The Lake

Word of the Day

Irritainment - Entertainment that makes one irritated.

After breakfast yesterday, I drove over get pick Sis up for our wine-making projects. I also needed to stop at my folks' place. Anyway, my folks had caught a red squirrel in their Havahart trap and asked if Sis and I could release it far away and over the bridge. That was OK because we were headed that way anyway. So, Sis and I pulled over across the bridge and Featherstone RV Park now has one more cute red squirrel. We released it right by some sort of nut tree. Later in the day when I took Sis home, we stopped by my folks' place to return their trap and found out that the nut tree was a Butternut tree. We plan on revisiting the tree sometime this Fall to try our luck at finding butternuts amongst the fallen leaves. At the same time we'll be checking out the grove of hazelnut trees off our own driveway.

After adding one more red squirrel to the RV park, Sis and I continued on our merry way to town. I needed to buy a hunk of cheese at The Store. Hey! I didn't name it. That's what it's called. The Store. So, I got my cheese and then we went over to Don's to check out their merchandise and I bought a couple of things that I couldn't live without. Don's is a clearance outlet store for just about anything. Eclectic stuff that Don buys in large lot auctions and then turns around to sell at his store. I try not to visit Don's too often because I usually end up too tempted not to buy. Since I'd just thrown away all kinds of stuff, I was cringing as I bought more stuff to take the space of the stuff that had been tossed. Oh well...it's really neat stuff which I NEEDED.

Sis and I made quick work of our wine projects. We're learning. Sis didn't even get a taste of the new wine as she created the suction required for racking our wine. (I told you that she wasn't tasting the wine...not on purpose.) I could have washed my kitchen floor because Sis didn't spit any of the awful stuff onto the floor and we didn't spill. The flavor of our wine, at this point so early in the fermentation process is...nasty. Anyway, we lugged the fermentation buckets up from the basement. We racked the wine into clean fermentation buckets and then lugged the wine back down to the basement where it will work/rest until we revisit it again for the next racking session at the end of August.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Sis and I sat down to a wonderful lunch that Sis had brought over from her place. Yummy! Lots of Beans Salad (3 Bean Salad...but with lots more than just three kinds of beans)and BLT Salad but....I don't think there was any lettuce in the salad. Sis needs to rename this salad. BTP Salad. Bacon, Tomato, and Pasta Salad. Tasted wonderful!

I know that I hadn't planned to even think about the beans in my garden until this weekend but after Sis and I finished our wine projects yesterday, we walked over to look a the garden and it was obvious that the wax beans REALLY needed picking. From the looks of things, even one more day would cause them to turn "beany". Anyone who grows beans knows that beany beans are not a good thing....unless you're planning on drying them, shelling them, and keeping them to make baked beans. So....

After I took Sis back to her house, I picked the raspberries. I picked the blueberries. And then....I picked the wax beans. A whole colander full of wax beans. Then...I checked and it was apparent that the Italian Roma beans needed to be picked so I picked a colander full of Roma beans. Then...I checked the Kentucky Wonder beans and....I picked those too. I picked a few of one of the other variety of green beans but they weren't in danger of growing beany as yet so, I'll wait a couple more days to pick them. My Burgundy beans aren't ready for picking which is a good thing because by this time I had enough beans to clean and cook up. I ended up canning three quarts of mixed beans and I had enough left over to enjoy for supper. Yummy!

And then...I finally got to bed around 10:30 PM...but, I remembered at around 12 AM that I hadn't taken the seed birdfeeders inside for the night. I got up and brought the feeders inside. Done. But...I noticed that the cucumber plants in my one Earthbox were looking a bit droopy. I argued with myself that it was midnight and that the cucumber plants could wait until morning for me to water them. So...I went back to bed. Guilt finally drove me back out onto the deck at 2 AM to water the cucumbers and the zucchini in two of my Earthboxes. *sigh* Now HTP has joined Gypsy in thinking that I've lost my mind. "What are you doing?" HTP asked. "I need to water the cucumbers." I replied. "You're watering the cucumbers at 2 AM?!" I know. But...I was able to sleep much more soundly after I watered the cucumbers...and the zucchini.

This morning, the cucumbers looks lots better but I watered them again and it was more than apparent that they NEEDED water. At this point, I noticed a huge cucumber that I hadn't seen before. HUGE! It was one of those oopsy cucumbers that was hiding behind some foliage. There's lots of foliage on my cucumber plants. It looks like I'll be making some cucumber salad today. I have two cucumbers in my fridge that I bought at the grocery store but now, added to the monster that I picked this morning and three more that I discovered that were well on their way to monsterdom, I'll be able to make a huge batch of cucumber salad. Time to get out the finger guillotine.

I think I have enough blueberries from my bushes to make some blueberry pie...at least...when added along with the blueberries that HTP purchased at the grocery store the other day. I also think I've got enough tame raspberries to make a batch of raspberry jam. It looks like today will be another busy day at The Lake.

It's a misty moisty day. We're not getting rain. We're getting moisture. Foggy.

Murphyism of the Day

Miller's Law

Exceptions prove the rule - and wreck the budget.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change.

- Ingrid Bengis