Peonies and Faux Indigo

Word of the Day

Dallywaddle - To take an excessively long time, especially involving motion on foot; to dilly-dally in going somewhere; to drag one's feet.


Woodtick Count - 7


#1 Son and #1 DIL packed up and hit the road almost as soon as they got up this morning...well...they did eat a small breakfast, splitting a bagel spread with some of my Kefir cheese. I had most of a bagel too. It was yummy. I also had #1 Son carry two wine kits into my bedroom for storage. I plan to take one of them back to Arizona with me this fall. The other one, I'll save and use next summer.

It's been really quiet here. I did dress in workout clothes but finally surrendered to total laziness and changed back into regular clothes. I'm waiting for the repair person that is coming to fix the DirecTV dish up on my roof. I can't even get a meager signal today. He...or she...is supposed to come between 4 PM and 8 PM. I figure that whoever comes will arrive about the same time as the rain. Oh well...it's just a small line of rain and storms that should pass through quickly. I still can't believe that they're sending someone out on a Sunday but...

I started my new wine kit...the one with the grape skins. This should be interesting. For the next week, I have to stir the wine skins that I put in the special bag, provided, gently in the bucket with the juice and the yeast. I have to do this every day. It's an Eclipse Cabernet Sauvignon. I can already see that it's going to be a bit of a messy project. I also started a white wine kit (Vintner's Coastal White), one that #1 Son and #1 DIL gave me last summer. #1 DIL brought me some fresh yeast to use in it, since the yeast that came with the kit was outdated. We'll see how well it works. It's a liquid yeast. Interesting. Sadly, the kits the kids gave me didn't include labels. Thankfully, I was able to order labels for this particular wine online. No real hurry. The wine won't be ready for bottling for a while...a long while.

My peonies are starting to bloom. I picked some to put in a vase. They tend to get majorly damaged outside when it rains so I might as well pick them and enjoy them while I can. I made up a preservative solution which I found online. I may not have TV but I do have Internet. It calls for one quart warm water, 2 TBSP of sugar, 2 TBSP of vinegar, and 1/2 tsp. of bleach. All these years I thought that flowers needed cold water with the preservative but it turns out that the solution travels up the stem better if it's warm. I also ordered some preservative online which will come in a day or so. However, in the meantime, I thought I'd experiment with what I have on hand.

It turns out that I can watch my Amazon Prime free TV using the Wii. I've already watched to shows but...I'm getting a bit bored with TV. I've got books to read.

Random Quote of the Day

Procrastination isn't the problem, it's the solution. So procrastinate now, don't put it off.

- Ellen DeGeneres