Happy Halloween from Sleepy Hollow country.

I've taken up my post for the afternoon down at the gallery, leaving Tim at home to carve pumpkins, make corn chowder, delegate some clean-up, and accommodate unreasonable last-minute costume manufacturing requests. I'll show up right around the time the fun begins.

Pizza for the kids, a parade around the park with an assortment of instruments, some neighborhood trick-or-treating with the little ones. Then the "big kids" will get to go off on their own, while the grown-ups retire to our places around the fire pit to wait for their return with the loot.

I'm more than a little conflicted this year about how much freedom to give them (the kids, not the grown-ups), and exactly who qualifies as a "big kid" in this instance. I feel that I'm always struggling with the balance between "it's all in fun" and "oh, please, don't let them get hurt."

I feel really lucky that all of us-kids + grown-ups alike-have our friends to go through it all, together.

Here's wishing you all a safe, fun, happy evening. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness::
I usually do this in the morning, but today has been full, and hectic, and happy.

I don't really have a lot for you. I do have these photos, which, while not connected at all, were at least all taken within a couple of hours yesterday. There's a whole lot of beauty out there right now. Even if I don't go farther than my own back yard. (That sounds vaguely like a quote from The Wizard of Oz...hmn...)

Speaking of which, I don't know if I'll be back here tomorrow, but I wish you all a safe, fun Halloween. We currently have five eclectically clad middle-schoolers, and one black cat. In ruby slippers.

Enjoy the weekend! Thanks for reading.
tt

These photos are from this weeks rainy past, but the sun is out now, and we're being promised no rain on Halloween. This will make the girls happy, and thus, I am happy. Also, I know that I will be outside on Halloween rain or shine, and so shine is good news. Fingers crossed.

Driving around right now, sometimes I laugh out loud at how outrageous the colors are. It's really over the top. One last push into, almost, garishness, before a good strong breeze will take them all down.

I noticed that our food looks a lot like the trees, currently. Do you notice that, too?

Butternut squash, and purple and green colored chard; pumpkin, of course. Dark, dark green broccoli rabe, and kale; and lighter, fading, escarole and arugula. Peppers and red onions and beets.

Fall food is hands down my favorite.

Some of the things we are eating now::

.homemade pizza with broccoli rabe
.leftover broccoli rabe in grilled-cheese sandwiches (if it sounds strange, try it)
.sauteed butternut squash in baked pasta
.butternut squash soup
.kale in minestrone
.sauteed kale in burritos (thank you, Chase's Daily)
.roasted brussels sprouts with chickpeas (thank you, Stephanie)
.fritatta with red peppers and onions
.quesadillas with red peppers and onions
.corn chowder with red peppers (thank you, Minnie)

.and last but not least, the season's first batch of Leslie's pumpkin cookies. I could eat these for dinner, if I had a nice salad to go with them. And if there were any left by dinnertime.

Are you cooking up some fall colors, too?

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Some days I really would prefer not to leave the house, at all. Yesterday was one of those days, and as Anna is still reliant upon me for transportation, it means neither did she. Now, before you call the truant officer, let's remember that she's just four, and she was coughing a little in her sleep the night before, and it was cold and rainy out.

Finally, at four o'clock, a friend called and asked if Anna could come across the park to play, so we were both pulled from our cocoon and out into the big bad blustery world.

I need to be reminded how essential it is to get up and get out. I always feel better. Always. My face loves the chilly wet air, and I went out and walked our neighborhood (alone!) with my camera, looking around at things I'm sure I miss on my several-times-a-day drive back and forth between the schools.

I was trying to shoot these branches, to capture the water droplets on each dark red berry. But instead they were silhouetted against the grey sky, and I think I like their shadowy shapes even more.

::

Today in the mail, I received what I believe will become a security blanket, of sorts, in the coming months. My scarf from Martha. I love it so. The color. The weight. The size. It's perfect in every way, and I know I will wear it every day. My only problem with it is that I'm going to have to hide it from Callie.

::

Back tomorrow, with some more photos from that walk yesterday, with totally different light than these. It's remarkable how the park changes in just a few minutes on a late October afternoon.

Enjoy your evening, friends. Thanks for reading.

tt

Hi.

I have to tell you, I love these photos, so much. I know they're not earth shattering or perfect, but they just seem somehow different than my usual stuff, and I'm very happy with them.

::


A friend of ours lent me an old Iron and Wine cd, and in the last two days, I've listened to it, at home and in the car, about eleven times over. It is definitely the soundtrack to my fall.

Do you do this, too? One artist or album will stick, and as you listen to it over and over, it becomes all mixed up with whatever memories you are making during a particular period of your life? For some reason, my most vivid music/time associations are in the fall: I can almost instantly summon up either a vision of myself tucked inside whatever house I was living in at the time, or walking out in fallen leaves and cool air.

One year it was Suzanne Vega, in Minneapolis (no, I never lived there, but it's a memory of a trip out to visit my brother and his family). One year was distinctly Counting Crows, and living in Connecticut, and nursing my first baby (that would be Callie! Hard to believe, now.) One year was David Gray and taking long walks with Tim, and cheering on my brother and his friends running a marathon (to clarify: they were running, not me. oh, so not me.) One year was Ray LaMontagne and making a big grown-up party here at home. Last year was definitely Bon Iver.

So this fall, it seems, will be forever the season of Iron and Wine.

What's the soundtrack to your life, right now?

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Sunday looked a little like this. There was so much more, but the morning started out slow and easy.

Goodnight, and good wishes for the week ahead. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness::

.I have in the house right now, to cook with this weekend: butternut squash, fresh mozzarella, two pounds of carrots, swiss chard, two bunches of broccoli rabe, about twenty apples, a pie-crust (ready to go), four pounds of potatoes, some fig jelly, two-and-a-half dozen eggs, some nice goat cheese, and lots and lots of greens and arugula. Not sure what exactly I'm going to do with any of it, but am looking forward to figuring that out.

.I am going to take a walk every day, from now on, even in the rain, even if it's just once around the park. It makes me sad that I've gotten away from walking everyday, so I'm going to change that.

.Anna is writing in a journal (asking me for each letter of every word) the following sentence: Sisters are superheroes, they can teach you anything.

.I have a new, charcoal grey sweater that my mom bought me that I haven't worn yet. I'm pretty sure it's going to be cool enough this weekend to wear it.

.I like the way echinacea and black eyed susans look when they are done blooming, with their dark spikey heads and black stems all looking right up at you.

.I like that Tim called me on his walk to work this morning, to report that the little pocket park in town is putting in a cool-looking play area.

.We started using our napkin rings again last night. We each have one that came from my grandmother. Some have her family's initials; one says "Providence, RI"; two plain ones I had engraved with the twins' initials a few years ago, for their birthday.

I know that when my mother sees this picture of the napkin rings, she will think that they really need to be polished.

.The combination of dark chocolate and sea salt is haunting me. The shop in town that used to make these perfect little squares closed up, though.

The tearoom in town, of all places (!), is doing so well that it expanded into the next store. Which is good news, because I really need to restock our supply of loose tea.

.Our neighborhood movie night in the park is planned for tomorrow night. I really hope it doesn't get rained out.

I'm glad the weekend is here. I hope you all have a happy one! Thanks for reading.
tt

So, today was a trial. A few doctors appointments. Some of them mine.

A few tears. Ditto.

A friend said "stop torturing yourself." Because I do. Don't you? Don't you wake up at three a.m. and start fretting, sure that you can't possibly wait until the morning to start setting things right?

A friend said "maybe you don't have to do all of it, right now." Because I'm sure I need to. Right now. Not later. Now.

::

And then,

Callie.

Again.

I know it was just because the crowd had shifted out in the park, and she was bored.

But she rescued me.

She came in and said "can I help?"

She chopped and she sauteed and she cried (onions). And she learned (how to cut an onion.)

Mostly, she just stood in the kitchen with me.

And then,

Lindsey.

She came in and said "oh! can I set the table?"

::

Look, this is not the way it goes, all the time.

But, tonight,

they rescued me.

Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

::

In the doctor's office, I read an article while I waited that said that happiness is not found in having all the material things one wants, but in having "successful interpersonal relationships."

Fancy.

But,

I'll buy that.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

tt

p.s. tears unrelated to the doctors' appointments. just to save you any unnecessary fretting.

p.p.s. are you tired of leaf pictures yet?

Right outside our front door stands a Japanese maple tree. I can see its branches from where I sit now, without craning my neck. When I sit out front, it makes a canopy that ends a few feet from where the steps to the house begin.


From both of these spots-my desk and the front steps, and also from certain vantage points in the kitchen-I can see and hear what is going on in the park. What this means is that I can be out there just a few seconds after I hear Anna crying, or the kids quarrelling, or if there's trouble between the neighborhood dogs, or the UPS truck comes barrelling down the road.

They are out there, all ages mixed up together. Playing (now) in the leaves, and giving the little ones red wagon rides, and hopping back and forth across the creek, and the big kids texting each other (from a distance of twenty feet. please, someone explain this to me, someday), and all of them running back and forth from park to house to house.

The thing is, I just can't go sit out in the park every day, even on a stellar fall day like today. I wish I could. I wish I were the person who could walk away from the kitchen, the laundry, the computer. But I get very antsy, if things aren't all in place by a certain hour.

You know that hour. When it all falls apart. And, if on top of everyone being hungry and dirty and just a little bit sketchy about how much homework needs doing, I still don't have dinner going and things in place, we're poised for disaster.

Because when all is said and done, and the kids are fed, clean, and finished with the day, I do not want my work to begin.

I want our night to start.

So, it's a hard choice, on these days when light is fleeting, but nights are chill and dark, to sacrifice time outside early, for calm and peace later.

But, I'll tell you, when we're sitting on that couch, feet to feet and finally at rest, I'll be ok with how things went, this afternoon.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

tt

Hi.

I have to get some "real" work done today...which means I should walk away from the computer now, and make a list of what needs doing.

But, I find these colorful leaves so spectacular, and I want to share them. They make such a contrast to the rest of last night's photographs, and yet they were taken minutes apart.

It depended on which tree I was standing under, and whether I was looking up or down. A small matter of location and perspective.

It's blue-sky sunny today, and there are bright strokes of sunlight across the park. I look forward to getting out there with my Miss A. in a little while.

But first, seriously, that list.

Wishing you all a good Monday. Thanks for reading.
tt

After the excitement of last night, we had a very slow, simple, gentle day. I slept a lot during daylight, having slept little at night.

Tim gardened, a little. Moving around compost to make room for the leaves, soon to come.

I read, in bed. For myself, Edible Brooklyn, and a stack of The New Yorker, delivered by Tim's mom.
And to Anna. Do you know Shirley Hughes? The Alfie stories? Dogger? So good. I feel that even Anna is moving on from them a bit, but I'm not over them yet.

I baked some more bread, to bring across the street at dinnertime.
I moved some laundry around, not really accomplishing all that much.
Perfect.

Finally, I walked outside with my camera, on the way to pay last nights' sitter. Even with boots and socks on, I was still chilled right through by the time I made it over the creek and across the park.

I looked up and took these pictures. I looked down and took some more. Then, I dropped my lens cap through the sewer grate.

I needed to get outside, look around, get chilled. Make a mistake. Take some pictures.

I'm ready to move into the new week. I hope you are ready, too. For whatever awaits us all, around the next bend.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

It's a book a 'zine an art journal. It's here.
It's eight by eight inches. Ninety-eight pages. Black and white inside.
Perfect bound. Soft-cover.
It's fifteen dollars.

It's the work of twenty-eight artists.
Including, (pictured, from top)::
Jennifer Judd-McGee
Elizabeth Kaplan
Robert Larson
Maureen Fleming
Elizabeth Solomon
Scott Mason
Bret Wills
Julie Broberg
me,
and all of these talented people.

More info, here.

Yay! Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness::
.Apple cake and bread to bake today. And knowing that at this moment, a friend is making roasted acorn squash soup for our dinner tonight.

.The Avett Brothers on the radio this morning. "Ah, Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in."
I especially like the words "tell the ones that need to know"; doesn't that conjure up the people in your life that you love?

.Measuring everyone's height, grown-ups, too, in pencil, on our kitchen wall.

.The beautiful photos, at this joy+ride, from our neck of the woods.
When we were young, my brothers and I used to take picnics to the cemetery, and swim in the river that winds along its edges. I realize that sounds strange and morbid, now. But it didn't seem strange at all, then. It's actually one of my clearest and fondest memories.

.Way too much on our plate this weekend, but all of it promises to be fun. If you're local, come join us for the opening reception for Public Bookstore on Saturday.

Enjoy the weekend. Thanks for reading.
tt

I'm not a summer person. I will say, that over the last few years, Tim has shown me how to enjoy summer a bit more than I ever did.

But really, this is my time.


I get a profound but simple pleasure from donning sweater and scarf. I am awed when surrounded by crisp air and nature's breathtaking last gasp before winter. I love being outside in the fall more than at any other time of year.


And yet, left to my own devices, I suspect that I might always choose to stay inside. I love the coziness, the hunkering down, the comforting routine, of being voluntarily housebound. And the colder weather gives me an excuse to stay in. Hygge.


To stay in and bake something. Cook something. Something involved and time-consuming.

To light candles, earlier and earlier.

To consider couch sitting a night's activity.

To drink hot cider, and red wine, and hot chocolate, and pots of tea. Not all at the same time, necessarily.

To pick a project. Those empty photo albums. Those three scarves, unfinished on the needles.

To put on some of the old records, now that we can sit and listen for a while.

To get under the covers to read.

To shut the door, and be together. I like when we drive by houses at night, and see a light glowing through the windows. Maybe getting a peek at someone moving around inside.

I love that we are inside our own little house, lights glowing, and us all living within these comforting walls.

Life dictates that I will have to leave the house. I know this all too well. I will take that walk. I will go cheer on the kids. I will meet friends and get provisions, and drive everyone where ever they need to go.


But after that, you know where to find me.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Another grey day, and I'm finding that suits me well. It's not that I'm gloomy-grey, but rather, a soft, muted, soothing grey. Grey doesn't insist. Grey doesn't shout for you to come and play. Grey beckons you outside, to notice her.

I walked out back this morning, and found some beauty out there, in the grey. Blue skies and red leaves call you to look up and notice them. Looking down, I was surprised at how much is going on in our retreating garden.

Yesterday was grey, too. It was a nice gentle day that just went along. No surprises but some very nice moments. Talking to friends. Kids collecting leaves in the park. Some progress made inside, getting ready to retreat into the house more and more in the weeks to come.

For dinner, we made beef barley soup out of Callie's leftover brisket + gravy. With a simple salad, goat cheese, and some really good bread, I think it was pretty much the perfect fall meal.

Now, I'm just waiting for lunch to roll around, so I can heat up some soup, and maybe take a bowl out back. Our days for eating outside are numbered.

This feels like a Monday, but I know it's not.

Enjoy your day. Thanks for reading.
tt

After the week we had, a long afternoon walk at Stone Barns was the perfect antidote on Sunday. We went with friends, and let the kids go where they wanted to go. Followed them down the path to the pigs, over to the compost windrows (had to work that beautiful word in), where they played tag (compost tag? will it be the next rage?), back up to the chicken coops, where they played catch and release, until it seemed a reasonable hour to go home and start eating and drinking.

We called Callie over in the middle of their game, and asked what she would have said if I had told her they were going to spend the afternoon playing on the compost pile. She said she would have worn a different shirt. This made us laugh.

Earlier in the day, Callie had prepared single-handedly (well, she used both of her hands, but she did it alone, I mean to say) ten pounds of brisket for our pot-luck dinner that night. I think this was a turning point for both of us. I need help. The kids can do all sorts of things, given some guidance, time, and encouragement. (In this case, encouragement is not a euphemism for money. Although in the case of cleaning out the basement, perhaps so.)

Sometimes when I have my camera with me, I feel it gets in the way. I don't actually see what is going on around me, I only see what is caught in my lens. This has been a problem in some instances, where I sort of shut myself off, and disappear behind the camera.

Sometimes, the opposite occurs. On a long walk in the woods, for instance, it helps me to stop and focus on things I may have missed. Walking along, I of course notice the sky and the changing trees, but then through the lens I see how they look in relation to the chicken coops. And I think the shadows of the branches behind the walls of the pigsty are even more beautiful than just the branches, themselves.

And in every picture I took of the kids and our friends yesterday, the light seemed to softly glow around them.

That's just the way I'm going to remember the day.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness::
I am completely on the run today, but don't want to leave here for the weekend on such a moody note as I've struck the last few days.

I'm feeling quiet but happy, and the bit of grey this Friday brought is welcomed by me.
No matter what storm of self doubt settles over me some nights, every morning brings the head-clearing constants of my daughters voices, and a pot of really strong tea.

Just three things I want to mention.
.my photo today is shamelessly inspired by Rachel's much more skillful photo yesterday. It's the sort of photo that made me gasp, and then grab my camera and go outside and try again.
I really needed that yesterday, so thank you.

.I know this is out there everywhere right now. Jen told us about it. Alicia told us about it. I finally watched it last night. And then sat mesmerized and watched several in a row. A couple of times. I just have to jump on the bandwagon, because I love it.

.As is just my way, I mention the NYABF for days, but then never get around to telling you much actually about it. So, I'm circling back and mentioning that one of my favorite tables was the work of Kate Glicksberg. I didn't get a chance to go back in and talk to her some more, or buy one of her amazing little books. But I loved her photography, and the fact that she was passing the time at the show on Sunday by sitting at the table, hand folding sleeves for a set of three little photography books she had made. Awesome.

OK, I really, really have to go out into the world. But I am feeling good.

Hope you are too. Thanks for reading.
tt

Hi, everyone.

I have to tell you, last night, I was basically done. I posted a picture of shoes (again), and whined a little bit about life right now (again).

When I went to bed, I was basically done. Blogging. Wasn't sure why I'm doing this in the first place, certainly not sure why I keep doing it. I'm sure there are theories.

When I woke, and after putting water on for tea, and juice and fruit out for kids, but before I let the cat up from the basement, or brushed my teeth, I turned the computer on, and checked my mail.

And a few-not many-but a few of my friends had already told me that they'd read what I had to say last night, and they knew how I felt.

Bingo.

I'm on the verge of something. And that something has to do with blogging.

I think we can all rest assured that we have it all going on in the "real life" department. Maybe a bit too much going on.

But I come here, and I feel that I am making the best, showing the best, being the best. Not in spite of, or in contrast to "real life", but in conjunction with. It feeds itself. It's all there in front of me all the time. But having a place to immediately (and that's the charm, after all-we can immediately and independently from censure (other than our own)) illustrate and illuminate the things that are worthwhile of notice in our lives, makes us seek those moments out, and appreciate them all the more intensely.

I'm not even sure that was a sentence.

But.

What I'm saying is...that I'm not going to stop blogging.

But I am perhaps going blog a little differently. I'm probably going to talk a little bit more about my kids, but also more about how hard it is. More about food, but just because that is such a huge part of my day to day existence-I'm one of those people who is always thinking about what I'm making for the next meal. More about what happens in between all the stuff that you might, for instance, tell someone you were talking to at a school function. I'm not sure blogs are the place for small-talk. Or maybe that's exactly what they're for. Small talk that means something to someone.

I'm going to post whatever the heck pictures make me happy, so if you are a creep or a stalker, just move along. Nothing to see here. (Besides, I can barely seem to get a half hour away from the kids, so you'd have to kidnap me, too.)

What I'm saying is, I'm tired. And I'm full of good things that happen everyday in between all the "blog-worthy" stuff, and I just want to talk to all of you nice people.

What I'm saying is,

Hi, I'm Tara. Nice to meet you.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Some days things just don't seem to come together, quite.

We all know this.

It just seems that we've had a series of days, strung together with a run of a few weeks, where it's hard to get any momentum. I'd feel quite neurotic and messy, except that I keep hearing from other people that they feel the same way. Hard to focus. Feel like you're doing so much all the time, but nothing really getting accomplished.

::

Last night I thought I'd not work at all on anything after dinner, and instead, Tim and I would sit on our couch, feet to feet, and just relax.
Well, Tim came home at 6:30, sat down at the computer, and worked for two more hours, straight.
We two sat down to dinner (homemade pizza) at 9 o'clock, just about the time I needed to go up and sing songs to the big girls, and turn out the lights.
And then, when we finally went up to tuck our own selves in, Callie was still awake, and wanted me to "lay with her". What this means, is that after fifteen hours of being 100% an independent thirteen year old, she picks the exact moment that I'm about to crawl into bed and collapse, to "need me".

I am not complaining.

As I explained to a friend of mine, if a thirteen year old wants to snuggle, you snuggle. You may not get asked again any time soon.

So. I climbed up to the top bunk. I snuggled. And promptly, both of us fell sound asleep.

::

And so it goes.

I feel as if I'm swimming through a thick, mucky soup, to get to some unknown destination.

Wow. I know. So deep.

But I think you know what I mean.

::

So, I haven't taken a picture I like in a couple of days. But I took this one last weekend, I think. Some neighbors dropped off a bag of hand-me-downs, and Anna went straight to these shoes.

Can you blame her?

::

I'm pretty sure that tomorrow will be a better day.

Aren't you?

'til then. Thanks for reading.
tt

Yesterday, I was grumpy. Today, I'm bashful.

When Sheri asked me to do a home tour at cafemom a little while ago, I was tickled pink. How fun! I get to talk about my house? I spend a ridiculous amount of time devoting myself to putting those candles and pictures in just the right spot, and collecting mason jars and tablecloths like they're going out of style, and moving the furniture around so often that I confuse the cat...and now someone wants to ask me questions about it?! Where do I sign?

Well, it's posted today, and all of a sudden I'm bashful and self conscious. So please, go check it out, here. But be kind.

And, if you have ever actually been in my house, and are wondering where all the dirty socks and wineglasses and laundry baskets and bookbags are, just pipe down. Or I'm coming over to your house, and I'm bringing my camera.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Next year we're definitely going without the kid.

Now, I know that sounds really negative and grumpy (seems to be a trend for me), so let me rephrase that.

::

The New York Art Book Fair is awesome. All around. Tim and I were still talking about it way after we'd turned out the lights last night. There was so much to see and think about. So much great energy-the coolest looking crowd, and everyone so friendly. PS 1 is an incredible building, both for what they've done to it, and what they haven't.

And, we had the chance to meet two people whose work we admire greatly, and they are of course as lovely as one would expect them to be. The books they were showing were all so beautiful and interesting, it was hard to choose from among them. (I did come home with the first issue of Lines and Shapes, as well as Journal of Plants, which is exquisite.)

All around, everywhere we looked: the books, the 'zines, the posters, the photography! All of it so, so inspiring and original and, well...cool.

There it is, see, folks. Truth is, I'm a forty-two year old nerd with a thirty-three pound kid strapped to my back, walking around in my clogs just in awe of the hipness that is all around me.
(I am so starting to wear my engineer boots everyday, even if they do look like overkill in the line at Whole Foods.)

::

In all seriousness, this was an incredible experience for us, and we already can't wait for next years' show.

But we're definitely leaving the kid at home.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Sunday night::"and all was quiet and peaceful in the country."*

So much to think and tell about from our day, today.

But for now, I just wanted to stop in here and say goodnight.

We had our first fire of the season, out back, when we came home from the city tonight. It was a long, good day, although there were many tears.

I actually have decided that tears are good. It means you are feeling something intensely, good or bad. Imagine the opposite. I'll take the tears over that.

The last tears of the night were Anna's, shed as we read *The Little House * to her for the first time. I think that those are beautiful tears.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
tt

Friday Happiness [Public Bookstore]

[work visible here by: Stephanie Dennis, Ilse Schreiber Noll, and Bret Wills]

The show is up, and we think it is excellent. Much black and white work in the exhibit, as this first issue of the 'zine is black+ white, so we were looking towards that as we edited the selections. But some color, here and there, lending the gallery overall a clean, cohesive look that we love.

We encountered some delays when we received the first printing of the book; we had used an online self-publishing site, and we were disappointed with the quality. So we started from scratch and went with a different printer.

Now, back on track, we are ready to move forward, and excited to get this project, six months in the making, on it's way.

::

We are also looking forward to this weekend, and the New York Art Book Fair, put on by Printed Matter. Can't wait to see all the inspirational work that others are doing. I have a feeling Tim and I will come home from the show reinvigorated and with our heads full of ideas for our next project.

::

Other than that event, this is one of those weekends where the girls' social schedule trumps ours, so mostly we'll be driving and picking up from various birthday parties. The thirteen-year-old crowd now apparently are no longer into sleepovers, so much, but rather into having parties that run well after the grown-ups around here are usually in bed.

I'm personally of a mind that if you are going to keep my kids up past ten o'clock, you should keep them overnight. Although, I'm not a big fan of sleepovers, either.

I'm a lot of fun, huh? Oh, don't worry. I'll get over it.

After all, it's the weekend, again. And this one promises to be cool enough for the first outdoor fire, a big scarf and my favorite boots, and definitely something cooked long and slow in the kitchen.

Certainly that's worth staying up late for?

Enjoy the weekend! Thanks for reading.
tt

Little celebrations

Yesterday was the first day in two weeks that I dropped off a happy four-year-old, and I ran walked away from her school at last without feeling some sense of regret.
I drove myself up to the farm market at Stone Barns, and bought some eggplants and eggs and sweet potatoes. Then I sat, alone, and ate the most sublime piece of bacon and corn quiche (with a whole wheat crust-really amazing).

As I ate, I flipped through the pages of a new book which had arrived in my mailbox as I was pulling out of my drive-way.
I think that anyone who is familiar with Stephanie and Maria's work will recognize the degree to which I admire and emulate their sensibilities. There is an aura of calmness, stillness, and beauty in everything they show us, that I need and wish to find around me in my own life.

Needless to say I enjoyed my lunch, and the book, very much. It felt like a little celebration of Anna's gentle separation that afternoon, of the gradual but near complete transition into a new school year and my favorite season, and of having arrived, perhaps, at a new place of my own.

And then I went home and did some laundry.

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My friend Jen has a new show opening tomorrow, one that I know she's been looking forward to ,and which will be an inspired collaboration of two very talented artists. And this just makes me happy!

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I hope you all find a little something to celebrate today. Thanks for reading.
tt