astitchisastitch posted: " I'm not going to be presumptuous and say that I now know what empty nest feels like, because I don't, not really. My daughter has been living with my folks in California for 6 weeks now, and we've established weekly FaceTime calls, which are a highli" A Stitch is a stitch
I'm not going to be presumptuous and say that I now know what empty nest feels like, because I don't, not really. My daughter has been living with my folks in California for 6 weeks now, and we've established weekly FaceTime calls, which are a highlight of my week! She's with my sweet family who take excellent care of her, and Sully the Dog is helping her not miss her own pets so much. School seems fine, and she's made friends with a couple of seniors, whom she eats lunch with. I'm supposed to send the gown we got for last December's school dance, for her to wear at Homecoming. All seems well.
That said, I have the huge advantage of not needing to be in the city for another few weeks, having no school child and all. The empty room at the end of the hallway in our Berlin apartment feels sad, and whenever I have appointments in the city and have to be in the city for a few days, I can't really get out of there fast enough. The last time I literally found myself saying: 'I'm going home', when I was driving back out here to the country. Some might call it avoiding, I call it a strategy ;-).
I've been quite productive, so much so that I might have to find myself another book project for December. Right now, it's my husband, dog, cat, and I, in our little cottage in the woods. We've picked up Scrabble again, which is nice, and nature has generously provided girolle mushrooms, always a treat in the summer. Here's my current favorite way to eat them: sauteed in olive oil with green beans, shallot and rosemary, on a bed of boiled potatoes. Simple, seasonal, regional fare!
Last weekend was lovely, because my dear friend A. came to visit. We discovered that we had both enjoyed Shonda Rhimes' Queen Charlotte a lot, so we went to visit the Queen's place of birth, Mirow Castle, which happens to be only a short drive away from our house.
It's a small castle, located in a truly lovely spot, a tiny peninsula surrounded by water, and I can see how growing up there (as a nobleman's daughter, mind you) might have been a good childhood. (Working class and non-nobility, well, that obviously wasn't pretty, those feudalistic days.)
The days with my friend were, as always, filled with coffee, walking, lots of talking, music – and this time around, slow drawing and water coloring! I had given her a copy of Amy Maricle's book that I translated last year, and we sat down at the kitchen table one overcast morning, and had fun with that ;-).
After taking her to the train yesterday, I felt a little sad, like I always do when we have to say goodbye, but also like we had done all that we could with the time we had! Friends like that are precious and rare, and I feel so fortunate to know her, and to have this solid, solid friendship that began in our formative twenties, went on all through the no less formative thirties with having and raising children, and is still going strong, now that we've raised them to be (three of them) amazing young adults, and one of them, to have and to hold for another few, hopefully not too difficult, teenage years.
And after THAT I will know what 'empty nest' is like. My son always says I got my dog at just the right time, and I think he's right, and we'll all benefit from that!
What with work, crafts have taken a bit of a back seat. It feels that all I've done is frog my work, after trying and trying and lastly deciding it hadn't turned out quite like I wanted it to. Works in progress have been mostly colorwork. A sweater in shades of blue and green that I should really finish, now that the temperatures have dropped; I'm done with the body, but having some trouble with getting the sleeves to be the right proportions. First attempt was too tight for my taste; second had a weird bulge I didn't like. Hopefully, the third (not shown) will turn out just right.
A few more knit cross-shoulder bags, notably the one for my niece J whose birthday has come and gone, and whose bag I've already frogged twice, because it was just not right; I know now what I have to do though – the yarn we chose is really skinny, and I have to double the strands.
But first, I need to make a pair of lavender socks that will be mailed to the US, along with the Homecoming dress ;-), as a fifteenth birthday gift.
The yarn is a six-ply merino mix, so a few nights of watching Grey's this week should do it! Socks made from six-ply yarn are quicker to make that the ones made from four-ply,
and a bit on the heavy side, but to quote a book I really didn't like, winter is coming, and having really warm socks when returning to Berlin from sunny California mid November might be just the thing!
The small, laid-back town my family live in has got to be one of the nicest places in the States I've visited – the lovely countryside, sandwiched between mountains and Pacific Ocean, blessed with mild weather, and open and friendly people who seem happy to welcome you to their lovely town. They chose their new place to live well after moving away from Colorado, and my daughter is fortunate to get to live there for a little while.
And finally, a dish I made for my friend: It's a type of pizza bianca, a thin pizza crust topped with thinly sliced potatoes, rosemary and olive oil. For the strictly vegan version, simply use salt, black pepper and maybe chili flakes to taste. For the vegetarian version, top with Parmesan cheese shavings:
Pizza alle patate
Dough:
300 g flour
1/2 cube yeast
1 TBSP sugar
warm water
3 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP salt
Olive oil
6 small potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 twig fresh rosemary
Parmesan shavings to taste
Olive oil for brushing, and for drizzling on potato slices
2 TBSP semolina for rolling out dough
To make this delicious thing, make a pizza dough, roll it out thinly, brush with olive oil, then layer with very thinly sliced potatoes that have been dipped in olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper, top with fresh rosemary and Parmesan shavings to taste (to my mind, it doesn't really need much), and bake in a really hot oven of 220°C until the crust browns and the potatoes are cooked. Serve with a bowl of arugula salad dressed with a lemon and mustard dressing, and enjoy!
And now, onward with my manuscript. It's a beautiful sunny fall day, the beginning of a week all by myself as my husband is traveling, and I accepted a corporate translation on top of the book I'm supposed to submit end of week - so I better get cracking.
Thanks for dropping by and reading, and have a lovely week!
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