Cooking Watermelon

Hello,

After work I went to the Ely garden to be greeted by dead squash vines of all stripes. I did pick two butternut squash in spite of the small size and early time. Bugs were crawling all over one of them. I have not cut them yet because I cannot tell if they will be any good and I have other things to eat, including green beans, edamame, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Gardening is not over.

We have now picked three watermelons. All have been good. The one I picked yesterday was hot to the touch in the late afternoon sun. It was still hot when I took it out of the car at home. The watermelon was good even with that applied heat and small size.

I left two in the garden that are about the size of a large grapefruit. Tomorrow we will go pick them or I will if Leroy does not want to do that. It is also the day I will dig potatoes or Leroy will. We will check about picking some of the apples. I have picked some off of the ground and they are getting soft and mealy. Not so good for eating, but fine for applesauce.

Another woman told me she had apples and they were practically cooking on the tree because of the extreme heat and dryness. Generally I do not complain much about the weather, but I am now ready for cooler temps and refreshing rain.

I find it hard to be outside for a long time in these times. The humidity is so high that I notice the clothes take a long time to dry. I also feel tired, could that be the heat? I am glad to have air conditioning at work and at home. However when I notice that some of my neighbors do not have it I feel a little guilty. None of those people are elderly so I hope they are managing.

Paula

Late post

I had actually written the following post on August 26, but for some reason I had strange things happening on the laptop. I finally just turned it off after I saw the message that my control key was stuck on. There was not enough time to reboot so I just quit and went to work. The computer worked fine after it was turned back on. I suppose I made some key stroke that told that key to hold down and change almost everything I wanted to do. So here is my copy of the things I had written two days ago.

New TV and New Bike Helmet

Hello,

Both of these items are getting settled in our lives. The helmet has been worn to the grand opening of the new library, great facility. Leroy pronounced the helmet good with great air flow in the 90 degree heat.

The TV has been on more hours in two days, than we have had the TV on for a month or more. Leroy has spent hours fiddling with or playing with the remote, rabbit ears (Wondering if we should get a new antenna now.), and the possibilities. Besides that we have watched a DVD, Leroy watched two shows that probably equaled two hours, and I exercised with a DVD for 20 minutes. Are we going to become couch potatoes? I hope not.

The picture is great compared to what we had and the sound is ok. I keep talking about how good the picture is, but Leroy just says, “Hum.”

When I asked, “Are you impressed with this new tool?” Leroy just responded, “It is fine.” This is the guy I know who does not believe in the over use of superlatives. I suspect he is quite happy with it and would not return to the former state using the twenty year old TV that had been my mother’s.

Paula 

Just a quick note

Hello,

I picked another watermelon yesterday, smaller than the first, but still good. My garden landlord pronounced that first the best he had ever tasted. “I’m saving seeds,” I told him.

“I am too,” he said. Now there is an optimistic 93 year old. Way to live.

Leroy worked in the garden last night harvesting, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, soybeans, and general health.

Paula

Shopping

Hello,

Thursday evening Leroy and I had planned to watch a TV program. It came in but then disappeared in a spreadsheet of mismatched lines and intermittent sound. “Are you ready to get a new TV now?” Leroy demanded.

“Yes,” I replied.

Leroy leapt on that and scheduled a shopping, purchasing trip on Saturday morning. Saturday morning I was ready, but first I canned some bread and butter pickles as well as nine pints of green beans. Leroy helped me with all of that. A load of clothes was washed and hung out. I might even be relieved when winter comes and the garden is closed.

At the store whose TVs we have visited in the past, we bought a TV after we learned that we had some deals that went with it. The lure was strong making easy the decision to buy a 32 inch smart TV that is smarter than we are.

Leroy already knows a lot about it and I just let him have at it. I am not sure that I can access anything yet on my own. He was able to set up the WI-FI connection, but cannot seem to figure out how to browse the web as he does not know how to make the keyboard appear on the screen.

At least he was able to pull in a number of TV channels and we can watch a DVD. He just asked, “How did I get to that thing in the first place?”

Learning, learning, all the time there is learning.

Leroy needed a new bike helmet as his visor snapped off his as well as a small crack appeared. Before he fell he had been talking about getting a new one, but this cemented the idea. He is in good shape now with just a few small aches and pains.

Paula

How Did I Do It?

Hello,

As soon as Leroy left for work I headed to the community garden to pick edamame, picked a few, decided the rest needed to grow more,  and ended up picking green beans. The two green bean rows are quite long. After an hour there I realized I needed to go four blocks home to go to the bathroom. On the way I realized that it was a good thing I was doing this in two trips as the beans, zucchini, and summer squash weighed quite a bit. At home I called Leroy to remind him about the gas smell associated with the older car. I was only a block from home when Leroy called to ask me to take the car to the mechanic who would look at it right away.

True to his word he did indeed look at the car right away, declaring, “The O ring was the wrong one for the fuel injector and it was being eaten by the gas.” It took him a little while to get this taken care of.

I ate a snack at home, rested a very short time before starting on my second walk to the garden. The sun is not inclined to stay still; consequently my row was out of the cooling shade. But I picked those beans without grumbling much in my head. By the end I felt that I had accomplished something worthwhile as in a short day or two the beans would be over ripe.

Lunch was in order before I could face snipping off the ends of the beans and snapping them in at least three pieces. As I worked on them I realized that they were very nice beans and was grateful for the chance to have them. I had to find, gather, clean, and count jars. The large pressure cooker was easy to find, but harder to clean. Next time when we store it there will be some protection around it.

I expended a lot of nervous energy getting the beans in the quart jars as I anticipated the possible dangers of using the pressure cooker. Perhaps that would be fear and not nervous energy. At any rate it all went well. They were done before Leroy come home from work, but still in the cooker as it cooled. Did I mention that I was also making bread today? The kitchen was the hot place to be.

Paula

Leroy's ride

Hello,

Leroy had left for work, I settled in the living room to drink my tea, and shuffled my schedule around in my head when I heard the door being unlocked. “Why would he be back so soon?” I wondered as I called out hopefully, “Leroy?”

What would I have done if Leroy had not answered? I am not sure, but my heart would have had some serious trouble.

“Yes,” he answered and added as he came into view, “I flipped my bike.”

He looked very normal, but I asked, “Did you hurt your leg?” when I noticed a bit of limping.

I helped him clean his scraped leg, put on antibiotic cream followed by three large bandages. “I am so glad I was wearing a helmet as I bumped my head rather hard.” Leroy said.

“How did this happen?” I wanted to know.

“I was crossing the railroad tracks and a semi was coming. I did not pay enough attention to the road and got caught in the tracks.”

“Did the semi stop?” I wanted to know.

“Yes he stopped and asked if I was alright,” he replied.

Leroy then drove to work. Tonight he was tired and sore. I suspect he was in shock from the way he was acting this morning. He took a nap this evening and seems much better now.

Paula

Garden

Hello,

There are advantages and disadvantages to the gardens that we now participate in. I find the distance a bit of a drawback for each of them. One is only about four blocks, but that means hauling any equipment that I or Leroy might want to use there. But it is closer than twelve miles away. Because of that longer distance I generally only go there on the days I work or we might ride our bikes there on a Saturday. Consequently in this now dry summer it is difficult to water. I feel antsy when I do it at eight o’clock at night because I am ready to dash in, do some small care things, and go home. Watering takes a while. If it were in my back yard I could water while doing other things with my time.

Another disadvantage is that I do not give either garden the care that I might if it were in my yard. Leroy does go to the community each Monday night while I work. I envy him that time because he gets to spend time with neighbors and usually gets quite a lot done. Being tired after work is not conducive to staying and tending. Now it is quite dusky at eight so I am not able to see as well as I did in the past. I liked the mulberries, but I am grateful that their time is past. We still have some in the freezer so we can enjoy them for some time to come.

Another disadvantage is that no Swiss chard will be available for us to eat as the fall winds down. No way to protect it until the frost comes anyway. I will miss that. For some reason it did not sprout.

A big advantage to both gardens is that there is a lot of space, certainly many times the space that we used by the house. In the community garden they hauled in compost and the soil is great. At my other garden there has also been some composting so the results are good. Also neither place seems to have any large pests at the moment, just smaller squash bugs. Last night I picked a zucchini that was covered with bugs. I had forgotten my gloves and it almost grossed me out to swipe off bugs and to touch it. I figured Leroy would bring home zucchini from the community garden consequently I was quite happy to share it with our “garden landlord”. There was also one cucumber to share. He shared some jars with me, but I am beginning to wonder if I will find enough produce to put in them.

Paula

Ride to Work

Hello,

I got up in plenty of time to ride to work. Because Leroy was leaving an hour later he helped and stepped aside so I could get ready first. He even made the bed and did the dishes. I hopped on the bike ahead of my goal by ten minutes. In spite of those ten minutes I kept talking to myself about “maintaining speed and no dilly-dallying”. It seems to have worked because I got there in a scant hour. It was a great morning ride once I got past the city streets with traffic going to the farmer’s market. Luckily I was able to skirt that active area.

On the trail there were walkers and runners putting in their morning stint. The cool air and shade made it a truly wonderful awakening experience. I did meet some riders, but not so very many. Even with my faster than usual pace, some passed me with a whisper of wind as they sped on. I was grateful for the few who let me know they are going around so that I do not meander into the other lane. I do use my mirror, but not as steadily as when I am on the streets. I averaged about 12 miles per hour.

Now comes the true confession part of this missive. I packed clothes so I could change at work. I pulled off my bike shorts, in the bathroom of course, when I realized I had forgotten to pack underpants. Oh, no! How would I manage the day? Leroy, as you might recall, forgot his underpants once and called me to the rescue. Unfortunately, no help in sight for me as he was also riding to work on his bike and could not rescue me. I was grateful to be wearing pants instead of a dress or skirt. As it was I was very conscious of this lack of apparel every time I got out of my chair, wondering if anyone could tell, and if so did it matter since I was fully covered. Why do we wear underpants anyway?  After wearing one pair or another for 65 years they are just the thing necessary for me to feel completely put together when out and about.

Paula

Leroy's day off

Hello,

Leroy took the day off because he is working tomorrow. We did nothing exciting, but some necessary items. The second car is now tuned, strutted, and aligned. The bill was less than expected because we had a coupon for 10 % off as well as using the credit card gave us some credit. Nice and nice. Now we feel that the cars are ready to run for a time without attention.

I am considering riding my bike to work tomorrow. I will have to take an hour and a half, but I think I can do it as I start work at nine and finish at four so daylight will be with me. Will strength remain? Who knows? Now I must figure out how to pack my lunch. I believe that I will skip taking milk as I am afraid it might tip and spill. I have a glass with a lid, but it is wedged upright in my lunch box. This is exciting to consider doing something new and different.

Leroy helped me with shopping today. He volunteered to carry things for me so that was very nice. We even stopped at Goodwill looking for better fitting jeans for him. He did not find that as one pair was too short and one was too baggy, but found a jacket and a shirt so he was pleased.

I stopped at the community garden this afternoon, but someone had already been there so I only came home with two cucumbers. We are growing soybeans and I keep checking on them as if I know what I am doing. At least I have eaten edamame so I have some idea about the finished product. I declare that they need to grow some more as they are quite flat pods.

My last zucchini plant is still alive even though it seems to be finished producing zucchini. We have had a great return from those plants. We are eating tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, and basil from the gardens. We are blessed. Then there are all those mulberries in the freezer to toss on cereal. Such blessings!

Paula

Do I know how I look?

Hello,

Last night at work a patron came up and stated that his library number was 1966. “Oh that would be easy for me to remember because I graduated from high school that year.” I told him.

“It is easy for me too because it was the year that I was born,” he told me with a grin.

Now I did not know quite what to respond because I was astonished that he was that much younger than I am. He had a small child with him. I assumed that was a grandson. But then, someone 18 years younger than I am could have a grandchild. I get to measuring it all by the age of my grandchildren. Also he did not make any comments about how I looked so young. For all I know he had pegged me at a much older age. I suspect I look my age or older because it has not happened that anyone tells me they think I am younger than I am. Most, or all, of my life I have been looking my age or older. When I was in high school people would sometimes ask me what I was doing. I wondered if they thought I was held back for a few years and was not very smart.

The only times I remember being told I looked younger was when I was substituting in the schools while Leroy was in seminary. I questioned one of the people about it after she treated me as if I were one of the high school students. “Perhaps you do not look so young, but so many of them look so much older,” she replied.

I should perhaps find a culture that reveres old age and wisdom. I could get much more than my share of homage.

Yesterday Leroy and I looked out and saw a pair of cardinals taking a splash in the bird bath. It looked like great fun.

Paula

More Car Repair

Hello,

Leroy decided to keep on a roll in tending to cars. He took the older car in for an alignment test and the result of that was that it needs new struts. The question becomes should we put so much money into this car or just let it go. It is a 1999 and has 151,000 miles on it. Decisions, decisions! Leroy likes this car, it runs well, and we have the money to repair it. On the flip side we consider: it might be fun to have a newer car, should we just have one car, or should we buy a car when Leroy is unsure of his job future?

Without really speaking with each other we are leaning towards getting the repairs done. It is certainly cheaper than a new car. Leroy is trying to get estimates from other repair places to try to learn the going rate in this area. Leroy would really like it if he were rich enough to just hire someone to take care of our transportation needs and not bother him. I figure I do not need that as I have him doing it, sort of.

I am pleased with myself as we needed to load a new antivirus package on the computer this morning. We share the package with Brian. He had sent me the information. One of his suggestions was that we delete the old program. I did not know how to do that so Leroy talked me through it. Then it was on to the install. Leroy could not figure out how to do that, but I tried a different click and it worked. Such a sense of accomplishment comes from some of the smallest moves.

I also canned some bread and butter pickles this morning. It has been years since I have done such. It only required two phone calls to my sister for advice. Isn’t it great that long distance fees to not apply? But maybe the down side is that I might seek help from someone closer thus forming more ties to people living close to me.

Paula

Windows Washed

Hello,

I am not crazy in love with washing windows, but I do like to live with the result. Leroy and I have been talking about the job for some time. After all we have lived here for a year and a half and only washed the windows once. Last Saturday while Leroy was dealing with the car I washed four windows, the screens, and the sills. In some ways the sills and screens were the dirtiest. Would Leroy notice the clean windows? Not at all, but then he was all hung up on car issues. Monday morning before going to work I washed three more sets in spite of the light rain coming down. Luckily there was no wind so all was good. Did Leroy notice any clean windows now? Life is good when you can look through a clean glass, so no, he did not notice. Tuesday morning I washed the last three window units and enjoyed the great view from all sides.

Yesterday I told Leroy to notice something different. He finally saw the clean pane. The moral is that certain jobs are only noticed when they are not done rather than when completed.

One of the sad things about this week is that we have not had enough rain to dirty the windows. I understand that some parts of the world are more in need than we are, but it is getting to the point that a rain of more than a dribble would be welcome. There was rain predicted for today, but we have not seen it. In fact it was such a nice day that Leroy worked on an attic window; removing it, caulking it, and painting it on both sides. He tells me that it is now getting quite hot in the attic in spite of having the windows open. He also commented that he loves doing little hands-on-jobs that he can complete successfully. There is that feeling of accomplishment. I suppose most renters do not do this type of thing, but I suspect that comes from living so long in parsonages where we were expected to contribute to the overall care of the house even though we were really renters who would move without further benefit from living in the house just as renters do. We were renters of a different stripe. I suspect too, Leroy had that sense of ownership just as much as the rest of the congregation had since he was a member too.

Paula

change is the constant

Hello,

I have had just two participants at my yoga sessions. We had gotten along splendidly and settled into a routine. Luckily my boss told me that two more people signed up and would be coming to this week’s practice so I prepared accordingly. A woman called and asked if she could bring her two children. After some discussion I decided that would be ok. Before I started class there were a total of eight participants. So that number included three walk-ins. Even though this room held 170 for a program it was full with the nine of us spread out on the floor. I know of one more person who tells me that she will be coming in the near future.

Those five and seven year old children were so good that I mostly forgot they were in the room. Before we started, their mother told them, “You cannot talk unless there is blood.” Somehow I suspect the threat was unnecessary.

I did not know how these new people would manage as five of them had never done any yoga and a couple had bad knees. One new woman goes to yoga quite regularly. This is stretching my leading ability. But one woman told me I did a good job and three of them asked if we could meet more than once a week. My boss and I are talking about how to make that possible so that I would not have to drive an additional time. I do not mind volunteering, but I am unwilling to pay for the gas. Flexibility, flexibility!

Leroy decided it was his turn to get the collage and take it to work. He passed it at a staff meeting. One other staff person said, “I object to the title as these are not necessarily the best kids. My grandchildren are the best kids.” I had made the title “The Best Kids”. Leroy said, “I do not take the blame for that as my wife did it.” I still think they are the best kids. Would I think more or less of them if they were closer and I saw them frequently?

Paula

Volunteering

Hello,

Leroy and I are once again delivering neighborhood newsletters. This time only about 160! That might seem like a lot, but the houses are close together so that makes it somewhat easier. Because the blocks are not next to us, I took a little more than an hour to deliver almost 70 of them. We put them on the porch or behind the storm door, or under a weighty object on the front step. Some of these homes must have had fifteen steps to get up to the house. I have new appreciation for the local mail carriers. Course we cannot put the newsletters in the mailbox or even have it touch it. It would be easier just to put it there, but not with a lawsuit from the post office.

Because of the heat or maybe I was just tired, but I thought more than once, “Why did I say I would do this?” Now I do have a sense of accomplishment and besides that I walked about two miles. Since so much of it was hill work it should count for more, right?

I picked a beet the last time in the garden. I will cook it tonight to see if I think they are ready to pick. We probably only have about a dozen. Then the onions look about ready to pull even though they are not so big. I seem to have the ability to grow small onions. At least they are more than twice as large as they were when we put them in the ground, but the tops are drying up now so I dare not leave them much longer.

Tonight I will go pick up my most recent photo collage plus no doubt buy a few things as it is senior day at this store. Will it be impulse buys? I imagine so as I only saw one thing in the ad that I wanted. Surely there is something that I cannot live without waiting for me to get it.

Paula

Yoga

Hello,

I am leading a yoga session once a week at the library. My work schedule is Monday and Tuesday afternoon/evening and Thursday morning. Because I was not sure that I wanted to stay late on the night times. I come in early Thursday morning. Three people have told me they would like to come, but can not at that time. My boss would also like to have me do some more times. She suggested that on the Tuesday night when I have a co worker with me would be a possibility. I now realize that it would be difficult to do it every week because when we work on Saturday we do not work on Tuesday. So there goes two Tuesday s a month, one for her and one for me. Then there are some organizations that use the meeting room once a month. How could such a thing be so complicated? Because I am not paid for this venture I am not generous enough to drive down when I am not working. Course it is not totally a gift. This encouraging others helps to keep me on task. I even did yoga on my own this morning.

Leroy and I had gotten out of the habit of walking, but we are trying to get back to that morning walk first thing because I read that it sets the circadian rhythm. What will happen as when it is dark as we get up, I do not know. We have both noticed that we are more alert in the morning. I might be sleeping better, but who knows?

Last night we ate almost entirely from one garden or the other with only milk, bread, and pinto beans coming from another source. We even used the mint that my sister had given us to flavor our cucumber salad. I consider this living high on the zucchini. Speaking of zucchini, I again saw a pair of copulating bugs that I told delight in killing. Afterwards I noticed all of the eggs on the leaves so I know I was too late to prevent the death of the last zucchini plant. The watermelon looks good. My garden owner says we must protect the four melons from the groundhog or other predator. We will have to work on that. I realize that wild creatures have to eat too, but I wish they would find another source.

I also have to confess that I am not sure when to pick the melons. I know this is a smaller variety, but how small, how large should it be?

Paula