Day Forty Nine. 2.28.11

Salt and Pepper

I got these out to put on a delicious stew I made in the slow cooker today with a beef shin steak.  They were handing out recipes and samples the other day at the co-op, and I jumped at the chance to get a good recipe for the slow cooker.  They're hard to find!  I know they say you can make anything in the slow cooker that you would make on the stove top, but I can't bear the idea of wasting a whole pot of food AND all the electricity it takes to cook it all day for an experiment.  (I know...I know...)  Anyway, the stew came out really well and now my whole house smells like beef and wine...in a good way.  It only needed a little bit of salt and pepper.

Day Forty Eight. 2.27.11

Coffee Corner

We went out to breakfast at the Coffee Corner, a great little diner on Main St. in Montpelier.  I think this picture captures at least part of the feel of it -- it's a small space with a lot going on.  It feels like a bit of a throwback to an earlier time and the food is delicious.  They have down home old fashioned diner food with some local favorites mixed in (Manghi's bread, local sausage). I had a BLT with an egg on it -- a sandwich creation that I credit to my friend MC in Boston.  Overall a delightful experience.

Day Forty Seven. 2.26.11

Snowy walk

This is on a little bridge in Cabot, VT.  We went to the Compost Cabaret fundraiser last night at the Cabot Town Hall - a fun event.  The walk home to our friends' house afterward was beautiful - warm enough, fresh snow falling, starry sky.  Moments like this make winter worth it.

Day Forty Six. 2.25.11

Coffee

We drink coffee every morning made in this french press.  I didn't used to like french press coffee, but I've grown to love it and gotten making it down to a science...even though I rarely make it because my partner is an earlier riser than I am.  

NOTE: It's funny that I took this particular photo on Friday because I'm posting this on Sunday and the french press just broke this morning.  I post this as a posthumous homage to our french press.

Day Forty Five. 2.24.11

Guitar

This reminds me...I should play it more!

Day Forty Four. 2.23.11

Shadows.

I love the shadow that reflects off the jade plant and onto the clock and the drum.  It's like a three for one.  I don't usually get to see this afternoon sunlight.  It's one thing to be grateful for today.

Day Forty Three. 2.22.11

Hats.

Day Forty Two. 2.21.11

Bud

It's nice to have flowers around. This is more of the Ranunculus.

Day Forty One. 2.20.11

Chopping scallions

These became part of a delicious frittata.  Thanks RSTWB!

Day Forty. 2.19.11

Ranunculus

This is just a beautiful flower.  I'm wondering if they grow in fall and could be harvested for my wedding in September?

Day Thirty Nine. 2.18.11

Tangled birch

I park my car right under this birch in the school parking lot regularly.  I love birches and they usually catch my attention pretty easily, but apparently I'm not focused on such things as I arrive to work.  I guess that's something to work on!  Birches often look like they've been drawn by hand.  I love to imagine that the lines on them are pen or brush strokes.  This picture is good for that.

Day Thirty Eight. 2.17.11

Morning sunlight.

I had never noticed the cool curly shadow the morning sun makes out of the bottom of this bench.  I'm glad I have that to notice now.  They look so cool.

Day Thirty Seven. 2.16.11

Home.

You can tell it's been a long week...all of my pictures this week are taken at the end of the day and have something to do with me being happy to come home.  I love this sight when I come home every night -- it's so cold and icy outside, but the warm light of the kitchen window is always so inviting.

Day Thirty Six. 2.15.11

My Bed.

So warm and inviting.  Sometimes one of the nicest details of my day.

Day Thirty-Five. 2.14.11

I apologize for neglecting my posts for the last week.  It's been a busy one, but I've taken pictures every day.  Here comes a massive post outpouring!

Love Bandit

This is a detail picture of a detail I love about Montpelier.  Every year, the Valentine's Day Bandit (who is unknown and mysterious) pastes these hearts all over the town on Valentine's Day.  I had totally forgotten about it, and when I went downtown for a meeting, I rounded the corner to see the town plastered with hearts.  It's quite magical.  Apparently this act has engendered controversy this year, but I say let us have magic every once in a while!

Here's another photo:

Day Thirty-Four. 2.13.11

Brick wall.

This is outside of Positive Pie in Plainfield.  I saw it after eating an amazingly fresh and cheesy Green Man pizza.  I love the character of this block of store fronts in Plainfield, and this picture captures the feeling nicely.

Day Thirty Three. 2.12.11

Shoe

This is the shoe my partner was planning to wear out dancing tonight.  I liked how it looked and the details of the shoe.  I also liked noticing the detail of his habit...he planned his outfit and set these shoes out on the kitchen floor hours before we went out.  An endearing habit for sure.

Day Thirty Two. 2.11.11

Basket

This is a basket that came with my office and I've been looking at it on the corner of my desk for a year and a half.  This is the first time It's ever looked pretty to me.

Day Thirty One. 2.10.11

Reflection

I spilled some water on the linoleum floor of the kitchen this morning, and I noticed the reflection of the windows in the door in the puddle.  It's cool how clearly you can see the sky and the trees.  

Day Thirty. 2.9.11

Nightstand

This is what happens when you leave a glass of water on your nightstand for two days.  Looks cool, but maybe not a good idea to drink...?

Day Twenty Nine. 2.8.11

Knots

This is a tree outside my house.  This morning when I came downstairs, every single tree branch was highlighted with a thick line of sticky snow.  It was really hard to capture the effect.  This was the closest I got.  

Day Twenty Eight. 2.7.11

In the pan

I worked a 9 1/2 hour day today and then went straight to play rehearsal at 6, therefore not really eating dinner.  I hadn't taken my picture of the day when I got home and realized I needed some real food.  I was about to have a meltdown (and started to rationalize using a "second favorite" from another day's photos) when I threw some asparagus in a pan and realized it looked pretty.  Ta-da!  Here's my detail of the day.  I love asparagus. 

Day Twenty Seven. 2.6.11

Snip Snip

Day Twenty Six. 2.5.11

At the car wash yeah

I am always amazed by the car wash - a carefully orchestrated machine that does in about 2 minutes what would take me hours to do with a hose and a sponge (and it would frankly never happen if I had to do it that way).  I went into the car wash just intending to wash my car, and as we drifted slowly through the mystical machine, I sat in awe and amazement.  It occurred to me that this could be a cool opportunity, and I whipped out my camera in a mad dash. I wasn't convinced the photos would come out well, but it's always worth a shot.  I didn't get all the pictures I would have if I had been thinking of it from the beginning, but I definitely got some good ones.  This is the big blue brush that wipes all my sins...I mean salt...away.

Day Twenty Five. 2.4.11

Bucky Balls

No really...that's what they're called.  They're amazingly strong magnets that I used to make a little tower during my snow day the other day.  And today I took a picture of it.  If you look carefully, you can see that the reflection in each little ball is me and the camera.  

Day Twenty Four. 2.3.11

EYM 215

That's my license plate number.  This chunk of snow fell off my car while I was shoveling today, and I immediately ran in and grabbed my camera.  In addition to looking cool, it took dirt off my car.  Sweet.

Day Twenty Three. 2.2.11

Spot of Color

This little orange fungus was spotted on a snowshoe through the woods among a landscape of white, grey, brown and more white.  This photo doesn't quite give the sense of how stark and colorless the surroundings were because it's so colorful.  But this one little fungus was just so bright.  I have to give credit to Amanda for spotting it.  I had a snow day today, so I took the opportunity to lounge half the day in my pj's and then go out for a long walk in the snow.  Absolutely beautiful.  Another one of those days where it was difficult to choose what to photograph and even more difficult to choose which one to post.  But there you have it. 

Day Twenty Two. 2.1.11

Milk and Oatmeal Cookies

I felt like baking to celebrate the snow day I already know I have for tomorrow.  What a nice gift on a Wednesday of a busy week.  One thing I love about being a grown-up is that I can decide to bake cookies, and then I can do it.  I love having the ingredients in the house to bake on a whim too.  The only thing I lacked was chocolate chips, but I managed it nicely by making 'kitchen sink cookies'.  I used the little bit of chocolate that we had in addition to candied ginger, walnuts, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  They were delicious...and pretty to boot.  And I have a snow day tomorrow.  Did I mention that?