This morning I crept downstairs. I love these quiet Saturday mornings, putting on the kettle, and scanning over the little tiny bits of things that, I tell myself, will be cleaned up by the end of the day. What IS all this stuff?...bits of onion, paint, pieces of a broken necklace, dog hair and a piece of missed kibble from our visiting pug.

My mother in law, a warm and helpful grandmother, has spread the peaches out on the kitchen table to ripen. I put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them and start peeling. Our freezer is empty....usually overflowing with local fruit at this time of year. But we spent July traveling across the country and consequently we don’t have a store of fruit for the winter.

It was a wonderful trip, but I’m not really a traveler. This morning I will pick up a mountain of basil at the Almonte market and start the Pesto Project. These are the things I was grateful to come home to.

This was a painting I did last winter. Gotta love that antique toaster. I took a week in February at this amazing barn/loft in Quebec. The owner John is a genius for creating cosy spaces out things that other people are tossing out. I highly recommend filling your car with blank canvas and paint, along with some wine, boccocini, capers and heading up there to touch the quiet spaces within. http://beaverpondcabin.spaces.live.com/