Linens and things

Every Saturday when I go to the market, I give myself a short lecture about buying an appropriate amount for one person. It never works! Today, a knot of fresh tagliatelle turned into a large handful of artichoke and cheese ravioli; a small bunch of tulips was joined by a giant bunch of coral/yellow roses; a roll turned into a loaf of sourdough bread laced with walnuts; five bite sized pieces of smoked mozzarella were augmented by a thick slice of Dutch cheese with cumin seeds. And then there were the mushrooms, spinach, and smoked garlic, the stop for apple tart with cream, accompanied by fresh mint tea!

At a time when the earth is dark - and not only because winter is descending - I treasure the bounty of earth and its humans.

I offer a picture of one of the few products I didn't buy: carefully dyed linen in muted colors, a veritable rainbow!The painting below it is one I saw yesterday at the Mauritshuis in the Hague; it's a Van Ruysdael of bleached linen drying in a field. Usually, it's not sunny enough to trust fabrics to the outdoors . . . .


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