This morning we had breakfast in Plymouth, Indiana, then headed for the downtown farmers' market.
This event is held in a nice park called River Square. There was a man playing a guitar and singing tunes like " Oh when them cotton balls get rotten, you can't pick very much cotton",
a song made popular by Charlie Pride I think.
As we made our way around the square we bought a cupcake at a cupcake specialty booth and some apricot scones at a church bake sale booth. There were 5-6 produce stands selling corn, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, ground cherries, and more. We are going to have sautéed veggies with Italian sausages tonight. Jewelry and plants were also being sold.
I thought it was rather clever the way the cupcake was packaged to go by placing it on a plastic cup lid, then putting the cup over the cupcake. She had boxes for multiple cupcakes, but one almond raspberry seemed like enough to share at lunch.
The books I ordered online for Grace Village Library are starting to fill my mailbox. Lots to do next week getting them ready: removing stickers and library labels for those that are ex-lib, cataloging (adding to data base), printing labels, then finally taking them to the library for the label protector and the ownership stamp to be added.
I knew I had number one of Finding Sanctuary series by Nancy Mehl on my ipad. I started reading it several days ago before the books arrived. Yesterday I read Deadly Echoes, number two in the series, when it came in the mail. There is a third book, but it hasn't shown up yet. These are suspense/mystery books. They have been well worth reading. Mrs. Mehl is a new author for me.
I make no pretense to be a gardener. In fact, I struggle to keep the plants in my patio plot alive.
Last year a plant started to grow unplanted by me. I finally decided it was a sunflower that sprouted from a seed from the bird feeder. I considered it a gift from God.
This summer when a plant near where it had grown came thru the soil, I thought maybe it was another sunflower. I didn't treat it as a weed and didn't pull it up. To my amazement, it got taller and taller and branched out. It looked something like the Rose of Sharon that had been in our plot when we moved in in 2011 but died in the harsh winter of 2014. We had cut that bush down in the fall of 2014. My husband calls it the Big Weed.
I found on the internet that Rose of Sharon usually doesn't flower the first year, but it had a late start so I was hoping maybe in August there might be a few blooms to verify its identity. Wednesday morning when I opened the blinds I found many of the tips of its branches chewed off. There will be no proof this year. If it is a Rose of Sharon, it is a miracle. A plant cut down suddenly reappearing 4 years later!
The hoof prints indicated a deer had eaten this bush. Unfortunately, it also ate all of the colorful pretty portulaca blooms as well. The landscaper had planted on Tuesday a hydrangea bush in the middle berm between the condos. It also was pretty badly chewed up. I'm thinking the deer saw that nice tasty specimen and then wandered over to my plot to see what else might feed it. I have never had my moss roses eaten. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
The rudbeckia are blooming now in the front corner of the condo. The Stella d'Oro lilies did not open when my neighbors' did in June, but are blooming in July. The front corner looks nice.
The time a few hours before sunset when there are long shadows is my favorite time of day.
Here you can see a sidewalk in the background behind the geraniums. This sidewalk was something the residents have wanted for a long time. Lots of people walk on the easement from the condos over to independent living and health care. If the grass was wet even from dew, lawn clippings stuck to shoes. Muddy places also weren't conducive to walking nor the uneven contours of the ground.
Since we live at the end of the cul de sac, we had quite a show of the construction work. Trucks and machinery parked where my husband usually parks his pickup. It took two weeks to make this sidewalk. A middle-aged man and two teenage boys started it when we had outside temperatures in the 90's with heat index above 100. They even worked on July 4th. They used with our permission our outside faucet and sat under the shade of our front lawn pear tree. They stacked boards used as forms for the width of the concrete next to the west wall of our house and stored a wheel barrow there.
They finished while we were in Michigan so we missed out on a few dusty and noisy days. I've only used the sidewalk once because of rain or because I had heavy loads of books to haul to and from the library necessitating the car, but I am sure it will get more use. We don't know whether Grace Village will clear it of snow; if so, that would mean being able to walk in the winter.
We have had lots of rain the past 1 1/2 days; more could come tomorrow and Monday. We needed the moisture, just not all at once. The lawns are greening up some, but my flower plot next to my patio does not drain well so the plants are in pooling water.
The sun came out about noon today and lasted for 20 minutes. Now we are back to gray skies.
Yesterday before the winds and heavy rain arrived, I picked a hydrangea from the side of the house. I also cut a wee rose off the front bush to add to the two I already had in the bud vase. I was afraid the blooms would be beaten down by the storm.
I did buy 5 pounds of blueberries at the grocery store. I may have misquoted the price in my previous blog. With my Martin's card, the box of berries was $9.99, limit of one box. Regular price $11.99. I spent this morning washing and sorting. In the box were a few dried-up berries, some stems, no leaves or twigs, and best of all no bugs. A few of the berries were smooshed. I disposed of them in the most efficient manner: popping them in my mouth.
I think these Michigan berries have a deeper flavor than the ones we picked. I am pleased with the quality of the berries. They were picked and packed in South Haven. My husband is already hinting that maybe next year we should just buy the blueberries from the grocery store. We'll see. I think the berry picking is a nice diversion from our routine day as long as it isn't hot and humid or rainy.
I had already removed and processed berries from the above box; it was fuller before the photo. With more berries than we usually pick, I will have to get out some of the recipes I saved these past few years and bake something or make my blueberry sauce. Many of the recipes can use frozen berries.
I had a gift of $100 to the Grace Village library. Yesterday I went on a spending spree, ordering 22 books from Better World Books and from ebay. I am starting to like ebay for buying books now that the sellers don't charge shipping and offer buy it now option. You can even add books to a cart if you have more than one from the same seller. I received 10 per cent off after I bought more than 4 books from one seller; another had buy 2, get one free. It makes the money stretch further. I spent almost $82. Most of the books were listed as "very good" condition. I get annoyed with Better World Books sometimes because it is hard to tell if the book is regular or large print. When the email confirmation came, it showed 2 of the books as large print which is good for the library, but not what I would want for my own personal library. It should be more obvious in the description what the print size is.
By the end of next week to the middle of the following one, books should start arriving. I will be busy. I now have 16 books on my series gap list to find; I started with over 150. Real progress was made in the past 2 years because of generous monetary gifts. I have also used some of the money to buy non-series books.
Since April, Wall Street Journal has been offering to its subscribers one free e-book a month through BookShout. I downloaded the app to my ipad. Usually there are 3 book choices. This month was Magpie Murders by Horowitz, a book my husband borrowed from the public library and is currently reading. This is only the second book I have added to my ipad from them via WSJ offer. Normally, these books would have a fee if not subsidized by WSJ. I have to log in with my WSJ ID and password to get the free book. I browsed BookShout and found a free book I also added. I will save Magpie for my cruise reading.
We have had a few days of low humidity and cooler mornings. We even had the windows open last night. Today we went to the Berry Patch in Etna Green and picked 8 pounds of blueberries. This is slightly less than the 10 pounds we usually pick. I see Martin's has a 5-pound box of local blueberries for $5.99 with store card. The trick is to get there when they are in stock; at this sale price (about what you pay at the u-pick), people tend to stock up on them. They disappear fast.
The first time I picked blueberries, I washed them and then spread them on a cookie/baking sheet to put in the freezer for 10 minutes. This supposedly was to keep them from sticking together. I have discovered this freezer step is entirely unnecessary. I now have my own method (madness) for getting blueberries ready to eat or to freeze.
The place where we pick lines plastic pails with plastic bags. They take the bag full of berries out of the pail to weigh as you pay by the pound.
Once home, I take out batches of blueberries and wash them in a colander.
The washed berries are then spread out on paper towels.
I roll my hand over the berries to spread them out to get rid of any moisture. In the rolling process, I remove stems and other inedible items. It is rather surprising what ends up in your pail: leaves, twigs, dried up berries, bugs (this year 3 Japanese beetles--one year a little green worm). Some probably fall in unnoticed while you industriously pick away at the bush. They are by no means intentional additions.
We wear grubby clothes. This morning while my husband was changing once we were home, he realized he had two small berries in his shirt pocket. I have an old pair of Nikes I use for berry picking or weeding in the flower bed.
These are still in the garage. Amidst cleaning and sorting berries, making lunch, and working in the library this afternoon, I didn't have time or energy to clean them yet.
I select the firmest berries to freeze as they are heaped in a gallon freezer bag. In November or January I want berries on my cereal, not a purplish blob. As I put the berries in the freezer bag, I put the less firm ones in the little green Tupperware container. These are the "eat now" berries. I have never had any frozen berries stick to each other or clump together using this method.
My Bloom of the Month for July is a mixed bouquet. I picked it up on Monday.
