Peaches

I love good flavorful sweet fresh peaches. A truly good peach is probably my favorite food. August is peach season at home. Around here it is ending. My brother-in-law told me about a farmer with an orchard of Sun Crest and Elberta peaches. The Sun Crest have a short shelf life and because of that are not particularly good for the typical grocery store food chain, however the flavor is spectacular. He wanted to save the farm and continue growing the Sun Crest peaches but thought his Sun Crests might be part of an era that had passed. (He wrote a book about a year on his farm. The book reminds me of Oranges by John McPhee.) In a move of marketing genious he now adopts his trees out each season. People apply for and pay for the opportunity to travel to his farm and harvest the peaches themselves. Part of the application is an essay. I think I could write a pretty good essay. I grew up in a smallish town that has an annual peach holiday, complete with parade, pre-parade road race that finishes with the runners running up the parade route to be cheered on by the parade goers, Peach Queen contest, dutch oven cobbler contest, and car show.

One summer I worked in one of the fruit stands along the highway south of town. I had been slow getting a summer job, so Dad talked to the neighbor who hired me to sell peaches. I learned a lot from Gene, the sister from California who came in to help during the harvest. I listened and then did what she did. One of the rules what that everyone that came in got a taste. I worked hard and had a lot of fun that summer. I loved the way Lola, probably about 80 years old, supervised and held court wearing big cluster earrings and leaning against the candy cases near the cash register as people came by to visit.

I had no idea there were so many different varieties. A new variety came on every few days and lasted a week or two. Tasting all of those peaches side by side I really got to taste the differences between the varieties. Some are definitely better than others, though all are really good. One of my least favorite was the Early Elberta, though this was a definite favorite of the older peach canning crowd. It isn't as good as others fresh, but it is great for canning because of its color and texture. You can always add sugar.

My brother in law and his friends adopted not one, but two, trees. He and his family and friends went to pick and came home with 50 boxes of peaches. His share was probably half a bushel or so, 6 boxes. They made all sorts of peach drinks and talked of peach chutney, peach jam, and canned peaches. They are seriuos foodies over there and are in awe of some of the things I just grew up doing and learned from my Mom and Grandmothers. The only problem was that they had never canned peaches before. So I suddenly became the peach canning expert even though I hadn't done it since leaving home. Mom is the expert with a lot of experience. One year she canned nearly 400 quarts of peaches so that there was enough for a quart a day for the whole year. We weren't that ambitious. I brought my canning kettle and bottle lifter and we did 12 quarts and felt fine about it. It was fun and rather nostalgic.

Our summer

Jungling

We had a little problem with Buddy Boy "jungling" from places where is just wasn't a good idea, like the rod in his closet and the curtain rod in his room. So we got a chin up bar, now a jungling bar, to put in his doorway. I think it solved the problem, so far at least. Watch out Tarzan.

Trains and planes

This weekend we went up to the aviation museum where they were hosting the European Train Enthusiasts model train show. Buddy boy and Dad had a good time. So did I. I loved the detailed models of the cities and mountains. There was even a country circus complete with Ferris wheel and animals. As part of the aviation museum there was even a real Boeing 747 nose that you could go into. It had the first class cabin and the cockpit. That was pretty cool.

She's mobile

She's rocking and rolling. It is a lot of fun to watch. She isn't crawling yet, but can scoot backward quite well. She makes a great dust mop. She can get where she wants to be, which is usually tearing apart Buddy boy's trains and towers.

more finger paint fun

Once again the finger paint goes way beyond the fingers.

Writing and thinking

The author David McCullough quoted someone during an interview saying that to write well is to think clearly. I've thought about that as I have tried to write or reviewed writings. Which comes first writing well or thinking clearly? For some people writing well comes easily and just flows from their pen (or keyboard). I find that for me the process of writing helps focus my thinking and conversely that when I have thought clearly to begin with the writing is clear and concise and better because of it. I often think and revise and go back and think some more. It takes time and doesn't come easily. I do agree that good writing reflects and conveys clear thought.

Priority check

I recently got an e-mail from and NGO in Washington DC asking me if I wanted to do some writing for them as a consultant. I was excited about the project and the opportunity to work with them and keep a finger in the professional world. I jumped at the chance.
A day later I realized that I had over committed myself. I didn't want to have to go to work at 10:00 pm after a full day of kids. I only have a few hours a week to work on my own things and I didn't want to take it all up with this project. It just isn't what I need to be doing right now. It had only been a day and I could feel the stress beginning to build.
I had to go back and tell them I couldn't do it. That was tough to do. I was sure that they would never talk to me again. However, they called me back and asked me if I wanted to reconsider and take on the project. I explained why I couldn't do it as the baby was crying in the background. Fortunately she was understanding and even said that they frequently have similar projects and I might be able to work with them in the future when I have more time. It was flattering to have them say they would like me to work with them and it felt even better not to do it.

Giant Cookie part 2

I tried the fruit tart again. It was much better this time. The crust was basically a sweet buttery pastry crust. I topped it with orange chocolate followed by a mixture of marscapone cheese, heavy cream and a few flavorings. It was of course topped with wonderful fresh berries.

It was much better with a thinner crispy crust although it was a little hard. It needs more flakiness. The flavors were overall much better. I liked the orange chocolate, but the cream needs more work. It was a little bit to fluffy, needs more custardy stuff.

Buddy Boy lately

Swimming fanatic
We have had a few hot days lately which means a lot of swimming. Daddy comes home a little early and we hit the pool. We have a life vest for him that he loves since he can't swim yet. He cruises around the pool and jumps in fearlessly. He LOVES IT. He will just run up to the edge and jump right in. It can be a little scary for me. If he didn't have the vest he would sink like a rock.

Charmer
For July 4 we went to a neighborhood picnic with some friends. One of the girls had a pink Barbie mini Cadillac Escalade. It is a little battery powered car that goes about 5 mph. Buddy got pretty good a driving it and not crashing into people, trees, cars etc. At one point he pulled up to a table where a couple of girls twice his age were checking out the snacks. Well he pulled up so casually with an arm on the top of the door and a hand on the steering wheel and said, "Hey there, How's it goin'". I hope it isn't an indication of things to come.

Oh no not that!
We are trying the whole potty training thing. His response to any suggestion in that direction is "Oh no not that". It isn't going well

Python Ron
The local library has a summer reading program. Last week the program was Python Ron and his friends. I loved it. There were big bugs, huge lizards, and snakes. My favorite was the sandy colored lizard with the bright blue tongue. It was seriously the color of the sky. It was so cool. I also loved the monitor lizard, the bright orange corn snake, and the yellow albino python.

Jungling
Lately he had been jungling, as in swinging like a monkey through the jungle. He would empty out his closet and swing from the clothing rod. It was pretty funny. The lights would go out and a minute or two later we hear thump thump thump as he hits the back wall with his feet. He was having fun, but he wasn't going to sleep so I put latches on the closet. So that night we heard a BIG thump and crying. He had climbed on top of his dresser and tried jungling from the curtain rod. It bent and came apart and he fell. At least he was in one piece and nothing broken or bleeding. We need to channel this in a positive direction somehow before he seriously hurts himself, maybe gymnastics.