Sunday morning flowers, postcarding

The new arrangement for Sunday morning. That's a coleus rooted in water, which will become a houseplant this winter. 

My postcards encouraging registered voters to get out for Sue Altman in NJ district 7 are on the way. I already have a roll of stamps, so I'm ready when they are.

This race is the result of redistricting which lost us Tom Malinowski, an  excellent House member, when his district was reorganized into a pretty solidly red one, handing the election to Tom Kean Jr, a maga man, now up for reelection.

He's the son of Tom Kean Sr, from the 9/11 Commission, former Gov of NJ and a very decent man. That apple disproved the adage about falling near the tree.  Altman is a good candidate now in a tight race in a difficult district. I'm giving her all the help I can. 

Yesterday's winnowing, aka displacement activity, finally cleared out this area. 

The slide out shelves  I had installed by Mike the Artist Contractor after I had the dishwasher removed. 

There was an exciting period back when Handsome Partner was living, and needing full-on care,  when the old dishwasher finally gave out. 

I replaced it, and the new one, a couple of weeks after the warranty period, went on fire after the heating element collapsed onto the appliance floor. Very exciting in a home with a completely helpless partner to safeguard.

I replaced it and the new one, different mfr, burst into a flood, when a friend was sitting with Handsome Partner to give me a break. Fortunately she knew where the shutoff was and was busy mopping when I got home.

After that I decided washing dishes by hand was less stressful, so I had these shelves installed in place of the dishwasher, and love them. The top one is the dish drainer, the bottom one my cordage grasses and washing detergent materials storage area.

Over time other things got in there, silk dyes, papermaking gear, various pots and tools. So now it's sorted. The dyes and other things are back upstairs in their own crates. I can now find the various grasses I use. The long-lost cheesecloth was hiding in there, also the mate to my small saucepan. It's all good.

And for lunch I enjoyed all the colors. 

Mixed green salad and parsley,  with feta cheese crumbled over, and egg salad, paprika on.  Cantaloupe with yogurt, ginger powder sprinkled around.

I've run out of watchable productions of Sense and Sensibility, so I think I'll move on to the 117 versions of Emma or Pride and Prejudice next. The Austenfest continues. 

And a bit of stitching, the first patch in the medley quilt. Or whatever it becomes.

Monday morning mammo recheck, and I finally managed to complete preregistration, website working better. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE: ALL'S WELL, TESTS NORMAL, YAY. EXHALING.

Happy day everyone, did you see Harris wowing her fans in Penzeys? They're good people, so I'm glad. 

Glorious August! farm lunch

August, now that the heat's abated a bit for now, is amazing.  The mornings are perfect to be outside, everyone's so happy!  and the food's not bad, either.  Also my friend did fix the shower faucet in no time flat, once he'd shopped for the right one, doh, I had not realized I was trying to fit a square handle onto a round faucet, so to speak, very slightly wrong, but enough to not work.  And he gallantly refused even to be reimbursed for the new faucet and the trip and the work.

Here's today's lunch: farmfresh tomato salad, just doused with fresh ground black pepper, together with salt redskin potatoes, a la Deborah Madison, spritz of olive oil, champagne vinegar.  I'd already made inroads on it before remembering to take a pic.

 Dessert is totally ripe cantaloupe chunks with  baharat (see here ) from my Ottolenghi adventures, sprinkled over.  It just gets better in the jar. You open it and the scent is so many layered.  Sprinkle it over practically anything! Or just breathe the scent, for instant calming. Better than lavender.

Supper from the Farm, blissful

Today was farmshare day, and after the usual mad blur of washing and brushing and scraping and chopping and slicing and steaming and freezing, and sorting, my reward was a wonderful fresh dinner.

 Quarter of a totally ripe cantaloupe, doused with ginger powder and a scoop of plain yogurt over with a bit of honey, good stuff, trailed over.  After a dish of tomatoes, diced, salted with kosher salt, peppered with freshground black pepper, left to mellow for an hour.

Then a nice glass of red wine, Yellowtail Shiraz.  Afterwards a cup of strong coffee.  I find that caffeine in the evening doesn't bother me at all, in fact I sleep better, so I don't need to deprive myself.

Perfect early Fall meal, cool day with bright sun.