Never thought of making these myself

My son Tim likes to make stuff - all kinds of stuff. He bakes bread, and he is also making his own amplifier for his electric guitar. He and his friend James brew beer. His newest project is cheese -- something I never even thought of making myself. Gouda, to be exact.

It looked like this at first.

After a few days of drying the brined cheese, Tim added the wax coating.

Now it just needs to age for a few months.

Homemade cheese!! What a surprising idea!

Neil found another homemade recipe that surprised me - sour cream. Who knew you could make your own sour cream, and that it would be more delicious than the kind you buy at the supermarket?

Only two ingredients - heavy cream and buttermilk. Plus time. Sometimes cooking is so easy.

West Philadelphia sights

Today the weather was rainy, rainy, rainy. But yesterday - what a lovely fall day!

I walked around west Philadelphia a bit, noticing the fraternity houses and student housing.

The round tower of windows on the right is a Drexel dorm, and the building with turrets and a round sunroom houses Sabrina's Cafe.

West Philadelphia was very upscale in the 1800s, and many of the old mansions have been converted into student housing. Apparently the preferred building style for rich people back then was the castle, which makes for interesting walks today.

But there is also a good deal of painted gingerbread trim.

An old corner apothecary shop (can you see CHEMICALS and DRUGS over the door?) has become someone's apartment.

Let's take a closer look at those curtains.

Nice!

They don't compare with the foliage, though.

Perhaps one of the last really nice days for a walk this year - I'm glad I was able to get out of the office.

I really wasn't much help at milking time.

But I did help somewhat with the haying. This photo was taken at Uncle Paul's farm in the fifties. His barn was a little older than Uncle Al's. But they were all good - the cows, the barns, the farm dogs (you can see one in the background above).

Crazy Love

Went to the movies - the actual movies, which we go to about four times a year - and saw Crazy Love, a good enough movie with some really nice moments. The sky was pretty darn spectacular when we got out of the theater.

Crazy. I love it.

Bliss, Philadelphia

Busy, busy weekend - midterm grades are due on Monday in the online class I am teaching. Plus lots of yardwork in this gorgeous fall weather. Plus all the ordinary weekend chores.

However, this was also a weekend for a treat. A couple months ago I bought one of those half-off coupons through Living Social, and we used it today for lunch at Bliss, in downtown Philly.

I had the hot and sour duck soup, which was terrific (and also the first time I've ever had duck soup). The main course was eggs Benedict with filet mignon and lobster.

And that's a ginger mint mojito on the right hand side of the plate.

I may buy more coupons. They give you not only the dollar savings, but the benefit of several weeks of looking forward to using them. (If you click on the link, you'll see the research that shows that the big benefit of vacations is in the weeks before you actually go on them. I think that may be true of things like these coupons, too - but the meal itself was great, also!)



A phone call changes everything

Today was a work at home day, which is one of the fabulous perks of my job. It happened to be a lovely fall day, and on my lunch hour I worked in the yard, bagging up sticks and leaves that had fallen from the last big storm - fun work on a day like today.

I went inside. The phone rang. I could see it was from my son, Tim.

"Mom, I'm at Abington Hospital."

All mothers will recognize the sudden sick feeling in the pit of the stomach. Oh no.

"James texted me. The doctors say that his mother has hours or days left. I wanted to be here with him."

Oh. A sudden shameful sense of relief. Tim's OK.

But James' mom is not.

I don't really know James' mom well, but James and Tim have been friends since seventh grade, and I have often been grateful for their friendship. Kids need some extra sets of parents sometimes. James' parents have been that extra set for Tim for the last dozen years or so.

I knew that James' mom has been battling cancer for the last five years, and I knew that the prognosis had been poor for the last few months. Even so, this is surprising.

I am very glad that James felt that he could ask Tim to be with him at this time. I am proud of my son.

I am relieved that the bad news is not directly about me and my loved ones, and yet filled with grief for another family.

And I know that the phone call that changes everything could happen at any time. Any day.

Not today, though. Not today.

Smooth, spirited, and lively

Another beautiful fall day in the neighborhood, and someone at work was doing something to fix my computer, so it seemed like a good day for a long lunchtime walk.

I had time to admire the destruction going on at Drexel University, where something is being demolished to make way for something new.

The Cira Center and 30th Street Station always look pretty darn good on a sunny day.

Philadelphia's newest park is scheduled to open soon, along one side of the station. It will be all sidewalks and planters and seating under umbrellas. Seems like a good idea.

The preposterously tough-looking stone eagles stand watch at the corners of the bridge over the Schuykill River.

And the quiet water flows under our feet.

Light off a shiny neighboring building throws wavy reflections on a skyscraper.

I reach my destination - Trader Joe's, where the bathroom is decorated with mosaic bits.

And brightened with fresh flowers!

I make sure to stop by the sample station, where a nice lady gives me a paper cup with three teensy spoonfuls of butternut squash risotto - yum. And I purchase a tasty coffee (spiced with red and green peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon - yes, I like flavored coffees.)

On the way back, I see the students of the Culinary Arts Institute taking their noon smoke break. One seems to have a souvenir from his Halloween costume. (I'm just guessing; he might have green hair all the time. But I always notice lots more colorful hair on the students on the street right after Halloween.)

And I admire the fabric samples at Marketplace Design Center.

And back to work, where I learn that I'll be upgraded to a newer, faster computer tomorrow.

Getting out and about in the middle of the day is energizing. Down with the old, up with the new - celebrate flowers and coffee and free samples, and admire young people learning old skills and having fun with new hair colors. And so back to work, refreshed.