More Books

More books to read, mostly cooking but one other on surfing. It's about the legendary (in surf circles at least) photographer Ron Stoner who at 21 years old in 1965 was the best surf photographer in the business, making lots of money and at the top of his game. Then by 1970 drugs and mental illness took over and by 1977 he had disappeared, never to be seen again. His shots are fantastic. They really capture the early days of unspoiled (and unmarketed) surfing in California. Its a nice coffee table book for the pictures and yet there is the whole story to read. Which I've yet to get around to. The other books are french cooking books, old school stuff published in the 1960s and 70s. I am wondering lately why I am ordering french cookbooks when I am seriously trying to reduce the amount of animal products in my diet and cook more vegan. It is quite the contrast in styles. Maybe I need to invent a new cooking idea, french vegetarian. I am about to order another slew of books (all on cooking) and I think that will end it for cooking books for a few years. I've got a lot to get through, comprehend, cook and digest. The cats are still outside and its after 8:00pm. I went on the deck to see if they're around and saw a baby mantis on the drain pipe, under our outside light. This is why I don't bug spray the yard with insecticide, I love seeing these guys do the work for me. There are a gazillion baby frogs out now too, all over the yard. Eat those bugs!

New Plants

Planting in the high heat of summer is not the best thing to do since it can stress out the plants, but with regular hand watering I hope to see them through to the fall when the temperatures get cooler. We are in for a stretch of high 90s this week. Yesterday and today are perfect power boating days but unfortunately Andrew is on yet another business trip (to San Diego) and so once again I am landlocked. I thought about taking the boat out myself but I'd probably have trouble managing the lines and docking by myself. Yesterday I finished planting all the trees and shrubs I've bought over the last few weeks, and today I will be spreading mulch around their root zones to hold in the water. I planted 3 emerald green conifers, 4 camelias, 5 gardenias, 1 weigelia, 3 loropetalums, and 3 golden euonymous.
After all that work, around 3:00pm the cats and I were ready for a forest walk. We went down to the dock and then decided to check out the beaver dam and walk down the now very overgrown deer path along the boat channel. I couldn't see any deer tracks so I don't think the deer are around as much as they are in the winter. There were lots of wildflowers blooming which looked very pretty, but I would rather see the whole thing under water! The cats stuck close as usual and then we turned around for home. Both Sidney and Harley were panting quite heavily, so I didn't want to tire them out too much. They both took big drinks at the small creek and then Harley jumped up on the bricks to pass out. I went inside to make dinner, penne pasta with fresh tomatoes from the compost pile, and then catch up on Andrew's blog. I also called Charlie and Pam, and it was great to talk to them again. Pam got married last year and Charlie hopes to be back on the internet in October. It is fun doing ichats with her.

Lemon Tart

Made my first french tart dessert the other day. It was the Lemon Sabayon-Pine Nut Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Cream, from the French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller. Making it was a little involved (my arm was about to drop off with all that whisking) but the end result was worth it. I finally got to use the non-stick french tart pan with the removable bottom I bought awhile ago. I think we need to start having more homemade desserts after our meals!