Thunderstorms=Neurotic Puppy

All of this hot sweaty weather combined with hurricane winds and intense thunderstorms has made my furry babies a little crazy lately.

I was sewing in my studio (i.e. the dining room table) yesterday afternoon when a massive thunderstorm rolled in. The wind was whipping, trees were bending and for a few minutes I thought the power might go out (which is really unusual here since all the powerlines are underground). Normally the dog shakes and tries to get into my lap, but I was being an inattentive mother because I was trying to finish up the 3rd Halloween runner's quilting. I only had about three lines left to quilt when...(The plaid fabric is my table cloth and the brown wood is the seat of my chair)
"Umm...hi it's me your baby, and and normally you hold me when it thunders because I'm scared". So of course I stopped what I was doing for 2 hours to hold the little gray dog until the rain stopped. He shook and panted and even refused his all time favorite treat, dingo rawhide bones.

Not a lot of crafting progress, but I was able to make a super yummy dinner including fresh corn on the cob and fennel from the farmer's market. My good friend Zack made a tasty fennel dish the last time I was in Boston and when I bought a bulb this week I begged him for the recipe. He laughed and me and said "cut it cup, drizzle with olive oil and lemon and put some shaved Parmesan cheese over the top when it's close to done". So I did... and 25 minutes later (in a 425 degree oven) it was done. I typically don't like anise or anything flavored like black licorice, but I promise you the baking, lemon and cheese totally tone down the anise flavor and the end result is caramelized and toasty, delish! A big thanks to Zack for sharing his secret recipe with me.