September 1, 2016

Late Summer Fun

Here are some little fun things that have been happening around Spruce Pine Cottage recently.

About a week before school started, Sophie (my niece) got her braces off. I couldn’t wait to see her new teeth, so I arranged a visit with her as soon as she was free (Sophie has a very busy schedule). Her teeth looked perfect!

As I talked to Sophie about her experience with braces, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the time I myself spent in braces. As Sophie will tell you, I always do this.

“Orthodontics was a much more barbaric practice back in the ’80s,” I declared. “I had to wear headgear at night, and I also had to share a bed with my sister. Sometimes Kris would turn over in her sleep and elbow me in the headgear. I can’t describe how bad it hurts to get elbowed in the headgear. You kids don’t know how easy you’ve got it these days!”

Sophie, sans braces

At the beginning of the month, I ordered a pearl necklace for Buntin from a delightful Etsy shop called Jeweled Horizons. It’s a beautiful, well-crafted necklace, specially designed for a cat, made with large, softly glowing Swarovski pearls and a magnetic clasp for safety. (If Buntin ever gets her necklace caught on anything, it will come right off; there’s no possibility of choking.)

Buntin loves her pearls (she looks very proud when she wears them). She debuted them at a little birthday party I threw for my dad on August 13. Buntin got lots of extra attention from our guests because she dressed up for the party. But leave it to Rob to criticize rather than compliment her on her new look. “Is it just me,” he said with a smile as we all sat on the breezeway, “or does Buntin look a little bit matronly in her pearls?”

“She does not look matronly!” I said.

Buntin in her pearls, with Foxy in the background

Buntin and Rob

Last Sunday Rob and I made our first successful yeast bread—a rosemary focaccia. It was really fun making bread, and it seemed like such a magical process, the way the dough doubled in size and the yeast transformed little more than flour and water into something good to eat.

While the bread was in the oven, Rob went out to the vegetable garden to pick some clown peppers. When he came back in, he said, “It smells delicious in here! You should go outside for a minute then come back in so you can really appreciate it.”

So I did. I went outside on the breezeway, squeezed Elroy, then came back in. Rob was right. The bread smelled heavenly.