Greetings from the valley on a rainy summer morning. It's not raining really hard at the moment, but Thunderstorms are expected according to the weather app. I'll believe it when I see it. Right now it is only a light rain, but we need it. Things are very dry and after last summer and all the fires we experienced, rain is always welcome here.
I used to hate it when it rained when I was a child. That meant a day stuck indoors without a lot to do. I am sure our mother was not fond of them either as we were in her hair all day. Oh we could color, and I had my paper dolls to play with and my Barbie. We did have a game chest, which was a bunch of games we had gotten one year for Christmas that all came in one box. There was Snakes and Ladders, Chinese Checkers, etc. But you needed someone else to play them with you and if they didn't want to play then you were stuck. Bored. Bored. Bored.
I have to admit as an adult I get a great deal of pleasure just sitting in my chair and watching the rain and listening to it as well. Its quite comforting to know you are safe indoors and dry while the rain trickles down outside and darkens the pavement.
Oh I do so love the smell of wet pavement after a rain. In the U.K. there was also another peculiar smell. Almost like tar. I think it was the smell of coal fires.
I was sitting here watching television as the sun started going down last evening when I looked out the front window and saw the most peculiar clouds. I have never seen clouds like that before. I couldn't help but take a photograph of them. You can see them above. Like lines in the sky they were. Have any of you ever seen clouds like that before? I am sure that they must be a name for them. I tried looking them up but only got confused.
I have been really enjoying seeing people's flowers on Instagram. So pretty. It is in the summer months that I really miss my gardens in the U.K. We had so many beautiful flowers. Roses, snapdragons, sweet peas, etc. I used to love to walk through the garden at intervals throughout the day and drink it all in.
Our Buddleia bush used to host a gathering of butterflies each year. The loveliest were the Peacock butterflies. They would sit on the blooms, drinking, their wings gently moving back and forth . . . not fluttering as in flight, but just gently opening and closing. So very pretty.
Then there were these. I am not sure of their name. But they were also pretty to watch. On any given day the gardens were a hum of activity, with bees, and butterflies. Frogs at the pond, cabbage whites, etc.
And the color of all the flowers. Such a beautiful place to sit and just be . . . .
It is green bean season at the moment. I do so love fresh beans. It is also fruit fly season and I am loathe to bring in any more produce than I can use at any one time into the house. I have had fruit fly traps out this past week and the are doing their job admirably. I can only think that they came in on bananas. I had bought two bananas. It seems that every time I buy bananas I invite in fruit flies also.
I do not like those pesky things. Not one bit.
I committed the carnal sin of posting a North American Biscuit recipe on my English Kitchen Facebook page yesterday. Any time I post a North American Recipe all of the self-proclaimed "British Cooking experts" come out of the woodwork and exercise their wings. Oh but they do so love to shout the odds at me. It makes me hesitant to share anything sometimes. They never comment when I do post a British Recipe but boy oh boy do they ever have opinions to share when I don't. They can be quite rude actually. I do delete a lot of their comments, but occasionally I will respond to one. Lately I have been just telling them if they don't like what they see they are free to look elsewhere.
The other day it was my recipe for Sour Milk Biscuits. They latched onto that one like a dog with a bone. I have tried time and time again to explain the difference between a scone and a biscuit. I had someone telling me I knew nothing at all about scones. You get all sorts. I try not to let them ruffle my feathers and I admit that I delete a lot of the comments right away because they are so contentious, but my oh my . . . what a world we are living in.
Everyone has an opinion and theirs is always the right one. Regardless of the facts. It makes my brain tired at times.
Don't get me started on smoke and idiots.
I spent half the day fretting over my garbage yesterday. The company that deals with it changed hands in the spring and all of the rules changed. It is hard to know what can go into what. Two trucks now come around. One for the recyclables and one for the compost and the garbage. You are allowed I think 5 bags of recyclables and one black bag and one compost bin. There are two compost bins down the end of the road. There used to be three, but the new lady that moved in across the street has commandeered one of them and keeps it in her garage, so that leaves two for the rest of the street. That's not a lot when you consider that people also use them for their garden waste. A few of the ladies have bought their own, including my next door neighbor. She has kindly told me that I can put my compost in hers. I am grateful for that.
Anyways, after the first truck came around I noticed that they had left one of my recyclable bags. It was left sitting there with the black bag. I had no idea why. No note was left. No nothing. Just the bag. And so I fretted all day about what I might have done wrong to have it left behind, and at the same time praying that maybe, just maybe, the next truck would take it with the black bag.
Whew, thank goodness when the next truck came around later in the day they did take both bags. Which meant that I had fretted a great deal of the day over nothing, but . . . I have always been a rule follower. I like to do things right and it upsets me when I think that I haven't!
All is well that ends well anyways . . .
I don't really have a lot else to share this morning. My son in NB is supposed to facetime me at 9:30 so I really better cut this off now and get dressed, etc. I am looking forward to seeing Eileen later today for our dinner out at the Big Scoop. She is looking forward to it as well.
And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day . . .
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