Happy Thanksgiving Dear Readers

Today and tomorrow (and everyday) I will give thanks for the good life I have and the friends, family and good memories I hold in my heart.

I am thankful to be in good health.
I am thankful that I have a well constructed roof over my head and heat.
I am thankful for the food in the fridge and garden.
I am thankful that BOTH my son and daughter now have new jobs.
(your good thoughts are much appreciated)
I am thankful for our devoted, sweet and happy dog.
I am thankful for the warm sweater I am wearing and the cosy slippers.

It is snowing here in Maine and the roads are getting more and more slippery.  My daughter is driving home and has given G a heads up.  If she doesn't call in 45 minutes, he's to go out looking for her.

I chose not to go into work today.  I would have had to drive home at 6 pm in the dark, in the snow. Instead I made cranberry sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, and baked a pumpkin cheesecake, sent G to the grocery store twice (he reports the driving, tempers and behavior on the roads and in the stores is very poor.   And, really, what does anyone need from a greenhouse the day before Thanksgiving?

In 45 minutes, when our daughter is safely home from work, all will be good in my little world.  As I hope it is in your worlds.  Safe, warm and anticipating a lovely holiday tomorrow.

I am thankful for you, reading this.

The Big Dinner Is This Week

So much hustle and bustle in the grocery parking lot, in the grocery aisles and in people's minds.

I saw some incredibly stupid driving in the parking lot.  And the backing out of spaces?? Yikes.  It's like everyone checked their common sense at home and was out looking for trouble.  Or they were just wondering where they put the shopping list.

I found myself walking about trying to "remember" that important item I had forgotten to buy the last two times I had shopped.  It was sweet potatoes.  The big ones.  I had gotten smaller ones for dinners 1, 2 and 3 but the "BIG" dinner requires very large sweet potatoes.

I went a bit nuts on the turkey.  I think it's 21 pounds.  I managed to get it into the fridge to thaw.  I was worried that it wouldn't fit on any of the crazy weird shelves in my fridge.  I even had a shelf left over after the REPAIR.  I can't even figure out where it fit.  So I stored it in the guest room closet and will use it if any of the others break.

The turkey is thawing.  I have the potatoes (I just realized I forgot to buy the regular white potatoes- cause my daughter likes mashed not sweet), squash (it's New England), B. sprouts in the garden, pumpkin for the pie, fresh cranberries and brandy for the sauce and I'll use the neck to make stock for the gallon of gravy we go thru.  Oh, and the green beans for the green bean casserole--the star of the meal in IMHO.

This coming week is #36 at work.  My last week is week #40.  So the clock is ticking.  Short timers attitude.  I made a bunch of State of Maine wreaths on Friday.  Nine in an hour which is pretty good.

It's VERY cold here in Maine, but no snow.  I see pictures of Buffalo and cringe.  And it seems very dark here.  Dark when I wake up.  Dark when I am working in the greenhouse.  Darkest when I drive home.  In Germany they referred to this period as the "dark times" and I think it helped them through it when the Christmas markets set up shop.  Lights, food and Christmas things.  I know that I wish we had outdoor Christmas Markets as part of our American holiday.  Not the Mall.  Never the Mall.

My daughter has had a second interview for a possible job.  She is very interested--so we are hoping it works out for her.  We'll all just send positive thoughts her way, okay?

The Weather Outside (& Inside) Is Chilly

Last week we were busy getting ready for the Holiday Open House at work.  Making, cleaning, setting up.  It went well, I think.  Always hard to judge from the depths of the greenhouse, far from the cash registers.  We ran out of things like white Christmas Cactus which is the "new" favorite and the food trays were wiped clean.

I potted up many cactus gardens, the Fairy Garden I made for a display sold (yes!), and repotted a number of houseplants.  Not as many amaryllis bulbs as in past Open Houses.  The Christmas trees are being cut this week and shipped to us by the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

G and I have had Thanksgiving dinner twice so far this month.  This coming Thursday will be dinner #3.  It's a quick fix meal but has all the players.  Turkey (deli roasted), stuffing (Stove Top), baked sweet potatoes, Brussels Sprouts from the garden, cranberry sauce.  No leftovers.  I usually pick up what we need on the way home from work and pop the sweet potatoes in the oven while still wearing my coat.  The gravy this year is from a new gravy mix.  I like Knorr best but it's hard to find. We tried Trader Joe's cranberry sauce (excellent), Ocean Spray whole berry with a few spoons of the Brandied stuff mixed in (wow) and I have bags of berries to make into more brandied sauce which carries quite a punch!!!  I got imported French brandy for the recipe as I think everything French is better.

The sunny high for today is 40 degrees.  With wind.  So, it feels colder.

My friend and I did our weekly walk at 10:30 and it was brisk.  I needed a hat and gloves.

I need to visit the library to return a book and I seem to be feeling like a visit to Goodwill would be a good idea.  I have to make a paper pattern for a Santa ornament I want to make for the tree this year (saw it in the Crate & Barrel catalog or the Pottery Barn catalog)  It's just a felt Santa suit with the hat dangling from a thread.  No Santa in the suit.  No boots.  I think it's 5 inches tall and about that wide. When I find it I will share it's image with you.

I have a few plants to repot, cut back etc before they get shuffled off to their winter set up.  Either in the dining room or in the back bedrooms.  Some are already in the attic bedroom which is really cold (45) and not suitable for all the plants.  The fig is up there.

G used the Vitamix to bake a loaf of fig and walnut whole wheat bread.  You actually just mix a few of the items in the Vitamix and then add that to the dry ingredients in a bowl.  It came out quite good and he is happy with his baking success.  The recipe was for a date walnut mix but he bought figs.
The Loaded Baked Potato soup that you "cook" in the Vitamix was TERRIBLE.  I declared that that was the LAST SOUP I would ever make in the Vitamix.  I can make better soup in a pan on the stove.

Well, I need to start doing something or my day off will be wasted doing nothing.

My Saturday Chores

I made more grape jelly.

Six more pints of the stuff which was two procedures.  Cooking, canning, washing.  And then I did it a third time and made fig preserves framer home grown figs.

The figs weren't exactly ripe.  Or soft.  But they did have pretty pink insides.  I used the Vitamix to pulverize everything into a mush and then added lots of sugar and cooked it till it "gelled" and then added lemon juice.  It's not pink.  It's very seedy and very very sweet.  Sort of a nutty taste.

I don't eat fig preserves.  So I tasted mine and then tasted the fig preserves in the jar G has in the fridge--from France.  Same-ish.  So I think it's all good.

The only really good things about today--I started the cooking by making French Cabbage soup so I have something to eat.  And the disposal got a really good disinfecting when I poured the huge pot of boiling water down the sink drain.  Oh, and I am done for the day.

Well, I think I can add that the skin around my eye isn't burning and raw today.  Whatever I am allergic to must be "over".  We think it's a mold.  And the cold weather is killing it.  Could also be a fungus.  Among us.

I made myself a very very sweet terrarium out of a blown glass vase I bought across the street (yard sale) a few summers ago.  The hole in the top of the container is just big enough for my hand to fit inside so it was very tricky filling it with stones, charcoal, moss and finally dirt and plants.  I have two kinds of ferns, a moss and two tiny succulents.  I need a tiny animal or a fairy chair or clay mushroom to really finish it off.  Shopping!!!!

I planted four (could have used 5) ornamental kale plants in the front courtyard planter.  All purple and pink.  That's something I will plan on doing again next fall.  With something tall and orange in the center.  My list of things to remember to do is getting longer.

I still have my dahlia tubers to pack up for winter storage.  And the cannas.  And the elephant ears.  The BIG ferns are upstairs in the attic along with the agapanthus (which didn't bloom this summer)  and the pruned fig tree.  Pruned to the nub as they say.  Now I just have to water and wait for the amaryllis to bloom.  The Christmas Cactus have started budding already.  And I am hoping the cymbidium orchids put out a flower spike this year.

So much to look forward to.  And in a few weeks I will be on winter furlough.  Seven.

I Walked And I Voted

It was a chilly day and I wore my winter down jacket but the company was delightful and the turnout for voting was extraordinary.  I am happy to see the end of the bear baiting ads on Maine television. I was also disgusted to see the ads for bear traps with bears screaming, radio collared hunting dogs cornering bears and close range shooting of the bears (all repeatedly aired on television all day long) was all sponsored by the NRA.  Nasty.

Here in Maine we are hoping to have a new governor by nightfall.  A new senator would also be a welcome surprise.  And no bear baiting.

Gas always goes down in price before an election.  $3.01 until 2:45 pm and then it started going up in price.  Up to $3.05 while G filled up.  I guess the politicians think they can fool us with a cheap sense of good will as in "everything is great, gas is going down in price".  No worries.

My friend Patty dragged a huge basket of Concord grapes over here last night.  This morning I washed them and picked the grapes off the stems and made juice.  Just under 2.5 quarts.  My fingers are grape colored.  I have the juice settling in the fridge and will strain it again to remove the crystals before making more jars of jelly.   I also need to make Brandied Cranberries for the holidays.  Got the treasured family recipe from my neighbor.  Now I need to buy berries and a bottle of brandy.

I have to go up into the cold attic and get the heavy winter down comforter.  The summer weight and the down alternative are not doing the job.  Do I have too many down comforters?  Well, yes I do. And only one of them was a bargain at $20.

My eye rash is sort of back.  Now I have this acid like moisture running out of the corner of my eyes and making my skin burn, crack and hurt.  I am taking zyrtec, using cold compresses and covering my skin with Burt's Bee's hand salve.  I just wish it would stop and go away.  My actual eye balls do not itch or look red.  Not conjunctivitis.  And it usually gets really bad while I am sitting on the couch watching television or reading.  I think it's an allergy.

Well, I am putting on my winter coat and going up not the attic.  Find that comforter and try and shove it into the duvet cover (always an aerobic activity).  Later.

And Winter Has Entered The Building

The snow was already covering everything when I woke up--at 11 am.  I needed sleep.  I was so very exhausted.  Two 10 hour work days back to back is one too many.

Halloween is past and we put up the Christmas Trees and started decorating them yesterday.  I didn't as I was teaching people how to put their garden to bed for the winter.  Guess they didn't have much of a chance to put the lessons into practice, huh?

I have a pot of browned onions (4 pounds of them) in the cast iron pan, prepped to be turned into onion soup for supper, later.  I have stale bread to make into croutons and French cheese to shred on top.  I am looking forward to it.  I think I could eat French onion soup every single day. My friend M's father ordered it in every restaurant they ever went to.  I think that's a very good idea.  And I would stop going to restaurants that made a mediocre bowl.

I feel the same about mussels.  I love a good mussels broth.  It was a favorite of mine while I was doing low carb.  I should really learn how to make them at home.   Maine always has fresh mussels available.

G and I went out for lunch last Tuesday and had our usual deep fried cajun ribs and I tried the shrimp creole lunch special.  I took half the creole home (I ran out of rice to eat it with) and had it for lunch at work the next day with 8 ounces (I weighed it) of brown rice.  I think this is also something I should learn to make at home.  Just onion, celery, bell peppers, tomatoes and shrimp.  The creole I had didn't have a roux to thicken it.  It was just loose.  And spicy hot.

The chili I made and packed up for lunches is finally gone.  It certainly was a delight to have something hot to eat while working in the cold greenhouse.  Not looking forward to tomorrow as all I have left to eat (we now have a note on the fridge listing what's inside) is salad and cold roasted beets.  Salad is cold.  I'll need to wear my coat while I eat it.  I also finished the last of the yogurt and won't be having that again until spring.  I do have a whole pineapple for my fruit this week.  Only one apple left from my last batch of fruit.  I also have another serving of cold brown rice.  I could eat that with one of my frozen servings of ratatouille.  Nice and hot.  In my bowl.  Making lunches in the cold months is pretty difficult.  I should just make a pot of lentil soup.  Do I have any lentils????

Riley is wanting his 5 pm dinner. It's always difficult when the time changes.  His tummy doesn't have a "set-back" switch.

Blue Pendant Lights

I love that shade of bird's egg blue.

Today was my doctor appointment.  There is bad news and good news.  The bad news is that my scale and the doctor's don't match up.  About a 4 pound difference.  And not my way.

The good news?  No yelling.  She was honestly pleased with my progress, said I look wonderful, wondered why I had a better tan than she did and was thrilled with my BP 122 over 62.

We discussed "mindful" eating.  Meaning not to walk around while eating the daily fruit.  I should sit or stand quietly and purposefully enjoy eat bite.  She also though an infrequent dessert was a good idea.  All in all, I left thinking life was okay.  And on the dog walk with G, he said he noticed (**) that my rear end was smaller.  What a guy.  I just looked at him and laughed.

I go back in another 3 months.  The end of January.  Well.  I knew this was going to be a long haul as they say.  I will be starting a new food diary in the Hello Kitty book someone put in my locker near my birthday.  No one is saying it was them.  I just think of it as a group effort.

I caved and turned on the furnace.  Just to 60.  I am freezing.  Which is what happens on a low fat low calorie diet.  You get cold and stay cold.

I have a pan full of brown rice cooking on the stove.  I think it takes 30 minutes to cook.  I plan to have it with steamed or roasted vegetables during the week.  Beets.  Sweet Potatoes.  Onions. Brussels Sprouts.  Carrots.  Potatoes.  Like those "abundance" bowls on all the vegan websites.
I tried quinoa and it is not good.  I have to find someone to give the remainder of it.

And I keep forgetting to make shredded sweet potato fritters (burgers) for meals.  And I want to make hummus.  So many ideas and so little time.

Spooky Muppets

It took longer than ever to find this picture for the top of the blog.  I have so many in the file and G keeps "updating" things---so I can't find anything.

I did a lovely job decorating the back wall of the greenhouse for Halloween Pumpkin Carving last Saturday.  Yesterday I took it all down.  I still have a bale of hay and a stack of pumpkins for holiday flavor but nothing else. No ghosts.  No "scary" man stuffed with paper.

It's cold but not raining.  7 carts of perennials left today and another 4 tomorrow.  Once the perennials go back to the mother ship, it's a very fast slide into Christmas.  Then furlough.  Then Spring.  As I get older, I have to stop and enjoy the "moments" of a season because time is certainly speeding up.

Riley and I did go shopping and did buy the ingredients for both chili (for me) and meatloaf (for g). the chili is still hanging around.  G ate all the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  I also cut up all the peaches I still had (collecting fruit flies) and made a second peach cobbler.  G is working his way thru it.

Tomorrow is my doctor's appointment.  Three months after I was instructed to eat only 1200 to 1500 calories a day and lose 2-3 pounds a week.  I have lost a total of 11.5 pounds.  My doctor isn't going to be happy.  I am ambivalent.  My pants are very loose.  My personal goal was wearing loose pants (and not buying larger pants) so I think I am okay with 11.5 pounds in three months.  My doctor will not be.  I am taking my food diary with me.  Each page has a list of what I actually ate.  Pretty dull and uninteresting things.  It bores me to read it.  Boring to eat it.

I am cold and tired.  Going to take my shower, pull on my jammies and watch television.  I may have a dumpling or two from G's Chinese takeout.  I ate my main food for the day at 2:30.  Chicken (cold, leftover) and pumpkin risotto from Whole Foods.  I also had my cucumber/lemon water yesterday and today--to get rid of excess water--if I was retaining any.  It tasted good yesterday but the batch I made this morning is Blech!

Multiple Colors On The House

I have two colors on my house right now.  A "shortbread" paint color (yellowish) from the MS collection (when she was in prison) and white.  I had the painters cover all the decorative trim with the base color--to "delete" them as I find all that trim clutter-y. I had custom paint mixed for the shutters.  A rhododendron leaf.  A nice green.  In certain light it looks almost lime.

This was a mistake. All of it.

As an artist who is rather good at mixing up lovely paint colors--I was very unhappy with what I chose for the house paint.  In a painting, one has many opportunities for a do over.  Not on an expensive house painting.  I kept hoping the yellow color would fade.  It did not.  Will probably never fade. Will last 100 years.  It's what happens when you can't stand something.  Look at weeds as an example of staying where you are not wanted.

Left to my own choices I like a white house, charcoal roof and black trim.

Left to his choices, G likes a green house.  Like it was back in 1991 when he chose this house.

The house picture I shipped over here from Houzz, has G's green.  It also has lime green and purple.
 I don't think I could live with the purple.  Too Seattle.  Not Maine.  I do like the "pop" of red in the table leg and hanging light indoors.

Not much going on here.  Just work which seems relentless and we are now decorating for Christmas.  Days are cooler, darker, shorter.  Today it's raining.  And will be raining until Friday.  I took Riley along on the weekly walk with my friend (day off activity).  We did it in short order as Riley kept us moving at his speed.  Now he's resting.  When the weather shifts it's hard to decide what to wear.  Too much and one sweats.  Too little and one shivers.  I had on a lined vest and a scarf wrapped around my neck.  I find a cold neck is a terribly unhappy thing so I wear a scarf in and out of the house once we get cold weather.

I am finishing off the kale and tomato soup today and need to make another.  G is happiest with chicken soup but I am more difficult to please.  I am going to see if I have lentils.  I like a thick soup in the cold months.  If I don't have lentils, then a minestrone with barley.  I would really like chili. But that means a ride to the grocery--not a bad idea-- for meat.  I could get double the meat and make chili for lunches and meat loaf for dinner.  Okay.  Good plan.  Hey Riley!!  Want to go for a ride?
We're off.

Kitchen Cabinets

The neighbor down the street is having new cabinets installed this week and next. Everything in the kitchen remains in the same position--with a wider opening for one of the new fridges.  I asked but don't remember her answering--"did you get a new sink".  Have to wait and see.  What I liked in the picture up top was the cabinet doors and pulls.  Not the louvers.  Murder to clean.

G has "updated" my computer (yet again).

Time and time again, I tell him this computer is mine.  He should update his iPad to his hearts content and leave my stuff alone.  But he has "conjoined" his with mine--who said he could? and I have to suffer all the "updates" he thinks he needs.  Plus, he never mentions it until it's done.  When this happens I often think I will just stop using the computer--because if I don't enjoy the way things LOOK, why bother????  What things look like is all I actually care about or enjoy.

Well, I do like things to open.  But I have no use for "bells, whistles, games, videos etc."

I was hungry all day today.  I was also cold and sopping wet most of the morning.  I had to tie string around wet mums to gather their stems up into a tight head.  They were flopping from the heavy rain overnight.  By the time I finished my clothing was dripping.  I thought about going home to change into dry clothes but we only have 4 people working.  I had a dry tee shirt in my locker, I found someone's left behind dry hoodie in the Fish House and--the pants?  Well, they dried by 2 pm. Dry-Ish.

Lesson re-learned.  Extra set of clothing in the car.  Plus rain boots.  I must have taken them out of the car at some point.

My extra special customer service abilities had several customers saying "I'm really happy I stopped in here today".  Papyrus repot for an art teacher doing an Egyptian theme.  Orchid repot and care instructions.  Terrarium instructions plus bonus excursion into the yard to find mosses.  Explanation of the differences between the varieties of Hibiscus (indoor, perennial and shrub).  Pruning of a temperamental Ficus tree while the owner talked to his banker.  And I finished cutting back more of the perennials and scrubbed the front counters with Simple Green.

Chalk Board Pumpkins

What a great idea.  No cutting.  No messy pulp.  No rotting.  Win. Win.

We had summer today.  Sun, heat and people wearing shorts.  No me, sadly.  I was out in the perennial yard cutting the tops off of plants.  Getting ready to send them back to the mother ship for the winter.  It's properly called "cutting back".

I roasted a butternut squash yesterday and cut a nice bowl of B. sprouts off the fat stem they were growing on.  Roasting is in their future.  And perhaps some pita chips for a "fall fatuous" like Smitten Kitchen has on her blog.  But no lemon.  She likes everything sour.  I don't.

I have not used my Vitamix in over a week.  Really can't think of anything to make.  Perhaps some oat flour or rice flour or grinding up dry corn for cornmeal.  The dry blade does all that and makes peanut butter or almond butter as well.  Well, I could do those things.

I was trolling the channels and came upon HSN's Wolfgang Puck and his "pressure oven".  I have one traveling my way.  Everyone--on the net--says the machine is too expensive, too big etc etc but they agree that the food is just delicious cooked this way.  I can't wait to make chicken in it.  With brown crispy skin and still juicy.  Just like at the deli.

I am going to take a shower and try not to fall asleep immediately after.  I am exhausted.

Sunday

While driving to work this morning I passed two crows.  One on the left side of the road and one on   the right.  In the middle of the road was a squirrel.  Tummy side up.  Cars coming and going.

Patience.

They waited.

I think the squirrel could have made better choices this morning.

I'm thinking I should be making better choices.
How about you?

Making Jelly

Will download pictures etc when I am done.  Already made 7 half pint jars with only a quarter of the juice I made earlier in the week.  Quite a lot of crystals in the juice when I strained it this morning.  Bad for the kidneys.

G has gone out for more sugar and I have washed and boiled more jars--quart jars this time.  Not interested in fussing with more of the small jars.

Still waiting for the figs to turn brown and ripen.  Sigh.  Fingers crossed that it happens.  I have 25 figs on the tree.

Oh, and Patty wants us to go get more grape (not) and pick peaches.  I tried peach jam last time but I don't think I chopped the peaches fine enough.  May try it again.  No room in the freezer.

It's Raining. I'm Freezing Cold

The weather is changing and I am not eating enough fats to keep myself warm.  So, loading up with sweaters and such.  Socks.  I know it's not summer any more when I need to have socks on 24/7.

I am liking this green and pink, feathery look for my gardens.  Wonder what this plant is?  I don't know.  I do still have Jewels of Opar filling the container out front.  Talinium I think.  Or something spelled that way.  A froth of tiny flowers above succulent like leaves.

I took pictures of the juice making segment of making Concord grape jelly.  Yesterday.  I ended up with 5 quarts (too much).  It's not sweet or grapey but it is purple.  I am letting it sit and then will strain again in the jelly bag to remove the crystals tomorrow.  I will download the pictures when the jelly making happens.  Such a MESS. Grape stains everywhere and I think I used every pot, pan and spoon I own.  The compost pile is full of stems, grapes and the cooked grape pulp.  I may have to buy more sugar to get this juice to taste good.  Jelly is less forgiving than jam.  Took an entire day.

I haven't used my camera much at all this year.  The batteries wore out waiting.  I had to change them.  There are a number of things I haven't had any time for this summer.  This means I am doing things--wrong.  I need to find time to do the things I enjoy and not just work, work, work.

On my walk with my Janet yesterday, we found milkweed pods.  The community garden wanted some to start a bed for the Monarchs.  Lots of potential plants in the hundreds of seeds in each pod.  I have four that G collected on the daily dog walk.  I think I will find small bags to package them in for when customers ask for them in the Spring.  Janet says the Monarch are coming back.

Speaking of work.  Time to pack my lunch and head out.  Haven't used the Vitamix in a week.  Guess it's going back.

October--Really?

I have had Russian Sage in my front garden bed for two (or is it three) full years.  It was supposed to look like this by now.  It doesn't.  So, I am going to have to dig the pitiful plants up and move them to a new location.  Again.  Why does it take me so long to get plants in the right spot? In my defense I got the heather right the first time.  I'm thinking the sage needs the same sort of spot.  Dry and sunny. Pitiful soil.  Neglect.  I am being "too kind" in the spot where it lives right now.  I guess.

Anyway.  Today I worked a Saturday because of a class I was teaching.  Bulbs.  It went well.  I have tomorrow off.  I am pretty much worn to the nub.  Working Tuesday to Saturday.  About 40 hours which is not usual for me.  Tomorrow no alarm clock.  Fingers crossed that I don't just wake up at 6 am anyway.

Tomorrow I am pulling all the turnips out of the garden.  The red onions.  The last of the jalapeños.
I am getting the garlic bed prepped for a new crop of garlic (even though I hardly eat any) because I think I will be sending a few nice fat heads to my son.  He likes it roasted.   In four months I will be starting more onions from seed.  The next garden season begins and ends in a loop.

I plan to finish my book (W is for Wasted) this weekend and start my next book (Marco Effect). I think you use up more calories reading than you do watching television.

My rash is gone.  Zyrtec.  My knee pain is back--the kind that was from fluid on the knee.  No swelling.  Too much walking on the uneven parking lot.  I had the big (really BIG) containers in the parking lot to empty and fill with Alberta Spruces and mums.  Lots of back and forth.  Too much.

Well that's my tale of woe for the end of September into October.  It's cold and wet here in Maine. But when the sun shines the colors of the Fall Trees are absolutely STUNNING against that pure blue Maine sky.  Love it.

It's Always Some Kind Of Problem

I saw this delightful picture of cats doing Physics equations while the child is adding up legs and hands.  It feels like that some days.

The number on the scale went back to 2 this morning. (expletive)

I cut off all the bad parts of the remaining tomatoes.  Roasted half as a rough pasta sauce and made the rest into Tomato Basil Soup for G.  I also cored the last few red bell peppers and roasted them.

The Vitamix is here and I am using it to make cucumber, lemon, ginger water.  The machine completely changes the items into a pale green water.  No solids.  Tasty when I get the lemon part just right.  And when I remember to toss the foam.  Foam equals ICK.  Entire cucumber (peeled is best), entire half of lemon without peel.  Ginger with peel.  Using the cucumber with peel makes a very green liquid.  Not awful but more bitter than I like.  Or enjoy drinking.  54 ounces.

I don't think cucumber water is enough of a use to justify the cost of the machine.

Drinking that much cucumber water makes me feel woozy, wobbly and needing protein.

I must (MUST the teens at work shout!) join Pinterest so I can find better Vitamix Recipes.

I'm thinking of making the Tortilla Soup.  But I have no corn chips.  The Teens would be horrified.

I am also freezing banana chunks in case I decide to have a Banana Strawberry Smoothie.  The Teens at work say "it's awesome and I will love it".  The Teens are taking me under their wings. I'll be wearing Converse high tops any day now.

I think I will go with the soup (I can hear the Teens cheering).  Making it either the old fashioned way  (BOO!!!) or in the Vitamix.  I saw a tip that said to use hot water to shorten the blending time.  Six minutes of that very loud motor would hurt Riley's ears.  And without corn chips.  I'll add black beans. At the very end.

What a boring few days.

The Internet Kicked Me To The Curb

It was that kind of week.  Friday afternoon I lost the internet and, I guess, the router.  We now have a new one and I am trying to catch up on all I missed in four days.

Fall is here in Maine.  The tree in front of my friend's house (down the street) is a brilliant RED!!! Can't miss it.  Our oaks are dropping leaves but the maples are holding out.  G says it's usually the other way around.  At work we are having the parking lot dug up to install drainage so the store doesn't fill with water when the snow melts.  Let's just say that Thursday was "something else" with cars, trucks, tractors (at least two) and everything else looking for a spot of driveway--all at the same time and employees hoping no one fell into a ditch.

G is back from his visit to his brother's home.  He had a really, really nice time.  I hope he makes it an annual or every couple year thing.  I have email addresses for family members wanting recipes.  That sounds like fun.  Riley and I enjoyed our time together as well and got back to that "special" relationship we had when G was still working.  I love that sweet dog.  And it was good to have G back home.  We both missed him.

The garden is closing itself up.  A few onions, one cabbage, the brussels sprouts and the red onions. G says the raspberries were a bit "moldy" when he went out to pick.  I hope he's wrong.  I also have jalapeños out there.  I'm hoping, if they stay out there longer, they will be hotter than the last batch I picked.

Well, that's all for now.  I need to eat something.  And, in diet news, the first number in my weight has changed from a 2 to a 1.  Made me very happy this morning.  The number I saw flicker by 6 days ago is now here for good.  Slow but sure.  Anyway.  That's what I hope it is.

Oh, and welcome to new Readers (and family) who chose to visit.  300 a day according to Blogger.
Now, if you would all send a comment--you know, to test the new router.  LOL

A New Idea For The Carpenter If He Ever Comes Back

The layout would solve the "problem" of adding a shower to a bathroom that doesn't have a shower, but does have a washer and dryer.  I like the big glass door.  And the open shelving that keeps all the bathroom crap--well, somewhere else.  Two nice stacks of white towels (the only color they should come in) is "just right".  We'll need two sinks.  G says he is using this bathroom if it gets a shower. I was kind of hoping it would be all mine.  Like it is now.

My Vitamix arrived (5 days early).  As usual, all the things I thought I wanted to make in it--well, now that it's here with the recipe books, I can see why I didn't make anything last time.  Anyone reading this have one? Want to share a couple of "beginner" recipes with me? I saw a soup on Food52 that I think could be made in the Vitamix.  Just toss it all (except for cheese) into the thing and let it go for 5 minutes till it's hot.  Then add cheese and a few corn chips.

I need to go shopping if I make a smoothie.  No bananas and no apples.  And I think they put celery in all of them also.  None of that here either.  I could make a kale, cabbage and blueberry smoothie.  Not in the book but it's what I have on hand.  Pin Interest has lots of recipes but I'm not a member.

I also think I have the stuff to make the Tortilla Soup.  Which would be nice, maybe.

I froze the remainder of the pork.  Will be eating the rest of the sauerkraut for dinner.  Didn't get the pot roast in the oven (which was a mistake) and now I have to worry about it's sell or freeze by date.

Walked with Riley this morning and got lost.  I finally asked him to take me home and he did.  Who is walking whom??????  And I need to find out how to set the alarm so I can get up for work tomorrow.

In case anyone cares, I am wearing something I put into the "Medium Box of Clothing" this Spring.  It's an XL Bean fleece--a light one.  And I am reminded of feeling like a sausage in it's casing the last time I tried to wear it.  Today?  Just perfect.  Sort of a citrus lemon lime color.  Good for getting lost in the woods.  A Bean XL can be anything from a size 12 to a size 18.  You just never know.  Yes, dear Readers, in some fashion houses a 12 is very nearly plus size.  Thus--XL.

The two zip front vests in a pretty green and baby blue are also able to be zipped. And worn. Too bad the scale isn't getting the same message as the clothes.  But I'll take what I can get and be happy.

Living

I don't know if this is something I think of as Autumn begins.  Life.  How to live.  How to be happy in one's own skin.  It isn't always easy.  Well, it's not actually easy at all.

When did it become "natural" for humans to "want" so much?  When I watch Father Brown set in the 195o's and people "packed" everything they owned into the tiniest of suitcases.  We pack more to go to work each day.  Well, I do.  Water, cup, coffee, banana, jacket, extra socks, pills, lunch, wallet.

So much stuff.

G is going to visit his brother and I am going to be the dog's companion for a few days.  Riley will be missing his man.  I am moving all library books, catalogs and magazines to high places.  Riley "shreds" when he gets anxious.

I clean.  Today I attacked the orchid table.  Mealy bugs.  I sprayed, washed and sprayed again.  All the leaves, the pots, the sticks, the trays, the table, the window and the windowsills.  I even found mealy bugs on the bottom of the insecticide bottle.  So many bugs.

Then I washed the clothes I had on, the towels and myself.

My rash seems to be getting better.  Zyrtec.  Chamomile soap.  Burt's Bees Hand Salve on my face.
No itching.  No red rash.  No swelling.  Fingers crossed it stays this way.

Pumpkin Time

Either you are buying Pumpkin Lattes from Starbucks or you are drinking Pumpkin Ale.  But not me. I even chatted with a woman in line at Walmart regarding the Libby's boxes of Pumpkin Bread Kits in her cart.  She laughed and admitted it's the only way she can make bread.  If Libby stops making it--well, she hopes they never do.   My grocery doesn't carry the "kits".  Does yours?

My eyes are burning.  That nasty rash is back and it didn't have anything to do with the retail job of last Fall.  There must be something in the air that I just don't get along with.  Rubbing my eyes feels so good---but then it itches 1,000 times more when I stop.  I have been going to bed with a cold wet compress on my eyes.  And my hands tightly clenched.

I bought a package of Zyrtec to try.  The Benadryl wasn't working.

I have MS's Southern Pulled Pork in the oven roasting.  I went to the grocery and the meat looked good so I am cooking meat this week.  A very nice pot roast on Tuesday.  I got everything prepped and in the oven before taking my allergy tablet.  I also have a French Cabbage Soup recipe to try. I ate the last of the Italian Carrot Soup yesterday at work.

It's very humid here in Maine.  No sun.  I am glad I worked yesterday and have today off.

Last night, as I was clicking thru the channels (trying) to find something to watch, I caught the very first 5 minutes of QVC's presentation on the new short Vitamix.  AND it came with the $144 dry blade and jar--free.  So I ordered it.  I chose the brown Espresso unit.  The dry blade and canister means I can grind nuts, grains and anything else into "flour" for use in gluten free recipes.  I can make oil, sugar and salt free peanut butter.  G wants to make 6 minute soups.  The short machine fits under the cabinets.  The one I bought (and returned unused in 30 days) was the tall model, no dry blade and stainless.  It just wasn't the right time for it.

I am going to try the margarita mix with one peeled orange, one peeled lime and one peeled lemon. And I may finally try a smoothie.  And one of the caller said she made the marinara sauce.  And it was so delicious she canned 80 jars of it already.  I am going to try that.

G is enjoying the Blueberry Jam I made for him.  Sigh.  That means he'll eat his way thru the 8 pint jars.  I gave number 9 to a co-worker and she opened it and tried a spoonful and swooned.  She has quite a sweet tooth (like G) and sprinkled two packs of sugar on her slice of birthday pie.  To make it extra sweet.

My son called me for my birthday and I took advantage and talked to him for almost 2 hours.  Thank you sweetie!!!  You sounded so happy--it made me happy.