Tuesday, July 16, 2013

It All Started With A Craving For Butter Tarts

... and I remembered my friend Vee had a great recipe on her blog a while back.  I made 2 doz.

I used some pie crust I had in the freezer... it's thawing out here.

... had to test run my new oven... I have not had a working oven since January.
my choice... I was willing to wait to find the one I wanted... I kept holding out.. and finally... I can put the toaster oven on holiday.
 
Yumm, they turned out good....
and yes, that is the Teapot we were drawing with the crooked knob on top. My friend Rachel made the plate.

Since I was in the mood I made a couple loaves of bread, they raised a little faster than usual as it was such a warm day but they were ok just the same.

There were a few bananas that had reached their limit of sitting on the counter and they weren't going to go to waste.... so as long as i was testing out the oven... Banana Bread came next.
 really simple and good.


well since I now had some fresh warm baked bread   I took out some frozen strawberries and stewed them up.. I like this much better than jam.


In the cook book that I found the Banana Bread recipe in, this little quote was at the bottom of the page


 Have you ever noticed that? sort of like when you hit your thumb with a hammer and you blame the hammer.



While the bread was raising I was working on earrings up in the studio. This is just the beginning phase of the little Scissors


 that go with the Thread.  



At the same time this little guy was climbing up the corner board of the house outside my work window... he is about 15' feet up.  Max took this pic.


 Tobi and Tabitha saw him... they didn't get him... but they wanted too..

 

 he ran up and hid in the Virginia Creeper.


which is just now beginning to have these lovely little bud type clusters popping out all over.

 

 He soon escaped and scooted under the picnic table and was gone into the rose bushes..

...oh there is Max down there... and Tabitha


 These are some favourite little beach combings collected over the last few times at the shore... I love the wishing rocks with the rings around them.


 There are Daylilies blooming everywhere.

 Early in the morning going down the driveway,

 bright yellow flowers were blooming behind the neighboring garage

 Then I noticed that the field across the road from our wild apple trees, looked different... the farmer had cut his hay. It was a perfect hot drying day for it.

This is later about supper time and now he has it half baled ... I love the rhythm and pattern it makes... looks so neat and clean.

here's a closer look.  He always tends his field with care.

 This is why we were going down the driveway at suppertime.. to cool off and relax by the Bay of Fundy. It is only a couple minutes away.  Even when hot weather comes, it usually cools off at night so you have a relaxing sleep... no need for air conditioners here.

The tide was high and it was a hot day with a gentle breeze

 The dogs were hot so John tossed each of them in to cool off

Is that the look of relief?  

 Tobi helped her dry off... or maybe he was just thirsty.
...don't know how quenched he would have been after licking off salt water.  Tabitha didn't care one little bit.

 On the way back home the farmer had finished the whole field.  He usually cuts a second crop later in the summer.   It looked beautiful!

18 comments:

Arija said...

What a wonderful post! A day in the life of . . .
Our common thread still runs true, I did not have an oven for almost a year and have not really tried my new one out yet. Loved all your baking and in between jewellery making, also drinking in of the changing landscape on the well deserved walk to the sea to cool off.
PS Your garden looks splendid too.

Priya Sebastian said...

It was wonderful to start my morning looking at this post Gwen. Every picture is full of happiness and love. It has all the good things that we come to this blog for.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Girls, Arija and Priya. you are so far away from me but you feel so close.. so glad you came down to the beach with us!!! Hope you grabbed a Butter tart on the way... they're going fast.

ArtPropelled said...

Guess who is hankering for butter tarts now! My mouth is watering. Smiling at Tobi and Tabitha eyeing out the squirrel. Great post Gwen!

rachel said...

How lovely to see so much of what surrounds your house! You live in such a beautiful place.....

Guillaume said...

Tea, banana bread and butter tarts (they are like mini sugar pies, how lovely), that is my kind of afternoon snack.

Tracy said...

DELICIOUS, Gwen! I do that often, big stints in the kitchen that I call "Cauldrons Blazing" days. ;o) Beautiful bread... nothing like home-baked bread! LOVE the scissors & thread earrings--so charming! And so is Squirrel Nutkin. Some LOVELY summer days there! It's has been here too--just savoring every sunny day. :o) ((HUGS))

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ha,ha, Robyn. That squirrel is pretty wily. It is so funny to watch him sneak up to the birdfeeder while keeping a look out for those rascally dogs.

Thanks Rachel, I wish I had a wide angle camera as I always want to share the full width of the landscape and can only ever get a portion of it.

Ah Guillaume, plain to see you are Canadian. Still some left...

Tracy, I love your "Caldrons Blazing" expression... Perfect!! When you are in the mood there is a kind of rhythm that gets things done quickly. I love days that have that much energy.

Steven Cain said...

Ha! What a wonderful day! And a squirrel to boot! I love being able to see that sort of delay, that progression of the seasons northward... how our hay has already been cut, the day lilies bloomed and gone... how other than that and a few more trees with needles, life is the same essentialy.

Faye Henry said...

I just had to comment on this beautiful post.. Your view is awesome as is your cooking.. I thought I smelled something lovely the other day..grin.. xo

Gwen Buchanan said...

Faye it totally captivates me and is very distracting when i am trying to get work done.. oh well I will endure..
But I could never be as great a creator as you.

Steven, I always love too, to see the forthcoming season when I look at your posts of the surrounding countryside... always much anticipation. I guess if anyone was rich and had the time they could follow a particular season around the globe. Of course I would never do that but I wonder if anyone does.

jerilanders said...

Well, that was lovely! First off, what a baking binge, the bread and tarts look (and smell) marvelous. I love the teapot and collect Brittainiaware, which looks quite similar, the off-kilter knob makes it even better. Your orange Daylilies and Virginia creeper are a familiar sight here in East Tennessee, but that BLUE BAY just takes my breath away! How glorious it must be to walk down to the beach and collect little sea treasures, what a place!

BumbleVee said...

aha...a new oven!! how wonderful....but, ya did go a little bit crazy woman! hahahha...... we tend to do that sometimes especially when we are deprived of our own baking right? ... oh, I hope the tarts turned out as wonderful as I remember them.... from Christmas time... cuz I usually do some then...

Today was cooler than it has been for a few weeks and I baked some brownies... made with rice flour just to try that recipe... a different texture for sure ... and some apple/raisin coffee cake...mmm....

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Jeri, When the bay is blue it is very, very blue... but when a storm hits just watch it churn the red sand up and those waves hit the bluffs.

Vee, yes finally a new stove. Can't believe how much I missed having that convenience. The only problem with those Butter Tarts was that they were too good and I know I ate too many. Your apple-raisin coffee cake sounds good!

mycuriousteaparty said...

I have just spent a very happy few minutes looking through your photographic day.. Many thanks for publishing it.. Cheered up a damp English morning.

Carol Steel said...

This is such a lovely post. Thank you for sharing your day in photos. You live in a magical place.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks for the visit Julie, are you all settled in yet? You have so much to explore.

Thank you Carol. It was kind of long but it was a busy day. Hope all's well with you!

sandy said...

I think my soul makes me forget to come visit here because it knows I can't take a deep breath for a long time afterward - i hyperventilate when looking at your photos of this property and house and your art work, etc. You and John have created such a most spectacular place that really touches my soul!