Some more…

Playtime

Genie in a bottle

Here comes a new story from us:

Once upon a time lived in the bluest of blue sea lived a genie. She was in fact a genie in a blue bottle....

-Follow the rest in our Tales-

Genieinabottlecollage@2010Babetteandfriends

Stars and planets

Some facts about planet Venus: It is the warmest and the brightest planet, she is visible to naked eye in the morning and in the evening thus called Morning Star and sometimes Evening Star. She fascinated ancients who named her after the goddess of beauty and love. She is almost as large as Earth and most similar to Earth in its chemical composition but, radically different in important ways for possibility of life as we define it. On Venus Sun rises in the West and sets in the East. How interesting! We thought Venus is worth exploring for a story. Babette was fascinated about the strange equipments we carried in the middle of the field for star gazing; she could not make any sense of this non sense and curled up disappointed and sighed, since there was nothing to eat nor chase...

Gardener's Lament

"Snow goddess

Have you lost your shoe?

You are not due

For a month or two

With your trample, my gardens askew

I must start anew!"

We hope snow and frost does not come early and ruin the color of Autumn foliage!

Gardener'sLamentIllustrationpoem©2010-Babetteandfriends

A recipe and a poem for Tara

I came across a recipe for red mullet.  It was recommended by Billy Collins the former U.S. poet laureate.

Below you can read The Fish, a poem by Billy Collins.   It is a bonus, especially for you Tara dearest.

Bon Appetit.

Red Mullet With Pancetta And Thyme

4 red mullets (about 8 ounces each), cleaned and gutted

Olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

A large bunch fresh thyme

1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

8 thin slices pancetta (or bacon)

4 good-quality anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large skillet until very hot.

2. Meanwhile, rub each fish and its cavity with olive oil and season, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Stuff each cavity with a few sprigs of thyme and a lemon slice.

3. Cook the pancetta in the hot skillet until lightly browned, about 30 seconds per side. In the same hot skillet, sear the fish, 1 minute per side. Transfer to a cutting board. Wrap each fish with 2 strips pancetta and top with an anchovy fillet. Lay the fish in a roasting pan, top with extra thyme and drizzle with more olive oil. Roast in the oven until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Serves 4.

Below the poem promised for my compassionate Tara; I know you will get this poem unlike most teens…

THE FISH

BY BILLY COLLINS

Published November 25,2007 New York Times

As soon as the elderly waiter
placed before me the fish I had ordered,
it began to stare up at me
with its one flat, iridescent eye.

I feel sorry for you, it seemed to say,
eating alone in this awful restaurant
bathed in such unkindly light
and surrounded by these dreadful murals of Sicily.

And I feel sorry for you, too —
yanked from the sea and now lying dead
next to some boiled potatoes in Pittsburgh —
I said back to the fish as I raised my fork.

And thus my dinner in an unfamiliar city
with its rivers and lighted bridges
was graced not only with chilled wine
and lemon slices but with compassion and sorrow

even after the waiter removed my plate
with the head of the fish still staring
and the barrel vault of its delicate bones
terribly exposed, save for a shroud of parsley.

Heathcliff And Catherine

The New Yorker has a contest every Autumn called The Critterati. Contestants are expected to submit photographs of their animal friends dressed up as literary characters. The most amateurish the better. They are looking for home made originality and not "store bought" cliché.

"Babette and Friends" decided Babette and Cooper would be our stars. Since they wake us up very early in the morning, we took our mini revenge and put them to "work". As we were dressing them up they "questioned" our sanity and commiserated amongst each other that humans were indeed very very odd. We, humans, on the other hand, used the beautiful morning's sun and our dogs perplexity for staging a most successful photo shoot and had lots of fun! Of course, they received plenty of chicken treats for their cooperation.

We submitted a similar photo as the one above but not this exact one.

Can you guess which characters they are portraying?

If not, click and find out here.

June's blooms

Best days of the Spring...

Horsing around...

Bean and Coco boy boy horsing around...

Jean Cocteau les amis des Chats and June is Adopt a Cat Month

• We are visiting our local shelter this week end! Mioouwwww to you all
  
  

  June is American Humane's Adopt-A-Cat Month GIVE A SHELTER CAT A STARRING ROLE IN YOUR LIFE! Approximately 4 million cats end up in shelters every year, including thousands born every spring and summer during “kitten season.” To help promote adoptions of these fun, affectionate animals, American Humane celebrates Adopt-A-Cat Month each June. Local shelters are brimming with cats of every breed, age and personality just waiting for a loving home. Whether you prefer young and frisky or mature and mellow, you’re sure to find the perfect cat companion during Adopt-A-Cat Month! Adopting a cat from your local shelter will enrich your world in so many different ways: Cats will keep you entertained with their playful antics. Cats are very affectionate and love to cuddle with you. Having a cat can reduce your blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Cats are very clean -- they bathe themselves! Cats are independent and can be left alone while you are at work. Cats do not need to be housebroken -- using the litter box comes naturally to them. Cats do not need a lot of space. They are perfect pets for apartments and smaller homes. Cats get plenty of exercise living indoors. Just 15 minutes of playtime each day will satisfy a cat. Taking care of a cat can help teach children responsibility and humane values. Approximately 4 million homeless cats end up in animal shelters every year in the United States. By adopting, you’ll be saving a life.

June Birds

IllustrationCollage©2010Yanka-Babetteandfriends

There is a great activity going around at the farm. Starlings, warblers have taken over. We have observed three active nests with very noisy chicks and their very busy moms. We decided not to use certain doors as to not startle them. When they will start their flying "lessons" as they may walk or fall on porches I must make sure our doggie's predator instinct will be under observation :) At night frogs, early morning mallards, more frogs and jays and who knows what else are croaking and brooaaaking and hisss hisssing and prussss pruss and chickk chikking..

Don't you just love their sound? We are blessed, those who can hear, however, with one ear or little. Early morning when I am between dreams and waking these creature's calls are Vivaldi to my ears....

JUGGLER

Illustration©2010Babetteandfriends

JUGGLER

A poem by Richard Wilbur

A ball will bounce; but less and less. It's not A light-hearted thing, resents its own resilience. Falling is what it loves, and the earth falls So in our hearts from brilliance, Settles and is forgot. It takes a sky-blue juggler with five red balls To shake our gravity up. Whee, in the air The balls roll around, wheel on his wheeling hands, Learning the ways of lightness, alter to spheres Grazing his finger ends, Cling to their courses there, Swinging a small heaven about his ears. But a heaven is easier made of nothing at all Than the earth regained, and still and sole within The spin of worlds, with a gesture sure and noble He reels that heaven in, Landing it ball by ball, And trades it all for a broom, a plate, a table. Oh, on his toe the table is turning, the broom's Balancing up on his nose, and the plate whirls On the tip of the broom! Damn, what a show, we cry: The boys stamp, and the girls Shriek, and the drum booms And all come down, and he bows and says good-bye. If the juggler is tired now, if the broom stands In the dust again, if the table starts to drop Through the daily dark again, and though the plate Lies flat on the table top, For him we batter our hands Who has won for once over the world's weight.

Babette and Cows

Babette loves Horses

I created a new Bfabric Equine collection, a line of fabrics with blues and oranges with complementing small and large patterns. I used my horse drawing above for this line. I think it turned out quite lovely! View the entire Bfabric collection here.

Quilt

This quilt is made up of an array of 41 textile tilt sensors. Each sensor demonstrates a unique construction variation, showcasing different materials and techniques that can be used to create fabric tilt sensors.

Fabric By Babette and Friends

View Fabrics By Babette and Friends (BFabric) sold at Spoonflower

We love Tulip the dog

Saturday Doodle