Pudding (Kroger in Maryville, TN)

What pleasure we took in monitoring, as best we could, his marvellous goings-ons.

He eats an apple from the tree in the front yard of the Townsend house.

Screening #1

Oven Removal (Townsend, TN)

1.
2.
3.
4.

1. Oven unit with 1.5 reliable stove eyes and 0.7 reliable ovens is removed to unairconditioned foyer and replaced with tiny but wonderfully effective oven unit from the Old Grey House.
2. Oven unit is removed from foyer by cute worker.
3. Oven unit with passengers; worker's patience decreases.
4. Upper-arm bruise caused by oven unit removal and still visible 1.3 weeks later.

Bed & Bath #2 (Townsend, TN)

From the UW Archives: Lakeside Dancing, For Real

Our promotion of the 2007 Intercontinental Summer Dance Festival made mention of lakeside living and dancing in summertime Madison, but the program didn't result in anything as truly lakeside and marvelous as these performances, both circa 1920's.

From This Weekend's Market

The world's most gorgeous beans.

Peas that are too big and consequently starchy: I was so excited to be back in Madison and to remember the stunningly sweet peas we had earlier in the season from this farmer that I purchased these without thinking. I'll likely make them into a sieved soup in hopes that the chinois will remove the starchiness.

One of my favorite farmers at the market (who also grew the beautiful bean above): "It's broccoli but in a green." A rarity that I love-- can never remember the name, which is Italianate.

Potatoes from another favorite market farmer who insisted 1) that she dug these with her own hands, 2) that they're in an aerated bag on purpose, and 3) that I should put them in the fridge.

Zucchini so tiny they'd please Georganne Brennan.

Two small bunches of Red Russian Kale, $1 each.
Vegetables not pictured: corn, beets, an English cucumber, and cauliflower for a farm-fresh regular.

Our Backyard Cattle (Townsend, TN)

Erk w/ the incomparable Ya-Jo Lo, who wears the fanciest outfits (Dior earrings!?!), sports an irresistible cheerfulness, and receives accolades about her innovative approach to ballet. Simply put, she's the greatest.

above photos by Hsiu Ju Yang

Look! at what she wore while teaching:

'Had it all been said, all done? Kaye recalled talking back to one self-styled wise old fool years before and insisting, "It may have all been said before, but not to me." The old fool had nodded gravely.'

-James McCourt, Kaye Wayfaring in "Avenged"

Old Grey House #3

Inside the Old Grey House #2

w/ detail prepared by Kenneth.

Inside the Old Grey House #1

Gems

"This Curious German having well improved himself by his Travels, and pursuant to the Advice of Montaigne, rubbed his Brains against those of other People, was upon his Return to England entertained as a Person of great Merit, and so made Secretary to the Royal Society."

-Samuel Sorbière, A Voyage to England

"[Digby] was also well known for a little treatise on the 'powder of sympathy' which, so it was alleged, would cure wounds when it was rubbed on the weapon which had caused the wound."

-MBH, Henry Oldenburg

In Townsend, we stay in the retirement house built by Kenneth's grandparents in the late 60's (I think). In front of the house is the three-room cabin-like structure called the Old Grey House where Kenneth's grandfather was born and raised. It's delightfully cozy inside, though it would need a good bit of work before anyone would want to relax there. More on that to come.

Bed & Bath (Townsend, TN)

Just back from vacation in Townsend, TN, I've lots of pictures to share.

boom.

On On Domestic Intercoms, Trash Compactors

Knnth: Yes, it was a conversational gambit which touched on all our interests-- your folks' interests in real estate & home improvement, my interest in obsolete technologies, and your interest in Elizabeth Taylor.

Overheard

Kenneth: Why so shoes?

Two

"One need never leave the confines of New York to get all the greenery one wishes--I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that people do not totally regret life."

-Frank O'Hara, Meditations in an Emergency

"I praise the Frenchman, his remark was shrewd,

How sweet, how passing sweet is solitude!

But grant me still a friend in my retreat,

Whom I may whisper, Solitude is sweet."

-William Cowper*, Retirement

*Not the bovine sounding surname it appears: Cowper's last name rhymes with blooper.

Floral Fantasy

Syracuse China, Shelledge
Pattern: Floral Fantasy
Diameter: 6 ¼"