Fantastic Friday

I started my Friday with visits to 2 garage sales. One of these was out on a country road north of me, but since I wanted to go to North Webster it wasn’t a wasted drive.  Highway 13 is closed in the area I needed to travel which meant finding an alternate route anyway.

More hangers. LOL.

In North Webster, I bought nothing at Heart of the Lakes Antiques, but the newer consignment shop across the road had a wall mirror I decided to buy after much mulling over the decision. The last time I was in this store, I saw a mirror that interested me, but I wanted to bring my husband to look at it. When we returned a few days later, that mirror was sold. So I decided to plunge ahead with this purchase.

Now that I have it home, I wonder if maybe it is a little fancy for my décor. We will have to put in a work order to get Grace Village maintenance staff to hang it. Much too heavy for us to do. It wasn’t expensive; if I decide it doesn’t fit, I can try selling it later.

 

After lunch, I went to Carson’s which was having a big sale. I wanted some peds (what we called them growing up) to fit in my Skechers I bought at the end of July.

Since they were next to the lingerie department, I browsed there. I found a nightgown by one of my favorite brands marked down 70% plus I had a coupon for an additional discount. $16 for what was originally marked as $68. At that price, I couldn’t pass it by.

I had received a phone call Thursday evening that the new carpeting was installed in the Grace Village Library. Friday afternoon I drove over to the main campus. I was pleasantly surprised to find the computers had been hooked back up. A few pieces of furniture weren’t quite in place; I did a bit of shifting. The book return box was full (my assistant had emptied it Wednesday). I did some shelving and headed home.

 We had some tasty chicken fajitas for supper along with Indiana musk melon. This morning I went to the farmers’ market for sweet corn and small tomatoes. Grilling marinated pork chops tonight. Enjoying the pretty day which is a repeat of yesterday’s lovely weather. Isn’t late August grand?

Turmoil

On August 17th, a carpeting replacement project for Building B of Grace Village began. They are laying new carpet throughout the main campus; already finished Building A and eventually will do Building C. The library is in Hall D of Building B.

I stopped by yesterday to see if I could get in the library, but they were tearing up the old carpet right in front of the library and had parked some of their equipment in the doorway. The residents had been told it might take up to 2 weeks to complete the project. I learned accidentally when the carpeting contractor stopped in with the administrator who oversees physical plant that the library itself is included in this project. Problem is I don’t know when the library will be available to me or the residents. There is no timetable. I brought home the stamp and ink pad and will work on some books for Assisted Living bookshelves. Also, get caught up on updating the fiction list. Not only can I and my new assistant not access the library for training purposes, but I wonder what will happen to the computer connections, etc. when the furniture is moved around or out to allow carpeting. A time of turmoil.

Since I can’t work in the library, I have more time at home. I baked a peach pie this morning. All of my Red Haven peaches started developing soft spots about the same time. I put them in the refrigerator which slowed down some of the deterioration, but I needed to use them soon.

Nothing special about the recipe I used; pretty standard.

I must say the peach dessert with the cake-like topping was easier and faster to make.

 I have a skirt that I need to shorten, clothes to iron, and some internet research to do on possible day-trips for our stay in California in September. I also am catching up on my magazine reading and have read 2 books so far this week. Probably should read more of the car manual as well as there are many still unknown buttons, etc. It has been nice to have a break from the library.

 My moss roses have perked up again; more flowers. We have been eating lots of sweet corn and tomatoes savoring the tastes of summer, but the tips of some of the leaves on the maple I see to my west are starting to turn red. Kids are back in school. Reminders that summer is winding down.

Barnstorming

Here is a lovely blog that incorporates photography and poetry and meditative thoughts to glorify God.
I found  Barnstorming from a link at Ann Voskamp's blog. Take a look.

Peach Dessert

My neighbor who gave me the recipe calls this peach dessert. The top layer bakes into a cake texture over the sliced peaches. No matter what it is called, it is yummy. I baked up my last 5 Scarlet Prince peaches tonight using this recipe. It is super easy.

 

 

Frances’ Peach Dessert

 

5 cups peeled sliced peaches

3/4-1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix together and put in 8”x8” pan.

Topping:

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

 

Mix until crumbly, add to top of peaches

Melt 1 stick of butter and pour on the topping

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Should be brown on top.

 

Still have lots of Red Haven peaches to enjoy. It will be a few days before they ripen enough to eat. So glad we went to Michigan to buy some fresh peaches.

Peaches and Pests

We are having a string of beautiful days. Warm but not hot, low humidity, blue sky with puffy white clouds. Today we took advantage of the beautiful day and drove up to Michigan to find some peaches. I wasn’t too happy with my peaches last year; today we tried some new farms. At our first stop in Berrien Springs, the lady had a variety of peach I had never heard of. She said they were excellent for freezing and canning, neither of which I planned to do. They were in cold storage so hard to get any peach smell. I passed. We drove to Flavorland Farm in Baroda. This was a do-it-yourself operation at a family farm. A jar where you put your money. They did have some small containers of peaches with a sign saying Scarlet Prince. Again a variety with which I was unfamiliar, and there was nobody to ask. But I bought a small quantity.

According to the internet, this variety is freestone and an excellent all-around peach. Kind of large for eating out of hand though. Flavorland’s web page said tree-ripened and they do look ready to eat, but tonight we had sliced peaches with whipping cream poured over them. This is a somewhat firm peach, but I would say these needed a few more days to fully ripen. The pits do not come away from the flesh fully either, but reports this year are that Michigan freestones are not coming out as they should. I think I will bake a peach cobbler Friday or Saturday.

 I really wanted to find some Red Havens, the variety I have purchased the past few years. We drove north to Coloma and at Fruit Acres farmstand we found the Red Haven. These definitely are not ready to eat, but that is good as the Scarlet Prince will be gone by the time the Red Haven ripen.

 This was our first longish trip depending on the navigation system in our Avalon car. Since we were in rural or small town areas, the GPS was a big help. When I input the destination, it said some roads were not indexed and verified. LOL. Those turned out to be my own street and the street that leads out of our development. At some point, we will need to pay the fee to update the maps. Our Garmin has lifelong free updates. We might use it as backup for awhile if we run into trouble. The nav system in the car had a pleasant voice. If one deviated from the route, a text message appeared on the screen saying “calculating route” but there was none of the “recalculating” voice that the Garmin uses. It doesn’t display the speed limit like the Garmin, but gives estimated time of trip in miles and minutes. I know there are features we didn’t try yet.

 On Sunday August 2nd my husband was stung by a wasp. We have seen them flying in and out of his large storage chest for wood for the past few years. He said they never bothered him. This time the paper honeycombed nest was half full of white objects which I assumed were eggs. When he opened the lid they felt under attack and one flew right into his jaw and stung.

We had problems for many weeks with yellow jackets in an underground nest near our rose bush in the front yard. We sprayed, Grace Village staff sprayed, but they would come back and start a hole a few inches away from the sprayed hole. Their constant coming and going was across the path from the drive to the porch.

The last time we reported this, we expected maintenance to come back and spray again. Instead, a pest control van drove up, a man started suiting up in protective gear. My husband told him about the problem on the patio. He had some kind of hose he put in the yellow jacket nest and white stuff was on the ground from the canister when he finished. No more yellow jackets. My husband had sprayed the wasp nest and it had fallen into the chest from the lid. This guy found it and took it away. He sprayed something throughout the chest. He also found a mud daubers nest and treated it. He verified that the white objects in the wasp nest were eggs. Good to have the pests and their nests gone. I know people don’t like pesticide use, but we don’t like being stung.

Grace Notes

Grateful today for the little things that add enjoyment and beauty to life.

My moss roses usually close up around 3 p.m. Today it has been overcast, and they are still fully open at 5 p.m. I love the many colors and the rare surprise of a white bloom.

My new helper in the library is away for 3 weeks. I went over this afternoon and the return box was full. As I was shelving books, a gentleman stepped in with more returns and said “Thank you for your labor of love.” How can that help but brighten one’s day.

 Sweet little tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market I bought yesterday. Better than any I could find in a grocery store for sure. Summer a season of abundance: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchini, and soon peaches from Michigan.

 

Finished this good book about our friends in Mitford. My husband gave this to me for Christmas, but I was waiting for a time I could devote to reading. Loved the book.

 What has embellished your life this weekend and made you thankful for God’s provisions? My beggar’s bowl is full to the brim with grace notes.