from today’s e-mail

My friend Dan (who also happens to be my daughter’s father-in-law) sends the best e-mails. I don’t usually forward stuff but could not resist this one. I will almost forgive the yard deer who keep pruning my tomatoes and roses. Photo credit to Les Stocker for capturing the fragility and tenderness of this little critter. Update: Here is more about Rupert the Fawn: http://www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk/rupert.html

dog days

Life is so hard for Sonny and Barkis.

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Shout-out to Charlotte

My favorite novel is Charlotte’s Web. I thought of that today while watching a pod of baby spiders hatching on my daphne plant. Click on the photo to get reeeally up close and personal.

The storm claims another victim.

Bid farewell to yet another victim of the storm–a huge old fig tree in the front yard.

And here are some pics of a ferry in the storm. Drama!

Wind storm

We lost a big alder tree (along with power for a few hours) in Thursday’s wind storm. Here’s a cell phone pic. Barkis was excited! Me, not so much.

My tomatoes kicked ass this year.

I’ve been harvesting them for weeks! It’s always a feat in this part of the world to get them to ripen after Labor Day. This year I used plants from the farmer’s market, bred for the Northwest.

Here’s what to do with too many tomatoes. Put them all in a deep pan. You can cut them up or keep them whole. No need to peel. Saute them in olive oil with some garlic, salt, pepper and fresh herbs like basil, oregano, thyme and parsley. Put a tight-fitting lid on the pot and cook them very slowly until they’re soft. Let the whole mess cool and put into small freezer containers or zip lock bags and freeze. And there you go. Fresh tomatoes to use in soups and sauces all winter long. Enjoy!