Finding a sense of calm. . . . . . . .

Sometimes, when life seems upended by unexpected matters of the day, 

just sitting at home is required to calm the mind.

The long, very long, like around the building queue, to get into the 

Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my driver's license, 

impossible. 90F, humid, no shade, and of course no seats.

I gave up and came home! Will try another day.

My cousin in England's lovely husband undergoing cancer surgery today,

awaiting good news. 

Hopes were dashed late last week as my newly found American second

 cousin lost her home in the horrific Redding, California 'Carr Wildfire.' 

I'm feeling helpless with 2,848 miles between us.

Some rain showers at night seem to be helping the figs ripen at last, 

however they just don't have a good flavor this year and I will not 

be making jam.

August here already. I don't know about you, but I'm 

already thinking about Autumn, my favorite season of the year.

We will be traveling this month and next, just short trips but to

lovely places. This is the year to spend time with special friends, 

including blog friends.

I need to start packing. . . . . . .I'm looking forward to 

getting back in the sky, and out on the road, to view the 

spectacular scenery we have right here in North America.

It's just so sad to see how quickly it can be obliterated 

by fire and other earth-shattering happenings. 

So many figs, and garden visitors. . . . . . . . . .

The large green bowl was overflowing after Bob gathered the ripe figs early
 yesterday afternoon.

He must have picked at least 4 pounds.

Thankfully he was done prior to torrential rain accompanied by scary thunder and

 lightning right overhead around 5 PM. Our power went out, and stayed out for about

 an hour apparently caused by downed trees.

Later I shared bowls of figs with two neighbors, one who stopped by to get them

 after the storm passed. We three sat on the front porch enjoying a drink and

 watching many birds at the feeder, while awaiting electricity so I could bake this

 for supper. . . . . . . 

 . . . . . . . caramelized onions, chopped Kalamata olives, sliced manchego cheese

 and the just-picked figs, layered on a flatbread crust and dusted with a

 touch of Sicilian dried oregano.

Enjoyed a slice of this along with a bowl of chilled cucumber gazpacho made earlier

 in the week - then frozen. First time trying that and have to say it worked perfectly,

 tasted fresh and of course was definitely well-chilled after thawing. I have frozen

 several bags of this summer soup and am glad to know it will be ready for more

 hot days ahead. . . . . . . . . without all the preparation. 

As for garden visitors, the birds still flock to the feeders and cardinals actually come 

in large groups, especially now the figs are ready for eating on the nearby tree - they

 love them!

I notice their colors are faded at this time of year compared to winter and spring. 

The male above is more orange than red now. . . . . . . and the female below also 

seems much paler.  

This is a young blue jay and his feathers are a paler blue than the adults.

 He's been coming to this birdbath early each morning for more than

 a week - just stands on the little rock looking out into the world, sipping a drink

 now and then. I can walk by and he stays there, sometimes for half an hour

 or so, not bothered by anything. Later in the day he returns - these pix I took in

 the afternoon - and stays a while, again drinking and cooling off.

Hope your weekend is special. . . . . . enjoy the magical moments, and may

they be abundant.

Celeste figs are ready. . . . . . . . .

Yesterday afternoon when Bob appeared in the kitchen with more figs than 

I knew what to do with (I may pass on jam making this year as we still have a lot 

remaining from last Summer), I decided to try this easy recipe as I had all the

 ingredients on hand. Fast and easy little pastries, really rich and light - I shared 

with my neighbors as we certainly didn't need to eat them all, and they are best

the day of baking while the pastry is crisp.

I'm also sharing bags of fresh figs. People are quite surprised when they 

bite into a fresh fig - many turn up their nose at first thinking they will taste 

like dried figs - but then love the soft, subtle fruit flavor with no tough skin or pits 

to bother with.

I enjoy them for breakfast chopped into Greek yogurt with a dab of wildflower

 honey, or baked in the oven with Acacia honey, butter, and scattered with 

walnuts. I'm now scouring my fig cookbook for new recipes - will share

them later as the figs ripen and pile up on the kitchen island!

Ah, a beautiful fresh and juicy fig, fresh-picked from the garden.

We've started harvesting beautiful plump figs from the largest of our two 

trees, the now huge Celeste. 

The Brown Turkey is also coming along but, as in other years, 

the Celeste seems to be doing much better here in our growing area. 

The little trees I planted in 2008 are now 10-12 feet tall, and it's just about 

impossible to reach the figs in the topmost branches. 

Guess who's enjoying those tasty tidbits, and it's just fine with us . . . . . . . . many 

birds, especially robins, catbirds, finches and cardinals, and of course our 

resident squirrel family!