August 30. Long Time No See.

 Been neglecting this blog/journal this month. It's been a busy one.

Has been so rainy the corn crop came in early. Millers in Postville, NY had the sugar and butter variety of sweet corn on sale for $3 a dozen. An amazing price considering the week before it sold for $7 a dozen. Bought 4 dozen and canned 18 pints for $12, plus froze a quart for quick eating.

Have made a batch of mustard relish and another of Cheery Pickles. Was given enough cucumbers to make another batch, but not sure it's worth the time and effort. Still have most of the Harvard and pickled beets from last year.  Guess I don't eat that many pickles.

There's four pounds of plums sitting in a bowl on the kitchen table waiting to be made into jam and the fixings to make apple cinnamon jelly are in the cupboard.

Have been embroidering brooches for Friday's party in spite of my arthritis. The lettering on the back takes about a half hour to complete. A real PITA (pain in the ass). Have 22 of 25 completed. Three more need the pin attached and sandwiched together. My hand and shoulder are swollen and ache. Had planned on making 30 of these, but at this point the goal is going to be missed. I can only do so much. At one point in the creative process, embroidering started to feel like work. Not good. Diarrhea ensued. (Yes, TMI...too much information.)

The weather has been so humid this arthritis has gotten so bad I went to the doctor about it. She wants me to see a Rheumatologist because she suspects it is rheumatoid psoriasis. It's going to be Spring before I see them. Appointments are backed up because of the pandemic. Plus, I don't drive in winter. At least, not a hour and a half away (Dubois)

Tomatoes and peppers are coming into fruit, but the powdery mildew finished off the squash and cucumbers. Hard to treat for disease when it rains almost every day. The milk/water 1:3 I've been spraying washes right off. Will transplant the beets to the bed I take the cucumbers out of if it ever stops raining long enough. That way it'll be ready for the greenhouse top come cold weather. 

Ordering seeds from Baker Creek as soon as I get off here. Thinking of ordering a potting shed too. That way all the tools can be in the green shed and the little shed can have the garden stuff and bird food.

Gotta get moving. We're burning daylight. 

August 14. Slip Sliding Away.

Been a busy week since last I wrote. Went to the tax office to find out why I'm getting a school tax for this property when it was paid at closing. Argued with them and the lawyers secretary. Am giving up and just paying it again.

Got up at 3 a.m. on Thursday and drove to Kinzua Bridge State Park to watch the Perseid meteor shower. A couple people said they saw several, but I only saw one (and that's not for certain). There was a lot of ambient light. Ah well. At least I tried. 

Took Bandit to the vet for his booster shots. He weighs 110 pounds. Chubby. $148 later...

Made two batches of jam. Black Forest Preserves and Blueberry Lime. Still need to make Strawberry Preserves.

Cooked up a batch of Chicken Masala last night. Froze two portions, ate one and have another ready for dinner tonight or tomorrow. 

Still working on the brooches. Printed "PIE FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 4, 2021" on some sticky sulky paper. Have three backing completed and one brooch fully together. Not sure how I'm going to be able to finish them all in time, but I'm going to try.

Thinned out the beets in the garden. They are doing well. The lettuce is a few inches high and the radish leaves are about four inches high. The eggplants aren't doing very well. Too many times being transplanted is my guess. Have cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini aplenty. Still giving to all the neighbors around me with plenty left over for me.

Swedish Festival is this weekend. I plan on going there today. Want to get an apron for Susie and maybe one for Daniel. Going to take a couple cards over for Darlene.

Was going to mow the lawn before the festival. Had rain overnight and it's sprinkling this morning. It'll be there when I get home. 

One of the neighbors went on vacation for a week and asked me to feed their feral cat, Earl, while they are away. That adds a bit of exercise to my day. Lord knows I need more exercise. I have those nasty old lady arms. Fitting, eh?

Talked to Billy for an hour the other day. He bought a camper and was telling me all about it.

Still learning Spanish on Duolingo. It seems to be improving my short term memory. Guess I'll do a lesson while I drink my second cup of coffee. 

August 8. Busy Sunday.

Spent a lot of time embroidering brooches for the party. All week long I've felt a little off. Waking. Sleeping. Migraine headache. Body aches and pains. I managed to get the lawn mowed Friday. Took me three tries. Had to stop and rest and cool off.

Have been fairly consistent with learning Spanish via Duolingo. 66 days so far not counting all the token-saved days. Some of the syntax is starting to make sense. Repetition works well in most cases. Some of the voices are harder for me to understand. Now that I've learned some basic words the voices are speaking faster. Not nearly as fast as Marisol Negron. I wonder what happened to their family...

Luke called upset because he lost his temper with his dad. I told him not to be so hard on himself. We're only human.

If I ever finish these brooches I'm going to make myself some prayer flags to hang around the house. Gentle reminders like 'smile to greet the day'. Upbeat stuff to promote positive attitude.

Gonna sit on the porch, listen to music and embroider a while. Less than a month to complete.

August 4. Weird Wednesday.

Took Bandit out to close the garden last night. Made it as far as the porch before realizing there were three deer (actually four) in the yard eyeing my garden. Put him back inside and literally chased them off. Brought him back out and closed up the garden. Must have worked because I still have veggies today.

Not sure what's up with me. Have had the blues and blahs the last couple days. Partly because the weather has been unusually cold. Mornings in the 40s and 50s with daytime temps in the low 70s. This arthritis is pretty bad, but the show must go on.

Started a couple more brooches. Slow working.

Worked in the shed a bit sorting through yard sale items trying to get an idea of prices. Realized most of the items are new. Am going to advertise in the paper and on Facebook. 

Spent a lot of time watching the butterflies, bees and hummingbird hawk moths on the butterfly bush. Trying to put to rest this anxiety. 

August First.

Another cold morning. Fifty four and damp. There's a chill to the air that can only mean rain. Sure enough, rain by one o'clock is forecasted. 

Pulled three nice green peppers from the garden when I opened it. Was afraid to look for squash; there's so much of it I can't use it all have been giving it away to all the neighbors. Still have six or so in the fridge. I don't like the way it tastes when its frozen or I'd blanch and freeze it. Seems like a big waste.

Took some Tylenol PM last night hoping to sleep better. Still got up a couple times to answer the call of nature. Didn't want to get up today. Higher meowed at me for an hour before I crawled out of bed at 6:15. Feel like a lazy bones today. 

Bandit went back to sleep. Seeing that everyone has been fed, I'm going back to sleep too. For a few minutes anyway.

Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite. (If they bite me I'll bite them back.)