I love the Clothesline Festival. I remember walking the show years ago when I was in college at RIT and being so impressed with the work that I saw. This will be my 13th year of doing the show. The first year I was thrilled to be one of the Merit Award winners- it was just the encouragement that I needed at that time to continue with my painting.

The show is on the grounds of the Memorial Art Gallery in downtown Rochester. The gallery is open to the public during the show upon paying the entrance fee. One of the perks of winning the Merit Award is that you can choose to move to a different (more visible) location in the festival. For the past 12 years I have loved my location, my neighbors, my shade tree and knowing that my customers know where to find me. This year there is a proposed sculpture park that has caused all of the vendors in my section to be relocated to the back of the gallery. I’m kinda bummed to say the least.

#126-  is my new booth number. It’s in the nose bleed section. Please take the time to find me if you are attending the show.  I have lots of new work this year. Shown above is a painting that I just finished last night. I love the abstract quality of it. I took many photos this year at the Walnut Hill Carriage Competition in Pittsford- this is the first of many paintings in a series.

Of course there will also be new topiary designs! See you there!

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It drives me crazy when Farmboy and Farmer Russ are shopping for equipment. It seems as though they always have to drive to another state to find what they are looking for. This tractor was found down in Southern Pennsylvania and Farmboy has been anxiously awaiting its arrival so that it can be used for Fall harvesting/planting. The enclosed heated cab is also going to be very cozy when snowblowing the driveway this winter.

Every now and then I have to get into one of the tractors and move it or help with something. I have this innate fear of running into a building when I am behind the wheel. You know, a mental lapse… which one is the clutch?… which one is the brake?… oh no, that’s the gas!…. CRASH! It happens every time I drive a tractor. Not the actual crashing into something… just the overwhelming fear that I will.

The fellow who delivered the tractor was an interesting guy. Originally from Oklahoma now living in PA. Apparently he is like the Jesse James of tractor trailers. His “rig” was all tricked out. A chopper version of an 18 wheeler. Who knew? You could tell he took great pride in fixing up the 20 yr old truck. I was a little concerned about whether or not he could see over the dash board.

Just another day at the farm… ; )

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Bound by Steel & Water

Miraculous Miss

Composition of Blown Glass

River Basin  at Taughannock Falls, Ithaca, NY

The above matted paintings will soon be available on my website under the Fine Art heading. Each painting is double matted with 1/2 in. reveal in 100% rag archival matting with archival foamcore backing. The pricing will go up once the pieces are framed for the upcoming Clothesline Festival Sept 11th & 12th. For more information please call 888.313.0239.

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LaLa lost a tooth. The one that she had been wiggling and playing with all day. It’s not the first one… but so far it’s definitely the most tramatic.

Lost it while she was in the bathtub. I’m downstairs doing the dishes, water running and I think, “Do I hear something?” “Is that a child crying?” “What IS that noise?” Water off.  Listen. Wailing. Bloody murder screaming. I race up the stairs fearing a broken leg on the slippery tile floor. I get to the bathroom to see a naked child screaming… standing up (no broken leg), screaming. “What is it!?” I yell over the screaming. “What happened?!” Incoherent screaming ensues as she explains that her tooth has come out and blood is apparently gushing out of the wound.

I’m a girl. I CAN be dramatic if the need arises but Lord help me, that child has got Golden Globe written all over her. It was all I could do to hold myself together. It was one of the most precious things that I have ever experienced as a parent.

Upon hearing all of the screaming and feet running up the stairs LaLa’s dad comes flying into the room wondering what on earth is going on. The Incoherent Screaming Replay starts. I get her a towel and the three of us hug and sit on the ottoman. This is going to take a while. Farmboy assures her that all will be fine and goes downstairs to continue his game with the Bean. I get the privilege and honor of sitting there with my daughter listening to her raw fears and concerns and I am struck with the glory of her tender heart. The beauty. I hear wails of how that tooth will be missed. It will be so alone. The other teeth left behind won’t know where it has gone. The tears, so many, so big. Eyes so swollen and red. Oh, that the tooth never should have been loose. Oh, that it never should have came out. Now this is the same child that at dinner was determined to pull it out in front of us at the dinner table. Being the proper parents that we are… we told her she couldn’t do that. She would have to wait until after dinner and go into the bathroom. I guess, truth be told, we didn’t think she’d actually do it.

She cried because she had lost something God had given her. She cried because her other teeth would miss the lost one. She cried because she wasn’t ready. I cried inside because I wasn’t ready either. For any of it. She would talk and then lean into me and cry until all of the tears were out… for both of us. I reveled in that moment. Loving and embracing the beauty of it. I wanted to run and get it down on paper as soon as I could because my memory is terrible and I feared not remembering all of it.

How do you take a picture of a Kodak moment without a camera? Words. Beautiful, precious words. Girls. Little girls. Big tears. Red eyes. Arms of love. Despair is despair. Is there a measure to a child? What do they know of earthquakes, oil spills, world hunger and AIDS? Missing. She feared the other teeth would miss not getting to say good-bye to this one. Her teeth didn’t feel like her teeth anymore. She asked if she would have to lose other things… like her Blankie. Heck no! Of course not! I still have my Henry. The little teeth had to leave to make room for the bigger ones, that’s all. She was right on schedule. She is perfect. Just the way she was lovingly designed.

Eventually the hugs, tears and sobs slowed and I suggested pajamas and a Toot and Puddle book wherein their little cousin Opal loses her tooth. LaLa was thrilled. A few tears fell while getting ready for bed. After showing her brother the hole and expressing her sadness over her different smile he reassured her that “her smile was always beautiful no matter what because SHE was beautiful”. Oh, how you make me proud tonight Big Brother.

So we piled up in the bed with her lovingly decorated envelope for the tooth fairy. Covered with stickers- her best, most favorite ones we tucked the envelope under the pillow and I proceeded to tell the story inserting “Tooth” for Toot and “Toot Fairy” for the “Tooth Fairy”. She was hysterical by the time the story was over. A precious night…had to write about it. Now, where is my glitter and where are my wings. ; )

Do you have any tooth fairy magic? Please share!

Michelle

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I was so happy with my first tomato this summer that I had to document it!  Isn’t it a beauty? I must say that it was delicious and I’ve eaten a tomato and basil sandwich EVERY day since they’ve ripened. Yum.

I am very inexperienced with fruit trees and have no desire to spray them. To my surprise one of the two apple trees that I planted last year was ladened with apples! Some of them have some scab (I’ll save those for the horses) but many of them are lovely. A friend whose father has had fruit orchards for many years has stopped spraying his trees and I am very encouraged that perhaps I will be able to forgo treating them chemically. My theory in the garden is to plant more than I need knowing that some veggies/fruits will succumb to pest. In the end there is plenty for our family, friends and extended family – no chemical treatments necessary. I have finally gotten used to knocking off bugs/slugs into soapy water… I suppose there are worse ways to go! Still gives me the major Willies. What are some of your favorite garden treatments?

Oops! This post went from artwork to gardening in no time flat! It often happens around here. More art and less gardening coming soon! : )

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Farmboy and I thought that a corn stand would be great for The Bean this year. His cousins who are older were also interested.  The boys made a table in June in anticipation of holding this year’s harvest.

It’s hard for me not to have visions of a giant festival of corn when a “corn stand” is mentioned. I think big. Why not? I like a spectacle, don’t you? Farmboy often wonders “why does everything you do have be a spectacle?”  I tried to stay out of it… really, I did.

I helped set up my art festival tent at the end of our driveway. The boys took the golf cart down into the field and loaded it with corn. I painted a couple of signs, put some tablecloths out and the boys were good to go. It was an interesting experience. Friday I found out that earlier in the morning one of the kids accidently picked field corn instead of sweet corn. Eeegads. Embarrassing. Especially when Farmboy encouraged his friends at work to stop in for some of the best sweet corn they will ever taste. Ooops. We had a discussion about “quality control” and how important it is to double check what they are selling for its quality. We weren’t sure how much had been sold. Farmboy made a few calls to let people know.

It was painful to watch as they counted change back to customers. The Bean made it clear that they were perfectly fine without me there. I took advantage of the situation to spend a little time in the studio to prepare for an upcoming show. La La and I spent the entire day on Friday making cupcakes for her cupcake stand. On Saturday the 1st Annunal “Windswept Farm Sweet Corn Extravaganza” took place. There was sweet corn, of course, lemonade, cupcakes and brownies, not to mention some tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden. Farmboy, Aunt Kim and I moved the stand further down on the farm across the street from the community recycling station – its gets alot of traffic on a Saturday morning.

The kids earned some money, ate alot of cupcakes and brownies and drank alot of lemonade. This year we have decided to let them bask in the money that they have earned. They have a taste of economics and we will hit them with the full picture next year when they have to think about how much a bag of corn seed costs and how much fuel is required to plant that seed. They are all ready talking about how they will make next year better and I am encouraged by their enthusiasm. There were a couple of hiccups- the field corn and a woman came back because she had only 4 ears when she purchased 6. Gasp. Blush. Embarassement. But they were apologetic and generous giving her extra because of their mistake. I wish that I had been taught the principles of business when I was young. I look forward to teaching the kids.

Next year all of those balloons are going to have to be put into their budget. How have you encouraged the entreprenuerial spirit in your children? Any creative ideas?

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I heard she was also seen at Sherwin-Williams last week.

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Old Bay Deviled Eggs

Sweet Tea

Chicken Fried Steak with White Cream Sauce

Fried Okra

Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Black-eyed Peas

Corn Bread

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Update: Last nights dinner was scrumptious! I have a few notes regarding the recipes and changes that were made.

Old Bay Deviled Eggs: delish. Loved the touch of celery on the top. Thanks Mike & Ann!

Chicken Fried Steak: I used the top round that was suggested and prepared it two ways. At the grocery store I had the butcher “cube”  half of the steaks and the other half I tenderized as was shown in the recipe. Tip: use plastic wrap over the meat to keep all of those juices from splattering everywhere. I breaded and fried them just as the recipe recommended but I seasoned all of the meat with salt and pepper before they were breaded for some depth of flavor. The one that I tried without preseasoning just wasn’t as tasty. My observations about the two different styles of meat prep were that the tenderized, machine cubed steaks were just better. The hammered-by-hand steaks were tougher and they did not hold the breading as well. The white gravy was decadent.

Fried Okra: Oh, the fried okra. I was a bit panicked on Sat. morning. The grocery chain that had carried okra no longer had it available. I headed out early to the Regional Market in Syracuse and was so thrilled to find one farmer with tons of it. Nice and fresh… score!  Decided to fry the okra outside on the grill’s gas burner after cleaning up the chicken fried steak aftermath in the kitchen. (I am a messy cook when it comes to anything with flour.)  While frying my okra I noticed that Paula Deens’ breading recipe did not have any cornmeal in it as my grandmother used to make it so I added a handful… perfect. The last time I have had decent fried okra was in her kitchen in Mississippi about 8 years ago. Needless to say those tasty nuggets transported me back home. I snacked while I was frying and chatting with our company and sat down to dinner alittle, well…. full. Just like when I was little and got in trouble for snaking before dinner constantly tasting what was headed to the table.

I thought about the okra all morning in church today! Don’t tell the pastor. We had some pods left over and I’m cooking them for dinner tonight. I hope this kids like them… but if they don’t, more for me. I usually don’t fry anything. But when okra comes in season to Central New York, I think I must fry from now on. Moderation. Right?

Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes- nothing says summer like that. Perfection on a plate.

Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes: my new favorite mashed potatoes. There is little that Ina Garten does that I don’t love. Thanks Rick & Joann!

Black-eyed Peas: My suggestions regarding the link to Emeril’s recipe… no ham hock- only a couple of slices of bacon, no celery, 1/2 the garlic and 1/2 the thyme that the recipe calls for. Add plenty of salt and pepper and hot sauce if serving over rice. We eat these every couple of weeks. A staple in our house.

Corn Bread: Well, I got a surprise when making the corn bread linked above. There was no flour listed in the recipe! Now, our friends were here and I was trying to listen to conversations, get the okra fried and stay on focus… not an easy challenge for me! This was a new cornbread recipe- I usually make the cornbread on the back of the little round Quaker box. I didn’t feel like I could take the chance so I added a cup of flour thinking that somehow it was omitted in the recipe. The cornbread came out fine but I will probably go back to the normal recipe I use considering cheddar cheese just doesn’t seem right unless there are jalapeno peppers in there. Call me crazy.

Bourbon Pecan Pie: SO good. The fresh whipped cream helped to cut the sweetness of the corn syrup. Usually when I eat pecan pie I feel like my teeth are going to fall right out of my head from the sugar. A lovely visual, I know- but its true. Thanks Mike & Rita!

We had a nice blues mix playing… some B.B. King and Muddy Waters. A fun evening with great friends. Every dinner we post a question and answer it around the room (4 couples). It has been a great way to get to know each other better. Farmboy asked “What brings out your Hillbilly Bone?” (referring to a popular country song). The answers were revealing and hysterical.

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Hi Friends! I wanted to post a quick note about AmpleHarvest.org and encourage those of you who have grown extra produce in your gardens this summer to consider finding a local food pantry and donating some of your excess produce to families who have been hit hard by the economy.

I did a quick search by entering my zip code on their website and found 3 food pantries within 12 miles of me. Pretty neat. So when your family has had enough of those zucchini, squash or whatever… go here and find a place where your excess will be greatly appreciated!

Big thanks to my twitter friends at TheSoilSisters.com for posting info about AmpleHarvest.org and reminding me to share the blessings! Check them out… you will be glad that you did.

Have a great day!

Michelle

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