The Life and Times of the Plume — Page 257

Fresh Eyes

May 8, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

This morning, I’ve been glancing back at last week.

There’s still a trace of it whispering about in the bright light of Saturday morning.

I’m not sure where the past five days jetted off to, or how I specifically spent my time. There is a muddle of ribbons here in my hands, moments braided and twisted together, looped about in narrow arcs and knotted into a colorful representation of five days, come and gone.

I have vague memories of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday;

moments when I felt like I was seeing my town, my street, my home, my life with fresh eyes. There was the painting of our bedroom walls (finally), a fresh swaddling of textured plaster in tranquil hue. Newly washed sheets for the bed. Steady rain and the quiet fall of snow between bursts of sunshine. An open window in the night letting in hasty springtime wind. There were seven letters, delivered by hand. Written by hand. There were three boxes tied up with string. Two small cakes and a glass of milk. There was a walk when the sun turned to snow and we hurried home to the front porch and shelter. There was a delicious sandwich, two lattes, one dry cappuccino. There was a house full of firefighters. There was a thoughtful breakfast with Sue wherein we discussed the similarity of process between an artist (me) and a scientist (her). There was chicken curry and naan bread at the Indian restaurant last night. There was abundant laughter and an art walk through Old Town where there seemed to be so many people, milling about, and that gallery with the horse sculptures and the exposed brick walls! There was love. There was a fit of tears. There was my KitchenAid mixer.

I worked a total of three hours in my studio, this past week.

I was simply too busy living a lot of life;

watching the world with fresh eyes;

interacting within my short and stout hemisphere;

spinning in the wind like an honest weather vane.

I allowed myself to be pushed and pulled in many social directions because sometimes I have to.

And best of all, I was being with Robert.

Everyday.

I’m not tired anymore.

I can’t be.

Not with these fresh eyes.

My summer begins in one week!
I’m ready to take it on.
Happy weekend to you all! I hope there
are picnics, wildflowers and Canada goose goslings galore!
xx

Filed Under: fresh paint

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

May 8, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

And zee winner of the springtime giveaway here at The Life and Times of The Plume has been selected with the help of a random number generator (127, incase you’re wondering) and is Miss Kate!

She wrote: “Today has been a really terrible day, and this made me smile. That necklace is gorgeous!”

We’ll I’m more than happy to turn your frown upside down and it’s my pleasure to ship this necklace your direction!

Thanks to you all for leaving such brilliant comments for me. I’ve been sifting through them and will continue to sift through them like they’re handfuls of smooth pebbles on a small landing on the shore of a cold river in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. You’re all very dear to me and I love having you in my life and in my world.

With all my heart,

The Noisy Plume

Filed Under: winner

Orange Juice & Olive Oil

May 7, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

It is Friday and it is time to sit back with a cup of tea and peck away at something lovely but not too sweet. I have just the thing for you. It’s made of orange juice and olive oil.

Ingredients:

4 eggs – separated

1tsp vanilla

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

3-3 1/2 cups flour

1 heaping tsp baking powder

zest (I LOVE THAT WORD) of one orange

1 cup of orange juice (about 4 oranges)

1/2 pine nuts (though I’ve been informed that pecans work as well)

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 horsepower (or degrees F).

2. Whip up those egg whites until they’re positively thick and lush (like the eyelashes you’ve always wanted). Pop them in the fridge.

3. In another bowl, whip yolks together with vanilla until they are delightfully foamy. Add both sugars and the olive oil and stir it up. Thoroughly.

4. Grab a spoon and mix in the flour, baking powder and orange zest and the orange juice you took the time to squeeze with your sweet little hands. Stir until everything is smooth and then gently fold in the egg whites.

5. Divide the batter between two cake pans and sprinkle the nuts of your choice on top.

Bake for roughly 35 minutes or until the cakes pass the toothpick test. And as a friend told me, you should try to not eat it all in one sitting.

:::Jillian Edits:::

My batter seemed a bit too thick so I actually added another 1/3 cup of orange juice to the mix. When serving, I decided to apply a light dusting of icing sugar just to add a bit of glitz to my overall presentation.

I quite enjoy this cake. It’s not too sweet and it’s rather perfect for nibbling with a cup of coffee or tea as the overall flavor could be considered delicate and light. Break out the doilies and your best china tea pot. Call up a gaggle of girlfriends and share orange juice olive oil cake while you do some hardcore cross stitching.

Filed Under: cake, recipes

My Chickens Are Butterballs

May 5, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

You won’t believe how the girls have grown!

I had them roaming free in the garden this afternoon whilst I planted a few rows of veggies. Oh how they love to scratch about in the dirt. They haven’t lost their chickie voices yet and still make sweet peeping noises and sing song chirps when they speak with each other. They seem to be learning how to fly with their new adolescent feathers since while crouched on the ground and holding Vesper, Judith managed to leap up, flap her wings and perch on my arm.

They still love to be side by side, all the time. I don’t think this urge to flock is going to reverse itself anytime soon. The girls are the best of friends. The dogs still behave in a curious manner when face to face with the chickens, but within a few minutes they lose interest and move on to their dogly duties around the yard i.e. mauling the cat and begging for treats from the mailman.

Vesper has such interesting plumage. We think she looks quite like a pheasant chick or a bobwhite quail chick (we used to raise both when living in Arizona). She’s such a wild little thing.

And true to her breed, Judith is a bit of a butterball. She’s supposed to get so plump, her feet won’t ever really leave the ground.

We’ve been having terribly chilly, snowy, sleety springtime weather here but hopefully the temperatures will jump soon and then the girls will spend their first night out in the chicken ark which I have yet to photograph for you! Next week, you can count on some snaps of the chicken chateau!

It’s been a lovely day off here, for me! RW has been strolling about in a svelte set of overhauls while painting our bedroom! That’s right. The mustard yellow sponge paint job of yesteryear has been destroyed, or at least enveloped in a fresh blanket of tranquility.

A fine, fine Wednesday.

Indeed.