“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”
Sunday has always been the quietest day of the week for me. When I was young, it was the hang around the house day except when the whole family went to the beach or to the city to visit with my grandparents. Sunday dinner was the best meal of the week. My father got home too late during the week to eat supper with us, but he was always there on Sunday which made it special. We had a roast of some sort, mashed potatoes and a couple of vegetables. Most of the vegetables were canned except for the carrots and, of course, the potatoes. My favorite was the La Sueur baby peas. String beans appeared often, but despite the name, I ate them. They looked nothing like beans. The same with green beans. I always made a well in my potatoes for the gravy. It was like a contest not to let the gravy overflow the sides of the potatoes. Most time I lost.
Last night the weather was perfect for a Halloween movie. Trees were bent to the wind which blew so much it howled and sounded like a train, a forlorn train. I laid in bed and listened. Gracie got close to me. Fern joined us.
Sunday is game night. We have appetizers and dessert and play Phase 10 and Sorry. Tonight, though, we’ll start early and watch the Pats play. I’m bringing dessert.
This morning I noticed my lawn and deck are now covered in leaves and pine needles. They were just cleared on Friday. I think raking or blowing are fruitless tasks until the trees are bare and nothing more can fall.
The sun is bright, the sky blue and the trees quiet and still. It is a lovely fall day. The temperature will be in the high 50’s. If I had to invent a day in autumn, it would be just like today.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: canned peas, clearing leaves, dinner, green beans, roast, string beans, Sunday
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
October 23, 2016 at 1:21 pm
Sundays at our house was the night off for my mother from cooking. We always went out to eat. One week it would be Chinese, then Italian and then Deli. One must remember that in the 1950s Dallas was a culinary wasteland. There may have been two or three Chinese restaurants and one or two Deli’s. There were a few Italian restaurants that were founded by Italians who moved west from New Orleans. The rest were either steak houses, Tex-Mex eateries, a couple of dinners and lots of barbecue joints. The only reason I have any taste for good food is that my parents came from NYC and knew what good food actually looked like. In 1965 the bagel was introduced to Texas by a baker from Brooklyn named Benny Leibowitz. My college roommate, a native Texan, was amazed by the bagels my father would bring from NYC until Leibowitz arrived.
Texans judged a place on serving large portions of meat and potatoes. There were one or two European style restaurants that the very wealthy folks from Highland or University Park, who actually traveled the world, would go to on special occasions.
In the early 60s Dallas was the founding area of such family dinning chains a Chile’s and Steak and Ale. Today we have a restaurant of every kind of global cuisine.
Another beautiful day with sunny skies and temperatures topping out at eighty degrees.
October 23, 2016 at 9:36 pm
Bob,
We seldom went out to eat, too expensive, but when we did, it was to Kitty’s. It was one town over. The place was always busy. It served all sorts of food but mostly Italian. The plates were always filled with food, and the Italian bread was fresh. We also had one Chinese restaurant. I think I grew up in a food wasteland.
My old town is known for the variety of its restaurants now. It has an excellent Italian restaurant, a couple of Thai, an Asian fusion, one Indian restaurant and a few Chinese. It also has other restaurants serving a variety of foods. I never expected that!
Great day here as well.
October 23, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Several flocks of cranes on their way south flew over our house today, now it’s definitely fall. Maybe Christer’s cranes?
For a change it was even sunny here so I used this day of rest for garden work. Just manual garden work, Sundays are relatively quiet here and shops are closed. I like that Sundays are different.
Have fun tonight and good luck!
October 23, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Birgit,
I saw a flock fly by in their famous V shape. Birds which winter here from Canada have arrived. It is fall here as well.
Shops are open here. They were not for the longest time. I miss that.
I did nothing of any consequence today. I went to my friends to watch the Patriots play football and have dinner. Then we played card games. I brought dessert: a pumpkin sauce I made, vanilla ice cream and glazed cashews on top.
I am happy to say I was tonight’s winner!
October 23, 2016 at 2:13 pm
Sundays was like any day in my family but we did occasionally go to my mother’s parents to have dinner, normallt porter steak. Can’t remember much about vegetables but I’m pretty sure we had tomatoes, something I’ve always loved to eat.
We’ve had much the same weather for over a week now but today we got a short moment with no wind or rain. lbin really don’t löike this autumn weather so I was glad we could get a short walk before it started again.
They sayw e might get some sunshine on Thursday and for the rest of the week but it’s way too early to make a prediction we can trust, after all we can barely trust the one they make in the morning 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
October 23, 2016 at 10:04 pm
Christer,
I still have that sense of a quiet Sunday. Mostly I don’t do a whole lot. Because I live alone, I don’t do the big dinner, but I do long for a taste of that roast, the mashed potatoes and peas with the family around the table.
Tonight is darn cold. It is in the low 40’s and the rest of the week will be the same or colder at night. It is not walking weather.
You may get sun on Thursday, and we may get rain.
Enjoy your day tomorrow!!
October 23, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Hi Kat,
Sunday was church followed by Sunday dinner which was either in early afternoon or after 5PM. My father worked rotating shifts so when the large meal was eaten depended on whether he was on days, nights or had the day off.
We had pretty much the same food as your family, too. Even the LeSueur baby peas from a can. I had a brief love affair with Le Sueur baby peas from a can but then I tasted real peas from the garden and that was the end of canned vegetables of any kind. One of my brothers still prefers canned vegetables over fresh or frozen. No accounting for taste. 🙂
Last night was windy and wild. The walnut trees were flinging walnuts at the house in a heavy barrage. It continues today. There are still a lot up in the tree to come down. The maple tree that had just turned to autumn mode is now significantly depleted in the leaf department. The lawn is well carpeted. I’m not going back there until the wind dies down since I no longer have my hard hat. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
October 23, 2016 at 10:16 pm
Hi Caryn,
My father never worked on weekends. Saturdays he did errands and chores around the house. Sunday he was an usher at church, read the Sunday paper and watched football games. He loved Sunday dinners, and he was one who never changed from preferring canned vegetables. I remember him eating asparagus spears which fell over if you held them by the bottom.
Wow, Gracie would have been barking if walnuts hit our house. The deck is filled with leaves while the front lawn is carpeted with pine needles. That wind was definitely wild.
Enjoy the day!
October 23, 2016 at 11:23 pm
I always felt sorry for “girls” on fall Sundays. We “boys” had the NFL. NY Giants every Sunday, and Jets, once they began play. Only Sunday afternoons, before Monday Night Football liberated us. The young ladies I knew said they spent Sundays washing, ironing, reading, organizing and studying. Football and some brews sounds much better!
Regarding canned veggies, I am a huge fan of canned French-cut green beans, any brand. I moved recently and made sure I packed two cans of my favorite veg with me. Like local stores wouldn’t have carried them? No class, but also few calories or carbs. Otherwise, fresh veggies are my preference, along with meat and potatoes.
October 23, 2016 at 11:53 pm
Jay,
My Dad always watched the Giants every Sunday until the Patriots were formed. Once in a while I’d sit in the living room, but I didn’t care all that much for football. I’d read, but my dad was an active fan jumping up, moaning, yelling and cheering so I didn’t stay long. My mother used to stay in the kitchen cleaning up then she’d spend the afternoon reading.
We all have our quirks!