Here Come the Plums...

What is it about picking plums that makes my heart race? Their plump dusky blueness is like some kind of aphrodisiac to me... I even like the word.

Plum. So round. So full. So complete in its plumminess.

And they fit so neatly in the hand. Snug and perfect. I can totally see why 'visions of sugarplums danced in their heads' on Christmas Eve, instead of visions of sugarapples or some other thing. Plum pudding. Plum preserves. Plum dandy, by me.

This year's windfall came courtesy of a friend who just happened to be travelling the same week that local plums were at their prime. And, happily, we were available to pick while she contentedly cruised the Inside Passage being wowed by coastal scenery and endless bufffets.

Her place is right along the river's edge - a magical spot, really unlike any other. It is in one of a rare smattering of float home communities that cluster half hidden along our network of rivers.

Hers sits charmingly on a point where the Pitt and Alouette Rivers meet. A great spot for swimming, boating , berries and generally just moodling around.

Hubby and I were delighted to load up our baskets, camera and garden gloves and head over to the point to rescue her plums from the bees and bears.

Her tree was loaded, the plums literally falling into our greedy hands. Between windfall and low-hanging clusters on the tree, I nearly filled a basket, while hubby scouted out the last of the blackberries. We beat the rain, stopped at the local Home Hardware to stock up on canning jars and I came home brimming with anticipation.

Sweet plums! Filling the kitchen with their spicy smell and juicy roundness. Saucy plums! (And that's just the jam...). I filled an entire day with washing, pitting, chopping, stewing, sealing, bathing and of course - sweating (me, not the plums).  

I can't say the canning day was a complete success. I learned a lot from these plums about patience and perseverence. And about practice. And pluckiness.

Still.

Gorgeously contented. Satisfied with gleaning food from its source and putting it aside for winter. Happy to be learning, or re-learning, skills the grandmothers tried to pass along.

And, peacefully, plum tuckered.

A Salute to Summer: Gone but not Forgotten.

One of the ways I pursue happy idleness is messing around with technology. I have to admit that my curiosity about gadgets, apps and their technological possibilities far outweighs my skill. An ambition of my middle age, and one I am sure will take me well into old age, is to at least keep up! I said to my sister-in-law today that I will probably still be using my laptop in my 90's. She said I probably won't have one. I assumed she meant lap. But I digress.

In my work (which I promise not to focus on in this blog, hand over heart!) I advocate for social media and help my clients apply it to their work. I also love to play on Facebook and Twitter, and am a self-confessed Farmville addict.

Blogging is fun, too.

Lately, I have been moodling around with online video production programs. And, oh my! A new weakness. So my blog this week is a video tribute to summer, capturing some of my favourite elements of the season we are saying farewell to - at least here in the Northern Hemisphere - and celebrating summer food. In happy anticipation of the autumn and then the winter, I offer my Salute to Summertime.





With heartfelt thanks to the fine young folks at Animoto.
http://www.animoto.com/

Free Fall Advice: 4 Ways to Welcome Winter

Back from my late summer holiday and a short trip to the Okanagan Valley and I am tucking in for fall. What can I say about fall? So love the turning of the season - long, warm days getting shorter and turning into clear, cool nights...

The vibration of excitement in the air: for some back to school and for others the planning out of winter projects. Work is serious again and I become industrious about organizing home, office and garden. I am much more inclined to resolution in September than in December - what about you?

Here are 4 ways I am welcoming winter at my house:

1. Organizing my books: Yes. I mean it this time. I have books in every room of the house. Shelves full of them, stacks tucked away in closets and cupboards, borrowed books waiting to be returned to rightful owners, bedside books on the bureau, cookbooks in the kichen (by the baker's dozens!) paperback thrillers in bags to send to my uncle, many patient volumes awaiting winter reading (or possibly spring!), and more books on the way from those lovely online providers ... this will result in the Great Fall Book Giveaway. Friends, look out. (Readers: send me one of your fall resolutions and I'll send you a lovely used book).

2. House Weeding: House weeding is a term coined by my friend and fellow-blogstress barnesgirl, and it is just what it sounds like. Winnowing through cupboards, closets and drawers and getting re-organized or ridding yourself of unloved junk and generally smartening the place up. My triumphs: t-shirt & nightie drawer, landry-room cupboards and - yes, under the kitchen sink! More to come.

3. Changing up housewares: With the changing of the seasons, I like to change up bedding, dishes, draperies and other household sundries. I stash away my cheerful fruit-patterned Mikasa and bring out my more sedate ceramics. Light summer sheets get replaced with cozy flannelettes and bright pillow-covers are exchanged with serene neutrals.

4. Watching Season Two of Larkrise to Candleford - (after all this is a blog about idleness). One of my guily pleasures is getting DVDs of favourite shows and watching them end-to-end night after night. Regular television pales in comparison - especially when it is feel-good period drama! My hubby bought me Season One of this charming British series for my birthday in the spring and Season Two arrived in the middle of summer. We both agreed to tuck it away for winter pleasure. The anticipation!

Don't forget: send me (via comment ) one of your great fall resolutions, activities or goals, and I'll send you a gently used book. Please include your email address so we can communicate directly :)

Link to information about Larkrise to Candleford: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lark_Rise_to_Candleford_(TV_series)

Link to Barnesgirl's blog: Time to Spend - http://barnes-girl.blogspot.com/