October Walk

October already!? Didn't September just seem to fly by? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, c'mon with me and Mo for a little walk this morning.
Mo excels at fence peeping.

These are the gazebos where weddings are sometimes held.

My friends' tropical garden is still gorgeous.

Look at the size of these elephant ears.

More fence peeping. This yard had a big crop of Pokeberries. I'm noting that some are green...and the stems are neon pink, imagine that.

More late bloomers:

An odd shrub with really unattractive berries in an otherworldly-ish lurid purple. [they look fake, don't they?]

The koi pond has been weeded a little, so I glimpsed the koi the other day. I was happy they're still there.

These are the water plants the owners put in this summer. Now we know why they're called water hyacinths. Pretty.

We visited the Goose menage. For a couple weeks Baby had this cute little sunflower bonnet.

Sadly things have changed. Mom and Dad Goose are in the Bug costumes and poor Baby is naked again. I'm gonna look for a pumpkin costume for her and leave it on the doorstep. See what happens.

Speaking of costumes, Mo got his Halloween costume! You'll never guess what he is gonna be.

This is our newest feral kitty. She wants to be friendly but is wary of Mo. She lives over near the Goose family. We named her Baby Spook after Mel's kitty.

I scored a few hydrangeas. Yay! 

Back at the beach, we hearing dire warnings: Hurricane!
Maybe.
I just need more batteries and food if "Joaquin'' actually arrives on Sunday. Hope all is well with friends who live further south. Let's hope Joaquin heads out to sea.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

The First Fall Flea Market

Hi! I had a fun but hectic weekend, how about you all? The weather briefly turned a smidge cooler so I decided to take my weekend house guest to the flea. Usually next week, October, would be my first visit of the fall. But I hoped my friend would enjoy the flea and it really was too windy for the beach.

It was a busy, busy, busy market!

My friend makes outsider art/ found object art so what I snapped pictures of were mostly things that caught his eye.
Really cool big light fixtures.

Unusual driftwood, maybe locally collected.

Small billiard balls.

Good quality [some] Native American tourist trade baskets in horrible condition.

A few things I liked...a flow blue plate:

A beautiful Autumn-y serving platter.

An interesting Currier and Ives print, attractive for its almost quilt-like border design. And mysterious caption, wonder what that means? Also nice flags, little village in the background, ships and trains; old frame.

Gorgeous mums, see them on the right? Only 6 dollars! But it was too hot and crowded to tote a few back to the car, too bad.

Usually I prefer to shop alone, other people find my careful sorting through trays of crap / aka treasures---buttons? thimbles? heart lockets?---tedious. So I didn't find much for myself. Just this beautiful silver brush handle [or button hook?] which will become the stem of one of my velvet pincushions. Probably a strawberry but a pumpkin might be so adorable instead. I love its texture and initials, nice patina.

See the sterling mark. Great find, two dollars!

We drove home via the beach road that reminds me of Cape Cod near Wellfleet. It's hard to imagine but the ocean is just on the left, a big bay on the right and this little road down the dunes and sandbar.

No hint of autumn reds [poison ivy!] but pretty. Then we hiked down the beach to the annual fall beach fair for a hot dog.

view of bay and mainland.
The bushes are bittersweet.
They'll be bright orange in Novemerr.

Another flea market option...

Treasures galore. Oh I d love to get there someday! I hope it happens again, when the weather is cooler and the Pope and Mr Putin and the Pres aren't in town, causing traffic madness.

Later the Super Moon.

and eclipse. [I'm sorry my pix aren't too good, these were taken with my phone. But you 'll get the idea. ] Quite a show, I kept imagining ancient people seeing this [Stonehenge!?] and being amazed and maybe afraid or in awe. As we were.

love

lizzy

gone to the beach....................

Mom. I'm waiting. It IS sewing time now, isn't it? Mom!???

Apples and Eggplants

Hi guys! Every week the farmers market has new produce to inspire our taste buds.

Aren't these little dark green pumpkins cute?

I think they're actually squash, I must find out what kind and how to cook them.

The apple harvest has begun. I love the names of all the varieties---Macoun, Ginger Crisp, Ginger Gold, Jonathan, Winesap, Delicious, Granny Smith, and many more. I think no other fruit or veg is marketed by name like apples are.

Here, tiny pink cheeked Gala apples, paired with a cheddar-like cheese with a beer and wood ash rind. Lovely autumn snack, especially later in the season with a cup of tea.

Something for the weekend, especially if you have a few friends over to watch the Super Moon rise on Sunday. [Be sure to go out later to see the eclipse too!]

The little Japanese eggplants were so enticing. My blog friend Cathy mentioned making this dish and it reminded me that my mom made these little roasted eggplants rounds also, back in Illinois when my dad grew eggplants.

This past week in honor of Autumn's arrival I made a huge casserole of marinara [plain tomato] sauce, with meatballs. Oh, that was delish! I had more sauce than meatballs so I froze the extra, but saved some sauce out for my eggplant roundels.

Peel, slice , salt, rinse the eggplants. Any size eggplant is fine. Pat dry.

Roast on a cooky sheet that has been brushed with olive oil, til soft with crispy edges, turning once.

Try not to scorch them as I did!

[400* for 25 minutes?]
Drain the oil from the eggplant by setting the roasted circles on a plate with paper towels. In a large Pyrex dish, or back on the cooky sheet, set the eggplant putting a single layer. Top each round with some tomato sauce, a sliver of mozzarella, and a sprig of fresh basil.

You can set this aside for a hour or so until you're ready to serve. Place in 350* oven til the mozzarella is hot and bubbly. Serve right away maybe with forks and lots of napkins.
The taste is just like eggplant parm but much lighter and much less work. Enjoy!

Super moon September 27  here

Super Moon Eclipse Sunday September 27

beginning at 

10.11 PM  

EDT 

here

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach