more rain, yard work, rainbow at sunset, and other miscellania

The Mexican bird of paradise growing next to the shed over at my sister’s house.

We’ve been getting more rain. It rained Tuesday and again today but the rain today came in with some very high gusty wind and lots of lightning and thunder. Unfortunately, It started about 20 minutes after the guy who cuts and trims the shop yard had started so he retreated to his truck and will have to come back later in the week to finish.

I worked in the yard some Sunday and then did the lion’s share of cutting back all the dead and gone by purple coneflowers in the back and front yards on Monday after I doused myself and my clothes with mosquito repellant and came in after almost two hours hot and sweaty and peeled off my sweat soaked clothes.  Hauled it all over to the burn pile this morning.

Later in the day, I got an email and a phone call from a friend and early pate de verre mentor, Delores Taylor (link to her website), when we were just starting out trying to work out the technique and problem solve. She lives in the PNW and we ‘met’ via an early glass art related internet group. We’ve traded work and I was her teacher assistant for one of the classes she gave at a conference. She’s also the person who sent me all the professional watercolors I’m using now since she no longer uses them. Anyway, she’s writing a very comprehensive book on the subject and has asked me for some images to help illustrate some sections of the book as there are various techniques that fall under the pate de verre umbrella so I’ve been going through my images and sending them off to her with a document  with details for her to choose from.

Yesterday I went with my friend to her doctor’s appointment in Angleton an hour away. We haven’t had time to visit lately so it was a good opportunity to catch up. She’s had so much to deal with just fighting cancer and then her mother passed away so she’s had to handle all the affairs that go along with that. Then we stopped by the farmer’s market on the way home.

Tuesday night, my night to cook dinner, I fixed a one dish meal, blistered broccoli pasta with walnuts, pecorino, and mint only I used pecans instead of walnuts and parmigiana instead of pecorino. This is an easy and quick dish and it’s very good. I sliced up one of the tomatoes I got at the market earlier to go along with it.

And then last evening at sunset there was a double rainbow in the east. By the time I got my phone out the second fainter rainbow had already mostly faded but my daughter got this picture standing in the shop yard, a better view than the one I took standing in the street. 

This is what the sky looked like in the west from where I was standing.

I was listening to a segment on NPR coming home from yoga Monday evening on whether or not listening to a book is the same as reading a book and the conclusion reached was that it didn’t matter if you read a real book, read it on a kindle or phone, or listened to it, the result was pretty much the same though you don’t have to be able to read in order to listen to a book. But it turns out what they were referring to is a study that determined there was no difference in comprehension between reading or listening if, and it seemed to me a big if, the person already knows how to read. It also determined that not knowing how to read did affect comprehension when just listening especially if the material was complex but also that it was beneficial for auditory learners to listen to the material as well as read it. Being able to read has the advantage of going at your own pace, being to reread sections for better understanding, and developing attention span and focus while listening had the advantage of auditory clues like tone and emphasis. I prefer to read because I find it’s easier to concentrate on the story or content. If I’m listening my mind will tend to wander and I will have missed part of the story. My mind will wander sometimes when I read as well but then I just have to go back and reread a page or two. Pretty interesting really, the different ways people learn. 

 

excess crop, Ghost, the Evils

A morning prism cast on the wall behind me.

Allison commented on my last post asking if I had changed my font size because it was so small she had to enlarge it to read it. The answer is no, but anyone else have that problem? I write in Avenir Book font size 14, copy and paste into the create-a-post form on Blogger. I can increase the font size but the next largest is 18 which seems too big to me. The other thing I can do is change the size to ‘medium’ from ‘normal’ once it’s in the create-a-post form (which I’m doing this post). So what say you, my readers?

Another weird thing that happened to me on the Blogger dashboard for a few days was the Reading List was only showing me posts from 5 years ago or older. I discovered that I can select specific blogs on the reading list and get the current posts that way but it seems to have resolved itself as I’m getting current posts again.

Yesterday was a food delivery day from the regional food bank at SHARE. They had asked Jan if she wanted carrots and cabbages. She said she’d take two bags of carrots and one of cabbages. They sent 7 or 8 of carrots and at least 8 of cabbage. The mesh bags of carrots must have weighed 30 lbs if they weighed an ounce, maybe more, probably more, and the mesh bags of cabbage had 8 enormous heads each and were so heavy I couldn’t even pretend to pick one up. Just shoving one aside was effort enough. It looked like some local farmer donated his excess crop to the food bank and they were trying to get rid of it. Needless to say, everybody got an abundant amount of carrots and cabbages and we still didn’t give them all away. We also got I don’t know how many 20 lb bags of potatoes and large bags of small apples. Jan had the carrots split up into plastic grocery bags. These are the ones I’m taking to my neighbor. I don't know if you can tell how big that cabbage is in the picture but it was huge.

I may have mentioned that a black feral cat has been slinking up to eat after Robin or I feed the four outdoor cats, Momcat and her three sons. Initially he would wait by the back corner of the shop until the humans left and the four had eaten and he would come eat what was left. Then Robin started talking to him and he has gotten braver, approaching closer and finally coming to eat while she was out there and while the other cats were eating. Then she named him Ghost. Now he’s gotten used to me and Minnie. Minnie would chase him at first but I would call her back. Now he stands his ground when she runs at him which totally perplexes the dog. Tuesday I was over there petting and feeding the four. I put the bag of food back in the shed, turned around to get the water bowls and there he was. Ghost is aptly named.

He came in to eat while I was getting fresh water and setting the bowls back under the porch albeit keeping a wary eye on me. I hope at some point we are able to trap him and get him fixed too.

Tuesday I drove to the Shopping Mecca in Rosenberg. I had bought a 5” x 5” frame at Michael’s earlier for the drawing but I didn’t notice that it was not set up for hanging on the wall which is what I want. Actually what I wanted was a 6” x 6” frame but they didn’t have one. Well, damn. Now I was going to have to go the Evil Hobby Lobby which has a better selection of frames. So, Tuesday I drove out there and dammit, they didn’t have one either. I consoled myself about the wasted trip by reminding myself that at least I didn’t give them any of my money. Then I got our champagne for New Year’s as long as I was in Mecca. Once home I found exactly what I wanted on the Evil Amazon (don’t have a lot of choices out here in the boonies…Evil Empire, Evil Hobby Lobby, Evil Amazon so it’s pick your poison). It’s supposed to be delivered today. It’ll be Monday before I can get it in the mail so I hope it gets to its destination before Christmas.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights were our coldest nights so far, down in the 30s. Warmed up fast on Thursday, not terrible this morning, in the 60s, but overcast and wet with light rain off and on so today’s activity will be to start on my next painting. It’s just an exercise really, an overdone subject of aspen trees just to work on skills and technique so I’m not really invested in the end product. Later I plan on making potato leek soup for dinner.

 

good food, color charts, stupidity

Buddha in the garden.

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Well, damn. No picture of my salad, no picture of the food laden table. Everything was so good…chicken and dumplings, enchilada casserole, clusters of green beans with bacon wrapped around the middle looking like miniature sheaves, corn and rice casserole, fresh fruit, my salad, deviled eggs, and more and that doesn’t even cover the desserts. And it was nice to have all the volunteers there, most all, a few were absent; the Monday group that deals with donations and other stuff but not open to the public and the Thursday group. As usual a prayer preceded the eating. I just stand there quietly and politely without bowing my head. I have no issue with the wishes for good health and being grateful for community and the good things in your life but the submissive appealing to the big daddy in the sky for granting those things or giving him credit for the same is where we part ways. 

Actually, here’s what’s left of my salad moved into a much smaller bowl. I didn’t bring home very much.

I haven’t started on my painting yet but I have been working on getting the last box of paints my friend sent me added to the color chart…a rectangle with straight pigment on dry paper and one with diluted pigment on wet paper. It helps me choose what colors to use in a painting. This last box, the pigments are very strong, dense.

This was the first chart I made of the three small tins. I need to redo it with the larger format.

I looked out the back door the other morning to see half a dozen or so inca doves all fluffed up on the little patio right outside the door in plain sight. I snuck away to get my phone/camera but when I looked again they had moved to the left among the pots there so they’re a little obscured.

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News is that the man who shot and killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare has been arrested. I can only surmise that he wanted to be caught and arrested. They found the gun, the suppressor, the fake ID, the clothing, and a 3 page ‘manifesto’ on his person when approached and arrested, well maybe not the clothing but they did recover that also. Clearly the man has never watched a crime show. The first thing he should have done was dispose of the weapon, ID, and clothing and for all the gods’s sakes don’t carry around a 3 page manifesto. If I have learned nothing from watching General Hospital it’s how to dismantle and dispose of a gun after a shooting. So how did health insurance companies react to the killing of a CEO? Did they send out orders to stop denying tests, procedures, and care recommended by doctors? Oh, hell no, they beefed up security around their board members.

And last from the Department of  Disconnect, Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk are going around spouting about the ‘deep state’ in government, the unelected bureaucrats running this country into the ground, and how they are going to purge the government. They seem to have completely missed that fact that they are themselves unelected bureaucrats.

 

Thanksgiving and the days leading up to it

It’s been a busy week. While we have gathered at my daughter’s house for Thanksgiving for at least fifteen years, either in the city or here in the country, this year everyone is coming here again, same as last year. Grocery shopping done and housecleaning started on Monday, food prep and more house cleaning on Tuesday, more food prep and house cleaning and cranberry sauce and pie making on Wednesday. I made a chocolate fudge pecan pie, having been inspired by Mary Moon. I dug out my Aunt Mimi’s heritage very basic seven ingredient recipe with minimal instructions and no sister to ask about it, my first time to make this pie. It turned out a little over cooked even though I set the timer for the lower end of the cooking time, and then at dinner I learned from my daughter, who has made it before and did ask her aunt about how to make it, that I was supposed to melt the butter and sugar and chocolate together, not just the butter and chocolate, which I didn’t do. It was still fudgey and rich if a little sugary crunchy against the pie crust. Oh well, next time.

Yesterday I put together and baked the dressing and the butternut squash and cranberry casserole. 

Sarah will bring the rest of the food; turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, broccoli rice casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes with a small vegan version, brussels sprouts, eggplant; Autumn will make and bring the dinner rolls.

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We were expecting 10 adults and one three year old but Robin and her boyfriend got delayed at his mother’s house and Audra and Paisleigh were stuck in Arkansas where she had gone to visit her family last weekend and Mikey elected not to join us. It ended up being just the six of us; Marc and I, Sarah and Mike, and Jade and Autumn who came from Austin, and way too much food. It was a fun evening sitting around the table eating way too much with no drama.

After four full days, I’m being a couch potato today. I'll get back out in the yard tomorrow.

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I have a correction on my object #3 post. Marc reminded me that my father not only co-signed the loan papers, he loaned me the 10% down payment so the loan was for $17,100 plus interest. Still an astronomical amount to me at the time. He never asked me to pay that money back but it all worked out later when my siblings and I bailed our parents out of a financial bind many decades later that they never paid back. Also, an addition. I forgot to add that Marc and I got married in that house, a quick little ceremony by a friend and then a big party.

no rain, mouse, feral yard, rain, fancy desserts

Today is overcast, dark, and windy with the feeling of impending rain except there’s no rain. At least it’s keeping the temperature down. Last night during my hour or so of wakefulness I planned to do the second round of fertilizing the azaleas and the camellia today. I usually wake up around 2 AM drifting back to sleep an hour or two later. Last night I slept til about 4 before waking and when I was still awake an hour later I thought of my sister who often complained about waking at 5 and not being able to go back to sleep. I thought at a little past 5 AM I probably wouldn’t get back to sleep either and then my pill alarm woke me at 8:30.

I won’t be getting out in the yard today I guess, haven’t even stepped outside yet. When I finally got up to fix breakfast and was emptying the dishwasher I opened the bottom drawer I keep the glass storage dishes in and everything was covered in mouse poop and pee. Dammit. Fucking mouse, damn cat that isn’t catching the mouse. Now that drawer has to be emptied and cleaned and everything in it washed as if I didn’t already have enough dishes to do (my turn) and also my turn to cook dinner tonight. I had thought we had another mouse because my line of bird skulls keeps getting disturbed. Well, the little rodent must have had a party in the drawer last night because the last time I took something out of there it was fine.

It’s Sunday and I wrote the above on Friday. I keep forgetting to set out a trap before I go to bed and this morning my row of bird skulls looked like this, flipped over and askew.

We’re having lightning and thunder and rain! right now which we really need, raining rather hard. Of course I spent yesterday fertilizing all the potted plants and as many of the azaleas I had enough fertilizer for and then watering over at Pam’s house which really needed it. In the past two weeks that yard has gone feral even with the little bit I do over there every day when I go feed the wildlings. I was going to make a concerted effort over there today but now that’s not happening. And of course the dog is in complete panic mode. And wants in my lap, wants down, wants in my lap, wants down ad infinitum. Cat seems a little concerned about her doggy sister and has just come over to nose and sniff at her.

The couple, Joe and Mary, who mow and trim the shop yard and Pam’s yard and who are old like me didn’t come this week. They drove by to see how bad it was and I happened to be walking back to my house when they did. Joe went to his heart doctor the previous week who promptly put him in the hospital to put in a stent and sent him home with an exterior pacemaker while he arranges for the real one. Maybe next week, Joe says, depending on if he’s getting the pacemaker. I don’t know what we’re going to do if he retires. He only charges us $100 to do that acre and a half. It’s getting pretty rough over there and that’s with no rain to speak of for the last few weeks. Now with this rain the weeds and weedy grasses are going to double in the next few days.

My neighbor, the one who cut that horrendous ditch for me, who works for a farmer came by Friday evening with a big bag of freshly dug up red potatoes still encrusted with dirt, way more than we can eat especially since we already had plenty of potatoes and I have yet to dig up my two big containers so I took some to Robin and will share with another neighbor.

Oh, and now the rain has stopped, thunder still rumbling in the distance. Minnie is starting to calm down. The ground is too wet now to do anything outside today so I guess I’ll read more in my book, Stephen King’s The Institute. I know, I swore to never read another of his books even though I used to be a big fan. I did read Fairy Tale which was OK but a little contrived with all the references. Anyway, I thought I’d try this one.

Report on the fancy desserts…left to right:  berry tart with custard, lemon basil mousse kind of thing, and blackberry lavender cheesecake. 

They were all good. The berry tart would have been better if growers hadn’t hybridized all the flavor and juice out of them for size and firmness. Strawberries particularly which used to be small, soft, juicy, and bursting with flavor. Now they’re big, red on the outside and white inside, no juice or flavor, and impossible to bruise. But, hey, they look good. My favorite though was the lemon basil mousse thing, so creamy and flavorful.

And thank you everyone for all the lovely birthday wishes.

been busy preparing for the hard freeze

I’ve been more or less MIA since Wednesday. I say more or less because I did upload my last post on Saturday. Last Wednesday was such a clown show in the House it just grabbed all my attention and Thursday I’m always out of pocket because of SHARE which was a food delivery day from the regional food bank, our new Elder while putting boxes on the storage rack wants to make sure we know…

Friday I spent the day working on my post which I had intended to post that day but, oh well. Which brings us to the weekend. Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday I spent getting ready for the arctic blast that is sitting on us right now. I pulled the big potted plants that would withstand a light freeze into the garage and put the big tarp up and across everything. I harvested the rest of the cauliflower, broccoli, 

most of the mustard greens and lettuce, and the two ready cabbages and covered the rest of the cabbages and mustard greens (we’ll see if they survive). I covered the ponytail palm, the bougainvillea, bird of paradise, the begonia, and the yesterday today and tomorrow, pruned back and covered the porterweed and the yellow angel trumpet, brought smaller pots of flowers and plants in the house, filled the bird feeder. 

This silly thing was blooming yesterday.

And worried about Momcat and the kittens. I had brought 3 boxes home from SHARE and put three ragged towels in them and put them and a basin with kitty litter in the shed behind Pam’s house but didn’t intend to lock them in until today as it was only supposed to get down to near freezing Sunday night. As I headed over to feed them around 4 I checked the weather and now it was going to get down to 29˚ Sunday night so I moved their food and water dishes from under the porch to inside the shed and they all went in to eat and I shut the door. It was 25˚ when I got up this morning. Well, damn. I hadn’t plugged in the small radiator heater Pam has in the shed for her plants because I didn’t think they would need it last night. 

I went over to check on them after breakfast and after the icy drizzle had stopped, hauling the heavy duty extension cord over with me and plugged it into the outdoor outlet on the back of the house and when I opened the door of the shed they were huddled in the boxes and the water in their dish was frozen. I put out more food, cleaned the litter box, plugged in the radiator and arranged the boxes around it (but not too close) because it’s going to be even colder tonight and colder still tomorrow night, like 18˚. Momcat immediately wanted out. Sorry Momcat, not til Wednesday. I’ll go back and check on them this afternoon.

I had brought in the prunings from the yellow trumpet flower yesterday, one of which had an open bloom, and put them in water to root like I did last year and last night as I was sitting at my computer the flower released it’s wonderful lemony scent.

There was another thing that happened last week besides the clown show in the House. Marc’s mother died Tuesday night. She had been in hospice care at home with her youngest son providing care which he has done for the last ten years or so, moving in and putting his life on hold when their mom started to decline. Al was with her when she passed. She was 92. We were hoping that this year would easier than last but it has started out with another death in the family and next week Marc has cataract surgery. I don’t suppose at this point in our lives that any future year is going to be eventless. 

But here’s one small success, Cat finally succeeded in snuggling up to Minnie.

cooking, watering, shopping

Because I only have to provide dinner twice a week it allows me to 'cook' as opposed to just put a meal on the table so I'm always trolling for new recipes. I don't do something new every time but I've tried several new recipes lately though I haven't always taken pictures. I've made garlic butter baked cod with a cherry tomato sauce (really good), improvised my own gumbo with instant roux powder, okra, onions, celery, catfish and shrimp, and rice (better than I thought it would be), and most recently blistered broccoli pasta with walnuts, parmesan, and mint (also really good).

Thursday I printed out a recipe for french onion galette but I have to find gruyere cheese which is not to be found in this little town nor any of the acceptable substitutions two of which I've never heard of so I guess I'll be making a trip into Shopping Mecca to the giant grocery store there which I need to do anyway because the grocery store here stopped carrying the organic mayonnaise and the orecchiette pasta that I like so much.

High 90s was bad enough. Now that we've hit day after day of triple digits with no relief in sight for the foreseeable future, shit is even worse. My toad lilies are dying no matter how much water I give them every day, same with the white butterfly ginger. Even the drought tolerant mistflower is wilty. The rock rose, members of the mallow/hibiscus family, don't seem to mind, getting along with the watering I do in that flower bed which is less than some of the others. The picture is off the internet because I can't seem to remember to take a picture of mine in the morning when they're open.

I've started walking the dog in the early mornings while the street is still mostly in shade. Finally got to visit my friends at the other end of the block. Leonard was sitting on his porch yesterday so I stopped to chat and Judy heard my voice and came out so that was nice. Haven't seen them, or anybody on the street, for weeks.

Made a run to the Evil Empire Friday to get a new hose for the little backyard and a new sprayer nozzle to replace the one that leaks more water than it sprays out. Also got a nicer soap dish to replace the crappy plastic one in the bathroom and a new pair of cheap sandals of which they had maybe half a dozen left but miracle of miracles, one pair in my size. And then to the new hardware store/lumber yard in town for 3 repair kits for the hose in front that I've already repaired twice. You'd think I'd have just replaced that one but the hose in the little backyard is ancient, stiff, cracked, and not worth the trouble to repair.

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I'd intended to publish this yesterday, yesterday being Friday, but instead of uploading the pictures I decided to repair the hose so I hauled it inside to work on it. Found the slit that I thought the geyser was shooting out from, cut the hose and put it back together with the repair kit, then found another slit about 6” away and another slit about 6” away in the other direction and then examined the hose and found not just the two bulging spots but two more that would soon be bulging and declared the hose a piece of shit and undid the repair I had just done and then removed the two repair/splice pieces already on the hose and in the process gouged a bit of flesh off one of my fingers that bled profusely. So back to Alamo H/L to return the three repair/splice things I had bought earlier and bought another new hose. After that I had to fix dinner which was no great shakes either.

And today, Saturday, I finally girded my loins for a trip to Shopping Mecca down the highway in Rosenberg but first stopped at the little market on the way for some okra, yellow squash and another little miracle, peaches. The owner of the market scoured the state and found one orchard that still had some but these are absolutely the last Texas peaches of the season. Then on to SM to the grocery store there to get the gruyere cheese and a few other things including stocking up on the organic mayonnaise and then to J C Penney's to get some shorts which I didn't expect them to have being the end of summer and stores are putting out their winter merchandise and another miracle of miracles they had two pair in my size of the style I like. Then to another grocery store at the other end to stock up on the orecchiette pasta and finally swinging by the Evil Empire to return the 16 gauge extension cord and get the 14 gauge that I should have bought.

Between yesterday and today I am shopped out and hope I don't have to go into another store for the foreseeable future.

 

food and flowers (of the wild kind)

Tuesday night I fixed my favorite salad for dinner. We had had chicken salad with avocado for lunch and it was an easy dinner to put together after cardio drumming which is still a lot of fun. Anyway, the ingredients are always the same but quantities vary...mixed baby greens, celery, granny smith apple, dried cranberries, mandarin orange segments, pecans, orecchiette pasta. Tonight I'm fixing the Italian sausage with shallots and apples.

Here's two tips for keeping food fresh longer, one I tried and it works...if your avocados are getting/have gotten ripe but you aren't ready to eat them/it yet, immerse it in a glass of water and put it in the refrigerator. It will keep the avocado from going bad. It really does work. I had one in water in the refrigerator for almost two weeks (because I kept forgetting it was in there) and, yes, it was perfect when I finally ate it.

The other I haven't tried but my neighbor says it works...wrap your celery in aluminum foil to keep it fresh longer. I don't use much celery, just cooking with it now and then or in a salad and so it always goes bad before I use it all up. I've wrapped mine in foil. I'll let you know how well it works.

We're having winter this week. Of course we are, I took the plumerias and bird of paradise out of the garage. It's in the 40s and rainy (and yay for that) and a little windy and only supposed to get in the 50s with drops in the 30s the next two nights but as long as it doesn't freeze it'll be OK.

In the meantime, the indian paintbrush has painted the pastures and empty acres reddish orange.

A field on the way to the grocery store.

The fallow 12 acres behind me

is also spotted with little yellow flowers.

The evening primrose is coming into full bloom and the stretch between Wharton and El Campo is a mosaic of pale pink to dark pink. Unfortunately, I can't get a picture of that as I'm hauling ass down the highway.

Some are so pale as to be white like this patch over at the shop.

The fleabane is also in full bloom.

The bluebonnets are at or past peak,

my little clump of blue eyed grass I dug up from the side of the road,

and the baby blue eyes are looking good.