Fried Green Tomatoes; Happy/Sad; Bragging Rights

Something pretty. Gazanias and Verbenas. The Gazanias are so cheerful, they seem to smile.
Check out my Garden Blog to see more beautiful flowers.






The North Deck is stained. Only 500+ more sq. ft. to go. The can says 72 hours till the stain is fully cured. Then we'll put everything back and start on the next deck.














I took the swing sets down today. That makes me so sad, because every time I take something down or pack up or get rid of stuff, it reminds me that the kids and grandkids are grown. I'm still hoping for some more grandchildren from our youngest two children, but the oldest grandkids aren't settled enough for me to wish for great-grands from them. You will hear this lament over and over.














That was our supper the other day. Fresh cucumbers, cabbage (green and red) tons of tomatoes, and loads of apples.















Braggin' time: Check out the scale reading on this Tomato: 22.2 ounces.















There were 3 tomatoes in all that were 16 oz. or over. Some of these slices were just about 5" across. They came from Supersteak and Ultra Boy plants.














And now for the "Fried Green Tomatoes"

These are easy to make. Cut about 1/4 " slices of green tomatoes. Put flour, salt and pepper in a brown paper bag or plastic bag. Shake the tomato slices to lightly coat. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet. When hot, fry the tomatoes on both sides Until they are brown and crunchy. Make sure they are cooked through or they will taste puckery. When the second side is done, sprinkle a few drops (about 1/4 tsp.) of maple syrup on each slice.

The green tomato season is when we go off our carefully planned weight-loss program, and use as much margarine as it takes to get the green tomato slices brown and crunchy.

Knitting: Honeycomb #3 (natural white)--the back and one front completed. The other front will be done tonight, and, if I'm lucky, the button/buttonhole/neckband will also be done. I just love that pattern. I plan on knitting 3 more for Alpaca Man, all different colors and sizes, then I will modify the pattern and submit it somewhere.

Till next time: A grandma is old on the outside and young on the inside.
(John Wright, age 7 1/2)

Hit the Deck!!!

Read through this blog post patiently. There are big gaps because there was a power- out in the middle of my post. When I started again the unsaved part had to be reloaded, then manipulating the pictures gave big gaps in the work. I don't have time to figure it out right now--have to get to my "screwing". Read patiently, skip the gaps, and there is a comment section after a long, long gap. I may try to play with it later ( or not),

Yesterday it was time to hit the deck. I had the camera set on some setting that gave me the best resolution for the Honeycomb sweater. Forgot to reset it. Pictures have only grey and green. Kind of interesting.
Since I'm starting on the North deck, everything had to be moved to the big deck to the east.













Notice the unfinished rails--the slats are missing. They were stained and stored last fall.















Those hanging baskets under the deck should be bright red.


















Step one: Wash the wood. I only had to sand the rails. Too bad that you have to let pressure treated wood dry for one season before staining/painting. Since I built the rails about this time last year, I couldn't stain them any more.
Last year I bought a deck wash that was caustic. This year they have a "greener" product, but I'm using up the old stuff.



Nice white floor boards, and rails stained.

We had another good rain last night, so I have to wait till the wood is dry before staining the floor. Funny thing, the deck wash container says that you can let the wood partially dry and start staining if you are using Latex stain (completely dry for oil base stain). Yet the Latex stain can says the floor needs to be dry. I'm erring on the side of caution and waiting for the floor to dry. It's not like I haven't got anything to do in the meantime.





This is my yarn for the September mystery sock knitalong which the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous Group
is having. There will be a monthly sock to knitalong, but only September will be a mystery, the pattern by Nancy Bush.









Today I will just be screwing around. That means I will mount the deck rail slats on the north side, since the floor is too wet to paint. Then I will go to the Nursing Home, and I think I will take Mom out to the Ice Cream Parlor for a treat.
Till next time: I can remember comparing my grandmother's veined, knotted, brown-splotched hands with my own--of which I was inordinately proud. So little time ago, yet now, here I am with my grandmother's hands. (Pam Brown)

Wordless Wednesday

Gearingup for Fall

A look at summer: Monkey Flowers or Mimulus. These come in a myriad of colors with unusual spotted patterns. I planted a variety 6-pak of plants, and as luck would have it, there were only 2 colors, but pretty ones.



Since Wednesday, as usual, we've been busy.
Kman has almost finished the damaged greenhouse. One of my jobs was to pull the plastic sheeting from the ends of the two bigger greenhouses through the opening in the new greenhouse wall, and bunch and staple it to form a seal.
Scaffolding and ladders and I don't agree. So I grit my teeth, and go on the scaffold, pray, and get to it. After about 10 minutes or so my comfort level improves. Then I had to work on the 10' stepladder. That was OK, but I can never do extension ladders. Then I went to the dump--that load I was supposed to take a couple of weeks ago.

On Friday I went to the city to see Dr. Randy Gregg about my feet (he's been treating me after the accident 2 years ago). Need changes to the orthotic insoles, and heavier, stiffer boots for working. Went to my LYS to look for yarn for nephew's kilt hose, and other errands. The yarn we thought would work is just a bit too thick, so I couldn't start the Kilt Hose.

Saturday was spent loading the truck to go to the dump. My church is 1 mile from the dump, so, since I am the caretaker from August until March, and we had Mass here his week (we alternate weeks with another church--shortage of priests), I cleaned the church before going to the dump. Boy, the spiders are busy in only 2 weeks. There were spiderwebs and cobwebs everywhere, and millions of flies to vacuum. It's wonderful to be in that old church. One can feel the history and the prayers of the pioneers who furbished their church before their own homes.

WE HAD A DECENT RAIN LAST NIGHT! (about 1/2 inch)

After church on Sunday,
Mr. and Mrs. Spit came over, since
I will be altering some clothing for
Mrs. Spit. It was really nice meeting
a fellow blogger/knitter/home renovator.Then, besides meal
preparation, I spent the rest of the
evening knitting , so Honeycomb #2, in charcoal gray heather alpaca yarn,
is finished. (Just a peek). Notice the
neat "Buckle" buttons. Honeycomb #3 in natural white is now on the
needles.

Have a great, productive week, everyone!

Till next time: Grandmas should write down the stories of their lives, however dull they seem to them. for such tales show history as it is--a procession of interlocking lives. A unity. The family of mankind. (Charlotte Gray)

Wordless Wednesday

Mid-August Blues

I always feel blue in mid-August. The summer is going too fast, with too much work and not enough time to do it all and still have lots of quiet time, knitting time, do-nothing time. If I steal the last three, there is guilt because I was raised not to waste time. (This computer thing gives me lots of guilty moments). And yet I know I have chosen this work. I don't need a huge garden, or 30 flower pots, or too many flower beds, or the acquaintance of the Alpaca Man, or a 60-foot strawberry patch, or all those raspberries.... But an excess of honest work has been the hallmark of my life. Maybe it was my pioneer upbringing, or the childhood poverty.
When I was teaching, the reality of the end of summer was even more pronounced. Teachers had to come back the Thurs. and Fri. before Labor Day for organizational meetings and Prayer Service. Although I loved teaching, I loved being home and with the kids even more. I used to get really really blue in those days.

As I'm composing this, I realize that it isn't the work done that's tiring and saddening, it's the unfinished stuff.

Much as I mourn the passing of summer, since I retired, I have developed a love of autumn. I never saw much of autumn, since the beginning of the school year was always so busy with long after-school hours. Now I am aware of the smells, the sights, the changes, and I love it. But not quite yet.

One thing I like to do is to go for a walk
and talk to my Maker about my stresses
and feelings, and thank Him for His
blessings. One of my favorite places is
the patch where the Angelica plants grow
(also known as Garden heliotrope). It looks
like Queen Anne's Lace, but is 5-6 feet tall.
If you sniff the flowers they stink, but in the evening they infuse the entire yard with the most heavenly scent.

Back to reality--if you look closely, you can see the Angelica amid the tenacious Canada Thistles. My hands have become so tough, I can pull Canada Thistle without gloves--no word of a lie!





Today we had new (wider) eavestroughs put on, along with a cover called "Gutter Guard". With all our trees it was a real chore to keep cleaning the gutters (they get dirty even if there is no rain), and we're not spring chickens any more. That will remove one summer chore from my list. (Or Kubota Man's list).

I've been stealing time. Here are the
Mary Maxim Bamboo socks in the
color "hyacinth". They are soooo
pretty. The dark line looks black, but is a soft brown. It blends in quite nicely, although in the picture it shrieks out. These are MINE!

And I've finished the fronts and back of honeycomb Sweater #2, in charcoal grey alpaca. Will finish most of a sleeve tonight.






This is the commissioned chenille
sweater that I've just finished. It is
for a lady who runs a local appliance repair shop and appliance outlet. She
donated a lot of yarn to our Prayer
Shawl Ministry, and some lovely quilt fabric remnants from which my friend Jeanet made a double-bed quilt which we raffled for our Women's League fundraiser. This sweater is a Mary Maxim kit. It worked up quickly, but shed a lot of dander, so I had a lot of sinus problems for a while. It was so furry, I couldn't see the individual stitches, so counting was horrendous. I'm glad it's done.
BTW you can just get a glimpse of a wall of my newly-renovated sewing room.

Alpaca Man came this afternoon and dropped off 2 big boxes of alpaca yarn (looks like worsted weight) in both black and white. Lots of designing to do now.

We've still had no rain. It takes the whole morning to water the potted trees and shrubs. Kubota Man has just about finished rebuilding the damaged greenhouse--just has to figure out how he wants to set up the chimneys, then we wait for calm days that the kids can all come home at the same time so we can put the plastic sheeting on, and finish everything off--clean up and wait till February, when we start up again.

Tomorrow I am going on a field trip with Mom and the Handi-Bus. We are going to Muttart Conservatories in Edmonton. This site consists of glass pyramids, each with a different eco-system environment: I don't remember them all, but there is a desert one, and I think a tropical one. You get the idea.

I have to start thinking about completing the deck renovations. Our deck is huge. In 1987 it started to be 8'x8', just a big porch at the back door on the east side of the house. While it was still in the planning stages, I thought another 16'x22' on the east side would make a nice sitting area (in full sun). So then I thought 8'x30' more along the north (front side) of the house would give us a nice shady spot. So Kubota Man, in fear of a house totally surrounded by decks, ordered the lumber. Now, we each have our own unique skill-sets. He is an excellent structural builder and framer--I have the patience and meticulousness for finishing work. So we did what we do best--divide the labor. He built the sub-structure (it is quite high off the ground) including the floor joists. I did the floor planks and the railings. In 1987 pressure treated wood was prohibitively expensive, so we used just spruce and kept it stained. Two years ago we replaced the decking and last summer I ripped off the rails, saved the decorative slats, and re-built the frames. Now the wood has dried, so I need to take the mill glaze off, and stain the whole thing, then replace the little slats. I'm looking forward to it being all finished. I will do it in stages: wash all the rails, stain. Wash all the floor boards, stain. Wash the fence under the whole deck. Stain. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ I'm worn out already, and I haven't even started yet. But at least I have the stain so I don't have to shop--my least favorite activity in the world.

Till next time: Grandmother and grandchild discussing a common interest are exactly the same age (Duane Birch)

Summer is Going Too Fast

This week is going too fast, as always. Sunday's lunch with the priests was great. All three of them are from India. We learned a lot about their culture(s), since they are from different parts of their homeland.

On Saturday Kubota Man Jr. and Kubota Kid (Carter), along with Carter's dad had a camp-out at our place. Carter got a lot of tractor driving in. Their campfires made a bit of a dent in out pile of downed wood from the storm.

Daughter #2, Shelley, surprised us. She works at a very intense job as a team leader with our Immigration Services. She works off her stress/energy in her yard. She has decided to make a huge perennial bed, so she needed perennials and shrubs. We raided some of my own perennials, and she bought a real nice selection--she insists on paying her own way, so I convinced her that we are having a 50% off sale. She went home with a truckload, and even some gooseberry bushes for our favorite SIL, Scott the Plumber.

Kubota Man has been working hard on the greenhouse reconstruction. I've been trying to rescue various parts of the yard from weeds. I cleaned the strawberry patch--the sheep got 5 full loader buckets of weeds. They sure appreciate those.

It's still dry. Rain is predicted for tomorrow. But I'm going to put the sprinkler on the garden anyways.

This cutie's name is Noah. He lives with his parents in Passau, Germany. He is wearing the Blue Baby Hoodie that I sent him along with some other "Welcome" gifts. It took 2 months for the parcel to reach him, because the postal codes had been changed and I had sent it to the old postal code (although I had the correct street address). Noah's parents came to Canada on vacation about this time last year.






These are the "Spring Posies" socks that I just made out of the blue, because I didn't feel like doing anything else. When the yarn is so pretty, I just make my basic sock pattern.

I'm also working on a pair of plain socks in Mary Maxim's Bamboo sock yarn, color Hibiscus, a beautiful design in various shades of rose and pink.






The Alpaca Man (The friend for whom I knit alpaca sweaters) came on Sunday, and took a box of finished sweaters with him. He will be bringing me cones and cones and cones of yarn within the next couple of weeks. We discussed new designs, and I recommended another spinning mill he might try for this year's shearing. I also suggested he acquire sample bottles of Eucalan Wool Wash, and give them away with each sweater purchased. He liked that idea. I showed him the finished Honeycomb Sweater #1, which he really liked, but I didn't send it because I hadn't washed it yet.

Here's another glimpse of it. I wish I could show you the whole thing, but I'm sure I'm going to submit the pattern somewhere, so I don't think I'd be allowed. Because I'm making them for sale, I think I will make some changes to the style before submitting it.







Ooooops Time!
It's a good thing that the Honeycomb#1 sweater wasn't washed yet. And a good thing that I didn't give it to Alpaca Man. Because it has a great big OOOOPS in it. It's hard to tell from my grainy pictures, but the honeycomb pattern has little diamonds that alternate. (The July 9 post has a good picture of the pattern stitch.) Two pattern repeats below the shoulders on the back piece, I didn't alternate the peaks. There are two peaks on top of each other. I don't think the picture below is clear enough to see that. I entertained the thought of just leaving it, but the sweater will be quite pricy. It would be like leaving the scene of an accident.
The sweater has a button/buttonhole band that is only a couple of garter sts. wide. So, my plan is:
a. Open the seam of the top only of the sleeve cap, down to just past the BooBoo.
b. Open the cast-off edge of the button/buttonhole band. Put the sts of the band on the fronts onto a circular needle for holding. Unravel the garter rows over the back neck sts and the shoulder seam.
c. Open the shoulder seams.
d. Frog the back down to the Boo Boo. (making careful note of everything I've frogged.)
e. Reknit the back correctly.
f. Reassemble everything.
g. Give thanks that it wasn't further down in the sweater.
h. Check the whole sweater carefully for other Booboos. ( Maybe that should be done first).

















I'm excited because I might get to personally meet another fellow-blogger--Mrs. Spit. I have already met Mrs. Needles
Till next time: Because grandparents are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations. (Jimmy Carter)

BACK TO SCHOOL SALE!!

C'est moi!! On my first day of Grade One, in Vienna, Austria.


On some of the other blogs I visit, the Moms are talking about back to school shopping. It's that time of year again. So, I thought I'd entertain you with a little story I wrote for the local paper --at this time, in 1991. The story is still relevant, although some of the references are a bit dated. Enjoy!!

It's mid-summer and they're everywhere--the flyers from the drug marts, the grocery chains and the department stores. I'm not ready to call summer over (I'm of the rare breed of parents who is not anxious to get rid of my kids after the holidays). But I know it's inevitable, so off we go to "catch the sales" and beat the September crowds.

We head for the first store. "Where are the school supplies?" I ask the clerk.
"Three aisles over, past the Halloween display and the Christmas decorations, " she responds impatiently, as if I should know better than to ask.

There we are: a mile of aisle! I put on my sunglasses for fear of neon-blindness. the choices are mind-boggling: ten sizes of binders with covers from neon to Ninja Turtles; sizzler pencils, neon pencils, retractables, erasables, non-erasables, clics, stix, and flexible tips (for writers' cramp). Vaguely I remember my return to school in a simpler time: one pink eraser, a new yellow HB pencil, a bottle of brown mucilage, three scribblers that were thick enough to last all year and my older sister's last year's crayons. That was a ll I needed and they were treasures. We gather all the supplies they need and want and line up at the cashier.
My kids and I are still friends, even though I bought old-fashioned yellow pencils and pink erasers shaped like erasers should be.

Next stop: footwear. In my day the new shoes from the Easter Bunny were polished up for school. Now we have joggers, cross-trainers, aerobics, with brand names that make the Rockefellers shudder. There are curly laces, face laces, Ninja laces, neon laces and Velcro fasteners, not to mention inflatable shoes! (Whatever happened to basic brown oxfords that three generations couldn't wear out?)

From the faces of the other shoppers, I know we are nearing the wardrobe department. My kids are quite sensible about their clothes. I've taught them to read labels carefully, since they have to do their own laundry while I moonlight to pay the back-to-school bills. They choose jeans, MC Hammer pants and a few cheap, plain T-shirts they can tie-dye and paint themselves.

Done! We've shopped ourselves into starvation. We head for McDonald's, my kids and I, blissful in the knowledge that we have survived an ordeal that would split lesser families.

Just one more stop: the Credit Union. I pop my head into the manager's office: "Hi, Dave. Say, what's the interest rate on second mortgages?"