CAMEO APPEARANCES
Yesterday I receive a comment from Amy W on the post just before this one. She says,“You’re like Marie Kondo of the internet. Next you’ll be folding Facebook nicely into a drawer.” The image of Facebook, folded oh so neatly and placed just so in a drawer, has me in stitches. Thank you Amy! You may remember another post awhile back where I share with you what I call the No Kon-do System. Truly, if Ms Kondo’s system is what works for you, than that’s perfect. Our lives can be so busy, overly scheduled, and chaotic at times, that it’s important to do what brings you peace and contentment.
Right now, as the late spring sun shines through the windows and the birds chirp outside, I’m enjoying a second cup of tea. Several days ago just before first light, the crows, who had made a nest in the trees out back earlier this spring, start cawing “’til the cows come home.” They continue ALL day long. I wonder if the fledglings are hatching or maybe ready to take their first flight. One flies onto the corner of my cottage roof, and is so loud and insistent for what seems like hours, I finally go outside to ask if he might perch somewhere else. He cocks his head as he regards my request, and gets even louder. Ah well. The next day it is quiet again and I hear the doves coo.
Tomorrow, I travel to NYC for book three’s first weeklong photo shoot with Andrew Scrivani. I’m terrified that I’m not ready, which is what my friend and colleague Leigh Olson reminds me that I say every time I get to this point. Yet, I’m strangely calm, too. I haven’t packed yet. There’s laundry to do before I can. As they do each time, my favorite red plaid kitchen towel and blue stripe apron are coming with me. They are talismans for me, and the towel has cameo appearances in both books. Maybe they will find their way into book three, too.
My red plaid towel, and blue stripe apron. Andrew Scrivani Photo.
If I can make you laugh that’s almost as good as making you a pie.
We have crows cawing out our window here in San Diego too. This year, in addition to the crows, we also have a flock of parrots who have roosted in the palm tree nearby. They make crows sound like hummingbirds. But I love them all. I like waking up to all of them at work so early in the morning. They inspire me to get up and get that worm.
Personally .. I find Kondo philosophy a little extreme for me . I am purging my home … room by room ….. need to be able to look around and be able to tell myself why I kept it…. has to have some meaning or off to the thrift store! Getting rid of family dishes …. my daughter doesn’t want them. …when I think about it …. would be a little creepy if I expected her to keep my dishes . Have a wonderful trip!
Safe travels to NYC. I am currently reading Art of the Pie. Yes, I curl up on the couch and read it like a novel except I started putting sticky tabs on all the recipes I want to try. Then I realized that there is a sticky tab on each page so I decided I will just bake myself through the book. Anyway, I am really enjoying it and find myself feeling calmer and smiling with each page I turn. I live about 45 minutes from Frog Hollow Farms in Brentwood, California, so was happy to read about your peach excursion there. I will have to get over there when the peaches are ripe. Just want to say thank you for your words and your pie inspiration.
“Beauty is in the pie of the beholder”! Wrote that on my kitchen chalkboard, make a batch of your pie dough, and got busy making a pear pie. Life is tasty!
Wonderful! Please tell Farmer Al hello. I hear that the Robada apricots are just coming in. They make a beautiful and delicious pie.
Wow you are so lucky to live close the Al and Frog Hollow. Each summer I place my order for APRICOTS from Frog Hollow. They are the only place to get Apricots that taste like the ones I remember from our 10 acre orchard of apricots in Mountain View Ca. where I grew up. (Now silicon valley) I think some of the trees from our orchard still exist in the backyards of the houses they built when we sold the place. I just got my 5 lb box and made an Apricot pie that I put into the freezer for when I can share with my Sister when she comes here. Brings bake so many memories of the 40’s and 50’s in Santa Clara valley when it was all fruit trees. Thanks for triggering the memories.