And...we're OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wanted to stop in quickly and jot a note. Big time storms last night and yesterday and couldn't get on the computer. No matter, as I had a date with my sponsor and spent about 3 hours getting myself grounded and advised on some issues in my life. And last night the lightning was so beautiful...dangerously close, but incredible.

  Have a big day of canning green beans and tomatoes, drying some stuff and laundry (maybe). I have to go out and check the garden and pick the beans too before I get started on the 20 pounds I already have picked.  We had a lot of rain last night, so I imagine things have changed out there in the past 24 hours, lol. One of my favorite things about gardening is the remarkable changeability that comes with weather. The edamame experiment is going gangbusters. There are now 2 inch pods on most of the plants, which, by the way, are about 3 feet tall. They sure seem to love that location. The pods will fill out and be a fuzzy purple (I think) when they're done. I can't wait!!

  The peach tree is hanging heavy with peaches. The branches are so loaded this year that they need to be propped up, and that will be the workday on Friday when the Irishman is off. As well as more blackberries. They are really bountiful this year too, and huge and juicy. It's a good year for the garden this year, and I am very thankful, as my pantry is getting pretty empty of home-canned foods. I have changed my mind about selling my upright freezer, and I told himself last night. It will be a perfect place for storing the dried foods as well, and he agreed. I got it at a sale for only 75 dollars, I and I couldn't replace it for that if I changed my mind about need ing a second freezer. And you know me and my mind...lol

  The kittens are healthy and playing all the time. The pups are enjoying these dog days of summer.  And I am stalling...have to get to work!!

  Pictures later...

Namaste!

A Wed-nes-day in Feb-ru-ary

[Beautiful brown ex-large eggs from my Rhode Island Reds]

What a bunch of weird words we have in this fractured and bastardized version of the Queen's English!! lol I do know that Wednesday is a form of Woden's Day from the olde calendar. Still...

It was a busy and productive day today. Had an impromptu meeting with the scorned young (ish) man who started out by screaming at me. I looked at him and said "Excuse me, but I wouldn't scream at ME if I were YOU. It won't get you anywhere." He looked at me shocked. And then yelled, "I'M NOT SCREAMING AT YOU!!!" A guy walked by and said, uh-yea, dude--you are. lol

I saw my poor bone cruncher who is making slow but sure progress on my twisted frame. He just shakes his head sadly and says "I'll see you next week, my little challenge."

I got 2 new tires for my car, and will get the other 2 in a couple of weeks. They are too pricey for me to lay out the money all at once right now. I went to my Indian guy, and he was only able to save me about 40 bucks over what the dealership said. (It occurs to me that I ignorantly said he was Pakistani, which he is not, and which is also a bone of contention with Indians.) At any rate, I cannot believe how much better the car rides with 2 new tires on the front and the better 2 of the 4 old ones on the back. 2/3 of the shaking and shimmying is gone.

It is colder than heck here tonight with a single digit wind chill. Hope it warms up some tomorrow.

I was thinking about how blessed we are in so many ways. I am being constantly updated by friends from Australia on the horrific wildfires and heat wave down there. I have said prayers 'round and 'round for the east side of the continent. It is tragic. I shouldn't complain about some cold...I'm thinking these are opportunities to embrace the fact that I have plenty of long johns and heat in my house. I was thinking, as I watched a young couple in the tire place, begging him to find them at least one used tire, becasue the steel belt was showing on their little car and they could not afford more than 45 dollars for that tire. The girl was biting her lip about to cry, as she jiggled a baby on her hip. The baby was fussy, and they were all thin. I'm blessed to have the money to buy at least 2 tires when I need them and know that I can get the other 2 next month. I'm blessed to have enough food in my pantry that I can share with a friend who is going through a hard time. I told her to come with a bag and we'll stock her little pantry a ways. I have food in my freezer and I have canned goods (both home canned and store bought) and I have rice and beans and oatmeal and more than enough to keep from starving. I keep thinking that I need to start canning some meats, like chicken and pork, just to have some jars of canned stuff on the shelf that doesn't need refrigerating. The next time I find a great sale on chicken, I think I'll start with that. The local stores often have the 10 # bags of leg and thigh quarters for as lowq as 49 cents a pound. It's all dark meat, but that's okay with me--it's the most flavorful anyway! And that canned chicken could be used for pot pies, for soups, for chicken and dumplings, chicken salad...you name it. Same with the cooked pork. I find pork roasts for very reasonable prices and use it for Carnitas, burritos, and any number of Jamaican stews. It would be very convenient to have some already cooked on the shelf. And both of those, because they are pressure canned, would be very tender and flavorful. I should get on that. *wink

Well, I am blessed. And I am grateful. And grattiude is a gift I choose every day. Try it. You might be amazed before you are halfway through....

Namaste.