I'm sitting here on the back porch this morning, sipping coffee and watching the bird battle going on in the back yard.  A few minutes ago, a group of crows landed.  A resident hawk has taken exception to the invasion and is doing his/her best to run them off, one at a time.  When the hawk runs off one crow and turns its attention to another, the first crow comes back.  It looks like the hawk needs to call in the reserves.  I know they are out there, for I hear them screaming every day.

It is soooooo much more pleasant on the porch today.  Yesterday, the temperature reached 100 degrees in this area.  Sweat dripped off my face as I sat here with a fan blowing directly on me, twisting wire to make chains for pendants.   Last night about 10 o'clock, it rained, and I could feel the temperature dropping.  

This morning I have errands to run.  This year marks 50 years since I graduated from high school, and I was drafted into helping organize a class reunion.  At the most recent reunion committee meeting, the "treasurer" job got lobbed onto me, which means I, who can scarcely add, am in charge of the money.  In a little while, I have to go out to collect some checks.  Fortunately, I'll be driving in the opposite direction of the hobby store . . . . 

Speaking of hobbies, for a couple of days this week, I put polymer clay aside and worked on some wire jewelry, attempting some pieces that a few months ago I would have considered too hard for my skill level.  Two pendants turned out okay.  Some videos I watched used coiled wire.  They coiled their wire with a drill.  I tried it, but my wire kept breaking, so I coiled it by hand, instead.  Took forEVER, but it'll make a pretty accent on a pendant or bracelet.

Over the weekend, I was fed a cooking video in which an elderly lady made tomato dumplings.  Yes, TOMATO dumplings.  She used about a pint of home-canned tomatoes and a small can of biscuits.  She brought the tomatoes to a boil, dumped 1/2 cup of sugar in it, dropped biscuit bits into it, and simmered it for about 10 minutes.  I made some that day, minus the sugar.  It looked a bit like . . . well, vomit . . . but it was SO GOOD.  It reminded me of the macaroni and tomatoes that The Husband's grandmother used to make for big family dinners.  She sauteed onions first, then added the tomatoes and macaroni.  I'll put sauteed onions in my tomato dumplings next time.