Mon mari made a mess of my organized unpacked boxes out in the barn.
He saw that there was actually empty space up on the platform where they all are stored and started tossing stuff up there.
Stuff like the tile cutter and plumbing parts and the new bathroom sinks and the drawers for the cabinets.
The other day he ‘suggested’ that I might like to clean it all up…. Hinting that perhaps I should have done a better job in the first place….
Well….
It was hot and we were both rather tired.
Accepting that he could either work on the bathroom (which I can’t do) or clean and tidy the platform (which I can do) I graciously agreed to handle the project.
Occasionally a good deed is rewarded.
In all my rearranging I found the boxes with our two dozen or so photo albums.
They needed to be unpacked, I decided.
I since have spent a few pleasurable evenings meandering down memory lane.
This all started me thinking (haven’t been doing much of that lately)…..
My mother has six photo albums, one of which was her mother’s. She cherishes these albums, and now, as she is getting on in years, spends many hours looking at them. One of her favorite things is to go through them with her children, grandchildren and any one else who expresses the least bit of interest, pointing out who is in the pictures and reminiscing about the day it was taken.
That was when taking a photograph was still something of a big deal.
With digital cameras it no longer is.
I regularly upload two or three hundred photos a week. Out of that I choose a few to keep, but still, over the course of a year, that’s a lot of photos.
Great! I’ll have a wonderful record of just about everything.
But I won’t be able to sit in a comfy chair with a cup of tea or (more likely) a glass of wine and turn the pages of an actual photo album, quietly remembering this occasion or that dress or someone’s party.
I know I can print my digital photos and create an album…. but it’s not the same.
The abundance of riches has diluted the memories.
Note to self: Must remember to keep good back-ups.
We are now totally living off the potager. And it’s still getting away from us. Even trying to pick the baby zucchini and picking the flowers doesn’t keep them in check.
But, it is a salad for Presto Pasta Nights, the fantastic event founded by Ruth of Once
Upon A Feast.
It’s hosted this week by Helen, of Fuss Free Flavors, She’ll have pastas from around the globe on
her blog on Friday.
Everyone looks for new, interesting ways to use this abundant vegetble. With the red peppers, it makes a colorful, warm, summer salad, especially good with the slightly hot/spicy Peanut Ginger Dressing
Warm Courgette Pasta Salad / Peanut Ginger Dressing
1 zucchini (courgette), about 8″ long (20cm)
2 cloves garlic
1 red onion
1/2 red pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame or walnut oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 cup pasta, penne, rigatoni
Peanut Ginger Dressing
Cook pasta according to package directions. When done drain. Slice onion, mince garlic. Slice the red pepper the long way then cut slices in half. Cut zucchini in half the long way, then into 1/4″ (6cm) slices. Heat oils in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic, pepper and zucchini; turn heat to medium and sauté 6 – 10 minutes longer, depending on how crisp/done you like. When done to your liking add Dressing and pasta, toss to combine and serve. I sautéed the veg just until the zucchini started to get limp, about 7 minutes.
Peanut Ginger Dressing
1 1/2 tbs peanut butter I used creamy
1 1/2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs sesame or walnut oil
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
4 tsp white Balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp powdered ginger
Combine peanut butter, mustard, ginger and soy sauce in small bowl. Whisk to combine completely. Add vinegar and oils, whisk well.
Admittedly, not the prettiest pasta dish…
Happy Zucchini Season!
I’m like your Mom – I make a “memory book” each year with mementos kept from the previous year and the best of the photos. We’re running out of space for these, but I keep making them anyway, and I enjoy going back through them to see what such-and-such year held for us.
Katie I so agree with you! I remember being the victim 😉 of “slide nights” and thinking sheesh what are those people doing obstructing the scenery.
It’s more than a few years later now and I wish I had continued making albums. I’m looking at a backlog of years now and love to look through the older albums.
I’m not a huge zucchini fan, but this looks really yummy 😀
I know just what you mean about looking through old photos. We’re in the process of moving, and it’s a wonderful break …I rationalize by saying I’m creating some order out of the boxes…who am I kidding! Somehow, I never get to print the digital shots I take…and as you say, curling up with a glass of wine is not the same in front of a computer…even a laptop.
Thanks too for sharing the salad with Presto Pasta Nights. We’re desparate for some cool options here.
Ooops, sorry, I’m trying to scan all the old photos well enough to keep the albums on an iPad or big screen. I’ve rapidly gotten happy with turning pages on the iPad to such a degree that when I’m reading a hard back I reach to highlight a word to look it up in the dictionary or wikie it … do you think I’m ruined.
Love the zucchini. Peanut ginger dressing sounds heavenly on it.
Zoomie, my mother also has scrapbooks… I never seem to be that organized. I only got the photos in albums just before we moved. (crisis)
Baking Soda – yeah, how were we to know that the people were actually more important than the mountains?
Jae, I never was either… until I planted one. Then I had to be.
Ruth, it’s nice to take the occasional stroll down memory lane. Move is soon, isn’t it?
Tanna, I scanned all of my mother’s photos and gave copies to the siblings. And I don’t have to tell you how much I covet that iPad. I used to covet a Kindle…. Now I yearn for an iPad.