There was an inch and a half of water in the rain gauge yesterday morning. Add this heat and you can almost HEAR the grass grow! I rustled Little up out of bed fairly early. I fixed corn cakes for breakfast and man…they were fantastic if I do say so myself. I didn’t really have a recipe. I used a couple cups of self rising flour, a cup of finely ground yellow corn meal, half a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of baking powder…even though there’s baking powder in the self rising flour. I also added a heaping tablespoon of sugar. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup, pour about a cup of milk, 1/4th cup vegetable oil, and two eggs. Beat with a fork till combined and pour into the dry ingredients. If it’s too thick, add more milk, a little at a time and stir till you get the consistency of pancake batter. I added a little vegetable oil and butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat and cooked the corn cakes two at a time, flipping them when the edges were golden. I served them hot drenched in syrup. Divine! I normally would have a side of eggs for some extra protein and maybe sausage or bacon but I used the eggs to make the batter and didn’t have any side meat. Little loved them!

I hustled Little into the pool and headed out to mow before it got too bloody hot to tolerate being out there. I lasted longer on the mower than Little did in the water. They felt like their skin was frying so they gave up and went inside where it was air conditioned. I took a break every hour and rehydrated with “DripDrop”…an electrolyte powder that was designed to rehydrate people quickly without going overboard on the salt, etc. I jumped in the pool which was SO refreshing. Then back out on the mower. Mr. FixIt took the loppers around the edge of the yard and trimmed back the low hanging branches of the sycamore trees out front. That made a world of difference when I was mowing out there. The branches didn’t threaten to dump me off the tractor!

Once the mowing was finished and I’d cooled off, I fired up the grill and fixed bratwursts for supper. I bought a jar of mild chow-chow at the Piggly Wiggly the other day. Chow-chow is a pickled relish that is highly favored in the south. It goes wonderfully with roast pork or as a substitute for pickle relish on hotdogs or brats. It’s made with chopped bell peppers, green tomatoes, sweet onions, and cabbage. Northern versions can have cauliflower, carrots, beans, onions, bell peppers, and more. It can also have hot peppers in it for added zing. My grandma always made it and called it “End-of-the-Garden Relish”. My mom would sit with a spoon and eat it right out of the jar. Little tasted it, but wasn’t necessarily impressed with the texture. Mr. FixIt and I slathered it all over our brats! Yummmmm!

While we sat and ate supper, I suggested to Little that we head out to the farm and spend the night. There’s going to be a strong storm front coming in tonight, so we thought we’d get this little side trip out of the way while the weather is good. We stopped at Dollar General and bought an extra fan because it was 88° when we left home. The old fan up in the “Boy’s Room” at the farm has finally stopped working after at least sixty years of service and that is what we depended on to suck the hot air out of the house. As you might well imagine, the house isn’t air conditioned, although at one time there was a window air conditioner that stopped working a few years ago. Grandma always said this ol’ holler was nature’s air conditioner because there is always a breeze coming down out of the woods through the back door. When it got really, really hot in August, Grandma would fill a bucket with cold water and throw it out all over the cement porch.  The wind coming down over it would cool down and work just like a swamp cooler.

We have what we need here…a box of Mac and cheese, some pepperoni rolls, the leftover pancakes and corn cakes, and things to drink. We’ll head back home today. I just wanted Little to get to stay out here at least once while they’re here. We sat together and looked at old family photos and I told some of the family stories. I’m so happy to share my love for the home of my heart with Little.

The video above was taken the other night down by the creek at the edge of the “Far Field” at our house. I thought you might like to hear the night sounds.

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“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Proverbs 24:3-4 ESV