‘The Summer of Cecile’ – Gardening, Traveling and Just Kicking Back !!

Wine, Cheese & Pâté.. mixed with a lovely evening and a good friend – heavenly!!

As you may know, I’m a BIG fan of the old Seinfeld comedy show.  In one of my favorite episodes George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, announces he plans to spend the entire summer doing exactly as he likes.  He called it The Summer of George.  As it turned out, I had The Summer of Cecile, though there was no announcement and it was entirely unplanned!!

I didn’t posted anything here on My Yellow Farmhouse all summer….   My house was dusty and my gardens were weedy, but I did have one terrific summer!!   (Luckily a friend recently helped me with the weeding and mulching, so now my gardens are looking pretty great!!)

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I sure wasn’t idle during my Summer of Cecile.  I spent time at our Pocono house & actually accomplished quite a bit there.  Here’s a few shots of my visit to The Delaware Water Gap, taken during one of my trips back home to Massachusetts from the Pocono Mountains.

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Dingmans Falls – Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area

I frolicked in the waves at Wells, Maine, Situate, MA and New London, CT, and headed up to Quebec to visit with family and old neighbor’s in St. Antoine de Tilly.

Hazy, Lazy Day – Scituate, MA

And I visited the lovely Berkshire mountains here in Massachusetts twice. In the spring I went to see a musician friend of mine play at the delightful old Naumkeag estate in Stockbridge, and later in the season spent a truly lovely day with friends at The Mount, writer Edith Wharton’s beautiful estate in Lenox.

                     A rather cloudy twilight at Naumkeag estate – Stockbridge, MA

My musical friend, David Reed    (http://www.tambouraproductions.com)

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Another hazy day … Edith Wharton’s Estate – The Mount, Lenox, MA

And here’s a bit of news!  My dear friend Chogo John (a.k.a. John Amici) recently published a cookbook containing delicious Italian recipes handed down from one generation to the next.  Along with terrific recipes, John has included family tales, which I always enjoy reading on his blog.  You can find John’s book, Recipes from the Bartolini Kitchens on Amazon.com – OR – follow this link to purchase John’s cookbook!!  ++  http://fromthebartolinikitchens.com/2015/09/23/im-back-and-the-kitchens-are-open/

As for me, I’m ‘going back into the kitchen’ now that summer is officially over, and I’ll be posting my version of Chocolate & Cream Cheese Stuffed Monkey Bread very soon !!!  Sending out big hugs to you all. I’ve missed you during my Summer of Cecile.

Arrowhead Lake – Pocono Mountains, PA  – – Springtime

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