Hyperbole Time

 Last Thursday, I peeled 8 million apples for apple sauce. Others peeled apples the next day for apple crisp. All in all, I think there were two tons of apple peels to be composted.

On Saturday, yesterday, I peeled six million pounds of potatoes for mashed. These were the biggest potatoes I have ever seen. I am sure that one potato weighed a half pound (really). Believe it or not, I was at the church at 8 a.m. for an hour of potato peeling. Later at 1:30 p.m. I went back to help put the applesauce in cups and put a sploosh of whipped cream on the apple crisp. At 5 p.m., I went back to pick up my perfect roast pork dinner.

I was a very small cog in the machine that turned out 130 dinners with roast pork, mashed squash, mashed potatoes and gravy, roll, and apple crisp. Each time I was peeling, I was one of six volunteers doing the same thing. There were 6 to 8 people working every time I went to the Church kitchen.

Oh, yes, the pork dinner was scrumptious! 

Applesauce for the 29 who dined in (rather than take out)

Apple crumble ready to be closed up and refrigerated

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October 6

October 8

October 16. It's definitely Fall here. Days are beginning at around 40 F. ending possibly in the high 60s. We have definitely had one hard frost in the wee hours. We have had many rains, which is a good thing, but it has left many trees devoid of leaves.

Consequently, I'm trying to do a fall cleanup of weeds and sticks. I'll have Jacob mulch the many leaves on the grass. And I brought in my tropical plant. Phyllis said she would watch it over the winter. The poor thing has been dropping flowers and leaves, but I think it's ready to rest. Imagine my surprise to see the same plant growing happily outside of the Church (in a pot)! That plant is huge, possibly more than one in the pot. I sure hope someone saves that cheery plant!

Top right is the Japanese embroidery of pansies in a basket. The art is called bunka by my half sister, Sherylann. She is very talented. 

The little piece hanging on the door was hand quilted when I could still do tiny stitches.

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More in my living room.

Quilted piece by Jeanne Harlow, frame by the late David Harlow

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Netflix Favorites:

The Black List -- ridiculously violent, which I hate, but tolerate due to my really liking James Spader as an actor. The writing is pretty good, but I think when the writers get tired their "padding" is a chase scene, with a fight, and then a murder.

Blown Away -- a wonderful competition among glass blowers. The great thing is that they are all supportive of one another even though it's a competition with a large prize. Heartbreak here is the sound of breaking glass.

Ink Master -- this is a competition among tatoo artists. You have to tolerate the f word and very crude behavior on the part of both the tatooer and the client (crassly called a canvas). However, it's interesting to see the tatoos. I would never have one, but I like to see it on other people.

Sweet Magnolias -- three South Carolina women support each other through the vicissitudes of life. I really enjoyed this Hallmark-like serial. The character development is quite good and it's closer to 'real life' than most. However, the romance can be a bit heavy at times.

The Sinner -- I have come back to this for Season 4. This heavy psychological murder mystery with Bill Pullman is heavy, man, heavy. I really like it but it's so dark, you need a brain cleanser such as Sweet Magnolias or the Christmas Season of Blown Away to make sure you don't stay in the dark recesses of Harry Ambrose's (William Pullman) brain. Each season is a different murder mystery. Season 1 is particularly bloody.

Next Fashion -- is my newest favorite. Fashion designers compete to win $250,000. Most are unknown, but a few already have their clothing in stores. They begin with 18 contestants working in teams of two and they whittle it down to 1 on 1. I was sorry when the series ended. It's very interesting to me to see the creative process.

Extraordiary Attorney Woo --  we first see Woo Young Woo when she is five years old, when she is getting a diagnosis of autism. Next we see her as a rookie attorney. Full of good feelings, this series is enlightening and teaching me tolerance. I'm really enjoying it, especially since I remembered to switch to English from Korean!

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More than a week ago, I visited the Farmers' Market in Amherst on a lovely sunny fall day. This was displayed at Sunset Farm.

From a bouquet for sale

Also for sale

This bee is getting ready for winter

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Woo hoo! My fist bowl cozy! The reverside side is below.

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Everybody wants to know when I'm heading West. So far, lift off day is slated at October 28. Who knows? I may need an extra day or two ... but that's the plan so far. "The Gang" (pictured below) are eagerly awaiting my arrival so they can beat me at Mexican Train Dominoes. Our hostess, Carole, is in the upper right with the gloriously silver hair. Mom is seated below her.

This was outside on Carole's patio, by the way. I can't wait!

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I am ashamed to say that I forgot to wish my Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving which happened on Indigeneous People's Day AKA Columbus Day. Happy Thanksgiving!! 

And that's it for now. I wish you peace. Tina

Cow-ardly Escape!

Having just left Aldi, enjoying the fabulous sunny and breezy fall day (61 F.), I notice that the two lanes of cars are stopped going both ways. This is the road that bisects the Gould Farm in Hadley. I wondered if some ducks were crossing. Then I saw her. A young (as in she looks like a teenager) cow is on the tiny bit of grass that has the road on one side and the electric fence on the other side. She was looking away from the road toward the empty field where she and her buddies normally graze. She bellowed for help, started to cross the road, then changed her mind and went back to the wrong side of the fence. The traffic inched forward as the poor girl waited for some help.

I couldn't stand it, so after I got through the stop sign, I made a U turn and went back. As a former school bus driver, I know how to take command of a situation. I threw on my hazard lights and got out of the car.  Some idiot decided to go around all of the stopped vehicles and he nearly killed me going down the center, but it is always good to let an asshole get out of your way. 

I called to the cow and she looked at me. I talked in a low voice while walking toward her. She wasn't impressed and started to walk away. She looked back and I walked to the middle of the road and luckily she thought crossing the road there was a good idea. And it was -- because there was a woman on the other side who herded the cow toward the barn. 

After I turned around again to go home, I saw that the herd was outside behind the barn and the farmer was fiddling with the gate. So maybe Bessie had wheedeled her way out of the gate and crossed the road to go to the pasture. 

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Yes, it's that time of year again. I have made pumpkin muffins and I'm looking for recipes to use the rest of the can of pumpkin. The muffin recipe only made 6 muffins, so maybe I'll make that again. Tomi brought me a sugar pumpkin and Sue brought me the carved duck all the way from Copenhagen, Denmark!  His head moves if you want to create different expressions.

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It was a fun 3 weeks with 3 year old E, but, boy was I tired! The "cold" lasted for 20 days at which time Tomi took a look at me and dragged me to a CVS Minute Clinic. They gave me an antibiotic and I actually felt better after two doses! I had done 3 covid tests all of which were negative.

Oh, yes, if you jump in the puddle, your pretty pink boots fill up with muddy water!

On the Friday that E left, N arrived. She is 12 years old and just a teriffic kid. She was very polite and funny and we got along great. She was picked up and delivered to school in Greenfield (about a half hour drive one way) every day for school. Since she had her lunch at 10 a.m., she was pretty hungry when she got back from school. We ended up eating supper at 4:30 p.m. I told her she was an honorary senior citizen. That gave her time to do some baking which she loved. We went to a movie, I supervised her making a keto carrot cake cheese cake and peanut butter cookies. She made (from a box) chocolate cupcakes with frosting piped into flowers all by herself. I was shocked when I bought food coloring for the frosting -- it is really expensive. I think I'm going to bring the colors with me to California. I bet Mom would love pink mashed potatoes!

A couple of days ago, I had M who is 3 years and a lovely boy who is on the spectrum. The poor thing hit meltdown (overtired) with a spectacular tantrum. I ended up driving him all around Robin Hood's barn to get him to fall asleep which he did a few minutes before hitting my driveway. So I sat in the car with him while he slept. Thank goodness for cell phones which provide reading material!

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Needless to say, the flowers are waning.

I have been told this is tropical so the only way to save it is to bring it into the house.

This one flower out of many seeds bloomed. The birds ate the rest.

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I have been watching Anne with an E (about Anne of Green Gables) on Netflix and it is very wholesome. I am actively avoiding "doomscrolling" which I learned about from The Good Wife. That's when you look at all of the bad news on your phone and tv and facebook, twitter, etc. I'm much calmer. Of course, it's the equivalent of burying my head in the sand but I need a rest. 

Oh, I also re-watched The Crown. Wow. I understand that the royals are human, but ... some are really mean.

And that's what has been going on here. Happy trails!

Update on Day 12

 E. is a lovely child -- except when she isn't. Now that she has settled in comfortably, she is more likely to express her frustration -- with screaming. 'Get into the car, we're leaving.' 'No, no, no, scream, scream, scream...' I was vowing to never put her into the car seat again when it hit me. A miserable summer cold which is now day 5. I have this great cough that makes everyone who hears it say, 'You don't sound good.' No kidding!

Tomi, God bless her! brought me a care package of sugarless throat losenges and tea. Included was a painting book and something else for E. We happily painted ONE page. I knew this was a must be rationed item because after six dots of paint, she wanted another page. It's pretty ingenious: each page has the paints on the top and you just add a wet paint brush. Ain't technology grand?

I discovered today that E does not like (crispy) bacon. Huh. Who woulda thunk it? This kid has eaten everything else I have given her.

Cutisms: I use an electric toothbrush. Now, when E. starts to brush her teeth, she says, "Beep," to turn on her toothbrush.

When backing up on her tricycle, she produced a backup beep beep sound.

Her favorite phrase is, "I help," which I have to admit is one of my favorites too. She helped unload the dishwasher and she dutifully puts her stinky diapers into the diaper pail. We have great fun taking the recycling outside to the bin. I hold the basket and she picks out individual boxes to toss in. I just have to watch her like a hawk because she thinks she can do anything -- like take eggs and milk out of the fridge. Eeek!

So we're getting along great. I'm thinking I should bring my ear plugs with me for when she has a fit. That's an idea. When she doesn't want a bath, which is always, it really echoes and bounces off the bathroom tile. 

Today for the first time in days, I get to go out on my own while she visits her parental units. Wahoo! I get to go to the Post Office and grocery store.

Happy rest of summer (and winter to you, Lesley). I wish you peace.

Space

 8/17/22

No, not the final frontier. I need space! I had/have plenty of space in my heart for 3 year old Emma, but I need space in my cabinets and house! Who knew that Oatie o's, Cheezits, rice crackers, bow tie pasta, mac and cheese, and juice boxes take up so much room? I had been enjoying a 'lean' cupboard in that I had no real pasta, or cereals, but some pasta made from hearts of palm and a couple of other low carb specialty items. Most of those specialized products come in multiples that you order online -- and they take up room.

Thanks to the generosity of Emily, Tomi, and Farah (who organized neighbors to contribute), I have a lot of stuff. Emily brought a high chair,a pack and play 'play pen,' step stool, slide, puzzle shaped mats for the deck, and stuff for baby formula production. (I'm not getting the 10 month old who got very sick with covid.) Tomi was invaluable in loaning me a potty seat although we don't seem to have any interest in that. However, my little bathroom has a step stool and potty seat added. There's no room for my shoes!

I am prohibited from showing you any identifiable pictures of foster children, so you will have to take my word for it that she is cute. I have a picture with just the top of her head looking at the cows (we went yesterday), but her hair is potenially identifiable in a bowl cut. I am told that her male parental unit is very aggressive with DCF (Dept. of Children and Families), so I don't want to get into that.

All of this came on quickly, sort of. Originally, I was supposed to have a 5 month old baby for last weekend. That foster mom (FM) backed out because she thought my voice sounded nervous on the phone.

 Ok. Then I was asked to provide daycare (full day only) for a 3 year old and 10 month old. Ok, I agreed to that. Then they asked if I could take E overnight through Thursday because that FM was feeling overwhelmed. I said ok.That was supposed to start on Monday (two days ago). On Sunday, I got an emergency call from their FM. Could I pick up E right away? Her baby sister and the FM were sick and positive with covid. E. had tested negative. So I did and we have been having a great time.

However, I told my social worker that I cannot take the 10 month old (who is already walking!). She and her FM are in quarantine for 5 days. I'm told the baby is much better but the FM is still sick and her parents got it too. She had brought the girls to the parents' house to swim in their pool.

Cathy V. and I had a super time walking for hours looking at quilts from the New England Quilt Show.

Here is the addy of this album of pictures:

 https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOBCFLw5k3c2qkF1Orq5vfwSuXLO0rEbAJ_72XdXXevK6TwqD7Gi3RnBdJnG95kKg

I apologize for not identifying all of the quilt artists -- there were so many! And I could have taken hundreds more pictures! I now have an inferiority complex which I'm trying to get over. I guess it's good that my main machine is broken. I still have the Featherweight (which is the same age as I am), but it's in the sewing room with no air conditioning. It's too hot to be in there. Well that's my excuse.

I now have 3 flowers on whatever that is. I have eaten this tomato and have 3 green ones.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch sitting on Tomi and David's deck. She spreads the seeds right on the railing. They have a couple of hummingbird feeders but those suckers were too quick for me to photograph.

Gotta run. I'm we're going to play some soccer with the big red bouncy ball. Cheers!

I'm Back!

 As usual, I have been remiss. So I'm going to start with 'old' photos which also helps refresh my memory as to what I have been up to. 

On June 30th, I was dog sitting for Brownie while his people took a weekend jaunt to Canada. They picked a great time to head north because it was getting pretty warm. This is Brownie as he's coming back into their house after an outside break.

This, however, was his favorite occupation (and position).

Farah, being the sweet person that she is, gave me a lovely bouquet of lilies to thank me. The thanks was unnecessary, but appreciated.

At this point, I had begun staining my new planter which Jon put together. He did a great job with the million pieces.

Meanwhile ...

I have 3 of these muelin (above). They are now taller than I am. And I am told they only bloom once every two years. I'm wondering if I should cut them down. They sure are weird.

Meanwhile, the daisies went nuts and spewed all over.

Here is a more recent photo of the planter. The lilies on each end have shed their petals. The center is tall phlox. I'm collecting those seeds. Speaking of seeds, I had planted sunflower seeds in pots. The %$#! chipmunk dug them up and ate them.

Sunday, July 10th was ice cream day. Flayvors which is about a mile from my house, has a nice no sugar added raspberry swirl. I also got to say hello to the girls. Everyone else was eating while Bessie here was enjoying the cool earth.

Which brings me to July 14th in Cape Charles, VA (CC). Below is the jon boat (I have no idea how that's spelled) that we took out to go fishing. The big boat was having battery problems.

I was less than graceful when trying to exit the boat and started laughing. While it was good to laugh, it didn't help me get off the boat!

Motoring out to a good fishing site.

There were no fish. David and Jane's grandchildren (very small children) had caught them all the week before. So we declared victory and pulled up anchor. David had vowed to get us some mussels.

This is the first 'beach' that we investigated.

David would gun the motor and beach the boat. It was exciting.

Yes, all of those holes in the mud belong to fiddler crabs which are about the size of a half dollar.

It was a lovely day.

David told me that the big yellow claw means it's a male. They wave their big claws around to attract a female and to fight off other males. He said the females only want to see their wallet. Since he was my ride home I did not smack him up the side of his head.

Boat art:

Crepe Myrtles

Hydrangea in front of the volunteer fire dept. in Cape Charles.

More crepe myrtle

Persimmon in progress growing in the median in front of Jane's beach house.

Jane's flowers -- some are five feet tall!

Another day, we took the dogs dock diving. Audrey, the bitch, and Ajax, the dog, LOVE to jump off the dock and retrieve. David has made a "GET IT" which consists of pvc pipe filled with insulation which turns hard. Both ends are sealed and the whole toy is about 18 inches long.

I tried to share a link to videos of the dogs splashing around. At one point you will see 3 labs. A new friend, Wally, joined them. He was just learning how to dock dive. His daddy had to throw him in.

The Cowans became hooked on Longmire on Netflix. All in all we had a really fun time in Cape Charles, VA.  Oh, yes, I got gasoline for $4.23 as I was leaving Cape Charles. It was more at home.

I hope you are having a fun summer too!

No Excuses

 Monday, June 20.  The weather is so fabulous today -- sunny and in the 70s -- that I have no excuses for not working in the yard. [I looked back on a previous post and on May 21, it got to 94 F.] I hacked down enough thorns and weeds to fill 2/3 of a large trash container, toted 6 gallons of water to water plants, put the plant shelf back on the deck, and unrolled my loooong extension cord to the back yard.

How do I know it was 6 gallons? I used my shiny new watering can with the copper stripe and it's a two gallon can. I'm either going to do some mowing and/or rototilling in the back yard or I'm going to roll up the cord on the nifty plastic holder. 

In the meantime, I've got one load of laundry in the dryer and one load in the washer. One load of towels to go. I had forgotten that laundry does not do itself.  

This is in response to my doing not one blessed thing yesterday. Well, that's not exactly true. I did make Chinese chicken with green beans. I hadn't made it in so long that it really tasted good. 

Pink or no pink? I enjoy a juicy hamburger so I ask for medium pink. Invariably it is served to me one scootch away from being well done. So why do they ask???

Mid Calf Rubber Boots are my usual yardwork attire. So how did I manage to get poison ivy on both legs above the boots? You got me. I figured I'd treat you to only one leg -- it looks even grosser with the calamine lotion on it. Sigh.

Tuesday, June 14th. I decided to treat myself to a latte at Amherst Coffee. How can you not have a nice day when someone gives you love in a cup?

Sitting outside in the lovely sun, I not only got to look at their streetside flower boxes, but I looked up to see Frank Hugus having his coffee al fresco as well. We had a nice chat.

On Saturday, June 11. Emily and I had a great time going to a nursery in Worcester. That's where I saw Midnight Sky purple with white polka dots petunias. They are spectacular but I wasn't going to pay $45 for the hanging pot they were selling.

Emily's newly planted urn

Allergy Valley. This picture of the pollen on my car is from June 9th. It has abated a bit, however, I am keeping CVS in business buying allergy medicine.

Where have all the flowers gone? Everything seems to bloom at different times. The climbing red rose in the front is all done blooming and the leaves are lacy from the bugs. I'm contemplating getting some bug spray to see if I can get the bush to bloom again. The peonies are done. What follows are some of my flowers.

The pinks seem to be doing all right. I have deadheaded quite a few blooms, but there are still some. The 'watering can' lights up at night, including a lit stream of 'water.'

The pot at the top of this photo has my starter tomato plant (with flowers!).

I have two clumps of these lilies in different places. They are very cheery.

The daisies at the top really went wild. It would have been nice if they hadn't spilled onto the grass where they will get mowed.

It's tomorrow. Of course it's today. You know what I mean.

A thousand thanks to Jon McCabe who put together my new planter.

Phyllis' friend called it a trug.

trug

/trəɡ/

Learn to pronounce

noun

BRITISH

1. a shallow oblong basket made of strips of wood, traditionally used for carrying garden flowers and produce.

I bought stain and polyurethane but might have to wait until the weekend to put it on since it's supposed to rain tonight and possibly other days. There is a black liner that goes inside before the soil.

Cheers! Be good to yourself.