Still without power, have decamped to in-laws

After an extremely rough night which culminated in Jack waking me up at 3:30am and then Oliver at 4, we finally decided that the power wasn't going to come back soon enough to keep us sane in our hot house. To my in-laws! Their power resumed sometime yesterday, so we cleared out the fridge and freezer, packed up the kids and dog, tried to remember everything else, and as T left for work, I headed out here. No camp, so we've just been hanging around appreciating the cool. I went back home for a bit to clean and toss and damnation was it hot.

I feel totally sleep-deprived but am hoping to catch up soon. Power is out at the center where I take my photog class, and we won't know until later if class tonight is on. Though I like it a lot, I am definitely hoping it gets rainchecked. Camp will resume tomorrow which is superb news, and hopefully our house will head back online sometime soon. Jack's birthday is Wednesday, and I hate to think of it being a bummer in any way.

Pics from last night's dinner are not terrific, BUT they do give you a sense of just how darn good the meal was. Fab! The color is slightly off here, but these tomatoes are insane: capers, anchovies, garlic, olive oil and these gorgeous Sungolds. The fresh corn and the steaks were awesome too- mint pesto was a lovely accompaniment.

Without, but not

Though I still feel awfully lucky, our power went out 3 hours ago. Rationing of fridge-opening has commenced in earnest, and I am just happy that I did so much laundry, cleaning and cooking yesterday! And that we had AC most of today. We got the boys to bed; they wanted their blankets and lovies, but I am soon going to sneak in and remove all sheeting from their limbs as the temp is rising. T and I fixed a hell of a meal- grilled steaks (thawed from the freezer), grilled corn (from today's FM), fresh ricotta and an oven-free version of my Sungold Love, and a great bottle of Rioja.

Presently, I am feeling oh-so pioneer and finishing up my watermelon rind preserves by the remaining light of day and the occasional candle, er flashlight. Our gas stove still works, and as I don't know if our fridge will come back online anytime soon, I figured I might as well truly preserve this stuff rather than risk it going to waste in a failed icebox. I've  made a video tutorial, and if its not too wacky, I'll post it.

Farmers market, flowers and windstorm damage

On our way to the farmers market this morning, the boys and I were really struck by the amount of damage Friday's windstorm wreaked. Huge trees seemed to have been snapped as if they were mere twigs. A number of blocks are cordoned off with police tape, cars crushed, covered and otherwise damaged, wires flapping around like rogue spaghetti. But it's totally random as some houses and blocks are totally unscathed. As I'm always impressed by the beauty in nature that is nearly impossible for us to replicate, I'm equally respectful of the strength of the natural world, its powers of destruction and rebirth.

"Community Services Van Covered by Felled Tree"

"For Sale" We did bring home some gorgeous stuff from the market: two types of plums (Methleys are the purple ones, can't remember the little yellow ones' name), Sungold tomatoes, fresh corn, some incredibly fresh shallots, white and yellow peaches. I'm going to make my Lusty Sungold Love with the tomatoes -bliss!- which also means I'll need to cook up some fresh ricotta. No problem there!