Hot enough to fry an egg...

  Got 2 dehydrators going...just took the strawberries out of one because they were done. It's still full of cherries and blueberries.  The other one (in the picture) I just got yesterday at a ridiculous price at a local discount store.  The grocer had a great price on blueberries and so I bought  7 pints...May go back for more.  ( Strawberries too, probably, as they really dry well. They're gorgeous (see picture) and they taste wonderful.)The first batch I didn't follow instructions (IMAGINE THAT!!)  and so they are taking longer to dry. The second batch (majority) have all been dipped in boiling water to crack the waxy skins and I made a wonderful mess everywhere..including the front of my pajamas  (Yes--I often cook in my pj's...) Blueberry juice everywhere.  I loaded the second one with more strawberries and pineapple as well.     The next batch of dehydration is going to include some peaches off our trees. They are starting to ripen. Then I'm going to play with tomatoes and peppers too, and maybe even some lemons and oranges if I can find any that are less than the price of gold...

 The weather is stifling hot here,. with heat index yesterday up to 105.  This morning when I got up all the windows were fogged up, I opened the front door and it was like a blast furnace. At 9 AM, it was already a heat index of 97 degrees. The animals are pretty much staying in and napping to conserve energy.  lol  I was out a while yesterday, and it was rough. When I got home with groceries and 80 pounds of chicken feed, I had to do everything in 20 minute max increments. I got the chicken feed out of the trunk and into a wheelbarrow, and left it there at the back of the car so the Irishman could handle it when he got home or it got cooler. (It never did.) The central air ran nonstop all day, until almost 10 PM. And it's only set at 75.  Looks like it's gonna be like this awhile too.  I need to get out in the garden, but don't know if I can handle it...There are green beans need picking for sure and probably okra. One thing's for sure...the okra will be LOVING this weather.

  I made a  batch of granola bars last night, and cocky little thing that I am, didn't bother to measure the honey and molasses. Needless to say, they are sticky and overly sweet. Oops. Arrgghhh....some things have to be attended to in a proper manner, and measuring the correct amounts of sweeteners to make a candy hardness is one of them. I made them with dried mangoes and blueberries and papayas this time. They are way too sweet for my taste. Plus, I like them crispier. Live and learn...I had a hard time finding decent honey , as I've used all ours now. I did discover a little place called the Woodburn Country Store, just a little bit from us, out here in the well, country. lol  They are mostly wholesalers, she said, but they sell a few things, like dried fruits and Amish jams and honeys and molasses. So I bought a quart of honey from her and molasses too.  She said their honey comes from Iowa.  There is a guy in town who supposedly sells honey, but I haven't found him at home yet. I'll keep trying, as I prefer local honey for a lot of reasons.

Okay...lots to do today, and if I get off this computer after a bit of reading, I might get it done. Maybe.

Namaste.

Windy Wednesdays

 Miss Sophie, at the marina at Pere Marquette Park, Grafton,IL  We were having a small picnic...

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     As payment for a gorgeous sunny 75 degree day in the first half of March, we are now under a tornado watch.  I can never remember the fine nuances of distinguishing between a warning and a watch, and frankly I don't care. I have a really bad attitude about natural disasters and stuff...when it comes to me, anyway. I have a lot of empathy for people in 3rd world countries reeling from 'quakes and hurricanes and shit...but in my own life it's pretty much let the chips fall where they will.  I am nor afraid of storms. I am not afraid of any of that stuff. If it is my day to die, it will happen...regardless.  If it isn't, then there's no need to sit around worrying. I just try to keep it simple and live every moment like it may be my last. Natives have a saying about it being a good day to die. If I live right, love right and trust in the Great Spirit ...I have nothing to fear.   

  And so it is.

  The parental units took to the road about 6 AM and I barely heard them leave. The Irishman was feeling much better with the antibiotics, and he was off to work as well.  I lay in bed, savoring the silence and the knowledge that I wasn't going to do a damn thing today.  LOL  So I went back to sleep and didn't get up until about 9.

  Yikes...it's midnight and the temps are still over 60 degrees!!  

   Went north about an hour today to visit a halfway house kind of a place. I have gone there off and on since I moved here. Lately off, because there were no women there. Today was a good day...it feels good to be able to share experience, strength and hope with women who are down on their luck and struggling. To be able to lend a hand, a shoulder, an ear...good stuff.

  I should be getting to bed. Thinking maybe I'll start writing in the mornings instead of at night...I seem to be tiring out and talking a lot of gibberish in the wee hours.  Maybe I'll make more sense...or not.

   Tomorrow I'll get back on this painting and get this room finished.  I really like the yellow...bright and cheery.  The back wall is going to be white, as I'm running out of yellow. There isn't a lot of wall back there anyway, as it holds 2 big windows. I can't wait to have this all done and get this room straightened around again.  The chaos is killing me.  I don't do well in this kind of stuff.  Even when I move, I unpack and set up my house in the very first day or two usually.   The Irishman says I'm a nester. The truth is a little less cute than that.  I don't do well in clutter and disorganization. The inside of my head is crazy enough...I need structure and order around me.  And THEN, I can be okay....lol

  I am just LOVING this new monitor, by the way.  (It's not new, new.  Just a different one that happened to be laying around)... It's bigger and it's got really good color and definition. Plus, when I was in the control panel, dicking around,. I changed some color scheme from blue to silver...and I love the look. Clean and defined.  WooHoo!

  We had big salads for supper in honor of the summer weather. lol  Lots of veggies and chunks of ham and grated cheese...and shrimp cocktail too. ' Twas yummy!!

   In the morning I am getting the dehydrator going with apples and pineapples. I'll let you know how that goes...I'm excited about getting some drying going on. This will give me a chance as well to figure it all out before garden harvest time.  I'm not real sure about what to prep the fruit with to keep it from turning brown, but am thinking I'll just use the Fruit Fresh that I use when freezing/canning.  It's just ascorbic acid...I'm also going to leave the peels on most of the apples and peel just a few and try them and see which one I like best. The peels may get tough...

  Let the games begin  !!!!!!!!!

  Okay--turning in now, and wishing you all the best dreams available.

Namaste.