Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

The sun has long been set,

The stars are out by twos and threes,

The little birds are piping yet,

Among the bushes and the trees;

There's a cuckoo, and one or two thrushes,

And a far-off wind that rushes,

And a sound of water that gushes,

And the cuckoos sovereign cry

Fills all the hollow of the sky.

~William Wordsworth, from A Night in June

I have not put that yet to the test. I am usually in bed by 9pm most nights. That is not to say I am asleep at that time, but I am retired for the day and beneath the covers, praying, reading, etc. There are no cuckoos here. But there are night sounds. Peepers. Loons across a lake. Whippoorwills. Crickets.

And fireflies  . . .  I will never forget the wonder of seeing my first fireflies. We had stopped at a motel alongside of the Saint John river on the East side just south of Fredericton. My parents were visiting one of our father's ham radio friends.  I can remember chasing fireflies through the front yard at dusk with their children. This was like magic to me. I had never seen dancing lights in the air before.

That night there was a wicked thunderstorm. I can remember watching the lightening flash on the river across the road from our motel room. I wonder does Cindy also remember these things  . . . I will have to ask her later on.

In later years as an adult and married with five children, we built a house next to a marsh fed by that same river, but on the West side. My children chased fireflies on our own front lawn and captured them in mason jars.

Summer nights  . . . 

 

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I have put together both of my planters now and am thinking today I will go and get some plants to put into them. I think we will not have any more frosts, so it is safe. I would like red and white flowers. But we will have to wait and see what is left.  There may be nothing.

We wanted to pick up tissues on sale at the local grocery store the other day. (I never buy these things at full price if I can help it.) There were none left. Just an empty space where they should have been. I should have gotten a rain check. I never thought of it. Sigh  . . .  why do I always think of these things after the fact. 

They will go on offer again I am sure. At one or another of the shops. I cannot get over the costs of these things now when they are at their regular prices. Toilet paper. Paper towels. Tissues. Who can afford that?  Its almost as bad as the cost of meat. When I see a steak for $30 or a Roast for $50 I find myself asking me the question  . . .  who is buying this stuff?

Hot dogs  . . .  $15.99 for a package.  Who would have thought?

Which always makes me query. How do they decide how many hotdogs go into a package??? You get 12 hot dog buns in a pack of buns, but only 10 dogs in a pack of hotdogs? It doesn't really make much sense. Not to me anyways.

 

 

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I noted that the Goucher's farm market has their local strawberries in now.  I do not know how much they are a box. I just saw on Facebook that they were ready. They are probably 7 or 8 dollars a pint. I expect that Spurs will have them soon, if not already as well. I prefer Spurs. 

One thing that I really dislike when trying to choose a box of berries to buy, is seeing them loaded with half ripe ones. Strawberries are one of those fruits that do not ripen any more after picking. 

I have fond memories of picking wild strawberries alongside the railroad track that went past the first house we lived in in Gimli, Manitoba. As small as your baby fingernail, but oh so sweet.  I always associate them with the smell of hot wood and tar, which is the way the wood that held the rails smelled. 

If we were lucky we would have enough that our mother would get them washed and hulled and into a small bowl for us to enjoy with a bit of cream poured over. Nothing every tasted so good as those berries.

 

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We had the rare treat of a takeaway Pizza last night for supper. It was Dan's birthday and he wanted Pizza from the new Dominos that opened up in Greenwood, which is not far from where we live. I think they must have seven or eight places in that area that peddle pizza. We got two large ones. An Extravaganza with all the meats and veggies, and another one which only had bacon, ham and sausage on it. They were good. Nice crust. Nice sauce.  Plenty of toppings.  We enjoyed those and then had some Chocolate Fudge Rocca cake for dessert. I think Dan felt celebrated. At least I hope that he did.

We are out for supper again tonight as it is Wednesday night and Dad will be wanting to go to his usual haunt. There is another place that just opened up a little ways down the road from that. We would love to be able to give it a go . . .  but Dad and Hazel, well Hazel specifically, want to keep going to the same place they always have.

Change comes hard I guess. I know that as well as anyone. I do not take to change easily myself.

 

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I got a new bread book on my kindle library yesterday. The No Fuss Bread Machine Cookbook. I have a loaf of Fragrant Cardamom Bread in it at present, being kneaded. We will see how it goes.  I haven't used my bread machine in a while, so I am a bit rusty. It sounded nice though and I love the aroma of cardamom. It is an enriched dough with egg and butter. Should be nice, hopefully!

Last winter I had bought two large bags of flour from Arva Mills, online. When they arrived I was astonished at the size of them. Not to mention the weight. I could hardly lift them. I had bought a large container to put the flour in, but there was far too much flour for the container and when I tried to pour it in, I made a mess.  This morning, I managed to be able to get the flour into the container and another one, so that first bag is empty now.  I just have one more large bag to use. It's good flour. 

I am keen to start making sourdough again, but I need to get a starter started. I should have brought the dried starter that I had from the U.K. when I came, but I was afraid of being queried at customs and I had enough drama in my life at the time.

Anyways, I am looking forward to this new loaf of bread. It sounds good at any rate!

 

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One thing I really look forward to in the summer months are fresh tomatoes and tomato sandwiches. My mom had a tomato sandwich for her lunch almost all the days that I knew her as a mother. She loved them. There was always a cut tomato sitting on her counter top. My Aunt Freda loved any kind of sandwich. If it was between two slices of bread, she was on it. I do admit to enjoying sandwiches myself, but I am very particular. I like only fresh soft bread. If the bread is stale that ruins it for me. They had the best sandwiches in the U.K. They are a nation of sandwich lovers and have shops dedicated to just sandwiches. Most supermarkets also have a section of readymade sandwiches as well, and it is quite extensive. I thought M&S had the best ready made sandwiches. Always generously filled and always fresh. I do love tomato sandwiches of course, but I also really love cheese and tomato.  Cheese and pickle are a real favorite, as are egg and cress.  Oh . . .  cheese and onion. I do so love a good cheese and onion sandwich.

I have some broccoli seeds for sprouting that I want to get going.  I think they would be just as good on an egg sandwich as egg and cress. I must get some seeds started to sprouting today, so I can test out my theory.

My goal this year is to eat as much from scratch and natural foods as I can. So far so good, although it isn't that easy to do.  You would not think it would be as difficult as it is

 

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Yesterday we tried to practice "Silent Letter" day. A day when you try to pronounce all the silent letters. Like " Wed Nes Day." Its a lot harder to do than one would think, but good for a laugh.

 

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I am going to have to call the maintenance guy this morning. It is warming up today and I have already killed one wasp in my bedroom this morning. Obviously they are getting in somewhere through my bedroom and I suspect it is the air exchanger in the ceiling.  I will have to wait to call until after Eileen is up and about. She should be up soon, but it takes about an hour for her to get herself sorted.

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

☾ ° ★° * 。  

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

*How lucky I am to have a home
full of things I like to tidy.

This made me smile.

In the kitchen today  . . .  Ginger Ham Steak & Deviled Potatoes. A vintage recipe that I cooked for us on Monday that was really delicious. And, on the table in about half an hour's time. We both really enjoyed this.

I hope that you have a beautiful day.  Whatever you get up to, I hope it brings you joy and happiness. Don't forget!

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And I do too!