2023, Food, Media, Nature, Words

Peppered!

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One of my friends, Julie, is a freelance writer. She writes about a wide gamut of topics and she appears on the Eating Well site quite a bit.

Last week she penned a piece about why there aren’t ever green peppers in the multi-pepper packs you find in grocery stores. It’s a great bit (well, I think all her columns are great) and it included some fun facts about green peppers. This is quoted with her permission:

Fun Fact One: Peppers botanically are considered to be fruit, because their seeds are stored inside, but they’re culinarily considered a vegetable, like cucumbers.

Fun Fact Two: You can tell which peppers are male and female just by looking at the outside. “Males have three lobes, and females have four, sometimes five,” Schueller says. “The females produce more seeds, and that tends to make them less sweet. So if you like sweeter peppers, look for fewer lobes.”

Fun Fact Three: The peppers we call chile peppers all have spiciness, measured in Scoville units from mild to very spicy. But bell peppers don’t have any heat, and they ended up being named “bell” because a) they aren’t chile peppers and b) they’re shaped like a bell.

I had no clue that there were female and male peppers – not sure it will make me happy the next time I’m dicing up peppers for some dish.

If you’re making stuffed peppers, what do you like to put in them?

2023, Art, education, Family, Uncategorized

Silk Purses

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I have no artistic ability whatsoever, and I am amazed by those who do. Husband can draw quite well, and his mother painted landscapes. Our daughter also has some nice artistic abilities.

I don’t think Daughter really liked art projects very much in the early grades, but seemed to really like an art class she took as an elective in High School. One of her projects was to weave a basket. It seemed to start out ok, but just didn’t work out as she wanted it to, and thought she had failed the project. The art teacher, however, saw something more in her failed basket.

He noticed that instead of a basket she had created a lovely Flamenco dancer. You can see her head thrown back, with her orange hair, and the outlines of her body under her dress. Daughter was surprised I still had the dancer. It reminds me that lovely things can come out of what we think are failures.

What kind of art are you best at? What kind of art do you like to have around you and look at? When have you made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?

animals, Mysteries, Nature, Poems

Translation is Everything

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Last week I was looking for something online and happened upon Basho’s famous frog haiku.  I’ve seen it before but didn’t realize that this is considered on of the most famous haiku.  This is the most common translation (thanks to Harry Behn):

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps into the pond,

Splash!  Silence again.

I couldn’t’ quite think this was the best haiku ever so I dub a little deeper.  Here is actual Japanese:

Furu ike ya

kawazu tobikomu

mizu no oto

This translates literally to this:

Old pond…

a frog jumps in

water’s sound

The translation doesn’t match the 5-7-5 syllable convention, which probably explains why there are so many versions in English.  But I still couldn’t figure out why it was so popular; then I found it narrated in Japanese:

Much prettier sounding – makes more sense why it is one of his best-remembered haikus.  Too bad it isn’t as pretty sounding in English as it is in Japanese.

Do you have form over function anywhere in your life?

2023, Family, home, Kids, Travel

Luggage Conundrum

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Photo credit: Mikes-Photography

When I graduated from high school my parents gave me luggage as a graduation gift.  Matching luggage.  This was a few years before all black luggage became all the rage.   Two suitcases, one over the shoulder tote and a make-up case (although very in-aptly name in my case, since I wore next to no make-up, even back then).  I doubt my folks were predicting my eventual career in travel; back then luggage was a common gift at graduation or wedding – something you needed as you were launching yourself out into the world.  My mother also bought me a sewing machine and a few lessons to go with it.

Obviously after all these years, none of that luggage has survived.  I now have a rag-tag assortment of suitcases and bags, many of which I got as gifts from clients (leftovers from programs).  Mostly black.

YA has purchased two suitcases since she started traveling for work – and black is apparently not the color or choice these days.  Her big bag, which she uses the most, is a blue pattern thing with wheels that go in all directions, a handle and a plug in for charging her phone.  Fancy dancy.  I don’t have any problem with her suitcase EXCEPT when she gets home from a trip.  She empties it out fast enough, but then she tends to roll it out into the hallway.  Where it sits. 

Now I’m not the fastest “put your bag back in the attic” gal, so I tend to be lenient.  I also know that YA doesn’t tend to drop anything to attend to a request from her mother.  But after the last trip, the suitcase sat in the hallway for two weeks and at least three requests to put it away.  Being raised by the Queen of Passive/Aggressive, three days ago I pushed the suitcase right into the middle of YA’s doorway.  It was in the attic within an hour. 

Passive/Aggressive isn’t my favorite mode but sometimes it’s better than nagging.  At least that’s what I’m telling myself at this point!

Do you prefer hard-sided or soft-sided luggage?  Check or carry-on?

2023, Fantasy, Food, gardening, Nature

Watermelon Gone Wild?

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I knew when I planted two little watermelon seedlings in one bale that I was probably making a mistake.  While I’ve never grown watermelon before, I’ve certainly heard that it likes to spread out.  And spread out it has – it has completely overtaken the bale, spilling out over three of the four sides (I’ve been pushing it away on the 4th side where the cherry tomato plant is trying to hold it’s own).

You know me, had to google “watermelons gone wild” to see what funny stuff was out in cyberspace.  The first thing I discovered is that the comedian Gallagher, who was famous for smashing watermelon, passed away last year. I remember thinking he was hysterical back in his heyday.   Here is a clip with more smashing and less talking:

I also googled watermelon books.  There are a lot of kids’ watermelon books; none of them seemed all that exciting to me.  I did find Moons of Jupiter by Alice Munro with big watermelon slices on the cover.  Can’t find anything online that explains this so I requested the book from the library.  We’ll have to see.

But the biggest watermelon issue for me is the logistics.  If we get even a lukewarm harvest, what the heck are we going to do with all this watermelon? There are just two of us and I expect we’ll also be busy eating tomatoes at the same time. 

Any good watermelon books?  How about recipe for using up watermelon?

2023, animals, Farming Update, gardening, Nature, Weather

Cooler Weather

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The weekend farm report comes to us from Ben.

The header photo are some of the wildflowers on the CRP ground. It’s looking good. 

I’m really liking this week of cooler weather. Especially as I plan to spend the next week installing a ceiling in the shop and working 15 feet in the air of a tin building.

We’re at 1375 growing degree units, about 265 GDU above normal. On Monday night, July 3, we got 3/4 of an inch of rain. It was a nice gentle rain. It soaked in fast and Tuesday afternoon, when Kelly and I took our gator date drive around the fields, the surface was already dry. It hasn’t really improved anything yet; grass is still pretty brown, the corn is uneven, (although the leaves have opened up, simply because it’s not so hot), but the beans haven’t filled in yet nor grown much. And we’re gonna need more rain than that to keep it going. But it sure was helpful and by Friday there was some more seeds almost sprouting.

The dang deer eating what is there doesn’t help . 

Cutting some grass Wednesday night, it sure did stir up a lot of dust.

Work on the machine shed continues. Every week another trip to Menards where I save big money while spending more. More screws, caulk, foam sealant, metal cutting blades, more screws, on and on it goes.  I rented a 20-foot scissor lift and picked that up on Friday. I’ve got it until next Friday. I’ve got two of the three windows installed.

 I’ve begun removing some of the old Electrical stuff. Keeping a few outlets but taking down a lot of them and will be replacing a lot of lights.

An order of lumber and pole barn steel was delivered, steel for the ceiling, but not the walls yet, and some steel to close off one of the rafters to keep the birds out of the newly remodeled shop end. The lumber is to frame the ceiling and line the walls after insulation. 

I moved our five guineas to a bigger pen. One of them is certainly going to be a troublemaker. At least once a day, if not twice a day, he flies up over their 5-foot fence. They’re a month old, I didn’t expect them to be flying quite so well, yet. The other day he went over two 5-foot fences and was perched on top of a 7-foot screen door on the baby chicken side. If he decides to hop down and venture out into the real world, I can’t protect him anymore. He’s only pigeon sized. Not big enough to defend himself yet. 

I finally took down the 5’ fence. Four of the five guineas were on the other side anyway. You may as well take the whole side, why don’t you. Pretty soon I may as well let the little chickens and little guineas run together. 

I spent a few hours on Monday hiding in the AC of the tractor and using the grapple to pick up the tree trimmings and some other stuff. It was pretty fun.

My tractor snack lately has been life savers. Individually wrapped, so at least they don’t all melt and stick together in one big glob.

WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? WHO DO YOU KNOW WITH ‘BEDROOM EYES’?

100 Words, 2023, Automotive, Family, Mysteries

Nun Fun!

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On the way home from Fawn-Doe-Rosa last week, YA and I decided to take a detour to go to the Dairy Queen in Osceola.  While we were waiting to have our order handed to us, an SUV full of nuns turned into the parking lot.  They pulled to the other side of the building so we didn’t get to see if they all got out of the car, but it was a funny sight.

Of course nuns can go to Dairy Queen if they wish, you just don’t think of soft-serve as a religious habit. 

Have you seen anything that struck you as funny recently?

2023, Family, home, Uncategorized

Division Of Labor

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I have always considered myself fortunate to have a partner who believes that household chores and childcare are the responsibility of both adults in a relationship. I wash and dry the clothes. He folds it and puts it away. We both vacuum. I dust. He mows the lawn and runs the snow blower. I do household repairs. He walks the dog three times a day. I make the bed and change the sheets. We both cook and clean the kitchen. He unloads the dishwasher and I reload it. We do grocery shopping together. We both work in the garden and pull weeds. I clean up outside after the dog. He cleans the cat litter. We clean our own respective bathrooms.

I noticed just how much he does around the house since he had carpal tunnel surgery last Friday. He still has been able to walk the dog and unload the dishwasher, but he can only do most other things one handed until next week. He can do some kitchen tasks and cooking, but not as much as he wants. He feels as though he isn’t pulling his weight as he should. This makes him anxious and irritable. I try to reassure him that I don’t mind having to fold the laundry and clean the cat litter for a while. I sure don’t want him to do too much with his right hand until it is healed.

How did your parents divide up the labor at home? Have you had roommates or partners who didn’t do their fair share of tasks?

2023, Baboon Achievers, Family, Uncategorized, work

The New Patio

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2 trips to Menards
2 trips to the hardware store
9 stones from the original “patio”
16 new stones
7 bags of sand
2 Carter women
9 hours of labor
2 rounds of ibuprofen
1 new patio big enough for our table AND chairs

Once again YA was the impetus behind this project. The initial little patio used the blocks that I had saved when we got our new sidewalk two years ago, but it wasn’t quite big enough to accommodate the chairs around the table.

And YA was very thorough. She insisted that we dig up the initial stones, lay down a layer of sand underneath everything and was scrupulous about making sure all the stones were level as we laid them down and then she spent considerable time sweeping sand into all the spaces between the stones.

Phew… hopefully no more major projects by ourselves this summer!

What do you like to have when you’re dining al fresco?

2023, Food, gardening, Nature, pets

Tomato Time!

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My bales are doing quite well this summer.  I’m managing to keep them watered and the added calcium seems to be helping the romas keep their beautiful shape.  We planted watermelon plants on one bale and as expected they are going crazy.  Guinevere is enjoying hiding beneath all the tendrils that have exploded all over the place.

As well as they are doing I didn’t expect to be eating my first cherry tomato on July 3.  I knew that there were a couple starting to turn but was surprised to find THREE ready for picking yesterday afternoon.  The photo above is not the tomatoes I picked.  After a quick squirsch of the hose, they went straight into my mouth, one after the other.  All three were wonderfully sweet and juicy – no way was I waiting to go inside and get the camera. 

I know this is early for tomatoes but whatever goddess of the garden is looking out for me right now, I’m thankful!  Better start pulling out my favorite tomato recipes.

Tell me about your favorite summer produce!