The End of an Era

It's been the powerhouse, the workhorse of the kitchen here for nearly forty years. Banana smoothies for me - no prob. Mixing massive amounts of basil for pesto for the freezer - easy peasy. More, more, and yet more of velvety smooth squash soup - kids' stuff.

And before that, who knows? It belonged to my best guy's Mom before it came to us, and she passed in 1986. And then, one day (last Sunday, actually), it met up with the sink faucet...

Thankfully, there are replacement units. One is now on order, and we are all hoping that it arrives very soon and in perfect working order. Because those bananas are becoming seriously ripe. 

The Last Squash

Promise. We ate or gave away all the other ones. And most definitely, the last post about squash for a very looong time. Promise.

But you have to admit, it's a beauty at 12.5 lbs. (although other people have said things like, "hilarious" and "gonna be a lot of soup"). All true, but not very nice to say out loud. 

(Banana for scale)

The Beach

It's been raining, and it's supposed to rain again. What better time to head out to Tennessee Valley for a hike. 

Sisters

Back in the days, as in, last year, when the wrens happily nested in their gourd house, life was good. But this year, it became all too obvious that the birdhouse was becoming a rickety tear-down. Something needed to be done.

A packet of seeds, a pile of compost and a long growing season later, we got some new housing stock. Potentially. All related, and all still connected. (Since then, they have been cut off the vine and moved onto the porch for shelter.)

I'm not yet hopeful, perhaps just wishful, that they will cure properly (or at least some small number of them won't rot out completely) and become new homes for the next generations of wrens. 

Charlotte

I was getting very worried, and even commented on it to a few people who wouldn't think that I was getting (even more) odd. 

But it's been years, literally years, since I have noticed orb weaver spiders hanging out in their (her, actually) large, round webs in the front yard. The last time I remember seeing them was probably in 2018; definitely since before the pandemic. 

Charlotte

But this year, perhaps because of all the rains this past winter, or for other reasons unknown to me, the spiders are back! 

My neighbor named her Charlotte (bless you, E. B. White) because she appeared while we were away on holiday and watched over Luna in our absence. And, no, she did not write, "Some Cat" in her web, but I'm sure she could have...

For a few months we dodged her web each morning, sometimes rearranging it for her in ways that probably didn't make her happy. She finally figured out the problem and positioned the support line from the top on the porch pillar and not at the middle. Brilliant!

I haven't seen Charlotte in a few weeks, so I'm assuming that she has moved on. I'm also hoping that at least a few of her babies will appear here next year. 

A New Fashion?

You can wear it:

Or sleep in it:

Or??? 

Oddly (Ab)Normal

I know that they are tromboncino squash.  I know this, but still my eyes have to blink a few times rather quickly to avoid a freakout. 

Because they are definitely weird-looking. Like the fossilized internal organs from a long-extinct ruminant. Or some giant invertebrates who only appear out of the ground on every third Harvest Moon during prime numbered years. Or even as a friend commented, "I have to say, that photo is strangely anatomical, I'm almost blushing."

Good soup, though, and lots of it.

Better Late Than Never, Right?

 Mid-October, and the San Marzano tomatoes are coming into their own. But since they're all ripening up at once, they're having different futures: some are for roasting now and the rest are for sauce for this winter. And for me - it's back to the kitchen!

Ferry Around the Bay

It's summer once again, that little splash of rain notwithstanding, and the new crop of "summer" visitors should be arriving soon. Now we all know how difficult it can be to find new things for them to do and see. So why not try the ferry?

Our dear friend Helen Doyle recently wrote a comprehensive guide to ferrying around the bay in Bay Nature magazine. It spurred us to take the ferry from Richmond (easy parking) to San Francisco, and then straight back again. 

So why not stay a bit longer in SF? Well, we had to make it back for happy hour at Armistice...

Garden Lanterns

It took forever, absolutely forever to complete these. But finally, finally, finally, I hit upon a way to keep them upright, not sinking away into the ground and stable. Whew!

Daytime

Nighttime