sisters. generations. kitchens. :]

slept in, made coffee, started sauteing minced onions and garlic, and flew out the door to make dilly beans with gramma t [dad's mom] and her sister, aunt joann.
turns out aunt joann is younger than gramma t by around 13 years.
crazy!
imagine that!!
and, since aunt joann seems to like flavored coffee, i brought over the last of our french caramel cream coffee . . . we sipped it as we did the beans; we take it the same way. just a bit of milk. no sugar, no thanks. :)

lyddie and one of gramma's younger brothers, uncle eugene. :)
that's a goose-pepper stick in lyd's mouth, acting as a cigar. stranger things have happened.

in fact, you can quote her.
"there's nothing like a cigar and a hot cup of fresh coffee after a hard day's work."
um. er. yes. we've got a drama queen on our hands.
no joke, right?
for some reason, this shot reminds me of clark gable for some reason . . .
which is kind of an odd thought, when i type it out like that.
10 year old sister + resemblance to clark gable = odd.
but i love her. and dang, if she can't pull off diverse character imitation.
heh.

6pm
i'm taking a slight break from making a pretty darn big dinner to write this.
hopefully i won't mismanage my time so awful tonight . . .
but gosh, i need a bit of writing therapy.
i came home from dilly-bean making to a kitchen that looked like hell.
i'm being frank here.
don't shout me down or anything.
it's my blog, after all.
my idea of a personal hell is a room --a nice kitchen-- that is in a perpetual state of
food, kitchens, and people all day and suddenly 13 green peppers to dice; and rice to cook [it takes a long time]; and chicken to cook after it thaws . . . er.
i liked the first half of today.
i like the fact that sometimes, when life gets intense and the only thing keeping you away from a completely bad mood is a certain song by a questionable music artist, God, in His oh-so-goodness, has friends remind you how to smile.
especially when it's an inconsequential problem.
He's just so good like that.

 peeling garlic with a sharp little knife, because i'm just handy like that. :P haha.

8:19pm
[after dinner is made and done . . . and most of the kitchen looking quite decent.]
back to earlier, though.
there's nothing like kitchen conversations.
nothing.
:)

the best thing about gramma's house is that it sits on top of a hill, the kitchen sink window is huge, and the wind comes right through. it's a beautiful feeling.

gramma t teased aunt joann about having 100-something boyfriends before she met uncle bob...turns out there were only 6 or so. ;) and gramma? she had maybe 2 before she met grampa and married him at 18. he was 4 years older. :)

lyddie; aunt joann; rach; gramma t; me:)

talk about a good time; watching sisters laugh; one in her late 50's, the other in her mid 70's . . . years after being raised in a family with around 10 children [if my memory serves me correctly...heheh.], kids, grandkids, and a couple great-grandkids later: making dilly beans in the kitchen.

"someday this'll be you girls! helping each other in the kitchen when you're all much older. years down the road."

i took off the bean ends with aunt joann and our small, sharp knives, and sorted straight from super-curvy; gramma t, rach, and lyd soaked and stuff the beans into jars. then, we put in some dill; a clove or two of garlic....and some cayenne pepper and more dill seed. next, it was off to the boiling pot with the covers screwed on. :)

gramma t:)

all in all, 40 jars.
my first time helping gramma can anything.
and what a day :)

~~~

now for something interesting that a cup of jo posted. :)

fascinating. i want it in slow-motion. :)

• a breath-taking swedish wedding by the river. 
• 
  
• top 10 quick dinners? hmmm... :)
• 
  
• a great idea: love lists.
• 
  
• also, i've never read anything by jason good before, but his day 215: approximately 3 minutes inside the head of my 2 year old was hilarious. if you . . . er . . . skim his sometimes-??-rated sentences. :)
• also, on the other hand: it's almost time to get some wild socks. :) chilly weather is closing in on us!

for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
[T. S. Eliot] if i read this a few more times, i might understand it . . .