Almanac: An Afternoon With Brownie Harris

If you work full-time remote as I do, maybe you’ve grown accustomed to the irksome Zoom environment so essential to calls and meetings. (I use ‘Zoom’ here generically like ‘Kleenex’ to describe the many platforms—Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack Huddle—our marketing agency relies upon to conduct bidness depending on client preferences and time constraints and who’s got access to the paid versions and such.) Aside … Continue reading Almanac: An Afternoon With Brownie Harris

Travelogue: There and Back Again, Vermont Style

Vermont’s namesake Green Mountains, resplendent on a late summer day There were no orcs, dwarves, or elves on this trip. Just one exceptionally bad hotel (the balance exceptionally good) and mainly smooth sailing. We traveled to Vermont chiefly so Chef David and I could visit his adult kids. Mission accomplished, fair to say. The conditions in New England were gorgeous, couldn’t have asked for any … Continue reading Travelogue: There and Back Again, Vermont Style

Silent Sunday Almanac: Photo Essay

Sundays in our house usually give us a chance to press reset, to ready ourselves for the week ahead. Renewal feels so essential for success in the coming week. Ordinary chores to me are cathartic and necessary, and anyway somebody’s gotta do ’em. A few images from the day today. In the bleak midwinter are also outside chores to do. The Chef has been working … Continue reading Silent Sunday Almanac: Photo Essay

Photo Essay: Silent Sunday Soup

Black Bean and Chipotle Chowder; see recipe down below On this crisp, low-humidity October day, the light in the kitchen seemed magical to me so I decided to chop and click. No words, just images on a beautiful fall Sunday in coastal North Carolina. From Soup for Syria, contributed by Jane Hughes: 1 t vegetable oil 2 small onions, diced 3 small carrots, diced 4 … Continue reading Photo Essay: Silent Sunday Soup

Sunday Photo Essay: Domestic Arts

It has been a while since I exercised my camera and my eye and so today I decided to capture what was a fairly typical Sunday in our household. It is quiet but not, relaxing but busy. When we put off Sunday chores we pay for that decision all week long. Scoutie and I started our morning outdoors while David was at work, a job … Continue reading Sunday Photo Essay: Domestic Arts

Sunday Almanac: An Exquisite Day at Fort Fisher State Park

I swear, I don’t know how we got this lucky, lucky enough to live a paltry 15 minutes from this local natural resource. Yesterday was perfect for an outside romp: nary a cloud in the sky, the temps didn’t warm above the 70s, and there was a gentle breeze in the air. Chef David and I earlier had made a plan to go wander around … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: An Exquisite Day at Fort Fisher State Park

July 4th Weekend 2022, in Which I Bake Bread

Some of my readers were surprised to learn I baked my first pie, ever, last Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I baked my first bread, ever. It’s true. I announced to The Chef whilst we were on our weekly shop on Saturday I intended to bake bread. Great, he said. Go for it! Just don’t forget to bring your patience. And so yesterday while he was at work, … Continue reading July 4th Weekend 2022, in Which I Bake Bread

Sunday Almanac: Stretching Our Dollars

Some years ago a post popped up in one of my social feeds, an image of a pair of running shoes with a clothes iron wedged between them, business side up, and on top of it a stovetop-style espresso maker, captioned simply Cuba Linda. Hat tip to the Cubans: Are there any more resourceful people? They’ve had to be all kinds of inventive to make … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Stretching Our Dollars

Sunday Almanac: Thanksgiving 2021

…in which I bake my first pie. It’s true, gentle reader: I’ve made it this far in my life, which is to say a certain number of decades, without ever having baked a pie. The Chef pointed out a pie crust is not so far removed from the biscuits I bake every single weekend. Huh. I decided Thanksgiving was as good a time as any … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Thanksgiving 2021

Sunday Almanac: Late October at the Seashore

Vermont’s Green Mountains are jaw-dropping, worthy of their moniker, and at times can even make your breath catch in your throat. They can also make you yearn for wide, open spaces, especially when you live on the eastern-facing slopes of a particular mountain which has the audacity to blot out the late-day sunlight long before you’re ready for it. So now, here we are, in … Continue reading Sunday Almanac: Late October at the Seashore