If You Are a Bug

The SFG is a little unimpressive this year.
Unless you are a bug.







Then there is a towering tomato plant--complete with green tomatoes.

And a forest of carrots.

And a jungle of oregano.

Right next to the zucchini.

In the opposite corner, we have the rhubarb.

And of course, the eggplant plant.

If you are a bug the SFG is a pretty awesome place.

SFG all natural update:  I used the compost sifter to actually sift compost last week.  I talked the neighbor into putting his grass clippings in my compost box instead of the dumpster.  I shredded some newspapers to add as well.  I added some of the finished compost to the empty squares in the SFG.  And I bagged some to add to the rest of the squares at the end of the season.  I had a goal to grow and eggplant.  So far I have managed to grow an eggplant plant.  Does that count?

Glory Rays

We took the Goob school shopping last week.  And next to the chocolate wonderfall and cotton candy at Golden Corrral (Oh, and the Goob trying on skinny jeans) this was the most amazing view of the day.

Me:  What is that movie where the people are on the roof with signs welcoming aliens?
STP:  Independence Day.
[Long pause]
STP:  Why do you ask?
Me:  Because I was wondering when Jesus comes back if I would be hiding somewhere with fear and trembling or if I would be jumping up and down on a rooftop.  And I was wondering what my sign would say.

Sunday morning, because of all the smoke from wildfires to the west, the sunrise looked like this.  And I was alone in the car so I had a little conversation with God Himself.  And He reminded me that even when the whole sky is smoky because half the world is on fire and there are no glory rays that He is just as close.  Just as likely to break through and take me home.

I think my sign will say, "Here am I".

The Great Zucchini

The Great Zucchini was about 2 square feet all by itself.**

It was roughly the same size as the SLD.  Who was not cooperative when it came to having her picture taken with the Great Zucchini.

So I happily posed with the Great Zucchini myself.  Because Super Aunt Brenda recognizes greatness when she sees it.

And then I introduced the Great Zucchini to the Amazing Food Processor.



And then I measured, mixed, preheated and baked.





And then I pondered the open kitchen trend.  Because whenever I make anything in the kitchen, my kitchen looks like this.

And like this.

And I would like my kitchen to be totally closed off from the rest of my house.  Not open to my living space.  No matter how much entertaining I plan to do.

(Maybe I would feel differently if I had granite countertops.)

In the end the mess was cleaned up, and the Great Zucchini was transformed in to (Gluten-free) Chaisin Nut Zucchini Bread.  And (Gluten free) Chocolate Cherry Chip Zucchini Bread.  And (Don't even think about it STP) Almost Pina Colada Zucchini Bread.

Shazamm!!
This blog entry is dedicated to my super hero--the STP--who restored my ability to post pictures in a single keystroke.  I love that man.  Even if my mom didn't name me Lois.

**Also of note (and in the spirit of full disclosure) I did not grow the Great Zucchini in my square Foot Garden.  I was just trying it on. 

Blogs in my Head

Blogger will not let me upload photos.  So all the wonderful blog posts that have been rolling around in my head for the last week are getting jumbled waiting for an outlet.  Occasionally blogger loads one picture.  This is one that is part of three posts.  One post on my progress with growing an eggplant this summer.  One post on a bugs eye view of my SFG.  And one post on things blooming in the side yard.  It is not part of the Great Zucchini post.  Or the Glory Rays post.  Or the Sunday Sunrise post.  Or the Does anyone know a Contractor, a Plumber, and a Marriage Counselor post.  If you want to know what has been happening you will have call me.  Do it today.  Otherwise I am going to have to do laundry and clean.

Too Much Adventure

Deluded Buoyed by my recent hike in the WYoming wilderness, and jealous of challenged by Uncle Michael's book of Pennsylvania's wonders of wonders, I ordered a book of my own from Amazon.  Titled "Hiking Wyoming--110 of the State's Best Hiking Adventures."  And clearly it is beyond me.  Written by an EMT trained wilderness ranger, it appears at least 109 of the hikes would require serious backpacking skills, bear spray, and spending at least one adventurous night in the Wyoming wilds.
I was just flipping through when I came upon this sentence on page 111:

Most folks from the West know the havoc cheat grass plays with socks when it is dry.

Not being originally from the West I was forced to google cheatgrass. It is obviously an invasive noxious weed.  Which I assume is one step up from a simple noxious weed.   I am including a picture.  It is not as exciting as a rattlesnake picture, but evidently cheatgrass can wreak economic havoc as well as play havoc with your socks.  Serious havoc stuff.

Additionally, it is extremely flammable when dry. 



So now we know that we do not want to hike the Paint Rock Creek this time of year. 
Or do we just want to hike sockless? (I'm finding this book to be slightly less helpful than I expected.) 
As a side note, this trail is not recommended for horse travel.

My 25th First

The Goob's first day of his Junior year was this past Tuesday. 
It was my 25th first day of school.  Twenty five years of notebook and pencil buying.  Twenty five years of trying to decided what everyone else will be wearing so we can be wearing similar things.  Twenty five years of schedule checking.  Twenty five years of lunch packing.  Twenty five years of filling out forms for the school nurse.  Twenty five years of prayers that we will have a good day, understanding teachers, a good year.  Twenty five years of an odd empty feeling.
The Goob makes it easy.  Uneventful.

Do you have everything you need?
Yes.
Do you want a ride?
No, I'll walk.   (We'll count that as a sentence.)
How was your day?
Fine.
How are your classes?
Fine.
Was there a boat?
No.

And after 25 years that's enough information for this mom.  Love you Goob.

Touring the Grounds with the Flamingos

Been thinking a lot about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.  And how God walked with Adam in the garden each evening.  And wondering what it is like touring the grounds with God Himself.  Tonight we would start in the flamingo garden out front.  You usually see it like this. But it is finally  looking a little like the cottage garden I picture in my mind.  

This bed has hollyhocks, coneflowers, crysanthemums, violas, apple blossom yarrow, petunias, portulaca, stella d'oro daylilies, a clematis and a few morning glories.  I think God Himself might linger here and bask in the joy in this little plot of land with me.

Also in the front of the house, it is of note that the plants in the little blue pots are still alive in the middle of August. 

Ok, its not the Garden of Eden, but really pretty close to a Dodge City miracle.

Ms. Brenda's Great Adventure...Continues

When Ms. Brenda wears a hat on an adventure, you know it is going to be extraordinary.

Like 'Thicket and bramble' extraordinary.

Like 'More bear scat than you care to think about' extraordinary.

Like 'Good traveling buddy' extraordinary.

Like 'Eat your heart out Uncle Michael' extraordinary.

Like 'the Biggest natural secret in the state of WYoming' extraordinary. (Go ahead...google 'Largest Natural Bridge in the state of Wyoming' and see what you get. And Ayers is not it.)

Like 'Getting back after dark and meeting the park ranger who was contemplating sending out search and rescue' extraordinary.

Just another ordinary Wyoming Monday.

Monday Morning Mango

1 fresh mango
1 heaping tablespoon of homemade apricot jam
1 serving light vanilla yogurt
6 ice cubes
1 food processor
1 porch swing
1 silly little dog
1 good book

All the ingredients for the perfect start to a Monday morning.  
A walk and a smoothie.  Been living this healthy lifestyle for an hour and a half now.  So far, so good.

Dodge City Graffiti

You know I love me some spray paint.

 But a few weeks ago some helpful young Dodge City-zens spray painted my meter.

And my garage.

  I'm still getting all my utility bills, so whatever meter that is is not greatly effected.  But the police came to my door one day and asked me to estimate the cost to repair the damage.  And I think I would like to have the garage replaced.  I have already pinned what the new one will look like.  In the meantime I have been ignoring thinking about the north side of the garage.  (And giving thanks that the Goob was not the young citizen that brought the police to my door.)  I didn't have any matching paint.  Nor do I want to invest in any paint for the garage.  Because I am waiting for it to fall down.  So I can rebuild it like the one I saw on Pinterest.  Until then there was still the matter of the garage graffiti.  You know I considered just adding additional spray paint.  But I didn't even want to spend $2.00 on the garage.

So today God Himself provided almost a gallon of matching paint.  For $1.00.  At a yard sale. 

So we set about covering over the garage graffiti.

As in, the STP painted and I documented.  Because it is good to document miracles.  Even $1.00 miracles.

The $1.00 paint is a little brighter.  But just a few sand storms should even things out.

And this is what it would look like from a trotting horse.

So the answer to the police question about the cost of reparations?  One dollar. 

Unless of course God Himself decides to go ahead and replace the garage.  I love me a good miracle.

In A Jam (In a Scrape)

A three ingredient recipe.

Apricots.

Sugar.                                     Lemon juice.

One instruction:  Stir.                                     FOR--EV---ER.

Add an apricot kernel to each jar.  Because that will give it an almond-like flavor and is very French and elevates your jam making experience from something your grandma might do to something Julia Child might do.

Ooo La La!

(I just mention this because if I cook again next week, you will know that something is seriously wrong.  Like a new level of hormone imbalance.  Or a brain tumor.  Or an early Fall.)

Things You Can't Learn From Google

If you already have a game warden for a friend, or you can't find a game warden to be your friend, might I suggest you get a friend with an apricot tree in her backyard.  A generous friend with a bumper crop of apricots.

What to do with 2 gallons of apricots?  Because it is summer, and because I used the oven just last week, I opted to do the simplest thing possible--dry them.  So I googled 'dehydrate apricots' and I watched a very helpful video which showed me how to pit my apricots and then told me to put them into my dehydrator.  And can I just say if I owned a dehydrator I wouldn't need to google how to dehydrate apricots.  But for your entertainment I took a few pictures of myself pitting apricots.  Which are much easier to pit than cherries.  

  And 80 times less messy.

 And almost fun.

My favorite part was 'popping' them.

And then, because I wanted sulfite free dried apricots, I rinsed them in lemon juice/water.

And then, since my oven would not set as low as 135 degrees, and because I live in a high plains desert with near triple digit heat and near zero humidity, I creatively set about dehydrating my apricots.  I did one batch in my compost sifter.  Set out in the sun.  With aluminum foil underneath to reflect more heat.

The Goob observed that apricots in the process of dehydrating look a lot like sweet potato pac-men.

And I did one batch on a cookie sheet.  And some on cookie sheets and wire racks.

 And then I put those cookie sheets in my car.  Which turns out to be a pretty good dehydrator.  And while it is expensive as far as dehydrators are concerned, it is not one of those single use kitchen tools that I detest. 

Some helpful things Google didn't warn me tell me about dehydrating apricots without a dehydrator--
1.  The front untinted windows in your car will work better than the back tinted windows. 
2.  The wire racks work better than just flat on a cookie sheet. 
3.  Wash your compost sifter very well before using it to dehydrate apricots. 
4.  Apricots drying in your car are less susceptible to squirrel attacks and stray bird droppings than apricots drying on your patio table.
5. A gallon of apricots makes just over a quart of dried apricots.

 (I got those jelly jars and that two quart canning jar FOR FREE at a yard sale.) 

6.   Once you start googling 'things to do with apricots' it could lead to making jam in near triple digit heat. Which defeats the plan to 'do something simple and involving no cooking' with your apricots.