Planning a Picking - August 9,2024

Granddaughter #1 will be heading to college next week.  Tomorrow evening, we're having a family get-together so everyone can visit with her before she leaves.  I've ordered a pork shoulder, baked beans, and slaw from a local bbq joint.  The Sons have been told to bring their guitars for some back-porch picking.

I had a lot to do today.  

The first thing on my list was a stop at the community garden to drop off some vegetables from our personal garden and pick what's ready in our community garden plot, all of which would be donated to the food bank.  I am proud of what the community garden has accomplished in its first year.  So far, gardeners have donated over 2,000 pounds of fresh vegetables.  Our plot has donated 20+ pounds, some of which came from our personal garden.  

I finished up Year - whatever number it is - today and had a planning session with the records clerk.  They're going to bring down the rest of what's in the attic next week, and haul away the boxes that I've finished.  The end of this phase of the project is in sight.

However . . . . 

The next thing I have to tackle is a BIG room full of boxes.  They're stacked on top of empty file cabinets, several boxes deep.  I'll need some procured muscle to get them down; my creaky, clumsy ass has no business on a ladder.  

There's no telling what kinds of creatures live in that room.  And there's no heat or air-conditioning, just a monstrous big fan that will probably blow papers everywhere.

When I finished my work, I went to get the Wrangler out of hock.  It's been at the transmission shop for over a month.  I paid the bill and got the keys.  We'll go get it tonight or tomorrow.  (Not tonight, actually, for it's MARGARITA NIGHT).

After that, I went to the grocery store for back-porch-pickin' night.  Forgot half of the stuff I meant to get.  I'll go back tomorrow in the Wrangler.  :)

Fall Garden - August 8, 2024

This evening, the community garden "plot partners" met at the local Extension Office to talk about planting fall garden plots.  There were free seeds, but I didn't take any; I'd already bought my seeds.  I did sign the county mayor's office up to have a plot next year. 

I will probably just plant mustard greens in our plot.  It will be a while before I'm ready to pull up the tomatoes.  Last week - or maybe the week before - I planted three hills of summer squash, and they will probably be producing until nearly time for frost.  

After the meeting, I went down to Nanny's to check on our garden.  The Southernpeas I planted last week have started to come up.  The squash looks like it's about done.  The butterbeans have runners on them and are grabbing hold of the fence.  The tomatoes look awful and probably ought to be pulled up.  The same goes for the cucumbers. The okra is being stingy with blooms.  But the two late rows of purple hull peas will need picking in the next few days.  Everything needs water, and there's no rain in next week's forecast.  Looks like I'll have to drag out the waterhose this weekend.

Cool spell - August 7, 2024

The hurricane that poured rain on the southeast coast must have sucked away some of our heat, for it has been right pleasant today, a little overcast, a little windy.  Occasional wind gusts make it rain crape myrtle blooms in the back yard.  Since it's not sweltering hot, I ought to go check on the garden this evening to see if anything needs picking and if the new pea seeds are up.  

But I'm tired. I was on my feet today for nearly 8 straight hours, sorting papers on a table.

I started Project Year 13 yesterday, and as I was doing the first A-B-C sort, I noticed that Year 12 documents were mixed in with the Year 13 documents.  After an expletive-filled rant (which nobody heard because nobody was there yet), I un-sorted, pulling out the Year 12 records, when I then had to sort, alphabetize, and file in the Year 12 boxes.

Half of yesterday was lost to Uncle B's funeral.  The Husband was drafted to read the obituary at the beginning of the service.  A local musician who attends Uncle B's church played the guitar and sang (at Uncle B's request) I Want to Go Home.  We followed the hearse to the cemetery; in small towns in the South, on-coming traffic still pulls over and stops out of respect for a funeral procession.  After the burial, there was a dinner for the funeral-goers at the church fellowship hall, put on by the church ladies.  

We came home and collapsed into our recliners and watched a couple of episodes of Bridgerton.  I love the costumes and the stories, though there is w-a-a-a-ay too much heavy breathing for this old lady's tastes.  Good thing I have something to distract me.  

I've been embroidering quilt blocks at night, while the TV is on.  It all started with a $10 package of stamped quilt blocks I bought at an indoor flea market while we were traveling in April.  I thought there were 12 blocks in the package, and that they'd be enough to make a bed-sized quilt (with some creative sashing) for Granddaughter #3.  But when I opened the package, there were only six blocks (a fact that was written on the package, if I'd only paid attention).  Luckily, they are available online, so I ordered six more and then realized I needed TWENTY to make a quilt as big as I wanted to make. 

When I started the first block, on a whim, I embroidered the date - April 20th, if my memory is correct.  We were in the car, driving to our next destination, and I said to The Husband, "Let's see how long it takes me to finish this," and when I finished it, I embroidered that date, as well, and started the next one.  It turned out that I have either started or finished a block on a date that is significant in some way - like somebody's birthday.  I'm now working on #14, which I started it on Granddaughter #2's birthday.  

I can just see the finished quilt in my mind, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get there.  I would like to hand quilt it - a pretty quilting pattern is also stamped on the blocks - but I'd also like to get it done in this lifetime.  I'd rent time on a long-arm, if I could find one they'd let me drive (repetitive, computerized quilting is out of the question for this one). 

But I'll have to put the thing together, first, which will require a shopping trip.  

Birthday cake - August 4, 2024

We typically make a big deal out of birthdays in this family.  Cake.  Parties and presents.  The whole bit. I am particularly keen on acknowledging birthdays ON THE DAY, even if the parties are scheduled for more convenient dates.  

Today is Granddaughter #2's birthday.  As of 5 p.m. yesterday, there had been no word of a birthday party.  

Part of the reason for this may be that her father was diagnosed with COVID early this week.  He has been fever-free for several days, but there are others in the house who may/may not be contagious.  Or it may be that #2, a young teen, is, like, totally OVER birthday parties at which aging grandparents and younger cousins are typically the only guests.  

If there had been a birthday party, we would have to have shown up without her present.  I ordered her some earrings over a week ago.  They have not arrived, and although I received an email two days ago that said the earrings have been shipped, there is ZERO information about their whereabouts at the "track my package" link.  

So, no party, and no present from us ON THE DAY.  

Sad.  Probably sadder for me than for the birthday girl.

Nevertheless, yesterday afternoon, I texted my daughter-in-law to ask if #2 wants a birthday cake.  Already in my pantry was a box of devil's food cake mix, and I had the eggs and sugar and vanilla necessary for 7-minute frosting.  I wouldn't even have to go to the store.

"She said she'd love one," my D-I-L replied.  

When I asked if a devil's food cake with 7-minute frosting would suffice, the reply was, "She said she doesn't like chocolate cake."

Knowing #2, she was probably holding out for an Orange Crush Cake, which she has requested for her past few birthdays.  

I am sick of making Orange Crush Cakes.  Although it would require a trip to the grocery store, I said I'd see if I could find my recipe for Key Lime Cake. 

I could not find the recipe (which I was almost certain was hand-written on the back page of an old cookbook), but I found one online and went to the grocery store for the ingredients.  They had no key limes or key lime juice.  Regular old lime juice would have to do.  I bought enough limes to squeeze out the necessary 1/4 cup of juice. 

I came straight home and made the cake layers.  They came out of the pans without sticking, thanks to parchment paper linings in the bottoms of the pans, and are wrapped up on the kitchen table, awaiting frosting.  

Bonus:  there was enough extra lime juice to produce home-made margaritas once the baking was done.  ;)

This morning, butter and cream cheese are softening on salad plates on the back porch. Frosting coming up!

I'm not sure that we will even go in the house when we deliver the cake and the promise of a present.  Covid is sneaky, and everybody in the house may be contagious without knowing it.  The Husband has an appointment next week that he cannot miss, and he doesn't need to catch a bug right now.  So we may ring the doorbell, hand off the cake, blow kisses, and run, and may repeat the process when the birthday present finally arrives.

* * * * * * * * 

Before I stirred up the birthday cake, I made a dip recipe that I'd somehow run across while searching for the cake recipe. It is a baked Vidalia onion dip.  Here's the recipe, with my tweaks:

1 Vidalia onion, chopped and sauteed in a bit of butter or olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (I used 3), added to onions just before they come off the stove

8 oz of cream cheese, softened

1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used Pepper Jack)

1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

Chopped parsley to taste

1/2 cup of chopped cooked bacon (can use it as a topping, but I stirred mine right into the dip)

(The official recipe left out the bacon but added chopped pecans or crumbled crackers as a topping.)

Stir everything together well and spoon into a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly.  Serve with crackers (or whatever).

YUM!  I had it on toast for breakfast this morning.  ;)

SOUTHERNpeas planted - August 3, 2024

It's pushing 2 p.m., and I have been working in the yard and the garden since before the dew dried off the grass.  Ran the weeder.  Cut back some phlox and daylilies.  

The "southernpeas" are planted.  The seeds look kinda like Holstein cows - black and white spots.  I planted three 10-12-foot rows, and did an experiment.  After I dropped the seeds in two of the rows, I walked on them before I covered them up to give them good contact with the soil beneath them.  The other row I just covered with soil.  We'll see which row(s) do best.

On a sad note, Uncle B, who lived across the road from us, died last night.  He was 93 and had been remarkably healthy, physically and mentally, until the past year or so.  When I visited with him a couple of weeks ago, he seemed very tired, but he knew who I was and carried on a reasonable conversation.  We were lucky to have him around for so long.  

Southernpea - August 2, 2024

I unintentionally lied about the kind of peas I intend to plant before the week is over.  They are SOUTHERNpeas, not SUMMERpeas.  No clue what these are, really, but they are supposed to make in under 70 days, so I'm game to try them.  

But there's a problem.  There's no cultivated space left, except for the ends of a few rows.  I'll either need to drag out the tiller and make a new row, or plant on the vacant ends with a hoe.  It's sooooo hot, though, to do either thing.  I went out to the garden earlier to put out some borax-laden ant bait and walk the rows, and worked up a hair-soaking sweat in just a few minutes.   The current plan is to get out the hoe tomorrow evening, once the garden is in shade, and plant on the ends of the rows.  

I'd "reserved" one big chunk of space at the ends of the butterbean rows, but I've planted two pumpkins in it.  Might just jump the new pea rows right over them and see who wins the fight.

HOT! - August 1. 2024

 Daaang, it's hot.  And pushing 70% humidity.  

I need to work in the vegetable garden before the weekend is over.  This week, a shipment of bean seeds arrived.  I think they're called "summerbeans," and they're supposed to mature in under 70 days, which ought to be just about right to be ready to pick before frost.  We'll have to make a new row or two for them, but it's really hot to run the tiller.  

The butterbeans we planted a couple of weeks ago have sprouted.  They'll be pushing it to mature before frost.

The blackeyed peas we planted over a month ago are now blooming.

We picked okra this week - just a handful or two.  

The squash will need picking this afternoon, unless Nanny beat me to it.

The tomatoes?  They're unimpressive.

* * * * * * * * 

Work this week has been a b*tch.  I worked on Year 13 yesterday.  It quickly became apparent that at least one or two boxes were missing.  The lady in charge of the records offered to take me up to the "attic" to see for myself.  It's a mess up there.  File boxes of records (not the ones I'm working on) have been dumped over and just left there.  It's plumb shameful.