Monday 2 September 2013

Bits of Home Life

Last year, my first post in September was this one, showing a walk I very much hope to repeat soon (maybe this Saturday).

Every year, this time of the year when summer more or less quietly slips into autumn fills me with a mix of melancholy at having to say good-bye to summer for another year and looking forward to the wonderful colours and beautiful light only autumn can bring.

September started well for me.
My orchid shows five beautiful blossoms:

I made a delicious quiche for RJ and my dinner:
(Sorry about the fuzzy close-up - I was in a hurry to sit down and eat...
I posted the recipe here.)

And I met this little fellow on the window sill (yes, I know, it needs repainting) and have no idea about his name:

Probably one of you can enlighten me here; he was maybe 3 cm long, brown with orange-golden speckles. After watching him for a while and seeing that he showed no intention of getting out into the sunshine again, I very carefully placed my fly swat next to him, so that he could crawl on it, and gently shook it outside, so that he had an incentive to get off, which he very politely did.

September is going to be filled with interesting and good things to do: I shall be working a small local trade show which is held for the first time (one day only), RJ and I are going to meet friends for dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, and there is a long weekend in Dresden going to be booked towards the end of this month, the occasion being a birthday party invitiation from another of RJ's friends.
Plus I plan, of course, on going for runs and walks whenever weather and time permit.

What are your plans for this month?

20 comments:

  1. I share your time-of-the-year feelings. Your orchid is beautiful and the quiche looks delicious. I have a rather full weekend behind me but no special plans ahead just now.

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    1. I do not doubt for a second that you will manage to fill the month with a host of interesting activities, Monica! You always show us lovely pictures of the beautiful places you walk to, or tell us about the books you have been reading, and so on.

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  2. I looked at your walk from last year, what a gorgeous area you live in. Your orchid is very pretty, the spider, not so! I suddenly have a craving for quiche.

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    1. The quiche turned out very well, even if I say so myself :-)
      That spider only has six legs and is a bug, Tracey - otherwise I don't think I would have been able to take a picture of it and then calmly get it out of the house!
      Yes, it is a good part of the planet to call home.

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  3. Orchids always look quite unreal, don't they? They add such a glamorous touch to any room. Your photo reminds me I have made a quiche for supper too and it's about time I looked at it in the oven! :D

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    1. This is the only plant in my home (apart from kitchen herbs such as potted basil), since I am usually not very good with them. But this orchid requires so little care that even I can handle it, and I love the creaminess of its petals.

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  4. It sounds like your autumn is going to be a beautiful thing.

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  5. Enjoy your September, every single minute of it. Your orchid is beautiful and I think I'll make quiche (maybe crustless, maybe not) tomorrow.......The bug.....well, I'm happy you assisted him to his true home which is not yours.....

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    1. Thank you, Krisi, I think I will!
      Crustless quiche? That's a bit like a frittata then, isn't it?

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  6. I'm sure it must be. Your question surprised me because I don't make anything I call frittata. I looked it up and found this: http://www.cookingclarified.com/2011/03/quiche-vs-frittata/. But I don't think I agree because I rarely use milk or cream in my crustless quiche. I always use a fair amount of cheese. Perhaps the different names are just the result of a different history. Looking at the pictures, I think my quiche is a little higher than a frittata.

    I think of it as a good way to use vegetables I want to use up - mushrooms, peppers, onions, some spinach, etc.

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    1. It is an excellent way to use vegetables, Kristi! Mmmm, just thinking of a spinach quiche or frittata makes my mouth water :-)

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  7. I'm pretty sure that the bug is a weevil of some sort: a rather large one. I'll try and remember to look up what sort of weevil when I get back home (which should be at the weekend).

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    1. Never seen one like it before, at least not as far as I remember. I get very few insects in my flat anyway, which is surprising since there are trees and gardens around on three sides.

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    2. Sorry Geeb but it's not a weevil - which is a beetle. It's a bug, literally. i.e. a member of the Coreidae - a large family of predominantly herbivorous insects that belong in the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs). There are more than 1,800 species in over 250 genera and this doesn't look like one we have in the UK so I'm at a loss. Suffice it to say it is both a bug and a Bug, Meike!

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    3. I was hoping for you to shed light on the subject, John, and at least you were able to determin that it really IS a bug. Thank you!

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  8. A friend of mine bought me a pot of orchids many years ago and it lasted a long time, but when we came to Sicily, the wind was so strong that it dried out. We should have put it in a place more protected. That quiche looks good!

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    1. It was very good, Francesca!
      My orchid lives indoors, so no danger of it being exposed to too much wind.

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  9. Your September plans sound good and your orchid flowers are a pure and pretty white.

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    1. There has been a change of plan now in that we are not going to go to Dresden, but another birthday party closer to home has come up, and some more events to attend and places to visit without having to book flights and hotel rooms.

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