Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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It's a beautiful day out there this morning. I have had my inside front door open since about 5:30 bringing in some cooler air.  It's supposed to get up to 25*C/77*F today so quite warm. Hopefully not humid.  

They came through and cut the grass yesterday. I think it will be a once-a-week thing from now until the autumn.  It seems to grow so quickly.  One guy comes through on a sit on mower and then another comes with the weed wacker and then a final guy comes with a blower to blow the cut grass off of the driveway and back onto the lawn. Midge from across the road had a right go at them about the grass they leave in clumps all over the place. The guy ended up blowing all of the excess grass onto the next yard over and blowing none of it onto Midge's. 

The squeaky wheel does get the grease. I am just happy to have a place to live that is fairly affordable.

As promised here is a photograph of my finished blanket. I am really pleased with how it came out. I love the colors of it. That yarn is just beautiful.  Stylecraft Highland Heathers DK.  The colors are amazing and each one might look like a single color from away, but when you get right close up to it you can see that it is actually a mix of colors. Like for instance the salmon, it is salmon colored, but it has flecks of silver and blue in it, just like the scales on an actual salmon. In any case, I am in love with my blanket and that is as it should be.  I did a scalloped edging on it rather than leave it plain.  

I ended up getting one of these food processors at Canadian Tire last week. I have used it about three times since. I have been making protein energy balls with it.  I have done several different kinds, all delicious. I will be sharing the recipes with you over the next couple of weeks. I won't share them all at once as I don't like to post the same kind of recipe two days in a row.  

I am really pleased with the power of this machine. It's done a super job of grinding things up. It has a double set of grinding blades whereas my small food processor only has a single blade.  It would not have been up to the job. I didn't want to burn out any motors.  This can easily happen when you are grinding up sticky fruits and nuts.

 

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We have been getting some of the haze from the forest fires which are burning in Manitoba at the moment. Nothing too drastic but it is there in the atmosphere, and it does dull the blue skies somewhat. My heart always goes out to all of those who are affected by things like forest fires, etc. That is a scary situation.  It would be back in May/June of 1980 now that my ex and I took a trip back east from Alberta with the kids to visit my sister and his brother in Ontario.  Both were living in Windsor at the time.  Our Amanda was only about 8 or 9 months old.  The trip down from Alberta was okay but we hit all kinds of problems on the way back.  We got all the way around the Northern Side of Lake Superior when we had to be detoured down through the states due to Forest Fires in North-western Ontario.  We went down through Thunder Bay into Minnesota, over to Grand Forks and back up into Manitoba. 

It was nighttime when we hit the Manitoba border again and there were fires raging on both sides of the highway. It was pretty scary stuff. We were exhausted.  We stopped at a motel about 25 or 30 miles north of the fire line to spend the night. I don't think I slept a wink. I was terrified that the fires were going to come to where we were. It was quite frightening to be surrounded by fires as we were on that highway. 

That wasn't the end of the excitement either. We got stuck in the worst Thunderstorm I have ever seen just outside the Alberta border later the next day. It was so bad we couldn't see our way forward. We had to just stop the car where it was. I remember being terrified that a transport truck would hit us and take us out.  The rain and hail were just pelting down. It couldn't have lasted much longer than 5 or 10 minutes but pretty scary. I remember praying like I had never prayed before. It finally blew over and we continued on our way only to realize that it had been a Tornado. We had gotten lucky. It had touched down very close to where we were. 

I was never so glad to get home in my life.  That was the year that Mount Saint Helen's had erupted. That had happened while we were at our family's.  Everything in the house was covered with a fine layer of ash/dust from the fall-out. It was the deadliest and most economically destructive event in US history, and Southern Alberta (where we lived) had been affected by it.

What a way to start the summer eh!

 

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Now would be about the time that people in the UK would be picking elderflowers to make Elderflower Cordial. I watched Cherry Menlove making hers on YouTube the other day. I love Elderflower cordial. It has a beautiful very distinctive flavor. When I worked at the Manor and the ladies came to lunch, I always had to make a big jug of Elderflower to greet them with when they arrived. They always came in the back through the kitchen. I would greet them as they arrived, pour them a drink and then guide them through to where they were expected to gather.  There was always a lot of chitchat before the luncheon would begin in earnest. Often the Mrs. would take them on a walk through the gardens of the Estate aft everyone got there. I didn't mind as this gave me time to put the finishing touches on everything and get it ready to serve.

Thinking back on it that really was an interesting job. A lot of hard work of course, but very interesting all the same. I will always be grateful for those experiences.

I could not resist taking a photograph of Nutmeg last evening. I was watching a bit of Telly and finishing off my blanket and he was relaxing on the carpet in front of the television.  He looked so at peace.

Cinnamon was doing the same thing on top of the fireplace in front of the television.  (That's an example of Monique's beautiful artwork you can see in the photo as well.)

It was so quiet and peaceful here in the house.  I had cat music playing on the television and they were so relaxed. It was a beautiful moment that I could not resist capturing a glimpse of.

 

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Cindy had popped over earlier in the afternoon and clipped their nails for me. I find it impossible to do. They just will not cooperate with me. Nutmeg is the size of a dog, and I cannot manage to hold him and clip at the same time. He wriggles too much and Cinnamon, well she is over the top wriggly. For some reason they settle down more for her and let her get on with it.  I am always very appreciative of her efforts. Their nails do get quite long and then they keep getting caught in things. I keep having to rescue them.

 

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I've been enjoying watching Stanley Tucci in Italy on Prime video. What a fascinating series that is. I am only on the second episode, but I am really enjoying it. One of my regrets of the time I lived in the U.K. was that I never got to Italy. It was on my bucket list.  What a beautiful country and the food is amazing. In the first episode he was in Tuscany, the birthplace of the Renaissance. In the episode I am watching now, he is in the Lombardy region. 

Like good food, this show is one to be savored and enjoyed, and I am doing just that!

 

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I am enjoying these last days of Spring before the summer hits. I like to call June the singing month. This is when the gardens really begin to take off. Roses start to ramble everywhere, over white picket fences and grey stone walls. The deepening green of the countryside is laced with shell-pinks, ivory and reds. Things are bursting into color. Glenna's oriental poppies are in bloom across the way. So pretty to see. I miss my oriental poppies that I had in the U.K. They did not bloom for long and were not so pretty once the bloom had passed, but when they were in their glory, they were beautiful. I wish now that I had brought more of the flowers from my garden into the house to enjoy indoors. My sister always has a small bouquet of something on the windowsill in these warmer months or on the table. The other day it was filled with Buttercups, Sweet William and Bluebells, with a small sprig of lilac.  Intoxicating.

I find myself being unable to pick flowers as if in doing so I am contributing to their demise. Intellectually I know that this is not so, but my heart cannot bring itself to be able to hurt them.  I know, makes no sense . . . I do enjoy seeing them in their natural habitat and I do so enjoy seeing other people's gardens take on more life as the days pass by.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day!

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.I do not understand how
anyone can live in without one
small place of enchantment
to turn to.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today, Easy Portuguese Chicken. Loaded with flavor, you can cook this tasty finger-licking chicken in the oven or on the grill.  Delicious!

I hope that you have a beautiful Wednesday. I plan to spend some of today catching up on the things I never got caught up on yesterday!  My days just seem to evaporate for some reason!  Have a lovely day everyone. Don't forget!

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And I do too!