Karmic-Dragonfly

This past weekend was my first trip back to the river since I injured my back, gluteus maximus, and at least 2 thigh muscles. That was about 9 weeks of down time! The walk was slow, and my legs felt like lead afterwards, but I enjoyed it a lot!

Today, I visited a different trail. Also slow walking, and now I'm waiting to see if my legs will tighten to lead or not. But I found some pawpaws -- I always try to bring a few home once a year!




On a different note, the weather has been unpredictable this last 12 months -- very rainy winter...early warmth in February....then cold...then rainy...then severe drought. I am about to get my very 1st Zinnia bloom for the year! And no Asters yet. The basil is turning yellow from the Fall-like temperatures that have surprisingly arrived in August! I guess I'll take the win that I don't have to run the AC nor heat in these temperatures!

Friends and I went to a local kava bar to try kava for the first time.

In the picture, the kava is to the left and a "mocktail" blueberry mojito is to the right. The kava was bitter, but not overly so to me. The taste reminded me just slightly of Tahini paste -- which is also a bit bitter. The mojito offered sweetness to cover the bitterness of the kava.

We asked how to drink it, and were answered with -- however we want lol! So I chose to keep them separate, while a friend drank some of his mocktail, and then poured the kava into that same glass and stirred it up.

We had no idea what to expect, and although my tongue did get numb (as expected), I am not sure any of the 3 of us experienced any relaxing effects from the kava. I did sleep very well that night though.

If I try it again, I'll probably have a couple of drinks to see if I get any effect.

Got some shots of a Great Blue Heron at the river today. There's a spot where one hangs out a lot, so I always keep an eye out when I walk that part of the trail.



Also, found a last few pawpaws to bring home to eat!

Got my first pawpaw of the year! This was lying on the ground, yellowing and fragrant. I kept in the kitchen a couple days and it started to darken at home.

I hadn't baked bread since the middle of the pandemic...and I found a 'peasant' loaf that didn't require much in the way of kneading...and went into a COLD oven covered. Uncovered ½ way through. It looks a beautiful, rustic loaf! I'm waiting now for a few minutes before I cut into it!


And made a very soft, almost luxurious texture --

I had friends over for dinner last night, so for dessert I had made a Gateau Breton. I had a little bit of trouble getting it out of the tart pan, but all worked out in the end.

The recent rain ripened enough tomatoes for the 2nd tomato sandwich of the season!

Tomato sandwiches were a summertime staple growing up: tomatoes, salt, pepper, and mayo on bread. For some reason, we never grew herbs on the farm, which seems a real shame. As an adult, I grow basil and other herbs outside, and basil is so good with tomatoes!

The reason I grow grape or plum sized tomatoes instead of the larger ones is because I found that the squirrels don't allow me to harvest larger ones. I'm blaming the squirrels without evidence, lol, but SOMETHING would take a bite out of the large green tomatoes and then leave them lying on the ground! So I switched to growing smaller tomatoes -- some for me, some for the squirrels.

Later in the year when there are more, I will start making Caprese salads with tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil and basil.

My tomatoes have started to come in! I do look forward to this time of year with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt & pepper.





These are ripe when dark purple (almost black) on top and red on the bottom --


They are coming in in spurts. I won't have enough to can, but plenty to eat, and some to give away also!

My small garden is starting to provide food! Last year, I was so disappointed that I didn't have any tomatoes -- the plants just didn't thrive at all. I blamed the weather, but I'm starting to wonder if I had some tomato fungal or viral disease.

I'm very glad that the plants this year are producing! Interestingly, I grew seedlings from last years seeds, and those seedlings are again not doing well. Only the tomato plants from new seeds, and from 1 plant that I actually bought are producing. The seedlings from last year's seeds are just not well.

But tomatoes are here!




And a tomato sandwich is one of my childhood favorites. I like to also put fresh basil on it (basil is also growing in pots out back) --


Bell peppers --


Beans --

I'm still doing fine "staying at home." Well, mostly. I have had a couple of social times with small groups of friends, and even though we "said" we were social distancing, in reality we were closer than 6 feet. But electronic communication is just not very satisfying. And don't even get me started about the lack of physical touching - whew!


The family has not been meeting at all though -- not for birthdays nor holidays like Mothers Day. I'm not sure when my parents will feel comfortable for face to face encounters -- maybe after restaurants are open for dining in again? But I don't plan to dine in at a restaurant any time soon -- even after they are open, I intend to wait and see how the virus count increases to determine the risk level.

Book club will be having our first Zoom meeting this week.

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More flowers in the yard have been blooming. The peonies have mostly come and gone now.


And even though I no longer spray roses for black spot (a near necessity for hybrids sadly), a few have been able to stay alive.




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After making banana bread, I remembered why I don't normally make it. It is so sweet! I suppose there are less sweet recipes, but overall the bread is always sweet, like cake. I froze 1/2 of it so that I didn't eat it all -- but later found that even when frozen, it still cuts just fine. So I have raided the freezer a few times!


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Being in quarantine and off work has been a lot like retirement for me, so I find myself being concerned not to waste anything. And that's a really good mindset to have!

I had a candle that was burning a small tunnel down the center of the candle. When I bought it, I did not know the rule to burn a candle the first time for one hour for each inch of diameter. So I should have burned this candle about 3 - 4 hours the first time. To fix it, I cut it off, and dug the opening in the center wider to try to force the candle to burn properly. Here it is after I dug the center wider.


Lopping off the top of the candle meant I had A LOT of wax left over which I did not want to waste. So I melted it, poured into a jam jar, and made a new candle! It seems to burn just fine!




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I've been out to the parks a few times for exercise.






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