Oh hi!

Mom had a friend, Diane, who would always say "Oh hi! This is Diane." Occasionally she was goofy. All of us young and disrespectful children made "Oh hi." synonymous with goofiness. Why I am telling you this, I have no idea. I am not even feeling particularly goofy. But there it is.

We had a lovely Altamont. Busy, but lovely. I think our choice to not go to Freedom this year was a good one. Gilbert is a wild child! I did get a couple meetings in the meeting shed this convention, so it was an improvement on Almonte. Still, that child doesn't like to sit still and contemplate. He is more into active engagement. Probably because he just turned two and he is now allowed to be terrible. Just like that he gets free licence. Whatever he does this year, people will respond with a "Well he is two." I would like such a nifty excuse for uncontrolled behaviour. "Well.... she is twenty-eight. It is a wild and turbulent time."

I don't have cute pictures of his second birthday, mainly because it was the Sunday of Altamont. We will have a cake maybe this weekend--Gilbert doesn't seem too worried about exact dates. I asked him. And he just laughed, wiggled, and ran away. I took that as unconcern.

I had great plans for having the convention wash all put away Monday afternoon, but then I saw the garden, covered in weeds, tomatoes, and peppers, with onions and carrots pushing out of the soil. Obviously in need of a guiding hand. Which unfortunately, I couldn't give it. But I yanked some weeds and came home with a crate of tomatoes and peppers and a ton of onions. And what do you do with tomatoes, onions, and peppers? You make Salsa. If you have other ingredients that I didn't have, that is.

At convention, we heard about the difference between an adult and a child. A daughter-in-law asked for a recipe for a butterscotch pie and the mother in law told her to mound one cup of sugar in a cast iron skillet, heat it and wait for two puffs of smoke and then continue with the pie. Later that day, the mother-in-law saw her grandchild and asked if Mommy had made the pie yet. The granddaughter said "Yeah, but it won't be any good. She only waited for one puff of smoke." A child is literal and expects to follow directions, while an adult realizes they can compensate here and there. I got a large poke from Justin during this. And just to give him more ammunition, I made up my own recipe for making salsa starter. Basically the tomatoes, onions, and peppers. I figure I can add the other stuff later and make it taste fresher and less cooked. We will have to see how it turns out. Seemed like a good idea anyway! And it used up all my peppers and tomatoes and several onions.

Peppers and tomatoes in the morning light

Washing them

All done peeling tomatoes. I don't know why I didn't blanch them and then take the peel off. Instead I stood here for about an hour and a half and peeled them. I am stupid. The red bowl is the peels, seeds, and cores. Obviously too much waste. Someone clever needs to find something yummy to do with peels, seeds, and cores. Or maybe someone has and I am not clever enough to know it. 

The proportions.

I had to roast all of it in three batches.

Orianna keeping herself entertained. Snow White dress over a swimsuit for next year, with her new snow boots and her pet seal on a string. 

Dumped it all together, used my handy dandy immersion blender, 

And salsa starter. I think I will have to add a goodly bit of salt and a touch of sugar, along with the cilantro, garlic, and whatever  else strikes my fancy. I have 11 bags of it (frozen) so I have a bit to play around with. 

While I roasted, I looked at all the catalogs that came while we were away. At Altamont, we heard beautifully about having the fragrance of a lily. I think I need more lilies in my life. The flower varieties that is.

This is a double oriental lily. It is outrageous. I like outrageous flowers.

Boden comes with stickers to stick on your favorite things. I like stickers. 

Here is a conundrum for you. Moon--because British Tweed is the Best......

And in the description, it says imported. What? And in case you can't see the fuzzy price, it is $348. Buy a couple. 

Everyday dungaree jacket. Which is fun. But $175. I think I would have to wear it everyday for a few years to make it worth $175. 

But you can't hate a catalog that poses their models in front of cows eating hay. 

And I have a slight crush on this dress. 

AND this skirt. Thankfully, Boden has outrageous prices. And while I like a little outrageousness in flowers, I don't like it in prices. So looking at Boden doesn't make me contemplate buying things. Well until they have their sales... One thing I have noticed though is that they have a lot more skirts and dresses than American companies. Do the British wear more skirts and dresses?

And I think I deserve one of these leather chairs from Pottery Barn after standing in one spot peeling tomatoes for an hour and a half. Seems reasonable. 

And now, I really should fold that convention wash before I have to iron it all from sitting in the laundry basket for a couple days.