Meanderings

 In my head, I've written several blog posts since I last visited with you. And they have been very insightful as well as humorous. Too bad, my thoughts are so rapid-fire that as soon as I have one, another comes along to push the first one out of the way. So, let's see where my mind meanders today. :)

There are many more where these came from.

We have been picking up dropped apples around the broken tree limb, and although the apples are still sour, they are sweeter than the ones we tried a couple of weeks ago. They are taking a while to process because they are full of rotten places and wormholes, but I have managed to get some into the freezer for pies. While working on the apples, I thought about when I was a kid and we made lots of applesauce. We didn't have an apple tree, but my father collected bushels of dropped apples from various friends. Every day after school, we would have to make a canner load (7 quarts) of applesauce. This continued until the supply was depleted and often lasted for a few weeks. My father was always scavenging for food - I think a throwback to his childhood when he earned extra money that way. We always had a good supply of blackberries, hickory nuts, and apples from his efforts. And he was a big gardener. But that's a story for another time.

I was too lazy to take the pizza out of the oven for a picture. 

Last night, we had one of our easy, frugal, but tasty dinners. We got a cheese pizza from Aldi's (16" one for only $5.99). We added shredded rotisserie chicken from Costco (4 lb cooked weight/$4.99), peppers from Uncle Billy's garden (sweet for me and jalapeno for Ward), and tomatoes from our garden. We have pizza this way occasionally, and the toppings vary with whatever we have on hand. It easily provides a couple of meals. It could have been cheaper if we had made it entirely from scratch, but it was still a very good deal. And all we had to do was push the Easy Button. And if it's easy, we're more likely to eat at home instead of eating out. And eating at home is almost always cheaper than eating out. 

Surprise iris bloom

I had a fun surprise in the yard recently. I turned around in the driveway one day and saw an iris blooming. I got these irises from an aunt, and they have not bloomed in the two years I've had them. I know it takes a season or two for one to bloom after transplanting, so I was not worried that they hadn't. Disappointed but not worried. It was a surprise to see one blooming in September when they usually bloom in April. I'm unsure what it all means, but I enjoy the bright pop of color.

Next week, we are going to the Blue Ridge with Wally and Theo. Where we're staying is not close to any town, so we can't count on popping out to Walmart to pick up something we've forgotten. And there will be no internet, which we usually use to figure out the details of where we're going and what we're doing for the next day. I think it's time to get serious with our planning. In the meantime, work and other things are keeping us busy. 

Hope everyone gets a fun surprise this week, like my iris.

Until next time...

Meanderings

Allium

 Kris said the other day that she likes posts where I meander because it seems more conversational. Well, I can meander with the best of them (just ask Ward), so that's what I'll do today.

I'm up early - a little earlier than I would like but the sun decided it was time to get up, and so did my body. Wally and Theo are coming over this morning, and the males of the family are going to do a charity run/walk in our little town. Afterward, they plan to have lunch and do other fun things they have yet to figure out. I, on the other hand, have to work today. We will have lean staffing, so it will be a busy day.

Waiting in the kitchen are tomatoes that I picked yesterday that need to be processed. We had a big storm on Monday with a lot of rain in a short amount of time, so they are all split. If things are normal, I'll be too tired when I get home from work today to work on them, so maybe tomorrow (Sunday). Growing up, we heard every week at church that Sunday was for resting, just like God did when he created the world. But that didn't always happen. Sometimes my mother would wash a load of clothes that we would hang up outside. I was so embarrassed as a kid to have the neighbors see that we were working on a Sunday. As an adult, I understand that sometimes, chores had to be done on Sunday - especially in a house with a bunch of kids and a sick grandparent. But I didn't when I was little.

And most of the stores were closed on Sunday for the same reason, along with giving employees a chance to attend church. Some places actually had Blue Laws that said most stores couldn't be open on Sunday. When Ward and I first moved to New Orleans, they had them, and it was nice to be forced to not do any shopping one day a week. But the whole idea of everyone resting on Sunday works best in a predominantly Christian community. The area where I live now has many different religions that practice on more days than Sundays. 

Last week, I had an eye treatment where I had to wear an eye patch for 48 hours. It didn't hurt (or help much, for that matter), but it was definitely annoying. You need two eyes for good depth perception, so I would have to grab for something a couple of times before I made contact. Also, I am left-eyed, which was the one that was patched, so sometimes my right eye had difficulty focusing, and I couldn't see very well. Ward insisted I not drive or use a knife while my eye was patched, and I agreed. I know the brain can adjust to new input, but I didn't wear the patch long enough for that to happen. I am very thankful that I have two working eyes, even if they itch and burn most of the time.

"The shower is here!"

I think I've meandered enough for this morning, so I'd better tell you how the baby shower went that we had here recently. I said I would do that in my last post. I was fretting about it because of the difficult coordination beforehand. But you know what? It went well. It was an easy crowd of about 30 people who didn't mind being crowded together. They spent most of the time in the kitchen where the drinks were, even though we had the food in another room. We had it set up as an open house, but everyone came and stayed the whole time. Ward even gave tours of his workshop to some who were interested. But the important part is the expectant parents got many things they needed to start this new adventure.

Until next time...