so thought you would too.




this photo I did take.....what can I say...they like Gatorade!

So girls in Florida, how are you coping with your love bugs?

Sucre

I found macarons!!

and look what else they sell!!

above is my box of macarons and my empty gelato bowl!!

I almost thought I was back in Paris... but Sucre is a little shop on Magazine Street in the Garden District. Selling coffees, chocolates, marshmallows, cakes and gelato.

coffee & beignets

from Cafe Du Monde. The original french market coffee stand in New Orleans.




Frank and I just returned from a quick weekend trip to New Orleans. It was wet! (this is at a rest stop on the interstate)

we explored the garden district, peaking over fences into the gardens of huge homes, looking for Anne Rice characters

we rode the old streetcars

wanted to explore the Lafayette Cemetery, but it was closed. Looking in from the gate.

and beads from Mardi Gras still hanging on

We ate at "Luke", we always eat at Luke. A French Bistro restaurant we stumbled across about five visits ago. We didn't know it, but the owner is one of the chefs we see on TV a lot. After a big lunch we decided to just have appetizers for dinner. We sat at the raw bar and had clams, oysters, a serving of crawfish gumbo and a pate platter. Yum!

Save room for dessert

Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc

I made this for dessert last night. I have always wanted to try my hand at a Charlotte, they look so fancy and this tasted pretty fancy too. I just had some leftovers for breakfast...even better!
It is made with yogurt, hmm...GOOD FOR YOU!!




so next time I make this, there will be a few changes in my technique:

- I will dip the little ladies fingers into the syrup mixture, not soak them (they fall apart and syrup runs out onto the plate)
- the cream will be whipped before I need it (prep pays)
- the fruits will also be cleaned, cut and ready (prep pays)
- if I am careful with the gelatin melting process I won't have to sieve out lumps!



The recipe (Taken from a French food blogger)

Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc

serves 8

two dozen of biscuits cuillère, either homemade or bought.
300g water
210g caster sugar
for the mousse
6 gelatin sheets (I used 4 pks of powder - too many - try 2)
500g fromage blanc (I used Greek Yogurt)
120g caster sugar
330g double cream, whipped
a couple handfuls of raspberries

Make a simple soaking syrup by combining the water and caster sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then pour into a wide container, and allow to cool.

While the syrup is cooling down, soak the gelatin leaves into cold water for at least ten minutes.

Divide the fromage blanc into two heatproof bowls. In one of the bowls, mix in the sugar until dissolved. Heat the other bowl containing half of the fromage blanc in the microwave until it reaches around 40°C. Then quickly drain the gelatin leaves, and incorporate to the warm fromage blanc. Mix until fully melted. (Here I sprinkled the powder on the hot yogurt...had lots of trouble but eventually most of it melted) Then, fold this into the sweetened fromage blanc. And finally, gently fold in the whipped cream in a couple of batches.
When the syrup is cool enough, soak the biscuits into it and arrange in a shallow Charlotte mould.
Pipe (I spooned - it was very stiff at this stage) half of the mousse into the biscuit-lined tin, then cover with a handful of raspberries and more soaked biscuits. Top with the remaining mousse.
Chill for a couple of hours, preferably overnight. Unmould and serve.

The yogurt gave it a slight tang! very yum!
If you try it, let me know.