IF

 If this is global warming, I hate it. Day after day of scorching heat and no rain. The grass is brown and crunchy and I spend the smallest amount of time outside that I can. Even inside my little window air conditioner can only bring the temp down to 80. Since anything over 74 is uncomfortably hot, I am not happy.

I asked my mom what the summer equivalent of hibernating is and she said 'coma'. It's true. All day I sit doing needlepoint. It was after midnight when I finally vacuumed last night. Sigh, still haven't done the dishes. 

Someone remind me of this if I complain about the cold this winter. :) 

Parsing

I've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books. It's a nice escape from our modern world.

When Laura is studying for her teaching certificate I'm always fascinated by her ability to do math in her head and the words they can spell! My spelling is atrocious, as you would know if spell-checker stopped working. 

Often, young people complain that they must learn things they will never use. Personally, math is something I've always used, but parsing a sentence still seems like the most useless skill ever. I love to read and write, but dissecting sentences... just, no.

On a bright note: I'm still slowly learning Norwegian. I don't know if I'll ever be able to pronounce bread and figuring out where to put 'ikke' hasn't sunk in yet. :)

Sweet potatoes and books

 When I picked up my bag of sweet potatoes today I found this happening:

Normally, I'd be annoyed, but not today! I was planning on growing sweet potato leaves as a spinach substitute and here they are, already started for me.

I was asked what reference books I keep on hand and it's easier to take pictures than to list them.

Some books were gifts, some I bought from personal interest, and some for writing references. I like having the ability to flip through a hard copy when looking for answers.

Aronia, Baby!

 I finally got a good harvest this year!

This is from just one aronia berry bush. I took them over to my parents where my mom will rinse out any stray spiders and the odd stem before freezing them. She uses them in muffins, cookies, smoothies... pretty much anywhere the fun purple color and boost of anti-oxidants are welcome.

This is a bumper crop. I don't remember how long ago I planted them, but this is the best yield I've seen. There are two more bushes to harvest but they won't be as prolific due to being shaded by the lilacs; I'm guessing another two gallons full.

If you are interested in growing these there are some good points: 

1. The rabbits don't chew on mine, even in the middle of winter.

2. The birds leave them alone. 

3. I haven't seen any fungi or disease signs.

4. No pits to deal with.

5. No thorns. (I'm thinking of you, gooseberry.)

Highly recommended. 

Stuff and Fun

We've been enjoying this bizarre phenomenon called cooler weather for three whole days! Combined with the extended dry phase, I was motivated to begin moving firewood into the woodshed. The last delivery never got stacked and has been sitting in a pile all summer...not anymore! The whole thing is stacked inside and all the bark and small pieces raked up and put away for kindling. My yard looks so empty. 

Oh, no! A headless chicken! Not to worry, it's just dustbath contortions.

These little cuties were hatched out and are being raised by a hen.

And here she is: Angry Snowflake. Apparently the key to being a good mom is the temper of a Klingon.

It's only money

I had to take my car in to be worked on today. It took them five hours so that gives an inkling of the cost. I was also the only person in the dealership wearing a mask and I didn't feel at all bad about wearing an N95 with a vent. If they don't care enough to mask up then I'm not losing any sleep about my mask not protecting them.

After a couple hours crocheting, my son came to take me out to lunch. We wore masks inside then sat in the outdoor eating area. This was my first time eating out since January! And I suspect it will be a very long time before it happens again. Afterwards he drove me around the vo-tech campus he's attending and the hospital campus where he works. It was lovely to spend time with him again; he's normally very busy and can't isolate so we must be cautious.

The first thing I did when I got my car was roll down the windows so the wind could clean out any infected air. Then I wiped down the seat and everything that might have been touched before I got in.

What I've discovered about masks is after the first 20 to 30 minutes, I don't even notice I'm wearing one. And that's with such a snug fit that I have pressure creases on my face (a tight seal is necessary to get the most out of an N95 or else why not just use a cloth mask?) BUT, in the fifth hour I began to get a headache from the straps. It didn't matter how I moved them, the pressure was painful. The good news is that as soon as I could safely take the mask off, the headache went away immediately.

So, that was my day. The chickens were thrilled to see me home again and I have some nice pictures of them to share soon.

Brrrr

Just kidding. What's the opposite of brrr? Maybe splat as I melt.

Today I sat in front of the air conditioner and shredded zucchini. Enough for six batches of bread!

And that's about it. Minimal chores and watering. Another evening of feeling the pressure of another weather system move through, knowing it will probably not rain.

I did find a fun gardening video:

Other than that I'm blah. I hope it's better where you are.