Photography is a bell that now and then rings

Huh? Oh, blog? My day? Well, yeah, uh... I sewed a lot of things.  All on Etsy now.  It all went smoothly. Good day at the mom-office, as it were.

It's just that my attention is increasingly pulled to the company of the back of my mind, where the topic of photography lingers. It's an invited guest, to some degree. I have put in some extra effort to photography lately by increasing the number of photos on this blog and learning to tailor them in a way I call, blogtography. I did put in extra effort to order a new lens, in the hope of taking closer shots, macro shots, perchance a wide angled shot or two. And I did put in extra effort to clean (and get help with) my filters and lenses.

OK yeah, great, so let's move on now...  why is Photography still there in the back of my mind? Go out.  I don't have time to rekindle an old romance of my 20s with endless reading and practicing of photos of "things" like dragonflies or waterfalls. I've got a family to photograph. I've got kids on the run who do really cute things in an instant gone forever. There is no time to dally with the sweet intoxication of waiting for the right light. I cannot plan a getaway trip to Acadia National Park in Maine by MYSELF just to take stunning photographs in total silence of nature.  What in the world is going on in the back of my mind!  Get out.

Ugh.  I did take a couple pictures with my new lens. They were terrible. Horrible.  I might return it.  

Or, I might spend more time figuring it out. Maybe we just need a day together to figure this out.

Sew and Soup

There it is: my new lens. This is my "I can't wait until my actual birthday" birthday present! It is that one, expensive thing that I can only get on a great day like the anniversary of my birth. This is a macro lens that will let me take really close up shots of things. I am BORN to do this! I am so excited for this lens that I couldn't use it today. I just set it there, to stare at it. I only barely touched it, with extra caution that my 6 year old camera body no longer receives. In fact, it was very difficult to mount this gorgeous beauty onto my old camera body. Unfortunately, a new camera body is way, way, way beyond my current birthday budget.

This morning I converted many long sleeve tee shirts into short sleeve tee shirts. On the one hand, this is a green thing to do. It's useful. It's economical. I like how they came out. On the other hand, I felt sort of poor or cheap somehow. Odd but true. I'm sure I'll get over it when the girls wear these all summer.

I also sewed a change purse. I love it.

All afternoon, I let my new soup creation simmer on the stove. I tried to research leeks soup recipes but my country internet connection was not cooperating so I just went for it - making up my own soup recipe!  Soup is a fairly basic model anyhow.  It turned out very good.

Leeks and Daikon Soup

This is a mild vegetable soup, loaded with earthy veggies and gentle spices.  Daikon is an asian root vegetable, like a very mild radish. It takes on the flavors of the broth and spices.  Leeks are vegetables with a very mild onion flavor. This is a vegetable soup anyone can love (as long as you don't tell them the mysterious names of these ingredients).

Ingredient list (amounts are flexible):  1 qt vegetable broth, 1 cup baby carrots, 1/2 cup shredded carrots,  1 leeks root, 1 daikon, 4 medium potatoes, 1/2 stick of butter, 3/4 cup sour cream (optional), 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 bay leaf, 5 garlic cloves, 2 sticks of celery, 1 large onion

First things first: chop it up!  To prepare the daikon, an asian root vegetable, treat it like a giant carrot. Wash it and peel away the outer layer.  To prepare the leeks, trim off the root end and the green leaves. Cut the white part length wise, then chop up into bit size bits.  Cut the potatoes and the daikon in half, then into thin slices. Cut the baby carrots into thirds.  Oh yeah, looks like I also tossed in a summer squash today - but that's optional.

Dice the onion. Mince the garlic. Chop the celery and shredded carrots.  Put these items into your large soup pot, over low heat, with the half stick of butter.  This creates your flavor base for the soup. Saute 5 or more minutes until onions become translucent.
Next we add our spices. Coriander, thyme and bay leaf, in small doses, help to make this mild soup lightly flavorful. Allow the spices to simmer with your flavor base for a few minutes before going on to the next step.
Next add your vegetable stock and all remaining vegetables. If your stock does not cover the vegetables, add enough water to cover them. I ended up adding 2 cups of water today, to my one quart of stock. You can also use chicken stock of course, but the vegetable stock is in keeping with the mild veggie flavors that gives this soup it's charm.
If you are in a hurry, you can bring the soup to a boil and cook until the vegetables are tender.

If you are not in a hurry, let the soup simmer away for hours over low heat, until the vegetables are tender. Today was rainy and I had nowhere to go so I let the soup simmer all afternoon, filling the house with warmth, humidity, and the gentle scent of this soup's good flavors.
The soup can be served like this with the vegetables chunky, or you can use an emersion blender to make a cream soup.  Before eating, mix in the sour cream. You can also use milk or half-and-half. 

Rainy Spring Sunday

It poured rain all day. The girls tested their rain gear, briefly.

An icicle pansy emerges from the ice pack in my garden.

During Julia's nap, Ellie and I did crafts with stamps and photos. Ellie can make a stack of artwork during the time I can belabor the decision of what to try to make. She says making one thing gives her an idea for her next thing. Brilliant. I tried her theory with disbelief. Although the thing I made was not to my liking, it gave me an idea for something better. 
BlackJack went out in the rain, briefly. He came back wet. Apparently he thinks this toddler chair is a good place to clean up. 
Tom went to some sort of boy scout reunion this evening so the girls and I had a simple dinner of PB&J. 

Down to the Sugar House

This weekend is open house time for New Hampshire's Sugar Houses, where they make maple syrup. We went to the Remick Museum and had a great time.

The farm has 250 "taps" on their sugar maple trees. They make 16 gallons of syrup per season. They focus mostly on education and in house sales, rather than making as much as they can to ship out.

They gather sap from the pails daily.

Julia tried eating syrup on snow. It tasted like creamy, sweet ice cream.

We enjoyed a wagon ride courtesy of the big horses.

The farm had lots of animals: sheep, chickens, goats, cows, horses...

Bulls...

Kids enjoyed the warming weather. The fog and clouds faded by mid-day.

The most exciting part was the sugar house.

It was hard to pay attention to the details of the seminar because of the smoke.

The smoke smelled like sweet heaven. It was like a spa experience for sugar lovers. The scent was not overbearing. It was a gentle, sweet, warm, maple. It was the kind of smell you cannot get enough of, like a baking apple pie.
The sugar house was full of sweet smells, warm colors, and sweet things to taste.
Lighter color syrups are Grade A, made from the freshest sap, gathered at the beginning of the sap season. Darker ambers are Grade B, and have a stronger flavor. Personally I think they are both good. I don't know if I'd pick one over the other. It's nice to have both for variety.

We ended our tour with pancakes topped with maple syrup.

Signs of Spring

It is so exciting to see the first flowers of the season. Not my own, unfortunately. These beauties were growing outside the fabric store 45 minutes south of my house.

Warm and sunny. Good enough to open the sunroof. Refreshing.

Poor Ubi met with misfortune today. We're not sure how it happened that she pulled one of her doggy nails out of the nail bed. The vet was nice enough to let us come right over, even though it was closing time.  On the bright side, Ubi was treated quickly and should make a full recovery. In the meantime, she will be taking some pills and getting extra care when going out. 

Waiting for Spring

Ellie signed her pledge to care and to be honest at her new school, Berwick Academy. Our choice of school will largely shape and affect our family life for the next 20 years.  We are all taking it quite seriously, as if it were a marriage, or naturalization, or baptism. Education may be our highest shared value as a family. 

This morning involved house cleaning. After that, Ellie and I drove over to enjoy Spring skiing. Unfortunately, in spite of my best efforts to remember all the required gear, I forgot my ski boots.  We decided to try it another day and go waste time at the nearby shops instead.

Kellerhaus is a local candy store that makes chocolate in house.  It's super fresh.  A large selection of Easter bunnies greeted us. It's one of those places people remember from their childhood summer camp days. 

We stopped at The Quilted Frog to check out their fabric selection.  They have a long arm quilting machine. That is the first time I've ever seen such a giant sewing machine setup.

Today's selections.

On the way home, we said hello to the alpacas up on the hill. I feel so happy for the animals as the temperatures get warmer.

Kind of a slow day. Feels like everyone is just waiting for Spring.

Mexi Fresh Omelets

Spice up your omelet with this easy recipe.

You will need: 1 or 2 eggs per omelet, 1 tbsp milk, 2 tortillas, 1 tbsp diced green chiles, two garlic cloves, 1/3 cup enchilada sauce, a pinch of cumin, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, 1/4 diced green pepper, 1/4 diced orange pepper (optional), 1/4 diced onion, bit of chopped fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, 1 diced tomato, butter (optional).  As for measurements, it's a rather flexible recipe.
Mix your egg yolks with the milk. This helps make a light and fluffy omelet.

Spray a pan with cooking spray or lightly butter. I don't have a special omelet pan. The key is to keep the egg shallow in the pan.  This pan can only make a 2 egg omelet at a time. Allow the egg to cook evenly.  Flip once, then add the enchilada sauce, cheese, cilantro and cumin. Fold the other half over.

Add a tablespoon of water into the pan and cover with a lid.  This creates a steam bath to melt the cheese without overcooking the omelet.  (Thanks Mom for that tip).  Remove promptly after one or two minutes, because eggs continue cooking after taking them off the heat.  
Saute the peppers, chiles, onions and garlic on low heat for 5 minutes or so, allowing the flavors to mix and the foods to soften.

Warm the tortillas and butter if you like.

Serve with tomato and avocado on the side. 

Sew & Bowl!

A lot of sewing this week. I love this palm leaf change purse/credit card wallet. I've almost finished my group of bags going over to the Portsmouth Spa. If you enjoyed a day of beauty costing a significant amount of money, wouldn't you also be inclined to treat yourself to a cute bag so easy on your budget?

This little nautical theme bag might be my favorite so far. Inside is a deep blue fabric. I might have to make one for myself.

My newest creation is an ice pack cover that fits a bag of frozen peas, or bag of ice, or ice pack. I'll never forget the time Tom cooked up a bag of frozen peas that I had used to ice my sore ankles after running on about 10 different occasions. It didn't have a cover on it so he didn't know it had thawed and re-frozen so many times.  Needless to say we did not eat those peas that night!  

The first aid model.

Take a break from the sewing machine, Mom!  It was all about Ellie this afternoon as she enjoyed uninterrupted Mama & Papa time at the bowling alley.

Candlepin bowling uses stick shaped pins and smaller balls.

Our lane had bumpers so Ellie would not feel discouraged by any gutter balls. She has quite good aim but rolls the ball as slow as you can imagine.