August 9, 2009

• Lots to be grateful for this weekend. Ceredwyn and I went to the Farmer's Market in Middlebury on Saturday morning.  I bought some Kirby cucumbers for pickling and some of the most gorgeous, firm white German garlic a girl could wish to pry from the papery depths of the head. Thick,solid chunks of garlic that are now bathed in vinegar, salt and water with dill. Four quarts and two pints of dill pickles. I haven't made this particular type of pickle in several years. All I needed was the proportions for the brine and I was off. A friend had given me some umbrella shaped dill heads. So fragrant, dill in the kitchen. Pickling made me think of the boys and lucky for me, I was able to speak with both boys over the weekend. It always makes me happy to hear from Beloved Firstborn and Boy Wonder. And these were some of their favorite pickles, second only to my Dilly Beans. Both of my kids sound as if they are doing well and I am grateful that they are making lives for them selves that seem to be satisfying them.

  Two gallons of purple pod beans sit in the colander on the table. They need to be blanched and iced before they can go into the freezer. I didn't get to that today. Tomorrow night after work will be their time. So satisfying to plant small white kidney shaped seeds in the ground and see the spade shaped leaves sheltering purple blossoms and long slender beans.

  Fresh food is so abundant right now. Apricots and peaches from Pennsylvania. Tomatoes and squash from local farmers. The last of this year's green sugar snap peas tossed into a gratin with zucchini,onions and tomatoes. Nasturtium blossoms and their spicy green leaves. Blueberries picked from the high bushes in the yard. It's good to be growing our food again. Certainly not all of it by any stretch of the imagination, but a goodly amount. And with the physical ailments I've dealt with over the last few years, it is really good to be able to move and do these simple things. I still need help from Erik, but I am doing more than I was capable of even a few years again.

  Spike is failing. We're going to have the vet come to the house to euthanize him sometime in the next couple of weeks. He's always been carsick and I want to spare him that indignity if I can. He is blind and deaf and having trouble moving his hindquarters. He sleeps for long stretches but always seems to know when it's dinner time. Okay, so he paces for an hour or so before dinner in the afternoon, but for the most part he spends his time on his dog bed beneath the dining room table. There have been times when I wanted to put him down because he was being annoying in his doggy senility, but now that we're coming closer upon that time, I feel a wave of remorse for the times I thought those thoughts about him. Now I remember what a good dog he's been for the nineteen and one half years he's been part of our lives. He has always been good with the boys. Happy to sleep on Mason's bed. Lots of energy for playing in the yard with them. How come pets have to grow old?

  Blessings abound

  • 9:20 pm
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