Amaryllis October Update

I bought an Amaryllis bulb after Christmas last year. It was on post-Christmas sale. By the end of February, it had grown into a lovely flower.

When it stopped blooming, I cut off the flower. Later I took the plant outdoors, where it sat in a pot until a few days ago. One by one, I removed the leaves over the course of the summer - whenever they turned limp or yellow. I removed the last one before taking the bulb out of the soil, which I tossed into an outdoor flower bed.

From what I read online, the bulb needs to be stored in a cool dark place for 6 weeks before I  repot it and start watering it again. I've put it in a brown paper bag in the basement. I need to mark the end of November on my calendar as a reminder to do it!

That's  what I plan to do. I hope it works!

Quirky Owl Update

My last hand building pottery class was pre-pandemic. It came to an abrupt end when the virus was identified in Ontario. 

Our instructor was known for the quirky birds he liked to make. Here's one I made - fashioned after his.

My next bird was a quirky owl... And my next... And so on! Here's  the whole owl family I made during that session.

The last little guy didn't get glazed until last month.

Here he is, after being fired. A streak of glaze seemed to have seeped down, leaving a line down the front. That's disappointing.

I have two more owls in progress... Here's one of them. 

They're a lot of fun to make!

Homemade Oatmeal Crackers

I've looked at this oatmeal cracker recipe numerous times in my Fanny Farmer cookbook.  

I've heard that homemade crackers are much tastier than packaged ones. The recipe looked simple, too.

I made only half the recipe, in case I didn't like it.

Mix 1 1/4 cups of dry oats and 1/4 cup of water.

BLEND - ROLL OUT (with a rolling pin) - score the "dough" with a pizza cutter - into 2 inch squares. Sprinkle with salt.

I don't have photos (I guess I got too caught up in the task)... But to make things simpler, I rolled the dough out on the same cookie sheet that I baked them on. 

Bake at 275 degrees F. for half an hour. Flip the squares  over and bake for 20 minutes more.

I found them delicious spread with soft cheese. They were eaten up quickly!

My daughter commented that the photo makes them look as thick as date squares. But I assured her that they were  only about 1/4 inch thick.

My son suggested adding more salt and baking them a bit longer. They were a little soft.

The batter was crumbly. Leftover crumbs - or crumbs that fell off the crackers - were added to the apple crisp topping I was making next. After all, it was only baked oatmeal - and a little salt.

Colorful Views

Colourful leaves surround us these cool fall days...

A simple event like a drive down neighbourhood streets fills me with awe!

It's a wonderful way to end a beautiful summer!

Shopping... Then and Now!

Shopping has really changed... It used to be a relatively simple thing. You head for a store - hoping to find the item you want to buy. 

You might end up walking around for much of the day - and come home tired and empty-handed... But that's  the way it was done!

These days it's a little different. The shopping experience now has three steps.

The first is the online research. So if you head to the store to get an item, the item has already been researched online: Who sells it? Do they have it in stock?

The second step is the pick up. When my daughter discovered that the item she wanted was in stock in her size in the mall I often go to, she asked me to pick it up for her, which I was happy to do.

You'd think it would end there, but there's another step... the feedback!

I confess I'm pretty diligent about this. After all, I like to read reviews before I purchase.

But sometimes it takes longer to fill out the questionnaire than it does to make the purchase!

Before online reviews existed, not bringing the item back was feedback enough!

Running Paths

My daughter, who lives downtown, is an avid runner.

Send me some pictures of where you go, I asked her...

So she did.

It's lovely  running next to the river, she commented.

Even cyclists - who could use the road - often ride on the paths to be closer to the river.

It must be relaxing to run, walk or cycle near the river... at the end of a day.

Hard to Believe!

A friend recently posted this picture she took at a fall fair...

Whenever I see pictures of horse-drawn buggies - from another era, it seems - it's hard for me to imagine that this was my grandparents’ main mode of transportation when my mother was young - actually until not that many years before I was born.

Many of my grandmother’s stories included the detail, “… so we harnessed the horse and buggy…”

Interestingly, my parents never looked back with nostalgia on those horse and buggy days. I’m not sure why.