HDOY And the Fridge

Yes, you can see it is the hottest day of the year today.  We have been experiencing a rainy spell where the days have been in the sixties if we were lucky.  Today:  already 93 degrees.

 It is 2:24 P.M. and the temperature will go  up more.

Oh, and it is 77.9 in the house.  Time to turn on the AC.

End of Spring.  Start Summer--Bam!

Yesterday I noticed that the ice was not freezing.  It is usually only an hour and it is ready.  This morning the meats and veges in the freezer were soft to the touch.  The milk was sour yesterday.  The lettuce was all going squishy and spoiled.  The refrigerator was going out on us.  Dan opened it up between meetings and pulled off the back and found it all full of frost between the walls.  Not good.

Now he is down there (remember, freezer on the bottom) working on it.  

In his Sunday clothes, of course.  What a blessing to have a handyman in the house who knows how to tear things apart. I hope he can fix it or there goes the money for our trip.

Something doesn't want us to go.  We have been called back to the Mission Office for a few weeks.  More on that tomorrow.

Scripture du joir:

Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy.  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:  in it thou shalt not do any work...

Except if your refrigerator is stuck in the mire.  

HAPPY SABBATH

BLOG'nGRAM 

Memorial Day

Memorial Day observance was done by us this year on Sunday.  On Monday we worked  on the new patio all day and a  steak on the grill for the two of us.  It seems weird to celebrate the holidays alone.  It doesn't seem like a holiday that way.

We made the rounds to the graves starting with Hanna.  I was able to make some pretty pink and purple bouquets for the girls this year because the Peonies bloomed Sunday morning just in time to cut. The Iris hung on for a long time this year in spite of the early warm weather.  The cool,  rainy stuff we had the last two weeks slowed down their demise.  Roses were out, but not in abundance.  

First Stop Hanna's:

 Memorial for 9/11

Hanna's tree is the big pine tree left of the water spray.  It is easy to find now that they built this memorial.

Sorry about the rose petal covering up the Anderson.  I spread them around, but didn't see it on the name.  I bought the mums in case the flowers were gone.  I just saw these pretty white blossoms and they looked just like angel blooms so I bought them--one for Hanna and one for Emily and Richard.

We moved on to Wasatch Lawns.  We always have to clean up the grave markers there.  They are all overgrown and dirty.  We made a pink and purple bouquet for Emily and a mostly blue one for Richard. 

We clean up the next door neighbor, Bertha Kreutner, too.  She never has any flowers.  We have adopted her as a grandmother. When I was in Elementary School I walked to school with a girl named Jane Kreutner.  I just like Bertha because of it, I guess.

We then located Dan's brother's grave.  It is by this gnarled old juniper tree, probably the only one in Wasatch Lawn.

Then on to the other side of the valley for the rest of Dan's family, at least the deceased ones, Norman, his father, Leona, his mother and Ken his younger brother who died young at 39 with MS.

Ken

Norman and Leona

Last, and least, we buried Molly, our oldest and first chicken on Monday morning.  She died sometime between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.  So sad to see her go.  She must have been at least 6 or 7 years old.  RIP, Molly.

I made a craft.  This is a door decor that I put together.  I am rather pleased with the way it turned out.  I can do crafts!!  I used vines from my own yard and some pretty flowers from JoAnns.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

BLOGnGRAM

The Tree Is Dead!

Long Live The Tree!

The Cottonwood tree has been dead a long time, and becoming more and more dangerous with each passing wind storm.  It was frightening to be out around it when the winds were gusting.  Large branches were falling down.  It was quite scary when they hit the roof.

Last Snowstorm -  See Post 4/15/15

Now we have just a stump.  Well, an eight or nine foot stump. I made them leave me material for discs to make a pathway behind the new pergola.  Pergola?? Yes, we are replacing the greenhouse with a pergola (more about that later).

A New Canvas

I also want a stump to carve with a chainsaw like I saw on Rehab Addict.  It was so fun with mushrooms and flowers carved into it.  That will be a new experience (for Dan, not me.  I'm not allowed to touch sharp objects.).  Dan suggested making a rooster.  He is the artist.  Maybe a flower or two, too??

I will show two more pictures of the tee cutting process then let Dan talk about them on his blog.  This is the tree cutter's outfit stretched across my front yard.  He said if it were any further out he would have needed a crane.  

The truck was parked up on the sidewalk.  It was quite a reach to the tree.

Of course, Dan watched the whole thing and took pix and movies.  He  was like a kid at a parade.  He would love to be right up there in the cherry picker doing this.  It was a great adventure.  I stayed in the house where it was safer.  My work outdoors that morning was in the danger area.

I told myself I would be well this week.  Dan laughed and said, "That's what you said last week."  I know.  Positive thinking didn't do it last week.  Now I am two weeks out from the start of the flu, and the horrible cyst has been lanced that is on the upper middle of my back.  It became a staph infection with cellulitis and I had to have a week of antibiotics before the doctor sent me to surgery.  It was extremely painful and I spent last week down resting in spite of my plans to be well.  Now it is still doing what things like this do, (gross alert--oozing), but the pain is much less.  I am on another antibiotic now and it still hurts to pick up anything heavy, so I am easing into the work.

Yesterday I spent  few hours potting some of the beautiful flowers I purchased a few weeks ago.  I am on a tropical theme for my new patio--all colorful reds and oranges and yellows.   Here is one of the pots I planted.

I don't expect the lilies to last all summer, even though the tag says it will, but the dahlias will get bigger and I can pull up the lily bulb and plant it in the yard for next year.  I also planted pretty fuchsia geraniums.  I left them out in the rain and they are beat up from the hail. 

 I quit early to rest, and it rained hard all afternoon anyway.  We live in Camelot this year. 

The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

It is not quite that good; it rained all day Sunday--that's OK. Saturday and yesterday the rain came in mid-afternoon (see the blue sky in the pix) through the night and stopped in the morning.  It is cool and everything is damp, but it is beautiful for working outdoors. The rainclouds are forming in the west again and a downpour is expected this afternoon.   Summer is coming at it's appointed time this year.  This is a real Spring.

HAPPY PLANTING

BLOGnGRAM 

It's Pinsday!

I have been sick, again.  It seems that I cannot shake the flu bugs that come and go around here.  This is the fifth infection since I got my flu shot last fall.  Of course, it triggers my asthma and really takes a toll on my health.  After two weeks I still have a cough, but it is getting better finally.  One of my doctors said that the flu shot was just not as effective this year.  Amen to that.

When I felt like cooking, I tried a couple of really great recipes from Pinterest.  The first is Thai Chicken Salad with Orange Peanut Dressing.  http://www.cookingclassy.com/2015/02/thai-chicken-salad-orange-peanut-ginger-dressing/  Very yummy.  Actually made it as it was written.  I purchased all of the ingredients and did exactly what it said to do.  I was a little nervous about serving it to Dan, because he doesn't like recipes with peanut butter in them, but he ate it and had seconds (usually a good recommendation).  The day after I found out that I forgot to put the cashews in it, but I just ate them plain (there was no leftover salad).  Next time.  It was still delicious anyway.  The pin is located in my board: Salads and Dressings.

The second was a shrimp dish called Cilantro Lime Quinoa Shrimp Bowl--a warm dish.  http://www.spoonfulofflavor.com/2015/04/15/cilantro-lime-shrimp-quinoa-bowls/   When it says Cilantro it means tons of cilantro.  Each layer was filled with cilantro and lime.  I don't love cilantro, but I made it just like it said.   Interestingly enough, I had most of the ingredients in my freezer;  shrimp, leftover black beans and leftover quinoa.  I did not have a mango, but had a can of mangos (not recommended for texture, but the flavor worked), and my avocado for the dressing was spoiled (it works without the avocado), and I was too sick to run to the store.  We managed without these, and the dish was quite delicious.  This pin is in my board: I Love Food, la Mer.

Both recipes has tons of cilantro, so I consider them a way to broaden my palate.  It wasn't so bad.

Last but not least, by any means is Five Minute Raspberry Chia Seed Jam.  https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201536152051638113/ 
The pin is found on my new board: Condiments, Jam and Pickles along with other jams I want to try.
Raspberry freezer jam is a favorite of mine; I could eat it with a spoon, and I do.  I have seen these recipes for Chia Seed Jams and have the Chia Seed so I wanted to try them.  Smith's had raspberries on sale last week for .99 per cup so I picked up 10 cups and froze the berries.  I saved out two cups to make the jam.  It is good, not too sweet and will be yummy on hot rolls or ice cream.  It is not as good on toast (soggy, but I rushed it not allowing the seeds to thicken the jam).  One must not expect low sugar to taste like regular jam.  If it did, there would be no sinful pleasure in the original.    I used two tablespoons of honey because I like it tart, but you can add more to taste.  

Here are some pictures.  It is such a beautiful color.

I used the shjusher--the wand blender so I didn't have to scrape it out of the blender.  It worked wonderfully.  The touch of vanilla is a good addition.

So good.  I could eat it with a spoon, too.  Not as sweet, but ever so raspberry.  I am not sure how long it will keep in the refrigerator.  I will probably eat it before I find out.  

Here is my breakfast:  an onion omelet with salsa on top, cantaloupe and toast and jam.  

HAPPY PINNING


BLOG'nGRAM

Do the Doo

It's a beautiful morning, aah, I think I'll go outside for a while, and smile!

I got up early and after doing my oblations to God, I took the dogs for a walk.  It has been a week or so since my last walk because I don't usually go for a walk if I plan to work outdoors all day.  It is just to exhausting to do both.  Yard work just wipes me out and I am lucky to stay awake for an hour after dinner.  So much for making 10 earrings per day to sell every night. 

I decided to address a delicate subject.  PICK UP YOUR DOG DOO.  It is so gross to step in some dog's doo or find it on the front lawn.  I have a simple method that I employ.  All you need is a clothes pin and a fold top plastic food bag. 

Small bags work for small dogs

 (My dogs are small to that size works for me, and I have several boxes in storage from Costco that were in the combination package a few years ago.)  You can adjust the bag to the size of the dog.  It's a disgusting job, but we must do our part at being a good neighbor.

I fold the bag around the leash and pin it with the clothes pin. So easy.  I also put one on each dog's leash because the minute I walk out the door  and walk 20 feet one of them has to take a dump.

  Invert the bag, put your hand inside and pick up the doo.  No touching,  a little smelling. 

 Fold the bag closed and pin it to the leash away from your nose.  My dogs get to carry their own poop and I don't have to put it in my pocket and smell it percolate. Invariably the other will follow some time on the trip so that is why they carry their own bag.  When you get home, toss the bags in the garbage can and you have done your patriotic duty.  Thank you, my friend.

All ready to go for their walk

After the walk I ate my breakfast out doors.  I had 5 chickens on one side and 2 dogs on the other and the cat arrived a few minutes later.  Wonder who feeds the animals around here???

  Only four here, Rooster Fritz was a little camera shy.










Abby and Boo always begging for food.  Bella just sat under the table.  I'm surprised at that, she is usually on top of the table.  That's her style.







HAPPY DOG WALK



BLOG'nGRAM