harvesting nuts...wallnuts.

Intr-o simbata frumoasa, cu voie buna si chef de munca am pornit spre mosie la cules de nuci. Totul incepe de aici :
In a very nice saturday, with much joy and happiness we left to our holdings for picking nuts ( wallnuts). The story begin from here : 

dupa citeva minute cosuletul incepe sa se umple

after a few minutes the basket begins to full 

si sa se umple....si spatele meu incepe sa doara....dar este doar inceputul...vor fi zeci de cosulete de strins...

and to full....my back is starting to feel hurt....but this is just the beginning, it will follow tens of baskets to fill....

din cauza secetei, anul acesta nucii au fost batuti cu o bota de alun...nucile nu mai crapa singure, ramin in coaja, se innegresc si putrezesc...de aici si operatiunea de "dezghiocare" manuala ce a urmat .Deci nucile sunt batute cu bota....

because of the drought, this year we have to beat the nuts with a long hazelnut stick...the fruits doesn't crack for themselves, but they are going black and begin to rot...from here the necessity to beat them down from the tree still being yet green and after then we have to "undress" them. So, the nuts are beaten with the stick : 

de catre un fermier aratos ;)...fermierul meu aratos :))

by a handsome farmer ;)...my handsome farmer :))

apoi dupa multa munca ti se face foame....mere, mure....nuci...si toate astea in timp ce admiram peisajul inconjurator....suntem totusi in virf de deal .

after so much and hard work you get hungry...apples, blackberries, nuts.....all these admiring the surrounding landscape...we are still in the top of the hill....

si mere :

and apples : 

asa am descoperit si nuca uriasa de anul acesta , aproape cit palma de mare...

this way we discover the giant nut of this year, almost as large as his hand is....

 apoi o binemeritata pauza cu peisajul in fata ochilor

then a sweet relax flying ( only in mind) above all 

si incet-incet s-a strecurat si seara...

slowly the evening come....the dark is near close so we must hurry at home....

inca o zi s-a sfirsit...o alta urmeaza....

one more day ends...another one will come ....

pretty bee-busy

Atentionare : urmeaza un articol lung si probabil plictisitor :)

Toamna a sosit deja....absenta mea in blog este justificata...in fiecare zi, aduc din gradina mici parti din recolta....azi una, miine alta, si uite asa am impresia ca recolta este enorma. De fapt sa zicem ca este oarecum modesta dar suficienta pentru noi doi...si doi catei ;).

Aici parti diferite in zile diferite...

Warning : following a long and probable boring post. ;)

Autumn is already arrived here...so my absence on blogland is justified....I'm present in my "ownland". LOL. Every day I bring from the garden small amounts of crop...today something, tomorrow something else and this is how I have the impression that I have a huge crop. Actually , lets' say is quite modest but fullfilling for our neccesities ( and for our dogs , too !;) )

here are different parts in different days...

A sosit si vremea alunelor si a...nucilor verzi. Seri de rontaiala si degete innegrite...seri deja racoroase...mi-e dor de foc in semineu si de pocnetul conurilor de brad ....

Alune...buzunare pline de alune si un zimbet larg pe fata...vintul prin par si o imbratisare calda in pragul casei...cine isi poate dori mai mult de la toamna ?

Now is the time, also, for hazelnuts and...green nuts ( pecan ) . Crunchy evenings and blacked fingers...I miss a good fire in the fireplace listening the noise of waxy pine cones....

hazelnuts....pockets full of hazelnuts and a large smile on my face....wind in my hair and a warm loving hug on my home porch...what else can anyone want from autumn ?

Da, toamna aduce cu ea si putina munca in bucatarie : de aici

Oh, yes : autumn bring some kitchen work, too. From here

...prin citeva ore de munca ( observati si cafeaua de sustinere "psihica" in fata celor 10 kg de fasole)

...after several hours of work ( please notice the coffee beside as "support" for those 10 kg of beans)

iar la final am obtinut citeva portii bune pentru la iarna ;) gata de asezat in congelator.

at finish I got a few good portions for winter, ready to put inside the freezer.

Apoi au urmat castravetii

then follows the cucumbers

si ciupercile ( anul acesta sunt foaaaarte putine ciuperci....brrr....cam gol congelatorul pentru ele.... ati inteles, da ? metoda mea preferata de conservare a ORICE pentru iarna este sfintul si binecuvintatul congelator. Incerc , incet-incet sa adaug si alte metode, dar ...nu sunt as in directia aceasta. Am incercat deshidratarea ( inafara de ciuperci am renuntat la alte cele, am nevoie de ingrediente care se pregatesc rapid - foarte rapid- si nu care sa stea la inmuiat cu orele....) am mai incercat conservarea cu sare ( varza murata, si ...atit!) si in otet ( castravetii si...atit! ha-ha! ). Mereu revin cu incredere la congelator. ORICIND. Pentru aproape ORICE. Fructe, legume, carne, sucuri, mincare gatita, prajituri, etc. Aproape TOTUL.

deci poza cu ciupercile si metoda MEA de a le taia rapid - foarte rapid! - feliute . Ati priceput cum, da ?

And the mushrooms ( this year we have so few mushrooms...brrr...the freezer for them is quite empty. You do already understand, yes ? my preffered method for preserving ANYTHING for winter is the holly and blessed FREEZER. I'm trying other methods, too...but I'm not too good at those. I do tryied dehydration ( beside mushrooms I let go all the rest, because I need ingredients that are preparing fast - very fast - and not those that need hours of soaking ) , I tryied salt preserving ( but just cabbage and that's all ) and also vinegar preserves ( cucumbers and that's all , also. LOL )

I always come back to my dear freezer. Always. Fruits, vegetables, meat, juices, prepared food, cakes, etc. Almost ANYTHING.

So , here come the mushroom picture showing you my super-quick method of slicing them. Got it ?

si ardeii iuti intinsi pe sfoara la uscat ( un ingredient obligatoriu in spaghetele cu ciuperci )

and those hot-peppers set for dehydration ( a "must" in spaghetti with mushrooms dish)

si apoi au urmat alte zile de efort sustinut pentru prepararea magiunului .

Adica de aici ( adica de vreo 10 ori cantitatea din poza, luata pe rind, si la un moment dat considerata infinita)

And then follows other days of hard work at preparing the "magiun" ( plum jam ).

I mean : starting form here ( like 10 times more that you see in the picture, taken one by another and at one point considered infinite)

am luat-o pe parcurs in directia aceasta ( la fel de "rustic" si de "sanatos pe foc de lemne" ca in vremurile de demult la tara )

we go to this ( in the same "rustical" manner and healthy "made on wood-fire" like in old time in real villages )

si evident ca in timpul prepararii trebuie si putina mincare...si vin ;) si daca tot ne-am jucat cu focul toata ziua, am profitat de niste aripioare si coaste de berbecutz la grill.

Mda, TOTUL natural...:)

Obviously that during the day we needed some food ( and some wine , too ;) ) and if we already played with fire all day we take advantage of that and make some chicken wings and lamb chops on grill. Yeap, ALL natural...:)

pentru ca in final , a doua zi seara sa numaram borcanele . Comparativ cu anul trecut ,acum avem foarte-foarte putine....prunele au fost tare marunte dar bine coapte,astfel magiunul a iesit foarte dulce si gustos. Fara nici un gram de zahar ! Perfect! 100% natural...

A meritat toata truda ! )

The next day, at finish, we counted the jars . Comparative to last year, now we have very-very few...the plums were extremely small but well riped so that the jam is sweet and tasty. No sugar at all . Perfect! 100% natural. It deserved all that work ....

Din doua kilograme de mure am pus la congelator sucul rezultat

From 2 kilo of blackberries I get the juice and send it straight to the freezer

care va putea fi folosit peste iarna ca si sos cald peste inghetata sau pe post de gem daca ii adaug zahar si il fierb putin

it will be used in winter as a hot sauce over ice-cream or I can make small portions of jam if I boill it with some sugar

iar cu resturile ramase in storcatorul de fructe

and with the rests that remain in the fruit-juicer

nu am rezistat si m-am jucat putin cu doua bucatele de pinza ( intotdeauna este binevenit un petic colorat in rezerva mea de materiale )

I couldn't resist and played a little with two pieces of white cloth ( a coloured piece of fabric si always welcomed in my stash )

Toamna asta mi-a trimis in gradina un prieten nou, micutz si foarte plimbaretz :

This autumn send me another "gift" in the garden : a new and very "walking" friend

a little new friend from tiktakro on Vimeo.

iar chiar daca vremea nu a fost perfecta in ultimele zile ( furtuna si vint rece ) nu pot in final decit sa spun : "Bine ai venit, toamna ! "

and even if the weather wasn't nice in the last days ( we had storms and cold winds ) I just can't say anything that : " Welcome, autumn ! ".

Cum este toamna VOASTRA ?? :))

How's YOUR autumn ?? :))

new blog in town ;)

Ei bine, veste mare : s-a nascut un nou blog .

Well, today I found out a big news : a NEW blog was born.

Profesionist ! 9 talente s-au unit intr-un singur loc si au pus lumea pe foc : fiecare dintre  membre ofera un give-away ( cadou) cu conditia sa respectati cele 3 puncte cerute de ele . Merita sa le faceti o vizita ! si de ce nu ? sa va inscrieti la cadouri pina pe data de 30 septembrie. Hai, fuga ! :))

Very professionally! 9 talented wemen joined together in a blog and put the world on fire : each of them is having a give-away, untill 30 of September, with the condition to complete the 3 steps required .
It worth to make a visit first on the main blog then on each artist's blog... and why not ? to fill in for those magnificent give-aways. Comme-on, hurry ! :))

Si pentru ca tot ce am vazut azi pe blogurile mentionate mai sus, mi-a stirnit pofta de broderie, iata ce s-a "intimplat " in atelierul meu :

And because of all that I see in those before mentioned blogs awake in me the desire for some stitcheries, this is what "happened" in my studio today :

 ....trebuie sa recunosc ca sunt cam departe de maiestria celor vazute...dar practica nu strica niciodata, nu-i asa ?

...I must admit that I'm far away from what artistic stitcheries I saw today...but you know that practice doesn't hurt anyone, isn't ? LOL.

Si uite asa, cineva se va bucura miine de un cadou nou....ce frumos e sa faci cadouri !

And like this, someone will be very happy tomorrow with a new gift....how nice is to make gifts to people !

.

holiday homework

Cu citva timp in urma , Elena a propus pe grup, ca "Tema de vacanta" finalizarea unui UFO patchwork. Recunosc ca am foarte putine UFO , dar mi-a ramas unul de dimensiune 50x50 de la proiectul initiat de Smaranda : Firul Ariadnei, proiect initiat pentru expozitia din Luberon din aceasta vara .

Acesta este Firul Ariadnei, 50cmx50cm : "Lupta dintre bine si rau "

Some time ago, Elena proposed on the group I belong, as a "Holiday Homework" to finish an UFO that we have. I must recognise that I don't have a lot of UFOs, but I find a piece of 50cm x 50 cm , that reamains from the project "Ariadna Thread" that Smaranda proposed for exposition in Luberon this summer. This is my Ariadna :- fused applique, punched funny threads, free-motion quilting. Fabrics : black sateen and handdyed fabrics.

Firul Ariadnei a fost prezent alaturi de Ocru ( 50cmx50cm ) :

"Ariadna Thread" was exposed beside Ocre - "Reflections"( 50cm x 50 cm ) : - paperpiece, hand-applique, free-motion quilting. Fabrics : - handdyed background, comercial patchwork fabrics.

Si acesta este UFO-ul ramas neatins din vara :

And this is the UFO that remains untouched from the beggining of summer :

care a trecut prin acesta stadiu ( precum se vede aveam mare nevoie de culoare in viata mea)

passed through this stade ( as you can see I was in great need for colour...)

si a ajuns asa :

and ended like this :

mic detaliu :- ochiul este un nasture vintage, fundalul este din materiale vopsite manual, capul papagalului este o bucatica de batik vopsit manual de Smaranda - intreaga lucrare a fost construita in jurul acestei piese, prin applique lipit si free-motion quilting. Stop. E destul ! sau : ce e prea mult e destul ? ha-ha...

small detail :- the eye is a vintage button, background are handdyed fabrics, parrot's head is a pice of Smaranda's batik handdyed, everything was built around this piece with fused aplique, free-motion quilting. Stop. What is enough is enough ! or what is too much is enough ??LOL.

Destul sau prea mult ? :)))

Enough or too much ? :)))

still autumn ...

Vremuri de economie...vremuri in care invatam sa ne gospodarim la maximum din ce avem , cu ce avem...sa economisim, sa luam de nou ce e vechi si sa extragem din tot esenta.

Unii zimbesc si merg mai departe, altii se acresc...altii devin "green" :))) click pe imagine ca sa intelegeti ;)

Hard time...times when we learn to manage with what we had at disposal...to make economies, to consider as new all that is old, to extract the essence of what life has better....

Some people smile and go on, other become bitter....or some become "green" :))) click on the image to understand. ;)

Plimbarile prin gradina ofera atit clipe de relaxare ( cita poate sa existe in tot acest zgomot continuu si praf interminabil ) cit si recolte ...mici, mari, dupa cum e ziua.... din aceasta ladita aproape plina cu piersici de gradina, albe-amarui dar foarte parfumate :

The wanderings on the garden offer both relaxing moments ( as much as it can exist here in this continuous noise and endless dust ) and crops...small or big depending the day.... from this box almost full of bitter-white garden peaches -but very perfumed :

..am intentionat sa fac gem. Mi-am dat seama cu stupoare ca...nu mai am borcane !! toate sunt pline cu ceva : gem de visine, compot de cirese, gem de gutui, magiun, etc... Deci am facut gem doar pentru borcanele vacante iar restul de piersici pregatite ( depielitate prin blanshare ) au luat directia congelatorului. La iarna cind afara zapada va fi pina la geam si fulgii vor cadea ca o perdea alba, in casa va mirosi a gem de piersici proaspat fiert ;). Si a mere coapte ...si a cozonac cu nuca..si ...iarasi visez !

....I intended to make jam. I realized - shocked - that I don't have any emtpy jars!! all are full with something : sour-cherry jam, cherry compote, quince membrillo, plum jam, etc. ...So I made jam only for the few vacancy jars and the rest of it goes straight in the freezer ( they are already peeled by blanching). In the winter, when the snow will be like window high and the snowflakes will fall down like a curtain, my home will smell of fresh boiled peaches jam ;). And of baked apples...and sweet nutt-roll bread...and....I'm dreaming again !

So here are the jam and the freezer portions

Apoi am pus un butoias micut cu varza la murat...salata de varza acra in miezul iernii e o minunatie...linga cartofi copti in jaratic pe care se topeste de placere cite o bucatica de unt adevarat...

Then I set a small recipient with cabbages...sour cabbage salad in winter is quite a pleasure...beside fire heat baked potatoes on which some real butter melts down of pleasure....

Si apoi am facut o reteta noua : salata de noodles cu legume si calamari grill-uiti. Mmmm.... trebuie neaparat repetata cit de curind. Spanac din gradina, fasole galbena, ceapa rosie,ciupercute si alte cele legume...ce bogatie !

And I made a new recipe : noodles salad with vegetable and grilled calamari. Mmmmm...must be repetead as soon as possible...spinach from the garden , yellow bean, red onion, mushrooms, plus others... what a bounty !

O alta zi de dimineata , incepind cu niste rosii.

Another day in the morning, starting with some tomatoes.

Stoarse... gramada din stinga merge in mini-ferma de rime ( ah sa nu uit , neaparat sa va povestesc mai multe despre ea in alt post) iar sucul din dreapta s-a transformat in :

Pressed, squeezed....the pile in the left goes in the mini-worm-farm ( to not forget : I must tell the interesting story of it in some other post ) and the juice from the right transformed in :

asta :

this :

Evident ca in fiecare zi e nevoie de mincare....nu ? ;) gratar de vitel cu unt alaturi de fasole cu usturoi si ciupercute cu patrunjel verde. Yummy... sau cum spune Melody : Yumamente! :)

Obviously, every day we need some food...don't we ? veal steak with butter, beside curly beans with garlic and mushrooms with parsley. Yummy.... or as Melody says : Yumamente ! :)

munca - mincare, munca-mincare....nu e cazul si pentru niste distractie ??

work-food, work-food....when come the time for some fun ??

PPG = a pretty and practical gift

Foarte tirziu ma laud cu acest cadou neasteptat...din pacate m-am lasat purtata de val si am sarit de la o tema de casa la alta si uite ca am ajuns atit de tirziu sa va arat cadoul primit.

Kriszta si-a descoperit un nou hobby- pe linga crosetatul la inalt nivel pe care il face de ani de zile - si anume : cosuletele impletite din hirtie reciclata . Nota 10 pentru reciclare, Kriszta !!! Sunt super, foarte usoare si atit de practice!!

....stiam ca urmeaza sa primesc un colet de la ea ( niste reviste imprumutate ) dar cind am ridicat la oficiul postal cutia in mina, am stiut imediat ca nu pot fi revistele mele ascunse acolo ;). Nu am rezistat tentatiei si am desfacut pachetul in masina, inainte de a ajunge acasa....

Multumesc mult Kriszta!

Very-very late I show you this unexpected gift that I received....unfortunately the work in the house keep me so busy...that's why I'm late.

Kriszta discovered a new hobby for her - beside the high-level crocheting that she is doing for many years - : paper-recicled woven baskets. You deserve an A for recicling, Kriszta !!

Those baskets are very light and extremely practical !....well, I did know that I will receive a package from he - some borrowed magazines - but , at the postal office when I lifted that package I knew instantly that inside couldn't be those magazines ;). And I couldn't resist the tempation and I opened the box in the car before I get back home.... :)

Thank you, Kriszta !

In poza urmatoare se vede mai bine ce frumos colaj cu floarea soarelui a pus in interior ( precum vedeti linga cosulet, nu m-a uitat cu bucatele de materiale pentru charm quiltul meu :) Multumesc inca o data ).

And next is another picture just to show you the beautifull sunflower collage she put inside ( and as you can see beside the basket I received a lot of small squares for my charm quilt :). Thank you again . )

Kriszta, da-i bataie si fa cit mai multe, de toate formele de toate culorile...sunt minunate si , repet : atit de practice!!!

Kriszta, keep going and make a lot of them. And I mean a lot fo forms and of colours...they are lovely and I repeat : so useful !!!