Pardon the poor spacing in various places here… wordpress can be maddening and I’m done wrangling it for the day 🙂
It’s late August and fall is knocking on the door with cooler nights and the leaves on some trees are actually starting to turn. Around the farm with not enough rain, our tomato plants, grape vines, raspberry bushes and so on petered out early.
Molly and Lacey eating breakfast
The girls at the EggPlant enjoying some free range
With current events what they are, I’ve been distancing myself more often so that I can enjoy my time on this earth as best I can, and the people I love that are in it. We live in remarkable times, both good and bad.  Here’s some of the good….
A dear friend of mine posted this a few nights ago. He has had some remarkable adventures, some incredible highs and some very deep sorrows but he always finds his way to a better place regardless. With his musings he brings me and anyone else lucky enough to read or hear his stories along for the ride. I keep telling him he needs to retire and write a memoir… he’s my modern day Charles Kuralt. Michael, I hope you’ll forgive me for sharing.
  “On a late August evening where the calendar said summer, but the air had that hint of Autumn; I went down to Lynnie Lou’s Ice cream in Naples, New York for the last “Car Cruise Night” of the Year. It’s a summer staple every Wednesday night in June, July and August and I’d yet to make it to one this summer.
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   Aside from the ice cream (peach sundaes were plentiful), the fare was burgers, fries and rings along with music and joyous, exuberant (but very bad) Karaoke. The crowd was decidedly older (as am I) but the evening and night were perfect. Everywhere I looked people were smiling, having a grand old time whether eating, looking at the cars, getting ice cream, bravely doing Karaoke, dancing or just chatting with friends.
    All sorts of old 50’s cars…. some Corvettes and old pickup trucks…. even a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, complete with a huge rear spoiler and dressed in a can’t miss me color of “Hemi Orange.” Occasionally one of these old beauty’s would fire up…..go for a spin and head up Rt. 21 with tires squealing and glass pack mufflers echoing a sound I had not heard in years. A sound of my youth. Lynn the owner of the ice cream stand was cooking away at the grill singing to the music while young high school kids waited on the many hungry customers in line for a burger.
   Scenes like tonight take place all over small towns across America. Sitting there soaking it all in on a perfect summer night I was as content as I’d ever been. The line from Field of Dreams came to mind where the numerous ball players ask Ray Kinsella…. “Is this heaven?” Tonight if I’d been asked that question I’d have answered…… “No its Naples!”
   There are small towns that dot the landscape of America all across this great land….and I’m very happy that I chose this one. Thanks, Lynnie Lou’s for a special evening that made me feel right at home (and oh, I really do think this is heaven.)”Â
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   I’ve been painting more of my “tiny painting series” in preparation for our upcoming artisan market. This is our 10th year of collaboration to put on this show, and I am so grateful for all the volunteers who come together to help us make it happen… and especially my market partner, Linda, who is more organized than I will ever be. We make a good team and that is such a gift. With over 90 quality artisan vendors and some really awesome food selections, it takes a village.
   Mia’s Rocks… My granddaughter and I picked some rocks on the beach in Maine and we made this heart at waters edge. I painted it as a keepsake ❤️
   This is a scene another dear friend took while on his boat watching fireworks… he has already collected this tiny painting, a reminder for him of a wonderful night he spent with his wife and friends in his favorite place.. on the water in a boat he’s restored.
   When the season from summer to fall begins to change I spend more time in the kitchen and begin the hunt for new-to-me fall recipes. Having good food on the table for my family brings me tremendous satisfaction. The cleaning up part, not so much, LOL.  I also bring out the big binder full of recipes I’ve been collecting since my early 20’s – many of which are from family and friends, some of whom have departed. The handwritten ones are my favorites…. and each time I make their dishes it feels a little like bringing those loved ones back into my kitchen to say hello.
My daughter brought this home from first grade class and it’s a wonderful bread to have on the counter in fall months.
Aunt Ro was a wonderful cook who could whip up a big four course meal for the whole extended family – If you like Brushetta, this is a good recipe. She left us last year in her 90’s.
Marge was the mother of a man I dated briefly. We became life long friends and she also lived into her 90’s. Marge was a fountain of optimism, I always enjoyed time spent with her,  her enthusiasm for life and good old common sense were golden rays of sunshine even on the dreariest of days . She loved horses and dogs, too… and the state of Montana, which she and her husband visited whenever they could travel out west to visit a few of their sons.
 Till soon, friends –
I’m ready to move to Naples, NY.
I have friends there! They love it!