Summer Rose

Just a rose to greet you on a late summer day.

I hope your day is filled with good scents and sights that will linger all day!

Shoo-Fly Pie

This was our first attempt at making Shoo-Fly pie, the Amish way.

And this was after purchasing a small pie from the Amish booth at the North Market farmers' market a couple of weeks prior. We were inspired by its simplicity...and well...Amish things.

There is some tweaking we still need to do...but it was a rather simple thing to make. Molasses, sugar, flour, shortening (or lard, you know, if you prefer!).

What was the most eye-opening lesson from our baking session was the pie-crust recipe. I have always used Julia Child's as my go-to pie crust. But this one is called "Never Fail Pie Crust". Who would not give it a try?!

It surprised me that we needed an egg, and apple cider vinegar to make the pie crust. You would have been proud of me, though, because I followed the recipe precisely (something I have a hard time doing). And poof! A perfect pie crust! Those Amish are trust-worthy when it comes to cooking!

The air

The air is a lot cooler today. For the first time since we left Santa Cruz more than two months ago, I am feeling the familiar cool air on my skin.

I don't think summer is over yet. It's just nature knocking on the door, reminding us of the season to come.

We found an injured-looking Monarch butterfly in our driveway this morning. The kids were excited to nurse it back to health. They put it in their butterfly mesh container, planning out what they would do if it's still not flying by September.

Minutes later, the wings started fluttering. Then, there was a gentle hop. And soon, it did fly.

Could it be that the air was just a little cold for the Monarch in the early morning? We are quite familiar with them from our multiple visits to their colony at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz. We just didn't think it was possible for the air to be too cold here just yet! But alas... that is probably what it was. I need just a little more time for our tomatoes (planted very late) to ripen. Just a little more.

Inniswood

We visited our second Metropark today: Inniswood.

Who would have thought that I would find real Thai lotus growing in a pond in the middle of Ohio? Stranger things have happened, so I should not have been surprised to see the beautiful flowers reaching high up from the water. Other exotic plants were there too: jasmine, figs, coffee tree, even a cinnamon plant (my first encounter!).

And don't you love that sign? Earth laughs in flowers. So true, so true.

We had a great wander through this park with our neighbors, and I know we will be going back there often. The question is... what happens in the winter here? Hmm... it will be time to explore those museums and coffee shops!

Columbus, will you please come up with some real local bookstores pretty please? And bakeries, too? You have about 2 months to work on those. Thank you!

In a row...

This was the only picture I took in the Amish country, of the people facing me. We passed many individuals and families, but it just didn't feel right to put up my camera as I wave to them. They are just living their normal lives... We were the intruders.

But this group was far enough away from us that I think it was okay. Ideally, I would like to get their permission before taking a photo. I look forward to the day when I can get personal enough and do just that.

Ohio's country road

We stumbled on the longest covered bridge in Ohio!

Lots of antiques in Holmes County

The first buggy in action we spotted.

Look who was following us on a country road!

Oh the beauty of country roads...

And our need to listen to John Denver while we travel on these roads...

Can't you just hear it? Country road...take me home...to the place...

You can finish the rest I am sure. I think we are close enough to West Virginia that it is okay for us to play this song whenever and wherever we would like!

We found some seriously cool country roads today, in the middle of this new state we are trying to get to know. Rolling hills, small hamlets, corn fields, horses. And of course, the Amish country (and believe me, there were plenty of things I wish that weren't there...you know what I am talking about... chain stores, fast food places that don't belong in these beautiful places!).

Fall is around the corner, and you know we will be out and about taking in the beauty of the leaves turning color. I am almost ready for the next season to begin... but not quite yet!

Amish Country

Did you know that Ohio has the largest Amish population in the world? I honestly did not know that until I moved here. If I had to guess, I would have said that place was somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Holmes county, just 1.5 hours northeast of Columbus, is home to some 40,000 Amish people who have lived and thrived there for the last few centuries. Their lives today is not very different from the lives of their ancestors who settled here long ago.

We drove from Columbus, using Route 62, to get to Millersburg (what looked to be the middles of Holmes County). Silly us, we chose Sunday - their rest day - to visit the Amish country. The people there laughed when we asked about the Amish... Wrong day! They said.

Well, we didn't really need to go into shops or restaurants or anything like that... We just wanted to be in the Amish country, to see the buggies go by, to say hi to a few of the folks whose lives are so admirably self-sufficient, and so very sustainable.

The Amish do not use what we all take for granted today: electricity, computers, cars, any motorized machines. They grow their own food, and communicate with each other via community newsletters.

If you would like to find out more about the Amish way of life, I recommend a great little book,The Amish Cook. The photographs are outstanding, and so are the stories, and recipes included.

Well, as you can see from my photos, we were lucky to have passed a few buggies, and waved to a few friendly folks who waved back with beautiful smiles. But it took going out of the beaten path, for sure, to really get into the Amish landscape. Don't expect to see these horse-drawn buggies in the middle of Millersburg!! I would not be riding through town like that either...

We will go back again, maybe not on a Sunday next time, and take in more of this part of Ohio (and the world!) that I consider a little gem.

The Law of Balance

Sure there are things that I miss about Northern California.

Where do you want me to start?

Should I talk about the proximity to the Pacific Ocean? Or should I talk about the bountiful fruits and vegetables year-round at multiple farmers' market, any day of the week? Or should I brag about the best climate-controlled place in the universe?

Okay, I won't do any of that (because I just did). Instead, I am going to try to tell you about the cool things that we are getting here, that we didn't quite have back there.

1. A garden. I no longer need to plant my vegetables in pots! These plants can actually establish their root system, down into the actual earth, for as deep as they would like. We planted late this summer because we didn't get here until late July...but we are enjoying our basil, and parsley, and arugula, and soon some tomatoes and carrots of our own.

2. A real place for laundry to dry. Now, I did hang things out to dry outside of our tiny townhouse, on the back patio. But guess what? It was illegal. It was not approved by the homeowners' association. But I didn't get caught, and I must have saved a lot of energy using the sun instead of the dryer! But now, my clothes can sway this way and that, in complete freedom. Must be blissful for them not to worry about being caught!

3. A Tree. A Tree!!! Our children have never had their own tree to climb, or swing from, or find cicadas on, or sit around and chat with their friends about nothing. We actually have more than one tree. We have a big one where all the monkey bars and swings are hanging from, and then we have smaller ones in the front yard, and the back yard... Choices of trees. Imagine that!

So there. It is called the Law of Balance. You win some, you lose some. We can always pay a visit to our former home, right?!

Applesauce Cake

In the middle of the city of Columbus, I stumbled upon an apple tree, next to a parking lot.

It was not any sort of apple tree. It was an apple tree that is producing a lot of apples, ripe apples, so many that a lot of them were on the ground, rotting away.

It sure didn't look like the tree belonged to anyone in particular...so I went ahead, and gathered a few good apples. I knew exactly what was going to become of them: applesauce cake.

Our children love this cake. I made it a bunch of times last fall, back in Santa Cruz, with the apples we picked from a cool little orchard not too far from the coast.

Here is the recipe that we like for applesauce cake, adapted from the Joy of Cooking:

Applesauce cake

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar 

1 egg

1 cup thick, preferably homemade applesauce 

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

 Heat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar.  

Beat in egg and applesauce.  

Sift all dry ingredients together. Add to wet ingredients

Bake in greased pan 50-60 minutes. 

Cinnamon

Her name is Cinnamon because the color of her fur reminds Claire of the warm spice. And warm she is...and quite personable. She is our fourth rabbit, but the first lop-eared one!

We are loving her company, and her place in this small family of ours.

We hope you stay with us a long time, and grow with the children, Cinnamon!

Bexley Farmer's Market

You can also see this post at my new blog: Cool Columbus!

Tiny Bexley farmers' market is our current produce market. Though it is not comparable to our previous hometown's multiple markets, it's still nice to be able to bike over there on Saturday mornings, meet the local farmers who grew the food that we can go home with and put on the table minutes later. I would rather have a small market like this, than to go and purchase produce at the supermarket grown back where we came from!

About a dozen vendors meet there every Saturday in the summer in front of the Bexley Town Hall on Main St. A musician or two keep things lively. Many customers bike there, with children in tow. It's sweet scene...a small town kind of scene.

By the way, those tomatoes (the not so pretty ones) in the first photo came home with us and have been turned into a delicious sauce. Not so pretty does not mean not so delicious!

Home is here

The GPS lady on our phone still needs to guide us to new places, new highways, new grocery stores... (our favorite is "take your next legal U-turn" when we disobey her directions), but slowly, this place is beginning to feel like home.

To be reunited with our stuff, big and small, important and not so important, has been comforting in some ways. Don't get me wrong, it was very nice to not have to deal with 7,000 lbs worth of stuff (really, moving company...did you weigh it correctly?) for 8 months, and made home wherever we ended up putting our heads that night.

But it sure was nice to see that baby photo of the kids when they were one day old again, and the multiple journals I have kept since I was 13, and the silverware my parents lovingly gave to us for our wedding day. I was also elated to eat/sew/live at the dining table our friend John made for us, and to sleep on the bed that our friend Matt made for us.

I am sure Jim and the kids feel similar feelings when they saw their stuff, too. The things that are priceless... you know, everyone has them.

And so, we are making this place home... for the time being. Even the tree out back has now become home, so has our new bunny, Cinnamon. I hope it will be a home-sweet-home for quite a while.

Lucky

Let me just very briefly brag about our neighbors, perhaps the most positive thing about moving to Ohio so far. In short, they are awesome. This kind of scene has been present in the front yard, the back yard, and all around the house daily. We love it!

From the first 20 minutes that we arrived into this house, they have been there for us! Thanks, guys, for making this (new) place feel like home.

Glass and the Hot Shop

In case you have not been to my Cool Columbus blog, here is a little gem we found just a mile or so from our new house: the Hot Shop.

Does not matter that it is 90 degrees outside. The Hot Shop at the Franklin Conservatory demonstrates how glass is made in an outdoor glass blowing workshop!

The conservatory itself is an amazing place, too. I will have to bring the camera next time and do a better job at reporting on it. This last time, the kids and I just went straight to see the blowing... more fun than going to the movies, I tell you!