Happy Endings

Our trip to town yesterday was a particularly fun one, even though we didn't manage to accomplish everything we needed.



Last week we had a bit of a crisis. Nathan couldn't find his wallet, which contained his prized Library card. We searched and searched in the usual places, and several not so usual places to no avail. Finally, we gave up and he ended up letting Pa check his books out for him. Afterwards, the search resumed, ending early yesterday afternoon when we had given up all hope of finding it, figuring it had slipped out of his pocket into a parking lot or something.

While feeling a bit down about the loss of his card, figuring he'd have to fill out the form again, and perhaps be required to pay a penalty for a replacement card, Nathan, as well as Lindsay were looking forward to their weekly trip to the Library.

We all loaded into the car and headed to town. Upon entering the doors of the Library we were surprised by the Children's Librarian, who came bustling over to us with a big smile on her face. "Lindsay! Here's your prize!" She handed Lindsay the prize she'd won in the Summer reading program's big drawing, then proceeded to tell her all about it, explaining she may want to check out a beginners book on the subject (it is an Origami book with paper) as the projects included were quite difficult even for her, and she'd been doing it for years. I found it entertaining to note that, knowing we would be there yesterday, they had removed Lindsay's prize from the case so they could greet her with it.

The kids then headed on in to look for books, as I began my weekly perusal of those books for sale when the Librarian called me over. "We found Nathan's wallet!" As she handed the familiar little black package over to me, I let her know how tickled Nathan would be. I immediately headed in the direction my children had disappeared and handed the wallet over to it's owner. He was thrilled indeed! He went right up to the desk where all 3 Librarian's were standing, with big smiles on their faces, and thanked them. He explained his fears, to which they explained that normally there would be a small fee, but they would have waived it this time, and he wouldn't have had to fill out the paperwork. Normally, they said, he would just have to answer a bunch of questions for positive identification, "But you wouldn't have to answer those questions, because we know who you are!" she said with a grin.

After leaving the Library we did our usual run around, grocery shopping, where the kids chatted it up with all the friends they've made over the years in the various shops about town. As we drove home I couldn't help but smile at my children's ability to make friends with folks from all age groups, all walks of life; How it sometimes seems to take forever just to leave a store after checking out because the employees are all stopping us to say hello to our children. The smiles we are greeted with all over town can't help but brighten our day.

Bonus Midweek Movie Review

This week Pa and I watched our second DVD a bit later than usual. August Rush was a wonderful film about a boy searching for his birth parents. For me, the music alone would have made this a worthwhile movie to watch. The story itself was but a bonus. While I can't say this is my favorite role for Robin Williams, he did play the part well, and showcased his ability to cross any attempts at typecasting. The young man, Freddie Highmore, who played the part of the boy was amazing. Due to some adult situations (although tastefully done with no nudity) I would give this a PG rating, perhaps even PG 13, so probably not a family film, unless the younger members of your family are teens. This is a heartwarming story of hope, love, inspiration, and following your dreams no matter what obstacles are tossed your way. Pa and I both enjoyed this movie, and heartily recommend it.

On the Homefront

I am happy to note that upon surveying my garden areas this morning, there is no sign of a doggie visitor in the night! I have yet to check for little green bugs in the pea garden, so keep your fingers crossed! I'll let you know as soon as it's safe to uncross them ;-)

Ya Win Some....

This morning as I made my daily rounds to check on the status of my gardens I noticed some turmoil. Seems a neighbor's dog had dug under the fence of one of my gardens and had himself quite the good time at my expense. Grrrr.

Once I had managed to block the new "entrance" to garden #1, I went back inside to "cool off". A bit later Nathan came in and informed me that we had an invader of a different sort in the other garden. He took me out to show me the evidence. There were aphids on two of my pea plants. Well, of course there were! Why not? This does seem to be the year of every imaginable gardening challenge after all.... I grabbed the water bottle/squirter, added some garlic powder and a couple drops of dish soap to the water, swished it around a bit to mix and proceeded back outside to give the peas a misting.

Naturally, the mister clogged up within a few seconds. Last time we picked up garlic powder I didn't notice it was "California blend", what seems to me a silly mixture of garlic and parsley. I thought I'd managed to sift out all the parsley bits, but I guess I managed to miss at least one little speck which found it's way into the misting head and lodged itself.

Alrighty then! I dumped the garlic water mixture into my hand a little at a time and sprinkled/tossed it at the offending little "bugs" clinging to my pea plants. Hopefully we got them soon enough, and good enough that they will not spread further in my pea garden.

Hopefully my hands won't get too upset by the teeny bit of dish soap they were subjected to.

Hopefully the lovely garlicky aroma on my hands will cease to exist by the time we go to town this afternoon.

And...

Hopefully, our neighbor will keep their dog home this evening.

Tomorrow, we harvest the peas that are currently ready, and I replant the spinach patch our neighbor's dog dug up last night.

At least I have yogurt! :)

The Sweet Curds Of Success!

At last! The torture is over! I have achieved...Yogurt!

Yesterday morning we got off to a slow start. Pa and I aren't getting any younger and the previous days celebration left us a bit worn out. I spent the morning forcing myself to get things done around the house so I wouldn't be overwhelmed today.

Somewhere around 1:30 I decided to give my yogurt another go. I tried a slightly different technique this time, which included removing the "handy plastic sleeve" from the thermometer. By 2 PM my yogurt was all mixed up and safely hidden away in it's 2 thermoses to keep warm.

Right about 11 PM I couldn't stay awake much longer, so decided it was time to check on the yogurt. I nervously unscrewed the top on the first thermos. I slowly tilted the container, expecting to see the now familiar warm liquid attempting to spill out the top. It didn't happen. I couldn't believe it! I held my breath and tilted it more sharply. Still the contents remained fixed. Success! Overjoyed, and attempting to control my squeals of delight as I didn't want to wake the children, I scurried about, collecting containers to transfer the gelatinous substance into before placing in the refrigerator for safe keeping.

This morning I called the kids into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, instructing them to look inside and see if they saw anything different in there. It took maybe 30 seconds before, almost simultaniously they began exclaiming, "The Yogurt!" You did it!" It worked!"

Yup! It worked! I did it! And it's even recognizable! The yogurt did not beat me! For those who may want to perform their own yogurt experiment this is how I finally achieved satisfactory results.

Homemade Yogurt

Equipment:
1 blender
1 Instant read thermometer
1 pan (deep and narrow enough so thermometer can get correct reading)
Thermos (slightly more than 1 qt. total capacity)
Measuring cups

Ingredients:
4 cups water
1/4 cup plain yogurt with live cultures
1 2/3 cup powdered nonfat milk

Measure 4 cups water into pan.(Important:Remove thermometer from plastic sleeve!) Heat until thermometer reaches about 110 (between 101º and 110º). (While water is heating prepare thermos by filling with HOT water and covering.) Pour water from pan into blender. Take it's temperature again, making sure it's above 101º. Add 1/4 cup yogurt and give it a good whirl to combine well. Add the powdered milk and give it another good whirl. Dump water out of thermos, and immediately refill with your warm milk/yogurt mixture. Cap it, and set it somewhere it won't be disturbed for at least 8 hours. I let it sit for 9 hours. Next time I'll try to start a bit earlier so I can go 10 hours. Once set, pour contents into desired containers and immediately refrigerate.

Next, I plan to rearrange the fridge to make room for straining the yogurt (holding back 1/4 cup for starter) to make yogurt cheese!

Is everyone doing the happy dance for me?

How Do Ya Wrap A Hoe?

Or, for that matter, how do ya wrap a shovel?

I'll tell you right now, it can be a challenge. Then again, once you've figured it out, it can also be quite fun! Never mind I was up, wrapping presents until nearly midnight Sunday night. I can't remember the last time I had more fun wrapping gifts!

First I wrapped the more simple gifts, occasionally giving the larger, odd shaped items a sideways glance, always keeping them in mind. Once I finished the others, I took a little break, looking these two objects over, scheming the whole time. Then it hit me. I grabbed a roll of wrapping paper, and unrolled it all the way. I then cut a narrow strip all the way up, and then another. I began at the bottom (or would that be the top?) of the hoe's (actually, I guess it's a spade) handle. I used a small piece of tape to secure it and began winding it around and up. I made it about half way up before needing to secure the next strip in place and continuing up. Once I reached the top of the handle I was presented with another challenge. First, the shape, then the pointy end of the spade itself. Hmmmm. What to do? First I thought I might need to round out that point. I spotted a square of bubble wrap, placed it carefully around the "head" and was thrilled to note it fit around perfectly, well, once I applied some tape...I then cut off a square of paper to tape around the now blunted pointy half, followed by another for the back half, and then, a "collar" to bring everything together. I stood back and surveyed the result. He was actually kinda cute!

I then proceeded in a similar manner with the shovel, which was a bit shorter, and just altogether an easier shape to deal with. He also turned out looking kinda cute, but they were both missing something.

Seeing as I had begun to think of these two creations as critters, I decided they needed facial features of some sort. Fortunately I had recently acquired a bag of google eyes in various sizes. Out came the glue stick and my two critters had eyes. Then they each were adorned with just a wee bit of curly ribbon for hair. If I hadn't been so sleepy by this time perhaps the spade could've become a horse! It didn't really matter though. Nathan thought they were great!



This picture was taken outside with Lindsay's camera. Unfortunately their cameras don't do well with inside pictures, nor do they tend to hold on to photos for any length of time, so we were unable to get pictures for sharing here today, from our big trip of the day. We did however get pictures with our old camera. Hopefully they'll turn out, and I can manage to scan them into my PC so I can feature one as a Backyard View photo in the near future?



You may think it odd that a parent would gift a child with such implements on his 11th Birthday.I was actually a bit nervous about the gifts we chose for him. Turned out he was thrilled with everything he received. His face just lit up as he opened each gift, which is truly an accomplishment when dealing with him! You may notice he even smiled for the pictures! He loves gardening and yard work, dealing with plants, and was just thrilled to have his very own gardening tools. He was also tickled with all the other gifts he recieved that were not yard and garden related.

Prior to the gift opening and cake presentation, we went on our traditional Birthday event, which was oodles of fun! But that's a post for another day...

A Taste Of Greece

Today's going to be a busy day at our house, so I decided it might be a good day to leave you with a recipe from our Homeschool files. Last Fall we studied Greece, and our grand finale included this incredible recipe I found within my Master Cook. It is a variation on the traditional Dolmas served as appetizers. We served them as a main course.



Basil- Perfumed Tomato Dolmas

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Cuisine: Greek

Categories: Florida Tomato Committee, Lamb, Main Dishes

Source: Florida Tomato Committee

4 large firm fresh Florida tomatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
8 ounces ground lamb
OR
8 ounces ground beef
1/3 cup uncooked rice (regular cooking)
1 cup loosely-packed fresh basil, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
OR
2 tablespoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Use tomatoes held at room temperature until fully ripe.

2. Cut a thin slice from top of each tomato; remove pulp leaving a 1/4-inch thick shell; set aside. Chop pulp (makes about 1-1/2 cups).

3. In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat oil; add onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes. Add lamb; cook and stir for about 2 minutes, breaking up meat. Stir in rice, basil, cumin, salt, pepper, 1 cup water and reserved chopped tomato pulp. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer covered, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

4. Spoon rice mixture into reserved tomato shells. Place stuffed tomatoes in the skillet along with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered, until tomatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

Note: We did cut back a bit on the salt, used fresh basil, and wanting to keep it as traditional as possible, used lamb.

Recipe says 4 servings. We chose the largest tomatoes we could find, which were still smaller than those called for in the recipe, so we added a couple more. These are fairly rich so I would say, depending on the size of the tomatoes you use, 4-6 servings.

Scooping the tomatoes is a bit of work but a fun family project. All 4 of us got in on the act, and had a great time with it! I would say, unless you've prepared something similar, including the tomato scooping, you might want to allow more prep time. This was not a quick throw together for us! However, the resulting taste sensation was well worth all the time and effort.

Yogurt Disasters Part 2: The Saga Continues...

Yesterday, I gave my homemade yogurt another go. In so doing I learned that 3 times is not neccessarily a charm. *sigh*. I know I had the temps right. I gave it plenty of time to sit and be warm, and I know it stayed warm enough, without becoming too hot. Still, the result was nothing more than warm milk with an additive. Granted, it was a healthy additive, and if I hadn't been so disgusted by the whole thing, and been so hasty in dumping it, perhaps it would have made for a healthy beverage. Then again, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in dumping the offending brew.

I have not quite reached the point of totally giving up. There is only one other culinary challenge I can remember not managing to master, and I am not yet willing to add something so seemingly simple as yogurt to the list. I will master it! No lowly pot of yogurt is going to get the best of me! I went on line and found another similar, but slightly different recipe which I'm going to try, a bit later today if I can find the time. Otherwise it will just have to wait until Tuesday, as we will be busy celebrating Nathan's Birthday tomorrow, which promises to take up most, if not all day. He and his sister are, of course looking forward to it for all the usual reasons, including the traditional Birthday day off from school.

Yesterday, the sun came out and really warmed things up. It was actually almost uncomfortably warm. We enjoyed it just the same, as it seems such an odd occurance this year, which up to this point has been so cool, and damp. It is beginning to seem this will be the season of the Summer tease. We'll just do our best to make the most of what the season offers, and wonder at what may be to come.


Saturday Night At The Movies

This week I have 2 movies to review. The first, the kid's choice for the week is Nancy Drew. I was busy with other pursuits last night so did not have the opportunity to view the whole thing, but the kids both enjoyed it immensely. The little I did see and hear, I think perhaps there was a hint of more mature than their age group material, but they didn't seem to catch that, focusing instead on the mystery and adventure. It was rather entertaining to see the "older" styles I remember, being worn alongside todays more modern clothing. I had to smile at the vision of Nancy wearing knee highs with her dress... All in all, I'd say this is a fine film for family viewing, although I doubt it would hold the attention of the very young.

A bit later in the evening, Pa and I plugged in Tortilla Soup. I think I enjoyed it more than Pa, but he seemed amused by it as well. I found it highly entertaining, with plenty of chuckles, and little twists that surprised me as much as it seemed to surprise those who played their parts so well. It was fun seeing an older (but very well preserved) Raquel Welch,as well as Paul Rodriguez, in a role which suited him perfectly. The dining scenes were just amazing, leaving me with but one complaint. I couldn't help but feel it only fair that they include a bonus feature, containing the recipes. Though it was lacking in that feature, I learned from it just the same. Along with the chuckles, I found myself oohing and aahing at the beautiful spreads adorning the dinner table, and I loved how they showed the chef rescuing a disaster, successfully turning it into yet another masterpiece.. In my opinion, the culinary adventure alone makes the film worth viewing.

Yogurt Disaster Update

Oh For Crying Out Loud! Pa just asked me if I removed the plastic sleeve my new thermometer came with. I explained the only sleeve I found was that which was part of the original packaging (which I thought rather "cheap" considering the sleeve was part of the marketing on the package). He hinted at the possibility there might be something I missed. I went in to look. Sure enough, I had inserted the whole shabang, including the "handy protective sleeve" which had, indeed been included.

Good Grief!!

Next???

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Unlike my daughter, who despite dealing with similar weather patterns, and is living in an apartment in the city, with nothing but a deck to utilize for such pursuits, my garden is not faring so well this year. I find myself viewing my daughters garden photos with longing, reading her descriptions with disbelief, as my eyes wander over the much larger garden space my country home affords me.

My daughter has been kind enough to share photos of her 2 tomato plants, their lush greenery yielding a full 14 healthy looking tomatoes waiting to ripen, and, she says, those are just the ones she can see at the moment. She mentions her green peppers, also bearing fruit, and her herbs, all flourishing on the deck of her city apartment.

I wander outside, and gaze at the two large areas my family and I have toiled to shape, spent time and dollars to protect with fencing, carefully strung flashing tape to dissuade the Blue Jays, tilled by hand, amended with our own compost, and endured hours straining our backs, seeding, weeding, watering by hand. For all our trouble we have 9 spindly tomato plants, adorned with a few flowers on each. We have 3 small bell pepper plants, with nary a flower. For all the hundreds of spinach seeds we sowed, we realized perhaps 6 small plants, all together yielding perhaps enough leaves for a scant garnish on our 4 dinner plates. Our romaine, while looking reasonably healthy, along with our zucchini and acorn squash sport the clothing of early June, rather than late July.

Our peas seem happy enough, although they're certainly taking their time, nearly a month behind schedule, and a good portion of our carrots and green onions have been growing steadily, providing the smaller of my two gardens with some greenery. Two of my 6 Broccoli plants were showing some limited promise,until they went to seed, but most of my potatoes are looking great.

While at the fair on Wednesday we met, and discussed our mutual gardening woes with a Master Gardener. I was only somewhat gratified to hear her voice the same thought that has been on my mind. We can only hope for an extended late Summer season. In the meantime, the Earth Box, which my daughter relies on for gardening on her deck outside her apartment in the city is a recurring picture milling about in my mind.

There's something seriously wrong with this picture!