Susan Carlson This Week in My Studio: Plus 40 Years Ago in Harpswell

Forty years ago this past Tuesday I met Tom (above) at his gramp’s lobster wharf, here in Harpswell, Maine, just half a mile down the road from where we now live.

I was visiting from Maryland with a high school friend and was introduced to Tom through her family. We happened to meet in the doorway of the “white building” you see in my 1985 photo and artwork, above, and in photos I took yesterday on our morning walk to the shore with the dogs, below.

4o years ago today, July 26, Tom and I ventured out for what turned out to be our first date. That evening included: a damp and mud-spattered jaunt on four-wheelers through woods at dusk (on paths even Tom wasn’t familiar with—we were young and invincible); ice-cream at Friendly’s (before they closed for the night); and then an hour’s drive (in heavy fog on highway and back roads in Tom’s old Volare) to an ocean beach nearing midnight and so encased in fog that I could hear the ocean waves, but only see a few feet ahead. I now know that this point along the coast, Popham Beach, is a beautiful spot, though at that moment in time Stephen King novels came to mind. But again, youth put those concerns to rest. The main thing I remember is how the bright moon lit up the dome of fog that arched over the sand, keeping pace with us as we walked to nowhere, and back.

Coincidently, the high school friend, Kathryn, that introduced me to Harpswell and Tom, called me up out-of-the blue as I was writing this post. She lived here in Maine for a few years, but found her true love in North Carolina, where she now lives. During that phone call we laughed about how she set Tom and I up for that first date (it was Kathryn who had access to those four-wheelers).

I told her about the full moon collage I’ve just started and she asked, what phase was the moon on that moonlit beach walk? Heck if I knew. But it’s good to have friends who point out the obvious—an internet search. Sure enough, there was the answer—on July 26, 1985, the moon was in a waxing gibbous phase. This means, “it was past the first quarter and approaching a full moon, with more than half of the lunar disk illuminated by the sun but not yet fully so.” So it was bright, my memory served me well.

As far as the present goes, my full moon collage—Bella Luna—has progressed another week in my Fly On the Wall: Studio Watch presentations. One fun thing I achieved this past week was to put together a (mostly) full moon oriented music playlist for Zoom attendees to listen to leading up to the start time. For that purpose, we purchased the songs they listen to and seem to really enjoy. Through Spotify, I can share the playlist with you, just click on the “play” arrow, below. Though this version will more than likely include a commercial or two, it brings back golden oldies, and will probably introduce you to some newer music as well. Enjoy.

Full Moon Music Collage playlist on Spotify:

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Inside My Studio—Making a Mess

Fly On the Wall: Studio Watch—Bella Luna

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Djinni Cat

Djinni was definitely the star of last week’s “In My Studio” post, with a comment by Diane L. that now Djinni “needs a quilt top for her new chair.” Diane had a point, but cats can be fickle and I experimented to see if an existing cushion would indeed be preferred over the bare seat weave.

After a first glance from Her Highness, I figured I may already have an answer. After a couple days of not seeing her near the chair, I moved the cushion off, and got her reply. The chair is back to being cushion-less, and Djinni has been back to using it as optional seating. Thanks for the suggestion, Diane—I thought it was a good one—but I’m not the princess.

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Outside My Studio—Lazy Hazy Days

Maine has a high percentage of small farms and fun farmer’s markets, even through the wintertime. But of course they’re in their glory days this time of year. Last year I once again came home with a beautiful bunch of carrots with a gorgeous head of luscious green fronds destined, sadly, to get composted. Instead, I looked for a carrot-top pesto recipe (I love pestos), and found ones to try.

A favorite is from a book written by one of our local farmer’s market vendors (from maybe 20 years ago?), The Pesto Manifesto, by Lorel Nazzaro. You can still find used copies online, but I also found a review of the book that included a few of her recipes—and one of them was the one I like so much, “Arugula and Carrot-top Pesto.”

This year I widened the recipe search and found one for “Easy to Cook Carrot Top Greens.” So easy, three ingredients added to the greens, I can’t believe how tasty it was. It has an Asian flair with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. I combined both carrot-top pesto and greens for tasty lunches this week—results in photo above. After they were mostly consumed, I thought about sprinkling the toppings with sesame seeds—even prettier and yummier.