Monday Morning Viewing Pleasure

Sunday was a near perfect day weatherwise. It was in the mid 70’s, with drier air and plenty of sunshine. I worked in the garden in the morning, finding nothing (gasp!) to harvest. Although I have many more cucumbers, and squash coming along.
The kids were over on Saturday and again on Sunday. I would love it if they lived close by. They are such great kids and a lot of fun to have around. Best of all, I can sit back and watch them with the dogs, and that is fantastic! So for your Monday Morning viewing pleasure Here is a little collage of Child/Doggy Love!

The Fruits Of Our Labor

Why would one make Mustard Pickles, which also contain cauliflower, onions, green peppers and green tomatoes? Because I have more pickling cucumbers than I know what to do with! I am also one of those people who hates to waste anything and let’s face it, you can only eat so many salads.
So Hubby helped me to can all the mixture. Worse case scenario, it will totally stink and we will throw it all away. Best case? It will be so delicious that we will want to have hotdogs and other stuff that’s good with this mustard condiment, so we can eat it like crazy.
Last night I chopped up the vegetables and put them to soak in salt water.


Today I cooked the mustard sauce, added the vegetables,


and then canned them.

I think it will be really great on hotdogs. So I have decided to have hotdogs tomorrow so I can check it out.

Tonight we had chicken shish kebobs with the marinade you can find under the cooking section. It is good with both beef and chicken.

I am signing off now so I can get to bed early. For some unknown reason I woke up at 4:30 this morning and tonight I am tired.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Love About The Summer

1. Warmer temperatures. Although this over 90 stuff is for the birds.
2. Being able to watch the dogs play outside in the green grass.
3. The beautiful sunsets we have here.
4. Being able to drive anywhere and not have to worry about the snow.
5. Barbecuing!
6. My garden and eating fresh vegetables!
7. Listening to the children play at the town beach below us.
8. Strawberries, blueberries, watermelon and corn!
9. More sunny days and fewer cloudy days.
10. The lushness of the trees.
11. Flowers. I love flowers!
12. Watching the fruit grow on our trees.
13. Summer visitors!

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I’m not one of those people who does the heat well. I have friends who love it. In fact they love it so much they have moved, lock, stock and barrel, to Arizona and New Mexico. Me? I don’t like it when it gets over 80. I just don’t like it. I feel tired and stressed and yes, sweaty. And you all know how I feel about sweating, as I have written about it often enough.
Monday was the sort of day that one looks back on and says, “Yep, I got through that one, but it wasn’t pretty!”

I had a 9:30 doctor’s appointment. I got in and he checked me out and sent me to the lab for a gazillion blood tests. I walked down and found a gazillion people waiting to have their blood drawn. I waited for a while, but there were 12 people ahead of me and only 45 minutes that I could wait. You do the math. It just wasn’t going to happen.

I decided to go back after I brought Greta to the Vets. She was going today to have her teeth counted. Okay, I know you are all sitting there thinking I am obsessive compulsive about my dog, but I want to assure you that I am not. You see when Greta goes in front of the German judge in the fall he will check all her teeth and if she does not have them all, I will not be able to register her babies with the Deutscher Teckel Klub. The German version of the AKC. The good news is, not only does she have all of her teeth, but she has a perfect bite! (No she did not bite the Vet in order to prove this!)



Once I was done I dropped Greta off, and went back to get my blood drawn. I walked in just as the woman was leaving on her lunch hour. I was told to come back after 1 o’clock. Again I went home. I was starting to feel like I was meeting myself going up and down our driveway!

The garden continues to mass produce both summer squash and pickling cucumbers. I am amazed at all the food we have. My plan for next year is diversity. I have too few varieties of things. Next year. More!

It’s now 5 PM and 97 degrees. I went out to pick the days vegetables and came back in and I am soaked. I have to wonder how much longer we will have this incredible heat!
Stay cool everyone!