What just happened to my blog???

 Where's my header photo? Why can't I find the background I've always had in "theme"? I'm not in the mood for this. Anyone??

Labour Day - a key day

 For thirty some odd years, Labour Day has been a poignant day for me. As a teacher, it represented everything from excitement, dread, regret, and a colossal gearing up and organization of a great number of other human beings.

Many years felt like summer had slipped away without really having enough enjoyment and relaxation. This was always due to our self-imposed routine of using July and August to accomplish projects that we were just too exhausted to complete during the school year. As you know, if you are a regular reader, husband is not afraid to tackle anything and will never hire anyone to do something that he feels he can do himself. That meant that I was chief cook and bottle washer ( and child wrangler and yard worker and cleaner upper after the project…). We are well aware that we created our own hell with this practice and ironically we still fall into this behaviour even though husband is fully retired from teaching and I pick and choose when I want to work.

Of course, there was always the excitement, anticipation, and general inability to sleep on the night of Labour Day ( just like the students themselves). Some years were better or worse than others depending on the grade I was teaching or the group of students I was getting or the administrator I was working under.

As well, as a mom of two, it was the usual getting my daughter and son ready to go back to school- new school supplies, new clothes, trying to back up bed times and waking times, and probably a hair cut or two thrown in there. Of course there was less of this as they got older, but then it was moving into dorm rooms or rental houses and all that entailed. 

This year, believe it or not, I’m already booked to work on the Thursday and Friday of this first week of school. Normally I wouldn’t touch the first week with a ten foot pole. Lord no, let their regular teacher get them settled and into some kind of routine before I step foot into a classroom!! However, these two days will be for wonderful teacher for whom I’ve filled in before and she will undoubtedly have everything planned to perfection, so I’m confident it will go smoothly. ( or not, but I can handle anything for two days).

The day here is sporting a brilliant blue sky and wispy clouds. The breeze is a bit cool. I sat in the sunshine and finished an Ann Granger book. But I’m still feeling some of those same old Labour Day feelings. Husband even said yesterday that he had had a “ school dream” which I think perhaps only teachers can understand. I hope I can sleep well tonight.

Processing/Colour

 Today I picked beets out of the garden, ripped the tops off and fed them to the chickens, washed the beets, cut them up, boiled them and ended up with this beautiful bowl.

Now, even if you aren’t a fan of the flavour of beets, you can’t deny their gorgeous colour. In hindsight, I should have chosen a different bowl, as the colours seem to fight with each other. 

I love cooked beets, served hot with butter, salt, and pepper. Husband prefers pickled beets, served cold. Son despises beets but will sometimes eat one piece to make me happy. 

Today’s efforts had to do with pickling beets. It’s a bit of a job, but not a difficult one. Here is the end result.

Please note the use of Joanne’s tea towel, an ever present favourite in my kitchen and something that has been in many blog photos over the years! Still love the colour choice!

Again- look at the colour with the sun shining through the jars. The lowly beet is a thing of beauty. ( The rabbit plate was a gift from daughter who always knows what to give people- and who also likes beets but prefers them roasted).

August continues - 5 questions

 Normally at this time of year I’m knee deep in tomatoes and such but it wasn’t a stellar year. I should pickle some beets. Apart from droning on about this and that, I looked up something like “ten fun questions to answer “ and ended up finding quite a few. 

I will start with five, randomly chosen from a big list that I found. Please feel free to chime in with your own answers in the comments. 

1. Do you prefer cooking dinner or going out? 

Now, I think my answer would be cooking dinner. It’s always less expensive to eat at home and what would be best is the whole immediate family together for a meal even something simple and informal. As well, I often have trouble deciding what to order at a restaurant and then question if I made the right choice! 

2. What’s an unconventional animal you wish you could have as a pet? 

We have two cats and I currently have eleven chickens. I don’t think people should keep exotic animals as pets for a lot of reasons, but I have an affinity toward alpacas ( have you heard the sounds they make?!?), I love and admire owls and other birds of prey (“ should have got a falcon”), and just looking at a picture of a capybara makes me happy! But I would never have any of them as pets.

3. Do you often give people second chances?

This is a tough one for me because it depends on many factors. The age of the person may allow for second or third chances because young brains are still developing and learning and figuring out limits. But if you are an adult and you’ve done something that you deliberately lied about, that hurt people, I tend to have the “ fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” attitude. I don’t easily forgive and forget big things.

4. Do you sing in the shower?

I’m a very private singer if I’m belting something out. Alone, in the car. Of course I’ve sung a lot in teaching ( yes, I can carry a tune and have a decent knowledge of music but I don’t have a great range). I’m just quite self- conscious about letting it all hang out.

5. Would you rather spend the day at a botanical garden or an art museum?

Such an easy one for me. The botanical garden would be my choice. I would be in my happy place, taking in the beauty and energy of wonderful gardens. 

Happy Wednesday everyone and comment if you wish!

How the birthday gathering went

 We spent a lot of time gearing up for husband’s 60th, including construction completion from him, details on the pool house. Son built corn hole boards, daughter ordered a fantastic cake. 

The weather did not, however, cooperate. We caught the tail end of Debby, I think, with wind, clouds, a little rain and a little sun. We started out at the pool house and the wind picked up and a bit of rain fell so we took a vote and moved everything into the house. I had only run the vacuum around and cleaned the bathroom, but everyone piled in and we still had a great time. 

I am terrible for not taking pictures at parties, but I did get a picture of the cake. Those shiny details are actually chocolate and everything on the cake has special meaning for husband. It was utterly delicious and even with sharing with guests, there was still so much that I froze some today for another time. 

We had burgers from a local butcher and I made pulled pork, coleslaw, macaroni salad, and potato salad for the dinner. For appetizers, I made deviled eggs ( those all got eaten!), Tostito chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, a big fruit platter, little mini sweet peppers cut in half topped with cream cheese and topped with Everything Bagel seasoning or red pepper jelly, and my first attempt at pickled eggs ( apparently they were good). 

We have lots of drinks left over likely because it wasn’t a hot day with people in the pool. The weather wasn’t conducive to playing corn hole either but we played just as a family the next day and that was fun. 

It was nice to have our family and friends together. I feel like I can relax and chill out now. I have a couple of books to read. Husband and I just started watching The Black List on Netflix and are loving it ( yes, I know we are a little late with it). My garden is only just so-so this summer but we’ve had green beans and some peas and lettuce. I just picked my first two ripe tomatoes ( yay!) but it won’t be a bumper crop. I’m not sure I’ll get any sweet bell peppers, but there are jalapeños. I’ll pickle some for son. There are carrots, beets, and potatoes, but I grew ONE zucchini!!! Who only manages to get only one zucchini?!? (me). Regardless, I still love to do it.

I hope August has been good so far for anyone reading this! 

August 6, still here

I realize I haven’t posted in quite a while. We’ve been very focused and busy preparing for a 60th birthday celebration/ pool party for husband. Upcoming company is always a great motivator to get tasks done and to maintain things like gardens, etc. 

We have two wooden porches and they’ve been neglected for a couple of years. I spent a lot of time hand scrubbing with deck wash and they’ve gone from dingy blackish/ green messes where the rain hits them to lovely clean spaces. As well, the wide wooden steps up to the deck of the pool house were also looking bad, so that got dealt with as well. 

Husband has been very busy constructing a small pump house for the pool and doing the wiring and the plumbing. It is very near to completion. Prior to this, the pump and all other mechanical things relating to the pool have been in the back corner of the pool house which is elevated. Husband has wanted to move things to ground level for years and this was the year! 

I’ve been weeding and dead heading and fertilizing and watering on an ongoing basis. The party is this Saturday (4 more days) and I’ll be busy with food prep and last minute tidying. I’m hoping for good weather but the pool house is covered so we will be fine providing we don’t get gusty rain, then the whole thing will have to be in the house which I REALLY don’t want. 

That is the pool house this morning ( it’s overcast and rained through part of the night). Husband built the pool house. The pump house is located toward the back and you can’t see it in the picture. We still have to tidy up construction materials before Saturday.

We bought a new seating area set as our old wicker set was showing its age. (Half price at Home Depot!)

This is looking down from the pool house onto the pool deck. You can see our house in the background. That’s a cord for our little robotic pool cleaner in case you were wondering what that blue cord was. Best money we spent on the pool! Husband also built the pool himself as a kit. Of course we hired for the excavation, and the cement work of the deck, but he did everything himself with some grunt work from the rest of us. The kids were still rather young then. 

It has been a good summer so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of August before I potentially get back into some supply teaching. We ate our first carrots out of the garden and have had beans, peas, lettuce, and potatoes as well! 

Send good weather vibes our way here in Ontario for Saturday!🙂

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

 It was a lovely hot day. I went to a big farmers market with a friend and bought a giant cauliflower, some raspberries, Ontario grown peaches ( surprising at this time in the summer), some pepperettes for husband (smoked bacon), and an Olive sourdough loaf. 

I came home and read by the pool. I have a book that is due back tomorrow so I need to finish ( Kate Ellis - The Killing Place- happy little title). 

We are supposed to get some big rain tomorrow. My tall delphiniums are already on quite a slant. I know the rain will beat them down more, so I decided to cut a few and make a bouquet. I’m no florist, that’s for sure, but I put them together with spirea and Russian sage. 

They will only be good for a couple of days but at least I can enjoy them inside. 

I’ve been watching the hummingbirds come to my feeders. I’ve tried to get a picture but it never does it justice so just assume they are a lovely couple of ruby throated hummingbirds, both male and female. 

Murphy treated me to a bird this morning, a fledgling I think. I did the old “ drape a tea towel over the bird and gather it up” routine and put it out in the shade on the edge of the property. It seemed fine, but you never know. 

It’s a beautiful time of the evening. The temperature has decreased a bit. I should get back to my book.