A superb weekend!

I can't really write right now because I have no fingertips. They have been stolen by the sandpaper demon and every key stroke hurts like bloody fire. F - oooooooo, I - fk #$%^@%** grrrr, R - aooooooo, E - omg I really should just stop writing.

But someone has to post pictures of our amazing Maple trees ablaze and the spectacular colors of the valley. 

And I have to brag about my homemade Alfredo that was just to die for for. 

So $^#%%@^~#**# here I go.

Maple Avenue

Yup. Those are our maple trees. We did goooood. And noooooo, for the 1000th time Mr. Scrap Metal collector man (they certainly are a special breed of people...), YOU CAN NOT have that radiator. Although I think we just decided to part with it and go more stream line (it's been waiting on going back in the pastry shop once it's done). So now - we are accepting offers. I really just want to see someone wrestle with the thing. It's like the weight of an elephant baby. Maybe someone could replace it with an elephant baby. I would love one of those. 

Our view is meh. Mediocre at best.

Great thing about Alfredo is that it's completely guilt free! 

Melt half a stick of butter in a saucepan. 

Add 1 cup of cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cup of grated gruyere cheese and stir until melted. 

Add 1 crushed garlic clove and lots of parsley.

I tossed the fettucine and the sauce with lots of fresh spinach and served.

No guilt - non whatsoever. And don't forget the Parmesan on top!

James put finish paint on the trim on the front yesterday and today it was the bay window. I sacrificed the skin on my fingers to the porch. Today I am painting it!

I took a little break in porch restoration and went up to our neighborhood look out point on Palazzo Lane.

Things we love about Clintondale. Our Gunk view. Apples! The fall colors. And even some birds.

Oh heck! Just one more. The ridge at dawn.

It's been quiet about the birds lately. Mostly sparrows hanging out getting fat on our seed. But all of a sudden they came back. 

I saw this little guy this morning. We haven't seen Juncos since last winter!

And this guy must have missed the train to Florida. The Blue Jays are back too doing crazy flybys and hootin and making a racket in the trees. 

We only really watched one movie this weekend and the angry critic says it was good. Not great. Could have been great but took a silly turn at 1 hour. It's a French movie called Un Prophete. A young Arab ends up in prison for what we know not. He commits a crime in there in exchange for protection. On one hand he is smart and starts to study but on the other hand he realizes he can make it big  in the crime world with the connections he's making inside. And it goes from Shawshank to a mobster pic. The title suggests an inspirational story of finding your roots . That would have been preferred. But its subtleties still make it very worthwhile.

Last weekend we did a double feature. Sam Mendes' Away we go (self proclaimed loser couple get pregnant and take  a roadtrip to find the perfect place to raise their child) and Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (chronicling the events that led up to the Woodstock festival, and it should have ended when they got there. Instead we have to watch the protagonist doing acid and opening his mind and our interest dwindled FAST). It was a mediocre night I guess. Away we go was better than expected and Taking Woodstock was just as silly as expected. 

Best in awhile was Howl. In the theatre. Allen Ginsberg's (played by James Franco) poem comes to life by cool animation, recreated docu footage and courtroom drama. Verrrry good.

I've made no secret of the fact that I've been unhappy with my bizniz lately. Quoting in my head "hell is Hollywood and satan is a studio exec". But maybe the disappointments, straight up blow offs and cancellations all led up to this. I will be on the road until Christmas on cool, interesting gigs. Firstly, a travel job in the States - North Carolina, Yellowstone National Park and Detroit. And with no room to breath, off I go to Mexico City to prep a camera package and then I continue to the Chiapas region to work on an offbeat, creepy little indie in the vein of Nick Roeg's Don't Look Now. I'm excited. And I'm taking the Gazette on the road with me. James will get much done at the house and I will come home just in time to decorate the tree and throw the ham in the oven.