Saturday, May 20, 2017

continuing train wreck, tomatoes, and snakes


I'm trying very hard not to be consumed with what's going on at the White House and our government but how can one not be?! Still, re my last post title, I figured everyone was getting tired of the political stuff when I posted that and the next day things just basically blew up...again!...with the appointment of the Special Counsel to continue the investigation at the FBI. I'll spare us all the ongoing blow by blow and just do a re-cap later. I don't know about you but I need to think about something else for a few days so I'm glad it's the weekend.

Now for something completely different...yesterday I put up 6 3/4 cups of tomato sauce (for a total of 17!). This was my third effort at tomato sauce. The first one I pureed the tomatoes and garlic and spices and then cooked it down to about half but it never got as thick as I felt it should be. Gave up and froze as is. Next I tried slow roasting the tomatoes and garlic and basil for about 3 1/2 hours and then pureed it and it was perfect and very tasty. 

pre-roasting and slightly out of focus

So I did that again. While the tomatoes were roasting I put up 6 cups of skinned cut up tomatoes (for a total of 26!) and I still have 32 tomatoes to deal with and they are still ripening on the bushes.

Last week when I laid out the limestone slabs I aggravated an old back injury so I haven't been doing much out in the yard, well, I haven't been doing anything out in the yard. I thought it would be better in a few days but it has actually taken all week to subside. So of course we had a small job to do early last week, nothing fancy, just sandblasting a shower enclosure, but it entailed lifting and moving heavy glass. Probably one of the reasons it took my back so long to get over it.

And speaking of work, an art consultant who has not contacted me for the last 7 years has asked for a proposal for a project that won't happen til next year so we are in the very early stages of budget proposals. I used to get a lot of work from this company and the jobs were always very nice ones that I enjoyed working on but they moved on to another glass art company that does a wider range of technique than we do including color. I figured they weren't even showing our work to potential clients anymore so it was a pleasant surprise and sort of ironic since I had finally voiced the idea that I was actually completely retired.

I was dog sitting my sister's dog this week while she was out of town and Wednesday, both dogs were doing that cautious curious stance they do when they see something they aren't sure of looking at something behind the bucket of parrot feather at the edge of one of the flower beds so I went over to see what they found...

an adult coral snake

Coral snakes, the most virulent of the vipers with the exception of the black mamba, prefer to hunt in the mornings or evenings, and are shy, non-confrontational, and reclusive. They have small rounded heads and even smaller mouths and it is rare for them to bite a human. Most bites occur when people try to pick them up but because their venom delivery system in not very efficient they basically have to chew on you awhile to get enough venom to do harm. As such, when I run across them I generally let them alone. This one I poked with a stick to get it to move deeper into the foliage out of reach of the dogs.

This morning while I was watering I happened to notice this...


Likely the same one, getting a drink from the water lily pond.

It has been so dry here, haven't had rain in weeks, that the bees are swarming the same pond and it's filter.


One last picture...

toad in a hole




19 comments:

  1. I love your pictures! I am beginning to wonder if I am going to get one tomato but today I pulled onions and shallots and also need to pick green beans and cukes. I'm waiting until it and I get cooler.
    I have to admit that I would probably make my husband kill a coral snake in the yard. You're more enlightened than I am for sure.

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    1. had it been a copperhead that bastard would be dead.

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  2. Charming wildlife in search of water.
    I think the prez has a foot up to his knee in quicksand, and I doubt the veeprez is too far behind.

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    1. they are all complicit including most of the Republican party. according to rumor a whole lot of them are going down.

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  3. That is one LUCKY snake that he was found in your yard. You let me be. I remember how his kind were brought to our attention in school as being extremely dangerous. I think I would worry about the dogs encountering him when I wasn't around; suppose you are always near the dogs.

    Makes me sick all that $$ deal being signed by Cheeto. And, how typical that when Michelle Obama did it, it was wrong, but when his crew does it, it is OK. (Headscarves).
    Sounds like you are really having fun with the tomatoes. Wish I was your neighbor!!!

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    1. I don't really worry about the dog. she's in more danger from copperheads that will strike aggressively if they feel threatened than a coral snake which will just move away. I will kill copperheads if I come across one in the yard especially since one bit me 5 or 6 years ago. not an experience I want to repeat. otherwise I try not to kill things just because I can.

      Trump is a complete moron. 9/11 was done by Saudis but he kisses their collective ass because he has business interests there. Obama refused to sell them some of the arms Trump is handing over because he thought the Saudis would use them to commit war crimes. Trump could care less.

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  4. Toad in the hole...I love it! But snakes, not so much, unless I know it's not a biter.

    Thanks for the roasted tomato tip. Mine always turns out a bit soupy - thick is good. Do you actually eat all of those each year or do you wind up giving some away? If so, my address is .... :)

    Fingers crossed for the proposal.

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    1. I've never ever had this many tomatoes. we used to have the garden behind the house but it was in shade by 2 or 3 PM and it was just the ground dirt. this is the first year I have grown them in super enriched dirt, raised bed, in full sun. OMG! I doubt I will plant as many plants next year. and yes, I am giving them away and if you lived near you would have a bag full.

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  5. That's an interesting approach -- roasting the tomatoes. I've not heard of it before, but it makes sense. I finally found some ripening tomatoes and brought a few home, along with some yellow squash and some white peaches. Green beans are coming on, and eggplant, too. The tomatoes are heavy on the vines. In another week or two, we'll have all we can eat. A nice tomato sandwich sounds good.

    Those coral snakes are beautiful. I'm not sure I'd be as calm about the encounter as you, but I'm glad to know they aren't likely to speed toward me with murder on their mind. One of the first verses I learned when I moved down here was the old "red and yellow, kill a fellow." A girl, too, I decided. In 25 years I've only seen one, but I do keep an eye out.

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    1. I try not to kill things just because I can and it was minding it's own business. I think it lives under the house because I usually see it close by. I generally see it once or twice a year. I'm more concerned about the copperheads who will strike at you if you get too close unlike the coral snakes that will just move away. I will kill copperheads if I see them near the house or in the yard especially since one bit me about 5 or 6 years ago. not an experience I want to repeat.

      I never did get any cucumbers in this year and got my beans planted late and I need to plant another row before it gets any later and my okra is just now putting on it's first true leaves. I'll put another raised bed in this fall. Can't decide if I should dig up all the potatoes or leave them in the ground later. the plants are dying back but not all dead yet.

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  6. How wonderful to see an actual toad in a hole. I'll think of this picture the next time I'm in front of a skillet, an egg, and a slice of bread.
    Train wreck about covers it. And I've turned into one of those people who slow down to look at it - in spite of the fact that it's hurtling us all closer and closer to the edge of the abyss.

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    1. I just don't understand why he is so intent (and the republicans as well) on getting rid of all the protections for the people. gets rid of the scientists at the EPA and replaces them with business leaders whose only concern is making more money and don't give a shit how much poison they spew into our air and water. getting rid of the nutritional guidelines for school meals - what's up with that? and trying to get rid of all the social safety net programs. how does that make this country great?

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  7. Years ago I would make tomato sauce but the prep was so long, and buying a jar at a store was so easy. What to do with all the tomatoes when a ton and a half ripen at the same time is always a problem.

    Like most people, I fear and dislike snakes. We have found some hibernating for the winter in our garage. That was not a pleasant find. You are a brave lady for just nudging it along.

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    1. this roasting was so simple and the result was great. I'm trying to buy less and less at the grocery store because the industry has been poisoning our food for decades and now with Trump getting rid of all the regulations that protect people it's only going to get worse. the basic building block of good health is the quality of food available to you.

      I try not to have a knee jerk reaction to things we have been taught to fear (and some with good reason, wouldn't want to try and pick up a coral snake) but being harmful, in my mind, is not a good enough reason to kill something. just be mindful of the danger and live and let live.

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  8. I get lazy canning and just make juice. It thickens when you put it on pasta(leave a little water you boiled it in to help)enough for me.Don't like snake with poison, scary.

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  9. Beautiful snake! And I love that toad. We don't see as many here (well, we have a deck, not a patio - so they're out there, but not near where *I* am). We put out a dish with some stones & water in it for the bees, but really it's been plenty wet here so they don't really care right now.

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  10. We get copperheads here and they are aggressive if you want them out of your garage. NOt a fun experience. Their mouths are quite adept at biting. I wonder if roasting the tomatoes makes it easier to make a stronger sauce.

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  11. I don't know why I never thought of roasting those tomatoes for sauce, but I will be doing that if I ever get some tomatoes! My garden is just starting to come up ..... except for the strawberries! Like you, I am trying to make most of our food with a garden. We plan to live in a motor home soon, so a garden might be hard to accomplish, but we will be on wheels and ready to cross the border when HE starts a war! Our government is out of control, I have been saying that for years, but our current leader is taking it to a whole new level. He scares me.

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  12. You get some great pictures! Bravo for not killing the coral snake. I've never seen one drinking! Your pond is probably quite a draw for all kinds of creatures during a dry spell.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.