What a week-end is...

Now that the semester is in full swing and I spend most days reading for and prepping classes, or grading, or on email scheduling events, or thinking ahead to what's coming down the pipeline this semester, the weekend is a welcome respite.

Unlike Maggie Smith's character in Downton Abbey, the Dowager Duchess, who has to ask "What is a week-end?" I love the unscripted days of the week's end. This past one, in particular, there was such a feel of laziness-producing warmth that it was hard to get motivated to do much school work, though some always needs to get done, regardless. On such days, I get possessed by my Country Housewife spirit and begin to look for household chores and projects to embark on.

This Saturday, it was hard not to be outside, with Lizzy, who is always on her tireless squirrel patrol in the back yard, enjoying the sun and the balmy breezes of this late summer that will too-soon turn into fall (only two weeks away!).

The day felt slow and unhurried, and Darwin and Hamlet had the right idea, napping companionably together on our bed. While Magellan, ever the anti-social She-Devil Cat, preferred to hide on top of my pile of jeans and T-shirts in my closet.

Chiquita would rather be inside than outside, too, and routinely takes over Lizzy's bed (of course, when Lizzy isn't around), and pretends that it's her big-girl bed.

The day was so lovely that we got on the motorcycle and went to the Lynd Fruit Farm in search of Honeycrisp apples, the best this season can offer.

One of my old grad school friends, who lives nearby, texted us an impromptu invitation to dinner (another aspect of living here that I love!) and we contributed an open-faced apple pie made from scratch with the delicious Honeycrisps.

Saturdays have become the day that I (with apologies to my gluten-free friends) make my favorite Artisan bread, which my husband always knows how to shape for the best results. The dough isn't kneaded and it must rise for five hours before it's put in the refrigerator overnight so it does take some planning. But on Sunday we have the best homemade bread, similar in texture to my favorite Pan Pepín in Puerto Rico.

This time, my husband tried something new and used a loaf pan and the bread came out perfect! There are few things in the kitchen that give me more pleasure than making bread. There is just something so ancient and so wonderful about it and, thankfully, since we both love and can eat yeast breads, I am going to try to make it a weekly tradition. (I remember, growing up, how Sundays were Italian food day and my mami would make the most delicious manicotti, which I really should try to make sometime...)

Thank God for weekends!