Wordless Wednesday: A Rare Sight This Summer

Tuesday Ramble

Good morning.   We've been having some cooler weather here.  Feels wonderful.  I was glad to throw open the windows and let the cool breeze air the house. Plus, it allows me to save a little money on the AC.  Not looking forward to my electric bill this month. 

I think I may have already mentioned that I take surveys online to earn extra money.  It's tedious work and takes a long time to build up a decent cash reward, but it makes me feel productive.  So far I'd guess I've received a total of  $500 in Amazon gift cards. Last week I took a survey about vaccines and was asked if I would be willing to participate in a videotaped survey at some point, and I agreed.  So guess what?  I'm scheduled for 10 am tomorrow morning.  From 10 to 2.  And for this I will receive $200.  That's $50 an hour.  I am so excited.  My first big survey. Will be sure to let you all know how it goes. 

I received package from Piquant Post yesterday. Time to try some new recipes.  I am really happy about receiving the Sumac because I have another recipe that calls for it, and I was hesitant to buy an entire container without knowing if I would ever use it again.  That happens far too often. 

• Turkish herb blend includes: dill, mint, oregano, aleppo chili flakes, cumin, and fennel seed.
• Urfa biber:  urfa biber chili peppers
• Nutty Sumac:  sumac, paprika, aleppos chili flakes, white sesame seed, cumin, and allspice 

They included 4 recipes to try out--Stuffed Eggplant, Turkish Kofte with Tzatziki, Turkish Quinoa Sala, and Menemen Turkish Scramble.  Despite the fancy names, the only recipe that requires a bit of work is the eggplant.

Also received some fall scented candles that I ordered. They smell fantastic.  My problem is that when a candle smells too good, I hate to light it. 

• Cinnamon Apple smells like hot baked apples sprinkled with cinnamon.
• Butternut Pumpkin is a blend of butternut squash, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, clove, and vanilla.
• Fall Festival has top notes of citris, cinnamon, and apple with clove buds raspberry jam, and sugared vanilla. Candied Yams  has top notes of Brazillian orange, bergamot, and bread with cinnamon, nutmeg, and lily of the valley on a base of vanilla and raspberry.
• Autumn Lodge has  top notes of winter green and pine needle with middle and bottom notes of fir balsam, cinnamon, and spice.

Dug all of my fall decorations out and have slowly started.  One reason I have been hesitant is that it means packing away my mermaid and ocean themes until next summer season.   I just don't have room to keep it all out.  But, it's time for the orange and golds, the season of the gnomes.   Going to begin today.  Class starts in two weeks, and then I will be busy.  Plus, I am one that likes to be prepared for the seasons so in early September I begin to slowly dig out fall and winter while packing away summer.  A little at a time...and then when the chill is in the air, I am prepared. 

Monday This and That

Good morning and a happy beginning to a new week.  It looks to be another quiet one for me.  Maybe I'll get some coursework done, do a little reading.  Haven't been working on my jewelry at all.  Time to get busy.  So what have I been doing?  Watching kittens.  I am so totally addicted to TinyKittens that I have been getting little else done.  Well, the kitties I have been watching all went to their homes.  The three babies I became attached to moved onto a wonderful life.

Well, hubby was right.  I made out the menu for Sunday dinner made a list of the things I had to buy, but hubby said 'don't buy anything because I doubt my sister will come', and sure enough, she didn't.  Not even a phone call.  I'm actually quite relieved, but also a bit annoyed.  What if I had gone out and bought all the items for dinner?  What if I had gone past the planning stage and started cooking a few things ahead of time like I usually do?  No consideration.

I received these two books on Friday.  I buy a lot of used books from Amazon.  Very cheap and usually in very good condition.  Only once did I buy a used book on crystals and found that someone had cut out the crystals.  My money was returned right away so no complaints there.

 

As I continue to work towards a healthier me, I realized that aside from rice, I know very little about ancient grains--Quinoa, Amaranth, Kañiwa (Baby Quinoa) and Chia.  This book not only gives the history of the grains, but also some fantastic looking recipes. 

Such a fun book that follows the Wheel of the Year. We're all kitchen witches.  Anybody who lovingly prepares a meal  with good intent and fresh ingredients is practicing kitchen witchery, and if you are like me and cook for the seasons, you are following the Wheel of the Year. Some great tips for decorating your kitchen, using herbs, and cooking with the seasons.  Great for someone like me who likes to eat a lot of veggies, but doesn't want to get bored with them.

I had a strange dream the other night.  Can't remember the details of it, but I woke up remembering another dream I had several months ago.  In the dream hubby and I had taken our laundry to Newton, NJ. Why we traveled thereto do our  laundry who knows, but dreams are dreams and nothing is as it seems.  So, we stop at this little place and hubby asks me to get us a soda. I go up to the counter and this guy is standing there--my first 'real' boyfriend. I was 18 years old and spent every weekend with his parents who lived on Swartzwood Road in Newton. His family loved me, and it was thought that we'd be married....until the wanderlust struck and I broke up with him for a stupid reason.  The truth was, I just wanted to be free.  I loved him, but I guess not enough.  Or maybe it was because I'd never really been able to live with my strict parents and just wanted the chance.  I did see him again a few years later.  He had married and was in a bad relationship, and I'd gone through and was divorced from a bad marriage.  We chatted for awhile.  It was shortly after that that I moved to the city and never saw him again.  Now, back to the dream. 

So here he is standing there when I go up to get the sodas. I recognize him immediately. He looks at me and says, "You know I have always loved you. Just wanted you to know I never forgot you." I don't remember responding. Took the sodas back to hubby and turned back, but now it was a stranger standing there. 

That dream caused me to do some searching on Google, and I found him....on the Social Security death Index.  I then found a copy of his obituary.  I took some of the names in that obituary and looked for them on FB and finally found someone married to his nephew.  It turns out that he died of cancer in 2011.  Did I have a visitor from beyond the grave?

I don't eat sausage often due to it's high sodium content, but it is one of my favorite foods, and sometimes I just HAVE to have it.  So, this was last night's dinner.

Italian sausage, casings removed ( I mixed regular and hot sausage)
Carrots
Celery
Chopped onion
Garlic
Low sodium chicken broth (about 4 cups)
Canned whole tomatoes
Fennel seeds
Cannellini beans  ( 1 can, rinsed)
Ditalini 
Fresh parsley

Olive oil

Saturday was a very busy day for me.  Most of my Christmas presents done.  Of course I had to keep a few for myself--a pair of the quarter moon earrings and the pheonix earrings.

 They really are a pretty silver but it's hard to get on camera.

 And, of course, had to keep one of these too.

Sunday Selections

I'm a kid at heart. I believe in the magical. Fairies, angels, mermaids, gnomes, and unicorns exist. We knew this when we were children. They coexist and walk beside us on a daily basis, but as we grew up, we closed off our minds. Have you ever seen sparkles out of the corner of your eye?  That was probably a fairy.  So, today I'd like to share with you my living room fairyland.

This is a little fairy garden I put together. 

Looks much better in person when the fairy lights are on.

I remember one day I was wandering through the woods behind my grandparents home, and I stumbled upon a fairyland when I was a little girl.  The pond looked much like this.  I remember how beautiful and peaceful it was, an oasis in the middle of the woods.  I didn't want to leave, but reluctantly I knew I had to go as the sun began to fade.  Despite the fact that it was a small woods, walkable from one end to the other in less than half an hour, I was never able to find it again.  So, when I saw this little pond on Etsy, I couldn't resist.

Another little fairyland I put together.

Saturday Thought

In the springtime, leaves unfolding,
Growing, growing one by one,
In the summer, always giving
Cool, green shade to every one;
In the autumn, tall and stately,
Dressed in yellow, red and brown,
In the winter, sleeping, sleeping,
While the snow comes softly down...

 
Charlotte Lay Dewey, "A Song of the Trees

Friday Roundup

As another week comes to an end.  This hasn't been the best of weeks for me.  The weather has been terrible, and I've been feeling super tired as I heal from this cold.  To be honest, I can't honestly say these feelings are JUST from the cold.  I think a bit of mild depression might be thrown in.  I get like this when I am housebound.  I'm tired of the gray skies, the steamy humidity, and the rain.  It's caused a flare up in my osteoarthritis, and it's been never-ending pain.  I try to avoid taking pain relievers as much as possible, but I do continue with my regimen of natural supplements--Yucca, Turmeric, Tart Cherry Pills, Caltrate, and Omega 3's.  I've started taking my vitamin D3 supplements again  as I have been getting no sun, and D3 is needed for joints. 

Needless to say, this is one year I am really looking forward to autumn.  Oh, I do every year because it IS  my favorite season, but this year even moreso since we have had such a rough August, so little by little  I've started getting ready.  Just got these awesome 'Flavors of Autumn' and can't wait to cook with them.

Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamom, Cloves, Orange Peel, Nutmeg  adds a warm, slightly spicy flavor to pies, muffins, cookies, and breakfast cereals.   I plan on putting this in my oatmeal in the morning.

Sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, marjoram, parsley, black pepper, allspice, celery seed  adds a rich fragrant flavor to stuffings, roasted vegetables, poultry, soups and stews. Have a wonderful vegetable soup I'm dying to try.  Soup season is almost here.  Yay.

Headed to the fruit stand on Tuesday.  Had to get some salad stuff, then headed back home.  Not much else to do.  Didn't think August break was going to hit me so hard. Stayed in on Wednesday, and finally on Thursday I was able to get out and socialize a bit when I went to my WW meeting.  Felt good to have a reason to get out of the house.  We even all went to brunch after the meeting.  Really made me realize how much I have been missing. 

I even managed to get a 'long' walk in.  When I got to the stop to pick up the second bus, I looked at my bus app and saw it was going to be 21 minutes.  Since my back hurts more when I stand in one spot, I decided I was going to walk it....in all that heat.  I got halfway there, and I got dizzy. Looked in my purse and discovered I had forgotten my water.  Held onto a pole for a few, then continued on, stopping in the first store I passed for some much needed cold water.   Did the trick.  I was able to walk the rest of the way with no problems.  16 blocks.

No plans today.  More rain is on the way.  I'll be so glad when this month is over. 

Throwback Thursday

When I was growing up I was never allowed to meet any of my dad's family.  My mom was adamant about that, and my dad pretty much did whatever she said.  I understand that there was a lot of alcoholism in the family, my dad was an alcoholic, and his mom, well, let's just say she didn't have the best reputation, but she was my grandmother, and it would have been nice to have met her....even if only once.  This was an entire part of my family that I was cut off from, and they were just as much a part of me as her family was.  I feel like because of my mom's decisions, I missed out on so much.  Fortunately, when I began working on my family tree I was able to piece a lot of their history together...and even meet several cousins I didn't know I had.  It's wonderful that I found these pictures, but it really doesn't make up for all the face-to-face contact I missed.

My great grandmother Constance Mary and her step father, John Staff.  My great great grandfather, Richard Hazel, died when Constance was three months old, and her mother, Harriet remarried.  They came to America a few months later.  This photo is from the early 1900's.

Constance Mary's sisters, Annie and Flossie.  Annie was blind. When she lived in Newton, she had a clothesline tied all around her yard which helped her to get around.

Constance Mary.

 Constance Mary with her daughter, Edith and her first born, Ruth.

Constance Mary with her son,  my grandfather, Harry.  They called him 'King'.

My dad sent this to my great grandmother Constance Mary who raised him and his brother.  All the family had nicknames.  His was 'Beatle'.

This is my dad's twin brother, Harry.  He always stayed thin while my dad gained a lot of weight.  Harry's nickname was 'Twinny'.

 My great great grandfather, Ralph...Constance Mary's husband.

 My grandfather Harry as a young man.

Constance Mary

 Harry (dad's twin), myself, and my Dad.