It won’t be long before these tasty treats will be showing up in farmer’s markets everywhere, because....Marshmallows are in Season!!! That’s what Daughter #1 told her little sister when she was about four years old. They grow them big like this, then they cut them up in little pieces, put them in bags, and ship them off to stores. The weather has to be just right to get a bumper crop like this one. I was driving out to the farm yesterday, came around the turn...and there they were. Oh, there is NOTHING like fresh, vine-ripened marshmallows!
I went out to the farm again yesterday because our internet went out...again! Another call to Frontier...another scheduled visit from a tech. The last time he told us there was nothing more he could do for us and we really don’t have much of a choice out here. We are paying for something we aren’t getting so we’re going to have to have a little chit chat with the business office next week.
I was chilling out on the couch last evening, watching the news when I realized...today is Friday. I remarked how quickly the weeks seem to be flying by. And, in other ways...it seems like we’ve been in this Covid mess for-ev-er! I can tell time is passing because my garden gets bigger every day. The “Day ___” here on my blog is getting higher every day. And if I don’t quit eating a whole pie (with Mr. FixIt’s help, of course) in a day’s time, I’m going to be as big as the broad side of a barn.
We are just a couple of weeks into summer and the heat is oppressive. When they say it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity...they’re wrong. It’s both. I remember all those summers I flew home to West Virginia with a child in tow, arriving to the welcoming arms of my loving family. It was usually late July, early August and I would disembark the plane and step into what felt remarkably like a full fledged sauna. When you can SEE the air and you know it’s not pollution, you know your skin is going to be “dewy” and your clothes are going to stick to you before you can drag your suitcases to the rental car.
I had a little break yesterday when Mr. FixIt went to physical therapy without me. I worked on the taxes a little...till the internet went out again. The service tech was just here on Friday and put in new wiring and a new router. Ten minutes after he left, the internet went down again. It comes and goes. I can’t seem to figure out why. I hope he can because he’s coming back today to take another stab at it.
It was nearly 90℉ by 10:30 yesterday morning. I knew I needed to get the mowing finished soon or it would have to wait till evening again. The risk of waiting is the sudden thunderstorms that often crop up when it gets this hot outside. The humidity works like an old fashioned coffee percolator. The heat causes the moisture to rise and percolate up through the cooler air above, causing those tall storm clouds and resultant downpours. Once that starts, mowing is done for the day. The longer you stretch out mowing, the less of a break you get before it’s time to get out on the mower again.
I was just a child when President Kennedy uttered those famous words. I am not a strong student of the political climate of the early ‘60s, but I do know the times were changing...much as they are now. But, the big difference is...we are a more divided nation now, I think. Everything seems to be pitting us against one another, driving a wedge between us. But, is it really? Or is that the illusion? Is that what the enemy wants you to believe? And, by the enemy, I am NOT pointing to anyone politically. I am referring to THE enemy...the ULTIMATE enemy.
Oh, this is my absolute favorite time of the year...when you can go outside and sit at night. It’s warm, it’s clear, there aren’t too many bugs. And, when there’s a great big moon? That is just a bonus to me.
We went to the farm yesterday and mowed. We were prepared to stay all night, but the window AC stopped working out there and it was hotter than a firecracker...pun intended. I made a nice meal and packed up the truck. And as soon as the mowing and trimming was done, we loaded up the tractor and headed home.
After staying up late to bake two loaves of sourdough bread on Thursday night, I mixed up a batch of dough for English Muffins. I love this recipe because you put it in the fridge overnight and bake them the next morning. And, it makes three dozen smaller muffins or two-and-a-half dozen regular sized ones. I used my electric skillet this time. I had more control over the temperature. And, I could cook a dozen at a time. You cook them on one side for about seven minutes, turn them over, pop the lid on, and cook another seven minutes. Then I put them back on the baking sheet and put them in a 350 degree oven for about nine minutes. They were perfect, and...I can freeze them and have fresh English Muffins for the next three weeks!
On this day last year, I arrived in Colorado to spend a month with my kids and grandkids and to visit my brother. We were preparing for my younger daughter’s wedding and there were lots of fun activities and visits planned. I wrote on July 2, 2019 about the dance mothers and daughters do and how my relationships with my daughters have evolved and healed over the years.
