That’s Better

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The heat wave broke today, thank goodness. I’ve been sitting out on the back porch, or wandering around the garden, most of the day. Not only did the temperature fall to 25C, but it also rained. It has been weeks since a quenching rain has occurred here. Lawns had turned brown and crunchy, the earth in the garden was cracking. Attila watered the gardens every single day, using all of the 1200 litres of rain water that had been collected in the last big rain storm, and then having to depend on the municipal water supply to continue. The garden stayed green and healthy. Now that it has rained, the garden is downright lush. And we have about 700 liters of rain water collected in the rain tanks today. Who looks forward to rain? We do! Every day Attila brings me treasures from his gardens. Today it was a fresh carrot, a very small zucchini, and six large leaves of Swiss Chard. These were sauteed with chopped onion, and some edible pod peas that I picked this morning out of the garden. It seemed a waste to compost the carrot greens. After some research, a plan was devised for using … Continue reading →

A Real Stinker Of A Day

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It is HOT out there today. Stepping outside is exactly the same as stepping into a sauna. Attila worked out there all day long, in a place where he had to work close on very hot machines. He does this, he doesn’t complain. He arrives home looking haggard and exhausted. He bathes, he naps, he goes out to his garden, and he returns to the house refreshed, no matter the heat. The garden, I wish everyone who loved gardens could have one of their very own! Hot Dogs were the requested dinner for tonight. We a brand that we could order online with our groceries, with no nitrates, and they arrived earlier this week. I had made Hamburger Buns recently, but not Hog Dog Buns. So, at 6:20 a.m. this morning I began measuring ingredients into the bread machine, and by 9:30 a.m. this morning a dozen 100% Organic Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns (low sodium of course) sat cooling on racks on the kitchen counter. While the oven was hot a batch of Maggie’s Oat Cakes were whipped up and baked for breakfast. Years ago I started with a recipe from a cookbook borrowed from the library, Out of … Continue reading →

First Peas!

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Thursday, July 2, 2020 Yesterday Attila picked the first Peas out of the garden. They are one of the three varieties that were planted, and were not edible pod Peas. Oh the flavour of those little round, green peas, sweet, crunchy, just wow. And then I bit into the pod, just to see what an inedible pod tasted like. Wow again, it was sweet and crunchy and oh so good. I will be eating the pods on these peas. When Attila picked my breakfast greens this morning, he included Swiss Chard, a Beet with greens, and five pods of Peas. Lucky me! We are well into a heat wave, which is predicted to last at least several weeks. I feel so very blessed to have the air source heat pump, which heats and cools. To conserve energy, by lessening the load on the cooling system, light cotton clothing is worn, and the thermostat has been turned 23C (73.4F), and will be increased slowly as comfort allows. Body movement is limited, cooking is minimized, and any electrical device that isn’t being used is disconnected. Luckily one of our rain tanks was almost full when the heat wave began. The other has … Continue reading →

Busy Days

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Life has been busy of late. This past week Attila went into overdrive, finished installing the eavestrough along the back of the house, and installed the 1000 liter rain tank. We had a thunderstorm just after he got it all setup, and the tank filled in 10 minutes! The overflow was shocking, it poured onto the back porch in buckets, before Attila managed to redirect the downspout into the yard. He has since setup an overflow pipe into a second and third barrel to catch additional water. If the overflow barrels overflow, they will empty directly into the yard. On Saturday we drove straight to the Camp, no stops. Our visits are more as maintenance staff than jolly vacationers! The mouse trap in Grace the trailer is still collecting mice, so every visit involves burials and clean-up. Attila cut the “grass”, which is really assorted native plants that are generally regarded as weeds. Cutting the grass with a strimmer is a very big job, that takes many hours to complete, but the results are beautiful. I killed about a dozen army worms. This is the first summer that they haven’t swarmed at the Camp, so grateful for that! The water … Continue reading →

A Beautiful Day

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The sun is shining, it is warm outside, but not hot, nor is it humid, a perfect summer’s day. It has been a totally uneventful day, the very best kind of day. Today Granny’s Rose took to full bloom. I hope she knows how much she was loved. The first bloom on the Clematis burst out today, the branches are laden with buds. The Swiss Chard not only makes an excellent breakfast, it is pretty! Worldly Weather 22°CDate: 12:00 PM EDT Thursday 25 June 2020Condition: Partly CloudyPressure: 101.3 kPaTendency: RisingTemperature: 21.9°CDew point: 11.7°CHumidity: 52%Wind: SW 21 gust 32 km/hHumidex: 24Visibility: 24 km Quote “Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart.”Basil Rathbone1892 – 1967