It's Raining-- A Lot

I spent the day in my raincoat.  

And I was inside the greenhouse.

The rain was just pounding down on the glass roof and leaking in through all the places that leak in a glass greenhouse.  Maine needed a good rain as wells in the northern section of our state were going dry.  So--keep the rain coming.  We need it.

I am having trouble getting the upper hand with my allergies.  The itching eyes.  The sneezing.  All the usual allergy symptoms.  The Zyrtec makes me sleepy.  So, at work yesterday, I was sort of zombie-like.  Today, not so much.  But still not really alert.

I did have a good lunch both days.  It's amazing how the quality of my work day improves with a "good lunch".

I am going to share the pasta sauce recipe I have been making for G lately.  One chopped onion sauteed in olive oil, then add a package of Jimmy Dean's precooked sausage crumbles, a shake or two of red pepper flakes (if you can't find the spicy crumbles).  While that works, clean and slice a package of button mushrooms (or open a can of sliced mushrooms).  Add the mushrooms to the pan.  Let it fry--get some of that brown stuff going on the bottom of the pan.  Add a can of Trader Joe's marinara sauce (28 oz).  Simmer while the water comes to a boil for the pasta and you cook the pasta.

Easy and G says it's delicious.

Eating Simple Things

Like avocado mixed with lime and red onion.

Like an enormous pot of soup---over ripe tomatoes, cabbage, kale, overgrown carrots, potato and onion, summer squashes.  All but the potato and cabbage was from my garden.  The cabbage was a leftover chunk from the pot roast dinner's cole slaw.

G's soup was tomato with homemade soup dumplings.  I did them correctly this time and beat the dickens out of the dough.  G said they were wonderful.  Chewy.

I think it's cool enough now for baked potatoes.  Sweet or White.  Butter soaked with sour cream and chives.

I also think it's cool enough for a weekend pot of beans.  Every weekend.  I have the most interesting beans in the cupboard -- white and tan yelloweyes.  I think they are popular beans for Maine baked beans.  New to me.  Last winter it was chili beans and all of the variations were very good.

And there are still the beets in the garden and the chard.  I will bake the beets and saute the chard (mixed with ricotta) to fill tortelloni.  Larger relatives of the tortellini.

I am still carrying 5 to 10 pounds of vegetables from the garden when I have time to go out and pick.
I have already decided which things I will NOT be planting next summer.  I will finally give up on fennel (it never makes a bulb) and jalapeños (I have few reasons to eat them).

I may try growing potatoes again.  I like the way they taste and am missing them this year.

All (eye) Need

Is a hot compress.  Followed by a cold compress.  And then a decongestant.  And to keep my hands away from my eyes.

The decongestant has made the world of difference in just two days.  No liquids leaking out of my eyes onto to my skin--and burning (though the skin is still pretty raw).  The eye doctor thought the ducts might be clogged and the "tears" had no where to go--but out over my skin.

I slept better.  I didn't rub my eyes.

I remember (why so late???) that I used to take a very effective decongestant for years and years.  And then the FDA banned one of the ingredients as "too dangerous".

So, now I need to find a safe decongestant.  And breath easily.  Sleep. And hopefully keep the tear ducts-unplugged.  And my skin--not dry and raw and itchy.

Worked five days straight.  Off next two days.  Then five straight again.  So, so tired.

The Season For Cast Iron Pots

I had an appointment with the eye doctor today.  Which meant leaving work early.  Which meant I could actually cook my pot roast.  It's seasoned, browned and in the oven.

I got a 24 in Flame as a wedding present from my mother's sisters.  My aunts.  Can you sense the distance? Emotionally. But I loved the gift.

Now, thanks to discount bargain hunting, I have a 24, 26 and 28.  I'm still hunting for a frying pan. On sale.  All Flame.

Back to the pot roast.  Pot roast has been my choice for a birthday dinner for years and years.  This year's birthday seemed too warm for a pot roast.  But, when I went grocery shopping over the weekend I noticed, sitting all alone in the meat case, a very nice pot roast.  I figured it was meant to be.

Starry Night

Last call for the dog last night.  Out the front door and into the inky black night (1am) and the stars twinkling in the sky.  So many stars.  I wished there had been no house lights to ruin the magic of a black sky full of stars but then I may have tripped down the steps.

The trees flanking the garage dapple the light that comes on (motion) as the dog passes by.  Reminds me of Florida landscaping.  The way the lights in the gardens make everything look so sophisticated and lovely in the evening.  So I enjoy what little we have of sophisticated evening landscaping.

These are my thoughts as I wait for the dog to come, rustling past branches and leaves, from his nightly visit to the wildness of a Maine night.  A night, I am sure, filled with small and not so small animals standing still as Riley walks past.

Like me.  Standing still as the stars slide past.

The Best Birthday Ever.

I had to work---but spent the day with the really nice people I work with---- which is why I still work. The nice people.  One even sang happy birthday to me as I walked into work.  Thank you, R! (she also baked delicious pumpkin doughnuts for me)

I got to be outside most of the day--what's not to like about that?

Dinner (with a very sweet birthday card from G) was cheese nachos with Diet Coke and lime. Just what I wanted and it was delicious.  There's a little Key Lime tart in the fridge with a candle.

My horoscope:  Professional or educational decisions must be made based on what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.  You will pick up information easily as long as you don't let others limit your progress and success.

Image sent to me by my Dentist.

Almost, But Not Just Yet

My birthday.

Never before has the number of my birthday age been quite as "meaningful".  Even 21.  Even 40.
I know others who partied until in a coma @21.  And covered mirrors in their homes @40. I never cared too much.

And, it's not that 69 scares me.  It's just that I think 69 means some "planning" needs to be in place.
I need to be deciding how the next 30 (wink) years will be spent.  In reality, it's only the next 20 if I go by heredity and my parents.  And 20 goes by so quickly as we get older.

How do I want to spent these years?

Doing what I love to do, I hope.  Not worrying about things I have no control over.  Not doing things out of a sense of duty, rather than desire.  It's a work in progress.

Yesterday, at work, was a lesson in being present.  Not wanting to be (all 9 hours), but presenting a pleasant open invitation to customers to chat about gardening none the less.  It was exhausting and exhilarating.

One moment stands out.  I was out front chatting about bloom times with a customer and we noticed an older couple across the highway with a flat tire on their big truck.  My customer said the police had stopped and then drove off. The wife had the instruction book out and the husband was trying to get the flat tire off.  They were struggling.  And traffic was zooming by--too close, I felt, and too fast.

Then a souped up low rider of a car passes them and pulls over.  Out steps a guy (20's) with pants riding only the lower half of his rear end.  Reed thin. (you could see the older couple was apprehensive)  He walks over and takes control of the tire iron.... and as my customer reported to me--I had to go answer the phone --- takes the tire off and puts the new one on in about 10 seconds.  I arrived as he was tightening the lug nuts.  Then he said--"you're good" or something and hurried off to his car, waving off the offered cash from the elderly couple.  He starts the car and cuts back over to our side of the road and roars off.  My customer, a guy, says--"well, that just made my day--or more likely my year. What was an amazing instance of humanity"

Yes.  It was.

My intuition says he was traveling north, saw them, turned around, came back to help and then u-turned in the road and went on his way north again.

Somehow, I don't think that young guy will be wondering how to live his life at 69.  Like me.  He already has a very good idea of how to live his life.

This Is Why We Love To Garden With Children

I think I had the same happy grin on my little pre school face when my grandmother let me pull a carrot out of her vegetable garden (back when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth).

That's how we grow the next generation of gardeners.

Today I carried a very heavy basket of produce into the kitchen.  Squashes.  Tomatoes.  Cucumbers.
Peppers which have started to color and will be a brilliant RED in a day or two spent on the kitchen counter.  In my other hand, I had the last of the red onions, pulled from the dirt and dangling from their dried out tops.  I had an amazing crop of onions this season.

I also have delicious kale.  And Swiss chard (which I intend to saute and mix with ricotta cheese and make into tortelloni.  Big square filled dumplings we used to have in Germany--made by a talented Italian guy.  If I only knew what magic was in the simple sauce he served with them--and which we licked, shamelessly, off the plates..... any Italians out there with an idea of what sort of sauce this would be?

The French eggplant plants are just starting to make flowers (and hopefully fruit)--I hope the weather reports I have heard are true.  6 more weeks of summer.  At least here in Maine.  We are unseasonably HOT, Humid and Miserable, but --in the garden--no complaints.  I need a few more weeks to get everything ripe and ready to harvest.

The three winter squash plants I rescued from the dumpster (and they were wilted and beat up) have perked up finally.  They are covered in "boy" flowers (no noticeable "girl" flowers) but each of the three plants has produced at least one winter squash.  A tiny 2 inch butternut.  A tiny buttercup.  And the acorn plant has two 3 inch squash growing.  I looked at the seed packets at work--and I have enough time for them to grow large enough to eat.  Another 30 days.

Next summer I am planting and growing the pattypan squashes that look like little flying saucers.  We have a farmer's market in Town and I meant to visit on Tuesday and see if anyone had that variety for sale.

Looking For A Reason Not to Go To Work Tomorrow

G says I am "this close" to not working anymore.  It makes him happy to think I will be here to spend my days with him.

I have a dentist appointment mid morning tomorrow.  I pulled the ligaments on the right side of knee when I stumbled in the kitchen and it hurts to step down on that right leg and I wonder if I need an Xray.  My bee sting is getting redder and larger as the days pass. Tomorrow is going to be 92 degrees. Oh, and we have new hours. 8 to 4 tomorrow.  All of which is "yuck".

The tomatoes are coming in from the garden at a good clip these hot days.  Not that many cucumbers. One gigantic zucchini that I seemed to have missed on my daily visits to the garden.  Flowers on the french eggplant but no fruit yet.

I have made five huge pots of ratatouille this summer (so far) and each has been better than the previous one.  I am learning.  Yesterday I grilled the vegetables instead of roasting them.  Too hot to turn on the oven.  That batch and the previous one are in the fridge waiting for me to pack them up in freezer containers.  Easier to freeze them and not have them spoil in the fridge.  Meals aren't regular around here.  And the freezer meals can be enjoyed when the garden and summer are far far away.

I saw indigo dyeing on Soulemama a few days ago and the package the dye came in looked familiar. so, yesterday, I dug around in the cabinet where I store art supplies.  And there it was.  Indigo Dye. I am thinking of dyeing my stained white dish towels and napkins and my very old and sad looking blue workshirts. Also some white linen fabric scraps.  And anything I find that just isn't very nice looking in it's original color.  I love wearing white.  And I love wearing blue.  And pale pink.

Perhaps I will heavily bleach the tee shirts and see if that works for them.  Nice and white.  I have to keep them as long as possible--no one makes them anymore.  Everything in a "new" tee is thin and see thru. The ones I have are over 20 years old.  Not see thru.

Well, we are having sweet corn for dinner.  Then apple pie.  We had Dairy Queen for lunch. See what I mean by meals not being regular around here.  I think it was 89 today.  And humid.

Porch Swing

That's what I call a vacation.  A nice porch swing and a good book.  Minus the mosquitos.

Today the skies above my house will be filled with the roaring jet engines of the Blue Angels. Perhaps all that noise will scare away the mosquitos????

On my agenda for the three days I have off (last time this summer):  another batch of ratatouille (which I find I actually love), dinner of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and sweet corn for dessert, another batch of crab apple juice for jelly (I want to see if I can make four cups that taste good before wasting sugar and jars on the jelly) and I have some foraged apples, from an abandoned tree near where I work, to make into a pie.

G says it's time to cut the grass again.

This is my second attempt at a post for today so I may stop writing while I have the opportunity to press 'publish" and have something happen.

When I was 14 and 15 years old, I spent both summers (when not at the free public swimming pool or babysitting my baby sister) on the glider on the front porch.  I read Gone With The Wind each summer from cover to cover while making the glider move with my bare foot.  I ate warm, just picked tomatoes from the garden.  I had no idea that I was actually having the best summers of my life right then.  But I remember them.

Early Work Day

For me.  Most of you are probably up way before I am.  But 6:30 is way too early for me. Which is why I didn't actually get up until 6:45 and had to be at work by 8.

I didn't want to go to work.  Resented having to go.

See.  I tell G that this means I am getting closer to deciding to be "retired" or "semi-retired".

Today it was stinking hot at work, humid and I was damp and sticky by 8:15.  And then I had to go empty the water plant pools which had gotten thick and stinky.  OMG.  Sticking ones hands in the water and having slimy things "brush" past and touch you---- I felt like running around screaming. and then there were the water spiders and the frogs.  I ended up dipping stuff out and pouring it on the gravel.  We also hosed off the plants.  Later, while watering the sedums--I got stung by a BEEEEEEE

G and I had a nice dinner.  Steak wrapped in bacon (oh, stop), steamed broccoli, plain white rice.  I had vegetable kabobs as an addition to my plate.

I am trying to "eat mindfully" and at work I had a cucumber, cantaloupe chunks, water, ham and cheese rolled up (low carb), more water, a nice juicy "eastern" peach, and more water.  Mostly I was choosing foods that would elevate my water levels.  I think my "hunger" is more about being thirsty than being hungry.

I went out to the garden to get veggies for the kabobs and got many many many mosquito bites as it had rained about 30 minutes before I went out there.  Got a lot of cucumbers, some squash and a shirt front full of Sun gold cherry tomatoes.  I left the peppers and tomatoes for another day.

My parsley plants are almost 5 feet tall and ridiculous.  I need to pull them out and strip off the leaves and make my frozen parsley leaf rolls for use in SummerFallWinterSpring recipes.  Remember Princess SummerFallWinterSpring on Howdy Doody?

In Days So Deep In The Past

Jane Nicholas mirror.

I was once a crewel work stitcher.  And If I had know about things like the above mirror, I think I would have either been intimidated or inspired.  I hope----- inspired.

I especially love the upper left.  The white puff and the blackberries.  The insects are lovely as well.
I still have three little crewel works--simple vegetables--that have escaped the "tossing" that happens with each house move.  I don't know where they are--exactly--but I think they still exist.

I added this masterpiece to my picture file--to nudge me into trying, one more time.  To create beauty with threads of wool.

Autumn In The Air

The mums are here.  Well, at work.  In the parking lot.  Once the mums arrive--the air seems to change, getting cooler, drier and the days seem shorter.  "the end is near"

We have loads of Russian Sage on the perennial tables at the front of the store.  The tall, light blue
plant behind the sage.  Here in my Town it's actually referred to as the "Kentucky Fried Chicken Plant" because, at this time of year, the parking lot is dominated by the HUGE shrubs of Russian sage at the KFC.  

Customers see the huge billows of blue and WANT one.  They come to my work place and ask for the KFC plant.  Truth be told---I had to get in the car the first year this happened--drive to KFC, and then look at, smell and finally clip a branch.... for research purposes.  And to identify the plant.
Now, I know.  And I make sure to stock plenty at this time of year.

As is always the case, I cannot, for the life of me, grown Russian sage.  None of the five plants I have here at my house have ever gotten more that 6 inches tall and rarely, if ever, have they made any blue flowers.  We finally decided to move them to the highest, sunniest, driest spot on our property.  The circle of dirt that is the end of the driveway.  They are alive.  Which is all I can say about them.

I would LOVE to have waves of tall, blue branches.

The zucchini plants are slowing down.  The cucumbers made a big effort and are now--well, they don't seem to be doing much of anything, but a second planting is already tuning up.  No yellow squash but they also have a second planting waiting to get going.  The tomato plants look ragged and sad with a few tomatoes turning color each day.  I finish them off in the sunroom.  (meaning they turn red in the sunroom). Carrots from the first of many failed plantings are ready.  Beets are ready but I am waiting until I want to oven roast them.  Still too warm.

I harvested 12 plums from my very slow to grow plum tree.  First fruit in ALL the years we have owned it.  G moved it 2 years ago and it seems to being saying thank you.  The plums are small but very good.  And no worms hiding inside.  Not enough to re-create my grandmother's plum kuchen.
She grew plums just so she could make plum kuchen.  And it was so delicious.  As was her handmade apple strudel.   I have thought about an apple tree.  And using one of the crab apple trees  we already own as a pollinator.

Seven fat quarts of blueberries in the freezer.  I should make a blueberry cake for the gang at work. Or at least try a blueberry spinach smoothie.  Yuck.

Or a blueberry vanilla protein powder smoothie with some Greek yogurt.  Or just yogurt and blueberries.  Or, better yet---blueberry pancakes.

Time To Go Shopping

All the "back to school" advertising makes me want to go stock up on index cards, Sharpie pens and glue sticks BUT I got so much of that for Christmas, I don't need any.

I also feel the urge to go shopping for clothes at Goodwill.  Almost all of my clothing is bargain shopped.  I don't care to buy retail anymore.  Not that I "need" anything.  The closet is packed with 20 cent pants and tons of $2 shirts from the "retail job" a few years back.

It's just that "back to school" was such an exciting time when I was growing up.  New clothes, new shoes, fresh notebooks and pencils.  A Fresh Start.

Like all the mistakes and failures of the previous school year (and there were so many in my life) were erased and I could start over-- a do over--- fresh.  It never quite worked out that way.  I had a tendency to repeat the mistakes over and over.  Procrastination.  Oh, that was always my biggest problem.  I'll study tomorrow.  Start that paper next week.  Read that book--well, never.

Not so much anymore.  At work I tend to get right down to business and get the projects done. Here at home I tend to get the canning, cooking, cleaning, washing up, done.  The annual taxes?  Not so much.  That's when I procrastinate.  Books?  Love to read and hate to stop once I begin.

I have a site in the sidebar with a recipe for zucchini salad using a "spiralizer" something I have wanted but didn't buy.  During my low carb time period--the long zucchini noodles would have been a delight served with meatballs and sauce.  Long enough to twirl around the fork.  But I am not doing low carb.  In fact, I had better decide what I am doing as I have a weigh in at the doctor's office in 2 months.

The garden really "enjoyed" the past three days of rain and high humidity.  I have a pile of cucumbers to work with, more zucchini and fewer yellow squashes (after I make pickles--I actually have little need for zucchini and would prefer to have too many yellow squashes).  Contrary to food writers--the two are NOT the same.  Tomatoes are beginning to show some color (other than green) and the peppers are starting to turn red as well.  I have carrots and beets I can dig up.  All in all, the garden is showing signs of getting tired and ready to call it quits, though it still looks good and the basil plants are thriving and producing large leaves.  So Not the usual in my garden history.

I made a very large pot of ratatouille on Saturday.  This time oven roasting the yellow and green summer squashes and the cubed eggplant until all the watery juices had roasted away.  Then I sautéed an onion from my garden and garlic from my garden on top of the stove and then scooped the oven roasted veg into the pot and mixed in a can of Trader Joe's excellent marinara and a handful of fresh from the garden basil leaves.  It was super wonderful.  I think I will make it again and freeze it in portions to enjoy this winter with spaghetti or rice or beans.

I guess, in the summer, my diet is mostly vegetarian.  Which is a good thing.

Now, back to shopping.  I need an eggplant and a few limes.

The Sun Came Out And It's Super Humid

I made another 7 pints of zucchini bread and butter pickles this morning and shredded three more zucchini to make fritters.  Then I sprayed Riley and myself with bug spray (his is 100% organic and mine isn't) and off we went for a walk.  I also took a bottle of water and riley drank most of it. We saw two dogs, a jogger, a family on bikes and a bazillion deer flies.

Now Riley is spread out in front of the A/C unit.  I am poised to create lunch for myself and then read.  My book is due on the 24th.  A deadline.

Last night as I went to bed (after watching the Bruce Willis movie 12 Monkeys), my last thought was--Sunday paper in the morning.  Only today isn't Sunday.  For some reason, being home alone (no husband) has made the ONE day I have had off so far, seem like two.

The picture above is of a cucumber.  Finally, I am getting a decent crop of cucumbers every two or three days.  I have eaten quite a few cucumber sandwiches, made a half gallon jar of refrigerator dills, and a large bowl of sliced cucumbers mixed with sour cream and dill and I have a large bag of cucumbers in the fridge waiting to be used up.

Same deal with the zucchini.  After worrying myself into a state (I can do that) thinking I wouldn't have enough zucchini to make pickles for the winter--I now have way too many and 20 pints of pickles in the closet.

Last summer I made a run to the grocery every few days to get eggplant and made the excess zucchini into ratatouille.  So, I am getting my shoes on and am off to buy an eggplant and some corn. I saw a lovely recipe for Mexican roasted corn nachos.  Got to have some!!!!

In reunion news:  G picked up (on purpose) another guy's name tag at the "ice breaker" last night and introduced himself as that guy until he finally had enough fun and told them who he really was.  They didn't believe him. He also said his wife was home taking care of "our little boy".  Now, that got them going.

G is now on the planned trolley ride (he didn't want to go) around downtown Cleveland with other classmates he met at breakfast who talked him into it.  He says, so far, it was a good decision.  My question: who do they think he is now? I bet there are people who actually attend reunions--falsely-- and have a ton of fun pretending--and it does seem to have been quite a lot of fun for G.  (and...to make it even odder--he was class president).  See, it's always best to choose happiness.

When Things Seem To Be Going Wrong

G has gone back to his hometown for his 50th high school reunion.  Things aren't going well.  He had things planned but they aren't working out.  Today--he's going to the Rock "N Roll Hall of Fame to buy a tee shirt for his collection.  He has most of today and all of tomorrow to fill.  There are a few other museums he can visit and a movie theater close to his hotel--so a movie?

He's hoping to connect with someone at the opener "ice breaker" tonight.  Perhaps some other "out of towners"  to do something with--at least lunch.  He has no family to visit.

I paid bills, washed clothes, walked the dog etc and now, instead of canning more zucchini pickles and getting all hot and sweaty, I'm going to sit in the air conditioned comfort of my couch and read a book.

Choosing happiness.

Heat Wave

We can't really complain.  Here in Maine.  Nothing's on fire.  Last August was very chilly.
But, still.  It's hot.  Humid.  And I was at work in a glass greenhouse.  UGH!!

Yesterday---when it was also hot--- I walked, gardened, sliced the heap of new zucchini (rather than waste them--I'll just make more pickles and give them to everyone for Christmas), fried the yellow squash with onions until it was all lightly brown and delicious--- which can take over 2 hours. In other words--I spent way too many hours in the kitchen near a hot stove.  And then, an equally long time washing all the dishes.

I also made crab apple juice and strained the pulp in a jelly bag.  I have 4 cups of beautifully pink juice that is also quite tasteless.  I put the jar of juice in the fridge.  Waiting for inspiration.  Will the addition of sugar make it taste like something???  Has anyone tried making crab apple jelly?

I also picked more blueberries.  I'll have 6 quarts (packed full) of blueberries when this last bit has frozen.  Last August (when the fridge didn't work) I had packed up 11 fat quarts in the loaner fridge out on the porch.  Then, when the fridge worked again-----whoa--where to put the frozen berries when Loew's came for the loaner??? So, I made jars and jars of blueberry jam--which is seriously delicious.  I actually would like to use some blueberries to make pancakes. I love blueberry pancakes.

G has graciously done the watering in the garden.  He also cut the grass late in the afternoon.  I carried three full tubs of garden/vegetable "stuff" from the kitchen to the compost pile along with the bag of shreds from the shredder (junk mail).  Wet and dry.

The dog is stretched out on the carpet.  I am tempted to take a long cool shower but I promised to haul hose and water the front garden beds.  Sigh.  Then the shower.

Stay cool.  (oh, and I finally got brave and reworked my reader list--- gold star for me!)

Between 70 and 80

I will get to the point of the title of this post eventually.  But I seriously LOVE this porch screen door.  

When my son was visiting he was trying to modify the "issues" my husband I have, regarding the sharing of the computer that I like to "call" my own (because I bought it).  I don't like opening the screen up and finding my husbands stuff.  And not mine.  The biggest issue was my husband saving pictures to the cloud.  So, in the calm and placating moments son and I discussed my issues--he remarked "you have way too many pictures in this file".  (711)

My reply?  "I had more--I just deleted half" (or I just think I deleted half)

He was speechless.

Gotta collect pictures of stuff like speechless children.

Now, to the title.  I have many amazingly open conversations with customers at work.  Not all the time. But often enough that it makes going to work--worthwhile.  One day this week an elderly woman and I were discussing age.

I feel very good for my age (one month shy of 69) but my customer assured me that the problems arrive between 70 and 80.  Things change and not for good she assured me.  And then patted my shoulder and suggested I enjoy my health while I still had it (one year and one month).  I felt like I had just had a psychic reading.

So now I am worried.  Now.  I wasn't before.  I was just going along, happy as a clam (no one  knows why a clam is happy) and now I am left wondering.  I want to ask people who "appear" to be between 70 and 80 if things are indeed trending downward.

Today I weighed the pros and cons of stopping in a parking lot on the way home and picking ripe crabapples (golf ball sized ones) from a tree that was dropping apples all over the asphalt.  Was I trespassing or foraging?  Anyway.  I now have a large bag of crabapples (barely dented the number on the tree and passersby didn't call the police or they did and the police haven't found me yet) and I am planning to try making crabapple jelly.  If done correctly it is a clear pale pink.

I intend to make every effort to "do it correctly".  Pale pink is one of my favorite things.

I am also thinking of using the carrot top greens to make meatless free meatballs (Food 52) and zucchini to make a green curry zucchini soup (101 Cookbooks).  Today, on the way to work, I purchased soft white bread and mayo and made cucumber sandwiches for lunch.  With my own home grown cucumbers.  Only way to roll.  The sandwiches were outstanding.  My first time eating a cucumber sandwich.  Why did I wait so long????

Watched Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille last night.  The movie.  Loved it.  As usual.  So now I need to also make ratatouille.

How Can I Make Summer Last?

Here in Maine, the nights are cooler already.  Today is sunny and breezy.  Perfect weather.  I just got home after 2 hours of walking and chatting with my friend from the library.  We found a brook and a bridge on an (unknown to us) Town path.  It was lovely to hear the water bubbling under the bridge.

I should be in the garden watering.  We haven't had any rain for quite a few days now and things seem rather dry.  I have onions I can pull out of the garden but nothing else is ready.  No squashes.  No tomatoes.  No peppers.  I must wait.  The walk has tired me out.  My fingers feel stiff and arthritic. I feel older.

I wish I owned the hanging light fixtures in this picture.  I wish I had the blackboard in my kitchen listing things in the fridge and freezer.  Mentioning errands needing doing.  Listing phone numbers for friends and family.  I wish I had more time at home.

I think I am ready to stop working (outside my home). LOL

It just happened.  I wasn't even considering it.  And then there it was, like I had decided I was ready while I wasn't even conscious of thinking about it.

I think moving all my art supplies, fabric, felt and thread upstairs--actually handling my supplies--awakened old dreams.  Old plans to paint every day.  Old plans to finish things I began so long ago.
Sorting my paint brushes, pans of watercolors, colored pencils.  Set aside.  Forgotten.  Even my jars of beads whispered to me.  When will you have time for us again??

I can't make summer last any longer that it has ever lasted.  I can't live longer than my expiration date. But I can choose to spent my time doing things that are creative and pleasurable.

Stay tuned.

Rejected

I entered this in the 10 X 10 last September and it didn't get purchased.  I still wonder what was wrong with it.  Too pale?  Not enough on the right side?  A mistake having the tall stem going off the left side?

My astrology guide for this month suggests August 11th will be amazing.  I will be crowned celestial favorite.  So far, in this astrology guide--I have not been gifted with any of the dazzling wonders suggested for my sign. Perhaps someone will bake me a pie?

My past retail employer is filling the papers with ads for employment but I have received no "invitation" to reapply.

My list of rejections grows.

I have received news that I should whittle my closet down to 10 items of clothing.
That I should be filling quart canning jars with salads to take to work.
That I don't meet the criteria to be gluten free.