Cucumber - June 30, 2020

My "get-up-and-go" is AWOL this morning. 

Yesterday was a frustrating day. 

The morning went fairly smoothly.  I took Nanny for some medical tests.  While she was in the doctor's office, I had an hour to visit with my sister, who lives nearby.  Nanny and I were home by noon.  On the way home, I told her about a cabbage casserole recipe I'd tried the night before.  We decided that the recipe would also be good with squash instead of cabbage.  She said she was going to try it for supper that night, if she had enough squash.  I had picked the squash the previous evening and had offered them to her, but she wouldn't take them.  They were in a bowl on my kitchen table.  I told her that I'd stop and get them for her casserole, but she wouldn't hear of it.  In that case, I said, I'd go to the garden and see if any more squash were ready to pick.  There were enough squash.  There was also grass, lots of it.  I made plans to remedy that situation, come evening. 

Nanny and I had also talked about craving cucumbers in vinegar and fried green tomatoes.  I told her I'd I checked the cucumber vines yesterday and didn't find any cucumbers, but we have plenty green tomatoes, and she could have one to fry.  She wouldn't hear of that, either.  (We sort of have a rule that nobody eats a fried green tomato until everybody gets a ripe one.)  Nevertheless, I pulled a green tomato and took it to her with the squash. 

At home, I went straight to the sewing room to test an embroidery design, a cute little pod camper, that I'd started the previous day.  It's not a complicated design, but it takes a L-O-N-G time to sew.  The first time I tested it, it sewed perfectly, but I did not like the way I'd done the tires, so I went back to the computer.  Big mistake.  I ended up tweaking and re-testing the design 4 times, and it still doesn't suit me.  I'd revert to the original design, except I saved the changes and will have to do the tires from scratch. 

At 4:30, I went to the garden to sweat out my frustration.  While pulling grass out of the cucumbers, I found one cucumber big enough to slice.  I didn't even offer to share it with Nanny, but brought it home, soaked it and some sliced onion in vinegar, and we had it for supper (but the cucumber hadn't really soaked long enough, so it didn't quite fix my craving).

After supper, I was tired and came out to the porch to rest and cool off under the fan.  While I was sitting here, I saw a lizard climb out from between the sofa cushions and scamper across the porch.  I spent the rest of the evening reading about how to get rid of lizards.  I don't mind the lizard; what I mind is his POOP.  He POOPS on the sofa.  Makes me so mad. 

I didn't really find a good solution for evicting lizards from sofas without using poisons and other distasteful remedies.  I don't want to kill the lizard, or run him off - he eats bugs, and I could use some help with the spiders that also want to live on the porch - I just want him off my furniture!  There was one curious suggestion that I might try:  egg shells.  Lizards reportedly do not like to encounter egg shells, for it makes them think there's a snake (or some other predator) in the vicinity.  I might slip some egg shells under the pillows.  I'll let you know if it works.