Let's See...

What have we been up to lately?

Well, not to be outdone by his older brother, Willem has decided to do some representational drawing as well.  See above for his rocket.  You'd be forgiven for guessing that the rocket is surrounded by smoke and flames from the blast-off.  But no.  It's a storm.  

Here's his tank:

As for me, I'm just trying to fill the time until next Tuesday.  I went grocery shopping and noticed that my impulse buys are getting stranger as I get older.  This time it was blood oranges.  I discovered blood oranges on my honeymoon in Italy and have since noticed that they are used much more widely in Europe than they are here.  I love them, and, every year as the weather cools, I start to think about what I might make when they arrive.

Alas, the blood oranges never made it to Boise last year.  I called every grocery store in town and nary a produce manager could explain it.  So this year I grabbed a bagful when I saw them at WinCo.  Now what to make?

I settled on this recipe for a blood orange tart.  I figured it would be my belated birthday dessert.

Doesn't this look gruesome?  (I'm referring to the juiced orange, but the faux-stone countertop qualifies as well.)

Here's the finished product.  I was a little disappointed in how it tasted -- the flavor was too mild.  Not bad, but I  wouldn't make it again.

As for what our cat's been up to (you were wondering, weren't you?), she's been eating the birthday flowers and throwing up on the carpet.  So the flowers are in the trash now.

Nels has been spending his time thinking of new ways to drive his brother (and, by extension, us) crazy.  Once Willem started correcting people on the pronunciation of his name, Nels figured it would be good fun to start calling him "WILL-Y-UM."  His other tack is simply to not reply when Willem asks him a question.  "Nels?  Nels?  Nels?  NELS!"  It's been a long week already.

In election news, the results of the Bright Futures Learning Center apple election are in, and the red apples have taken it.  Nels was excited to have voted for the winner, mostly because it meant he got a red apple to take home.  According to the pre-school directer, as quoted in the Camas-Washougal newspaper (we live in a REALLY small town), the exercise in democracy was very successful, with only one student voting for an orange.