October 19, 2009

memories, cooking and other bits

it seems as though it's been forever since friday night. time has been doing funny things lately - it's blending together. i will attempt a quick wrap-up. saturday i spent with a sick niece (the baby) and then sharing cotton candy with the older niece after she got home from the fair. i've caught up on my diego watching and know more about penguins, porcupines and red-eyed tree frogs. after babysitting we all gathered for football (roll tide) and steaks on the grill. poor little emme was so upset not to be able to go outside but the air was not good for her croup. (it so broke my heart when she ran into my arms crying, 'please, please') sunday was church - though the niece's singing was canceled for another day and lunch.

i went exploring sunday and reliving very very very old memories. is it weird that i don't remember a lot about first grade? i remember the teacher's name and the smell of that paste we used to have at school. i remember the play yard as the house we lived in was on a hill overlooking the school yard. i used to have a picture of my brother and i playing on the yard.



i also remember this house. the first halloween that i remember, i remember being scared to go to this house as it was rumored that a witch lived there. we were never allowed in the yard. as you can see now, it's been damaged by fire and is unsafe to explore. it's a beautiful house, i wish i could remember it in its full glory - i bet it was gorgeous. i also remember going trick-or-treating at the governor's mansion about five blocks away. the governor himself gave out the candy.

time changes everything - it expands and contracts in proportion to many things in our lives.

last night i cooked meatloaf and homemade mac and cheese. neither one was a great hit. i'm not a meatloaf person so this was my first attempt, maybe i will try again. the mac and cheese was adequate, though my brother didn't like it. i did redeem myself tonight though with barbeque pork, chips and baked beans - the guys loved it. i also made christina's crostata again and i'm happy to report both nephews had two slices - major score.

i will admit, i'm sick of apple, acorn and leaf pictures but i'm feeling completely uninspired. typically my advice is always shoot through it so, i'm trying...more shots to come soon. until then my friends, sleep well, sweet dreams and happy thoughts.

ps - i'm finally reading 'my life in france' by julia child and i adore her voice. now that i've seen the movie, i can read it and hear meryl streep as julia in my head. perfection.

36 comments:

  1. The smell of the paste ... I love that memory and I can so smell it. Funny.
    thanks -

    ann

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  2. It's sad house to see that beautiful in disrepair.
    Nothing lasts forever, that's why our memories are so important to us.

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  3. So funny what we remember. I don't remember anything about 1st grade except getting sick and throwing up all over my desk and all the kids screaming...lol. Ah...good times!

    Keep shooting...the inspiration will come. I kind of feel the same...

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  4. yikes, i don't remember much at all about school. no teachers names, no kids, okay, maybe a few, and my mom forcing me to wear this horrid jersey she knitted... maybe that's why, hee heee heee

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  5. I love your apple, acorn and leaf prints. I'll never grow tired of them! :)

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  6. Oh, wow! Memories of first grade...my favorite memory is when we were having our eyesight tested, you know reading the chart, and my desk happened to be in the row beside the testees. I was whispering the right answers to them and the teacher caught me and made me stand by her desk until they finished. Not sure why they were doing it in the classroom?

    I have can't miss meat loaf and mac & cheese recipes if you would like.

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  7. i remember secretly tasting that paste because the smell was somehow an edible smell.

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  8. That house looks like it was a grand old home in its heydey. It's kind of a melancholy picture.

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  9. Yes, you can never stop shooting. I can't remember anything about 1st grade except being in the back of a room full of desks and one nun teaching bout 40 of us. However did they do it?

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  10. I don't have many early memories either...but as soon as you said the smell of glue, I was right there with you !!!

    and that house....it's breaking my heart ! I hope someone can fix it back up to it's original beautiful state, even if it is haunted by a witch :)

    and I have a great meatloaf recipe I can send you if you want to try again...this one uses barbeque sauce which makes a huge difference in the taste.....

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  11. That house is great - those are the raw details I like to capture as well. Very nice work

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  12. Char I so love that old house, It must have been beautiful in its day.I am glad your supper turned out well. I don't remember alot of things from school...although day 1 I did kiss a boy. he ran and ran!We ended up really good friends although the kiss was never spoken about. haa haa.Take care, I hope you get inspired soon. I am kinda going through the same thing.

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  13. memories fade away sometimes, I recall helping a skinny little boy in school, because all kinds would laught at me all the time!

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  14. I want to take pictures in that house so bad@

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  15. You know, what's interesting about memories is that they're unique and our very own...perhaps not really even the way things were anyway...no? I've always thought that is (and I realize it's pretty obvious) a fascinating thing...

    I'm not sure where I'm going with this, and it is not a complete thought, but your post made me think of that... Memories can be elusive, but also really special in their ambiguity sometimes...

    -maria

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  16. I can't recall anything much at all about first grade. Of course that was 1963-64. The year President Kennedy was assassinated. That's really all I can remember. I have a great meatloaf recipe. A real old one. Turns out moist every time!
    Brenda

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  17. Time. It certainly is a thief. it brings me to my knees several times a week.
    & that little cross in the window of that rambling and broken yellow house is lovely somehow. but sad. just the same.
    as for meatloaf, everyone runs for the hills when I make it. ;)

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  18. hang in there, girl! with the cooking and the pictures. maybe there's something in the air.

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  19. like ,many of the comments, I ache for that poor ole house...the mac and cheese is a comfort food for our whole family, my moms recipe...

    I know what you mean about time...melding together

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  20. Who would have ever thought that those "haunted" houses from our childhoods so be so fallen down, dilapidated and lonely.

    They also now want to make me climb in the window and take pics before it falls totally over. I love the shot of it.

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  21. I remember the paste small too!

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  22. its funny how you associate a character with the voice long after you've actually heard it. last night i was reading the toy story to my kids and i kept hearing tom hanks in my head everytime woody spoke.

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  23. cool but creepy looking house.

    I have only had a few recipes for meatloaf that work and the ones that call for a little water and oats are my fave. Homemade mac and cheese is always a hit at our house.

    Hey, remember to watch Gordon on National Geographic tomorrow night. Sorry I am so flighty lately. I keep having issues with this asthma...I am not good at it. =[

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  24. My Nana used to make us paste. i had completely forgotten about that until just recently when i was looking through a money saving recipe book.

    I've never made meatloaf and my Mac n cheese was really bad the only. time I made it.

    can't wait to see lulie and julia!! It comes out here tomorrow :)

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  25. Time has been flowing together for me, too...I don't know what it is. The days turn into weeks, nothing I want to accomplish gets done. Then, the moment I set out with my camera or sit down to blog, nothing comes. nothing. I'm just not in the groove right now. It's funny...I just realized that it's already another week of LUT...I feel like I just posted yesterday, lol! Ack!

    I think I'll just go out today and do nothing more than what has to be done...I need some inspiration!

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  26. Oh my.....memories!....you have spurred me again! Love the smell of paste and crayons, we had the gaint ones that were flat on one side! Halloween was fun back in my day...nothing scary about it, just clean fun! Time is stealing things including time its self! I swear there are not enough hours in a day anymore.......now I thinking about first grade and my old classmates and Mrs. Hayes!

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  27. that old abandoned home must hold quite the memories. and it would be quite a spot for a horror movie!!! it is beautiful, even in a run-down state.

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  28. LOL I made homemade mac and cheese last week too, in a crock pot, no less. It was a hit with my hubby and the dogs (and I liked it too), but not all my recipes are like that. Hubby doesn't care much for my meatloaf (ma's recipe), but I love it. Oh well!

    And that house is really cool. I feel ya on the lack of inspiration for fallish stuff though.... :)

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  29. ah -- the joys of diego --lol! That show is a fav in our house:)

    I love that old house!

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  30. you memories are so lovely. thanks for sharing, i am feeling stale too. too much portrait photography and not enough creative stuff...

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  31. Oh, what fun to go down memory lane with you. Our memories are strange, aren't they? Some things from my childhood I remember clearly (even from when I was 2 and 3 years old) and other things from much later not at all... Loved your photos!! Hugs, Silke

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  32. that house is gorgeous! what i wouldn't give to be the one to return it to it's former glory ;o)

    time is funny and the ebb and flow of it has been ever-present in my life lately as well.

    i am feeling uninspired as well lately when it comes to my camera. the pull of my art supplies seems too overwhelming to take on any pictures as of late.

    love + luck + bliss,
    missysue xox

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  33. I'm loving your apple, leaf and acorn photos!!! Whenever I'm uninspired, I go back through old files and try adding some textures or a different processing technique...

    And I'd be happy to send you my meatloaf and baked macaroni recipes... :)

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  34. i find meatloaf, to be a funny thing. not ha ha funny but hit or miss funny. ; 0 he heh To have it properly made, makes me not want it, but to make it the way i do, it just isn't great. which leads me to preferring a stuffed pepper. which is a whole other story. : )
    oh you and me can do great things together.
    xo

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  35. The fire is just a rouse that the witch concocted to make everyone stay away!

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i feel as if each comment was between us as we sat and sipped something warm....i love to hear what you're thinking.