1. I hold a basket full of vegetables and fruit, and I am happy!
2. Janet and my Hubby are someone I like to travel with because she drives and I really do not like driving and Hubby and I have always traveled well together.
3. That day, that long ago day, is one that I will remember for the rest of my life.
4. So many reunions and family times this year. How nice!
5. Trust in the Lord.
6. A shot in the dark.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to making my last batch of cherry jam, tomorrow my plans include the dreaded ironing and Sunday, I want to prepare the cucumbers to make pickles with.
It’s sizzling summertime in New England. We’ve had high temperatures, and high humidity the last few days! I feel truly melted! But there have been many good things too, and here is my Thursday Thirteen.
My garden is growing, and the vegetables are ripening at an alarming rate. I can’t give this stuff away fast enough.
Tomorrow I will buy ground turkey and sausage to make stuffed zucchini and then I will freeze those.
Hubby’s fruit trees are really looking splendid!
I had a family reunion and barbecue with my sister and cousins and I have to say, it was one of the best times I’ve had in a while!
Hubby and I made Cherry Jam. Oh Yum!
I think I may also make a recipe I got for summer squash fritters. Very low in points!
I LOST 2 AND A HALF POUNDS this week at Weight Watchers!!!
The sinus infection lingers, but I am drinking lots of tea and lemonade in an attempt to help the antibiotics flush it out!
Tonight’s dinner is slow cooked pork ribs, potato salad and, summer squash and zucchini. (surprise!)
I have a big report that I need to write and turn in by this weekend. I guess I will start tonight (Wednesday).
Hubby made a big batch of his cucumber salad! I helped a little, as I ran all the cukes through the food processor!
I love fresh Basil!
Did I mention that I LOST TWO AND A HALF POUNDS this week at Weight Watchers!!!!!!!!
1. How has your hometown changed since you were a kid? What has changed most about the neighborhood you grew up in?
I was born and raised in Falmouth, Massachusetts. In the winter, when I was growing up, it was a sleepy series of villages where everyone knew everyone else. Now the year round population is much larger.
Of course the summer season has always been big because we are a beach community. I’ll be going back in three weeks for my High School reunion.
2. What song makes you laugh?
Obla Di Obla Da by the Beatles.
3. Are you a fan of Harry Potter? Read the books? Seen any/all of the movies? Will you be standing in line somewhere close to midnight later this week? For those of you playing along today who live outside the US or UK is Harry Potter a phenomenon in your part of the world?
Love Harry Potter books and I have read them all. I have seen all but the last two movies, but I do plan to.
4. If the truth hurts, will you tell a lie? Are we better off as a society in a world that allows no form of deception whatsoever?
I do not believe in telling someone the truth if it will hurt them. A little white lie never hurt anyone. However, I do believe that overall, we should strive for being honest.
5. What is your favorite ‘sauteed in garlic and butter’ food? Or garlic and olive oil if that makes you feel better.
A Vidalia onion, fresh basil, sea salt, summer squash, zucchini and portobello mushrooms.Oh Yum!
6. Attending any reunions this summer/year? High school? family? Other? Do these events stir up excitement or dread?
High School. In August on Cape Cod! I am so excited about this! Many of these men and women I have not seen since we graduated!
I just attended a family Reunion with my cousins and that was fabulous!
7. Lilac, hydrangea, peony…pick one.
That’s easy…LILAC!
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Hubby and I were watering the garden yesterday and we were noting how splendidly the garden has done. I explained that I have talked to my plants since I planted the seeds and he actually laughed at me. “No”, he said, “It’s because I fertilized the soil and plants more often”! “No”, I said, “It’s because I spoke lovingly to them, and told them to grow and thrive!” Well you can imagine, this went on for a long time. Finally I knew that Hubby would never be convinced, so I let it go. After all…..we all know it’s because I spoke lovingly to them, that they all have grown and produced so well!
I woke up feeling pretty bad again with the sinus problem. During breakfast I mentioned this to Hubby, and since we found this lesion on his stomach over the weekend, I called our doctor, and we both went in to see him together.
Yes, I still have the sinus infection. He has prescribed 2 weeks of a different antibiotic and a nasal mist. On the bright side, my blood pressure is back to normal and my weight…terrific!
Hubby had his lesion removed and it has been sent off for a biopsy. Our doctor was reassuring, but I have had a bad feeling about that thing for a while, and I am so glad Hubby has finally gone in and had it removed.
Now, a little more about Sunday. I cannot even begin to tell you how special the day was. Seeing my cousins and my sister and brother in-law was great! We sat around the dinner table sharing memories and joking and I felt instantly at home with them all.
It’s an off thing. We do not always get together, but when we do, it’s like we just saw each other the day before. My cousin’s daughter has three wonderful children, whom I found delightful. The eldest has a European Hedgehog named Olivia!
Olivia really likes peanut-butter.
The men did the grilling!
And I got a little carried away with dessert!
I told everyone that we must do this again very soon. I’m thinking that we should maybe rent a beach house in Falmouth for a week or something and anyone that could come, could come!
This year, Janet and I are going and I know we will enjoy going to our old haunts.
I thank my sister and my cousin Janet for the pictures.
This weekend was wildly crazy and I will write all about it in the morning, but for now I will leave you with this picture of me with my three cousins! We had such a great time together yesterday and I really think we should do this more often.
When you get up from your beds, I shall be on my way to a family event in Massachusetts. It requires me to drive 100 miles south to my cousin’s church and then to her house.
I must get up at the horrible hour of 6AM (I’m not a morning person!), dress, do my hair and make-up and get out the door by 6:30 at the latest.
I plan to make myself a Weight Watchers peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat in the car, and I will bring with me some coffee, and some lemonade, but I will try not to drink a lot, as certain parts of my body aren’t as young as they once were!
I plan to take a lot of pictures, and I will deliver a full report on Monday when I recap the weekend.
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I’ve really been working the garden this year, and I have to say, it’s showing the tender loving care I have been giving it.
I started by talking to my seeds, even before they sprouted. Then once they did sprout, I talked to them every day while they grew. Once I planted them in the big garden, I talked to the whole garden, praising it’s ability to grow.
Since getting my sinus infection I have been so tired. I’ve been fighting it now for several weeks and part of me still feels like the sinus infection is winning. I want to sleep more, want to sit cuddled with my dackels more and have no real taste for food.
Friday morning, after breakfast, Hubby suggested that we go shopping. We needed things like, bread, milks, eggs, well you get the idea. So I dressed myself, watered the garden while Hubby got ready, and we left the house at 10:30.
We went to the dry cleaner and did the paper work to have their insurance buy Hubby a new pair of trousers. They LOST his pants! Then we went to the post office, getting our mail, and by then it was close to midday, so we went to Hubby’s favorite Chinese restaurant. I put the things on my plate I usually eat, but it just didn’t taste right. So I didn’t eat too much, mostly fruit.
We visited three stores and shopped like crazy in the crowed stores, gathering all we will need for the next ten days. Then we drove back home, with me nearly falling asleep in the passenger seat.
After getting it all put away, I sat down at my neighbors to visit with them. Then I came home and started our dinner. I could only eat half of it again. I put things away, did the dishes and just as I am thinking I can relax, Hubby comes in and tells me that it’s time to make cherry jam!
Oh no! This can take several hours to do, and I was so tired, but he insisted that we must do it, as tomorrow he must go to a fruit growers meeting and on Sunday I am going to see my cousin.
So we printed out the recipe, prepared the cherries (I have got to get a cherry pitter), and then set about cooking up the cherry jam. The recipe said it would take 35 minutes. It took us two hours!
However, the jam tastes great, and we used them up before they went bad. I have 5 half pints of lovely cherry jam, and that is definitely a win, win!
We’re going to do things a bit differently this week. A blog friend of Janet’s, Jen, wrote a post called I Am From . . . A Meme Worth Doing, using this template (it’s worth checking out Fred’s and Jen’s writing to get an idea of what to do). I thought it would be fun to do the fill-ins on this template. We’ll do 5 this week and 5 next, plus the regular last fill-in we always do. Let me know what you think, have fun, and…here we go!
1. I am from Liquid Tide, from Downy fabric softener and Dawn dish soap.
2. I am from the Lakes the mountains and the forests.
3. I am from the Lilacs, the tomato plants, andthe cherry trees.
4. I am from Sauer Braten and great cooks, from the Prussmann Family and the Stevens Familyand the Daniel Family.
5. I am from the emotional onesand loving.
6. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to cook a great meal,tomorrow my plans include doing some shoppingand Sunday, I want tohave a great time visiting my cousins and sister!
It’s summer! Here are some miscellaneous thoughts on this hot Thursday. It seems I’ve been busy with this and that, and so I will share with you what I’m up to.
We went to a splendid wedding last week. You know, where the bride and groom look at each other and you can see the love? It was beautiful!
French cut baby lamb chops! Is there anything better?
The first summer squash from my garden, sauteed with vidalia onions, my own green pepper and my own fresh basil!
T-bone steaks and home made potato salad for the 4th of July!
My first Ichiban Eggplant of the season!
3 European Cucumbers picked yesterday.
Friends. I go to Weight Watchers each week, not only for the meeting, but for the friendships I have made in the last three years.
We had quite a cold front pass through here. 41 mile an hour winds, and tremendous down drafts on the lake.
There were stupid silly boaters on our lake who didn’t leave the lake when the thunder started. I could not believe it!
We got some much needed rain after the front moved through.
I have a busy weekend coming up. I’ll be going to visit with my cousin and her family on Sunday. It’s been so long since I have seen them and I am looking forward to the visit.
Hopefully my sister and cousin Janet will also make the party!
Our cherries are in and we’ve already sold some to the local farm stand.
I hate to say this, but the instruction guide to our new TV’s remote control. I am still trying to figure out all the bells and whistles of this new TV.
2. What’s worse-being too hot or too cold?
Too hot. Being too cold requires that you just add a layer of clothing. Being too hot is a whole other story. You simply have no where to go after removing your under wear!
3. Share something that made you smile this past weekend.
The return of my neighbor’s grandchildren! We’ve known them since they were little and they both love the dogs! They came right down as soon as they arrived! I cannot believe how they have grown and how the dogs recognized them right away!
4. How do you like your hamburgers? Or don’t you?
I love hamburgers! I like mine on a nice roll, with cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, mayonnaise, ketchup and sweet pepper relish!
5. What’s your summer beach read? If it’s not summer in your part of the world then tell us what book you’re reading in front of the fire while sipping hot cocoa.
I need to get a book and start reading. I have been far too lazy this summer with reading, but with my vision so compromised, I just haven’t been able to get into a book. Perhaps I should do something like assign myself 10 pages a day and see how it goes!
6. How was your birthday celebrated when you were a kid?
I don’t recall my birthdays much as a kid. It is a week before Thanksgiving, and a month before Christmas, so I don’t think much was made of it. As a teen I had a few slumber parties. Always, I had chocolate cake with white frosting. Sometimes butter cream, but my favorite is a simple white decorator’s frosting.
7. What’s something that is totally uncool that you love anyway?
Romantic stories. I used to read them, “Penny Dreadfuls” as Hubby called them. But I loved losing myself in romance! Now I watch romantic movies and I love them! Yeah, that is totally uncool! LOL
8. Insert your own random thought here.
A few of you had questions about my spiny, spiky, cucumber. This morning I had three of them ready to pick, so I stopped and photographed the spikes once I got into the house.
You can see the little spikes on the cucumber. Let me assure you, that it really hurts when they pierce your skin, very much like a cactus.
Here are the three cucumbers I picked on Tuesday morning. They are about 12 inches long. I told Hubby he should make his cucumber salad with these as I will have two or three more tomorrow.
Also Happy Birthday to Gattina over at Writers Cramps! Go on over and wish her a Happy Birthday!
