nothing left but dirt and roots

A reminder of last post's progress on the vines.

Tuesday I did this.

Wednesday I did this.

And this.

Now I'm down to spreading out all the dirt and cutting out the roots as I come to them, way more work than just cutting back the vines. And it's hot again, in the 80s and humid.

The second bonfire was because the guy that mows the shop yard came on Tuesday and cut up a dead tree pulled down by wild grape and virginia creeper vines behind the shop that completely filled the space between the back of the shop and the fence. There's a lot of it still on the ground but at least we can mow there again. 

It was a huge pile, easily more than twice as big as the previous pile and the fire only burned the middle. Had a hard time getting it started too so I still need to torch the rest.

Thursday was SHARE and it was a food delivery day from the food bank in Victoria and fortunately we weren't too busy with clients. They sent four or five boxes of organic bananas that were so green the were almost emerald. My guess is they will go bad before they ripen. We still had one box left which we left out on a table to see if they would ripen during the next week. There'll be somebody there on Monday to check on them. Well, most the volunteers will be there on Monday for our little holiday potluck lunch.

Today I gave away two of my big plumerias and raked up leaves off the driveway and spread them around on the low spots in the yard. Tonight Is one of my nights to cook dinner and so far I have no idea what I'm going to fix (decided on pizza). But speaking of cooking, I promised to post the recipe for the stuffed acorn squash which I made last week and it was really good.

not my picture as I failed to take one

Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

Acorn squash:
2 medium acorn squash
2 T olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Sausage filling:
1 T olive oil
1 small onion diced
10 oz Italian sausage, spicy or mild crumbled (I used mild but added 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes)
4 garlic cloves minced
1 T Italian seasoning
4 oz fresh spinach (I used pre-washed baby spinach)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400˚ F. Cut off the top and bottom of each acorn squash to create a flat base (not too deep in the bottom, my flat spot was about the size of a quarter), cut each squash in half crosswise, scoop out seeds and strings. Place cut side up on a baking sheet, drizzle cut sides with olive oil, rubbing it in, season with salt and pepper, turn cut side down and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and lower temperature to 350˚.

In a large skillet heat olive oil, add onion and cook on medium high heat about 2 minutes until cooked and a bit charred. Add sausage, garlic, Italian seasoning and cook about 5 minutes more until sausage is cooked through. Add spinach and cook another 5 minutes until wilted, add cranberries and pecans and mix all together. Season with more salt and pepper if desired (I didn't).

Flip roasted squash halves and fill with sausage mixture. Bake stuffed squash an additional 10 – 20 minutes until heated through (I split the difference for 15).

bonfire, rain, and bodily explosions

Correction on my previous post...Murdoch does not own the Washington Post, I meant the New York Post.

It's Saturday and it was raining when I woke up, not hard but a steady light rain. The weather prognosticators say it's going to rain all day and so far, yes, and that's fine as long as it's this same steady light rain. Of course I'm pretty sure that means no Farmers Market this morning and last week, while it wasn't raining it was cold and windy and wet. I did not venture out so I don't know if anyone bothered to set up or not. I wouldn't have.

Yesterday I torched the burn pile, had quite the bonfire going there for a few minutes while it consumed all the dry monster rose bush prunings and the mass of vines that I've cleared so far and whatever else had accrued before I piled those thing on top. Then I worked on the vines for about 40 minutes before I went in for lunch.

Moving further backward in time, Thursday at SHARE was busy, the most people ever since I've been volunteering there. We filled 42 food requests, mostly medium to large families. The little waiting to be interviewed area up front was packed when I got there at 9, which is when we open, and stayed packed until about 12:30 (we close at 1 PM). We were short one of the volunteers that do the interviewing so one of the guys that work in the back got pressed into service, I've been demoted, he told me. (We like our little niches in the back.)

Speaking of SHARE, it has become my first go to if I'm looking for a specific article of clothing as they have better quality than the thrift stores and...free. This summer I got two pairs of capris, one jeans and the other a lightweight cotton with lots of pockets and this fall a really nice blue long sleeve cotton shirt from L. L. Bean and when I told Jan I was looking for a lightweight jacket of sorts (she was still bringing the winter clothes out and putting away the summer clothes) she brought over five or six items...no, no, no, oh hell no, yes, no, no. The 'yes' is a buttery soft tailored suede like (but washable!) jacket. I love it.

And Thursday night is yoga at Hesed House here. One of the things about yoga is that some of the asanas and movements put pressure on your intestines that cause you to do something we try not to do in public. Like fart. And so, much to my chagrin, during one of the core strengthening exercises, I did. Now, it's not the first time I have farted during a yoga class but they've been barely audible little things. Not this time, no no, it was a sudden loud explosion and fortunately it was quick. I knew I had a fart building up but how do you stand up and excuse yourself for a minute in the middle of class while you go outside to release it. I was trying to have the proper muscles clamped down so it would release slowly, quietly but no such luck.

Ah well, no one laughed. Out loud anyway.