A suit

T. is almost 14. We get his first suit for a fancy party this weekend. He picks a formal style. The most formal of all available. I'm amused at the fact that he's enjoying the experience. He couldn't care less about clothing in daily life,  but I today he likes to see himself in this suit.

Later we go for ice-cream at the mall and have the best conversation. He talks about school, Finland education system. How school should shape society. He knows things, he makes sense. I have a sudden revelation of what a great educator he could be. I use to think he could be a psychologist because he's really sensitive and very much into human essential topics.Today I got this glimpse of him as an educator.

Sometimes he's not so confident and I try to cheer him up saying that when I was a teenager I would totally have fallen for a guy just like him. He replies that far from cheering him up that's weird and gross. I know it is. We both laugh.

Usually he's lost in his chats with friends on the phone, but today afternoon with him was such a delight.

Campito

Life is beautiful at the countryside with long dirt roads to walk


and meet the locals...

Half of our time there is spent studying and practising....

The other half, eating...

We eat at the table and on the go :-P
Kumquats from the tree!

Beautiful Aromo tree with yellow flowers that look like little pompoms

Dawn, mate and talk

Fiery Sunset

These guys (they were 3) Beautiful crane like birds. We don't know the name.

And these guys, waiting for an hour at the rural town bus station because we got the bus schedule wrong...but who can complain after such a lovely time? 

So grateful for this restorative time and for my wise good friends.

"No Explanations Breakfast Focaccia"

Delish.

I've stolen the term "Culinary Disaster" from my beloved writer Laurie Colwin. I've discovered her cooking essays about 10-12 years ago and I re read her "Home Cooking" and "More Home Cooking" every 2-3 years and enjoy them every time.

If you or someone in your life loves to cook you'll enjoy reading or gifting Laurie Colwin's books.

She writes like she is a friend standing by your side at the kitchen counter, telling you funny stories while you peel the potatoes.

Let’s complain about the weather

I’m against complaining about the weather because it’s useless and boring.

So this will be an exception to my own policy

That’s me under two blankets and a sweater very early AM on a Holiday morning.

The house is freezing cold. P says it’s my fault because I haven’t had our living room heater repaired.

He’s right. But we’re about to move, right? It’s only weeks. And Winter here is so mild, right…?

Except that it’s f***ing cold this year and we’re freezing our butts off!!!!!

We are all dressed in layers inside the house.

Today will be “Oven On Day” and since it’s ON I plan to cook all day long.

Baked yam from the organic distributor

My new polenta crunchy cubes, a new hit.

Bread and lemon cake, for sure.

And I’ll see if I can turn a culinary disaster from yesterday into something good.

If I succeed I’ll give it a fancy name and show you.

Something New

Very excited with my new metallic color technique!
I even dreamt with these all night long, or so it seemed (these and similar others I have in my mind) Many more coming soon to my shop!

Guess what?

My sweet Mica boy passed his test and has been admitted to secondary school :-)

We had celebratory icecream at teatime yesterday. Side by side on the very same table where we sweated over each single math problem. The cheerfulness and relief were amazing! For both!

Maybe I'll consider a change of career as a Math tutor now ;-P

Walking with scissors

A neighbourhood expedition, scissors in hands, to get little plant bits to be used as props for  my product pics.

I go without a fixed plan and zigzaging more than once when I see something that looks pretty from a distance.

I come home with a bounty of beautiful little trimmings that I unload from the bag and place on a table without much thought. They're so pretty and photogenic that I take a lot of pics without any jewelry in it.

They all look amazing!

This exercise combines many things that I love: the surprise of the found object, the beauty of the vegetal world, the power of color.

I love to think that I can repeat this anytime and that the crop will be beautiful and different as the season changes. (I can imagine a table full of pretty flowers)

A handful of whatever falls to the bottom of my bag looks like this:

And see those kumquats on the right? I stole them from a little tree, ate some on my way and brought a few home. They're sweet and sour and delicious only if they're right from the tree. I've bought a bag of kumquats from the store a couple of times but it's not the same.