one more step

 I’ve managed to snag some bonus time outside the last few days, lucking into some blue sky when there was cloud in the forecast. The days of summer are quickly winding down… some of the trees down by the creek are turning brown - the hawthorns I think, the cicadas are in full symphony and even though it's 26C, there is the faintest undertone of snow in the air, or is that my subconscious getting me ready for the inevitable end of summer?

There have been a few trips to the hospital - on Monday Mom got fitted for an obturator, and today she went through all the pre-op stuff (bloodwork, paperwork, etc.). Friday she picks up the obturator, then we’ll find out what time she has to be at the hospital on Monday for her surgery. One step at a time but it’s seeming like it’s taking forever…

Carm dashed off last night to the trailer leaving me behind to take Mom to her appointment today… last night he had a movie night with Shawn to see ‘Oppenheimer’ and today the RV repair guy came to fix some stuff! Hurrah - a bunch of to-do’s are off the list. The trailer has drained our bank account a bit this summer! But we love it so it’s all worth it :-)

Now here’s a bit of a laugh for you - I, a grown woman about to turn 61, drove in a parking garage for the first time ever! It was a harrowing experience as the thing was under construction which meant weaving around poles and stuff, but I did it :-) It may seem surprising, but Carm does all of the driving and so the most driving I ever did was when I was 16, 17, and 18 years old - that’s a long time ago!

I read a bit about ‘flat-earthers’ and am astounded that people can be so anti science/government. It also seems that the government is putting chem-trails in the air that are filled with aluminium and other compounds to disrupt the environment. Apparently some people think climate change is done by world governments and/or Bill Gates. Interesting…

Awesome!

“bonus afternoon reading”

“parking garage!”

“my Mom”

billowing ash

 There was just a hint of breeze this morning, just enough to send billows of smoke from the brush piles across the road directly onto our property again. The farm across the road cleared a few acres of brush and trees and now all that plant matter is in smouldering piles that belch smoke and ash.

Monday morning I deeked into the city to help Mom move some of her plants to make way for the new fence… on my way home I had visions of lounging outside with a book… however, that was not to be. Ash and smoke rained down hard, covering every surface with black smears… luckily I caught on quickly and re-covered the sofa - after only 15 minutes there were already black smudges. Am I irritated? Yes. Why the F do they burn and pollute?

Summer is too short to have precious days trapped inside because of air quality.

As it turns out, I should have stayed in the city and gone with Mom to her appointment Monday afternoon - I thought it was just a form signing visit, but the doctor came in for a discussion about the surgery - I kick myself for not being there.

 Carm has a cold (he tested neg for covid), so I wore a mask in the car when I took Dorothy to her appointment at the local hospital for her surgery… Before Covid we never would have thought to wear a mask around vulnerable people but now it’s a no-brainer!

The wind shifted a bit this afternoon so we deployed the sunshade - with music playing and cicada song harmonising, I chilled with a book between rushing around harvesting herbs & cherry tomatoes, and doing some dreaded housework - it turned into a lovely day.

Awesome!

“a bit of time outside”

“packets of herbs chopped and frozen for soups next winter”

will she measure up

 Sunday morning seems like a good time to sit down and force myself to write something. I don’t know what happened to my muse but she’s been absent for quite sometime… Maybe it’s the weird summer we are having or maybe worry but this summer I have been somewhat disconnected… 

I’ve spent days and days futzing around in the kitchen to keep myself busy (and a bit of housework avoidance)... today I’m making Italian Zucchini Scarpaccia: thin rounds of zucchini mixed with a light flour and cornmeal batter which is then baked in the oven to a chewy crisp. We shall see… the first step was to slice the zucchini and onion using a mandolin, and then massage with salt for several minutes. After that, it’s put in a colander with a heavy plate for 2 hours… the resulting liquid is used to make the batter then it’s spread out thinly on parchment and baked for 40 minutes. Fingers crossed!

(update: the scarpaccia wasn’t crispy but I think there was too much liquid from the zucchini which made the batter too thin. Tasty though, will try making it again when the zucchini piles up!

Yesterday Trudie & Leo were guinea pigs for a ‘buttery braised onion sauce’ on fettuccine noodles. I slightly burnt the onions at the very end of the TWO HOUR process of caramelising them… hopefully Grace didn’t pick up on any of the swear words… it was too late to start over but everyone seemed to like it as it was and considered it a ‘make again’. Next time I’ll hover over the onions once the lid comes off.

Monday and Tuesday I wrestled those two giant zucchinis into 3 loaves of lemon zucchini bread, a double recipe of zucchini pancakes, 5 bags grated for the freezer, and I still have 2 cups of grated zucc in the fridge. Wednesday morning, before I went to Kirsten’s I made chocolate chip banana zucchini muffins :-) My freezer is seriously out of control! I found another good sized zucchini in the garden this morning, hence the scarpaccia today.

The zucchini extravaganza didn’t end there… I tossed some cubed zucchini, cherry tomatoes, and whole garlic cloves into a baking dish with a ton of olive oil and some sprigs of thyme. It baked in the oven for a few hours and emerged delicious. I took it to Kirsten’s on Wednesday for a pasta dish for girls night but at the last minute we dashed to see the ‘Barbie’ movie so just ate it with naan.

Jars of flavoured olive oil are cluttering up the fridge. Cherry tomato garlic & basil, zucchini tomato garlic, confit of garlic, chopped garlic in olive oil. I should have labelled them but can tell just by taste which is which. I used the zucchini tomato oil to make swiss chard with onion and sausage for supper last night.

I also made Szechuan Style Roasted Mushrooms… I marinated the mushrooms for a few hours before tossing them into the actifry. Talk about elevating mushrooms to another plane of enjoyment! I keep them in the fridge for a light lunch or healthy snack.

I just stayed at Kirsten’s one night this time, getting home on Thursday around noon - just before the heavens exploded with torrents of rain. I had planned on visiting Mom and Dad, but decided to sit tight and see if the storms passed in time for a late afternoon visit, but alas, the rain kept coming down. The city got the worst of it, leaving streets and buildings flooded.

Friday morning Carm and I zipped into the city - Carm to Costco, me to my parents. We didn’t stay long as we wanted to get the mailbox fixed up before it rained again… funny story… we had to replace the mailbox post a week or so ago and it left the mailbox several inches higher off the ground. We wondered if it was too high so Carm left a note: ‘Is the mailbox too high’ with a YES tab and a NO tab… the NO tab was taken, leaving (in our mind) a clear ‘Yes, the mailbox is too high’. As fate would have it, we passed the mail truck on the way home so pulled over to ask him how much too high it was… it wasn’t too high and was in fact the perfect height! He had taken the wrong tab 🤪

Mom and Graham came out later in the afternoon on Friday to bury Graham’s deceased pet Savannah Monitor, George. It was emotional for all of us as we remembered all the occupants of our little pet cemetery. But it’s done and Graham can have closure. 

Grace got a package in the mail a few days ago! Ruth sent Grace a toy that has metal measuring cups hung on chains with a bunch of other stuff dangling. It took her a day or so but now she loves it. We had to distract her with chips the other night so we could watch the new season of ‘Only Murders in the Building’ without a racket!

We haven’t had the sunshade up for days - it’s been raining almost every other day and we’ve been busy when it hasn’t been raining :-( There’s rain in the forecast this afternoon…

Awesome!

“Mom’s surgery scheduled”

“going to the movie with Kirsten and Nissa”

“so much pink”

“Grace playing with her new toy”

“a plethora of zucchini to play with”

“Lupa greeting Trudie & Leo without barking”