Saturday, Not Much

66°f, clear but storms expected this afternoon.

These have been surprisingly quiet days. Partly this is because the garden is nearly done, and partly because my arm has been slowing me down. I have decided that the defining characteristic of aging is Pain, with a capital p. It's the thing no one mentions in all the talk about how we age. Hair loss, wrinkles of course, graying hair, age spots, narrowing lips, thinning skin, the need for fiber, etc, etc---we hear all those but pain? Rarely mentioned, perhaps because it is assumed, a given. So here we are, all aching and hurting and taking pills and doing therapy and trying to eat the anti-inflammatory diet and drink more water and get the right pillow/mattress/bed, and none of it is really a cure. So onward we go, and as the day goes sometimes on the pain eases up, we can go about our day fairly normally, and then come evening, here it comes again. As the old trope says, if you're going to get old, you better be tough.

And that's enough grumping! We did get to our booths and brought in some new things--an oval oak library table at one place along with 2 more really nice lamps, and the green cabinet i just painted at the other place, along with a couple totes at each place. We also went out to dinner at a place we really like. This fairly new restaurant used to serve really special meals. The chef had an herb garden, and they used meats from their own farm. The patio was a lovely outdoor space. Well, the patio is still nice, but the menu has downgraded to things like burgers and fries and the like. Pretty sad! But the main clientele is the plant workers from the nearby aluminum plant and construction workers from the solar farm and lithium plant being built, and these guys want burgers, I guess. Still, it's a nice place, and their salads and pizza are still the best in the county.

So that was Thursday. Yesterday I priced more stuff while Larry did more weedeating, and in the afternoon we went to the farmers market for eggs, the grocery store for odds and ends, and the hardware store for a few things I needed for two projects I am working on. We stopped to check on Larry's mower, found it was ready (an expensive repair!), so when we got home Larry went right back with the truck to pick it up. I stayed here, put away groceries, and then read my book.

I have to say, this book has been such a pleasure, and I am going to be very sad when it is done. It won't appeal to everyone; the story unfolds slowly, and there is a lot of description of both landscape and people.  It would not be for those who enjoy pithy, action-filled stories, but if you enjoy deep character development, a unique setting, gentle  humor, and very human predicaments, I think you will enjoy This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. I will be looking for more by this author.  

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

66°f/19°C, very foggy, pretty morning. 

In Cong, Ireland, where the movie "The Quiet Man" was filmed.

Also in Cong, leaving to a woodland meditation retreat structure.

In the back yard. Mushrooms are popping up all over the place.  So many fairy rings in people's yards!

An insulator I sold this week on ebay. This one is quite rare, and brought $120.

Taken by a friend in Parkersburg. 

These recently popped up in my Facebook memories.

First one is on my road.

Took this along my son's road.

This was my favorite that I took when i was a presenter at a Celtic festival in Ohio, about 8 years ago.

England, 2013. My grandfather's grave in Caldecote, Cambridgeshire.

Up on the Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England, 2016.

With poet friends at the WV State Folk Festival, 2019.

Open mic last night was another full house. We had everything from music to poetry, comedy, songwriters, origami, and best of all, our featured presenter, Colleen Anderson. What a night.

Reading excerpts from her children's book,

with help from a friend.

And her "Chocolate Song". I love this one. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Odds and Ends

63°f/17°C, and guess what? It's not raining! Sunshine, a few clouds, cool enough to have coffee on the porch.  Bliss.

The first day of school was to happen today, but has been canceled at some schools in our county and in other places around the state. At least 2 schools in my county had water come inside, others have flooded roads, playgrounds, etc. It's a mess everywhere but at least we are having a respite before more rain is predicted to arrive tomorrow night.

These have been "in the kitchen" days again for me, and my stove has been busy. We picked beans again---I thought those plants were done, and the deer had even eaten the tops off them, but we picked another half-bushel. These plants should have been finished by the end of July or earlier, but apparently the rain gave them a new lease on life. I canned 7 quarts and made a big pot of beans, potatoes,  and ham for Larry, which I vacuum-sealed and put in the freezer in bags. 

I also made a surprisingly good pasta from a recipe I found online, which uses zucchini, basil, onion, ditalini pasta and parmesan cheese. Very simple. I didn't have ditalini so substituted elbow macaroni.

This is from Giovanni Siracusa, who does many YouTube videos of Italian recipes, all of them easy and doable by almost any home cook. There are several that use zucchini, and I am thrilled to find new ways to use my overabundance.

Served with ham, ripe tomatoes, and cucumbers in a vinegar-dill-mayo dressing. Yum.

While at the antique mall the other day, another vendor had these dishes she wanted to sell. Sets of china do not sell well, that's a fact. But these were so pretty! And there were teacups in there, my weakness as you probably know. So I bought them, for $40. I was quite surprised to find out when I researched them that these are antique Theodore Haviland Limoges china, from France. It's service for 6, with several serving pieces.  Only one piece is missing, a small fruit or dessert bowl. Now I have to decide: try to sell the set in my booths? On ebay? As a set, or part it out? I can't keep it as I have no space for it. But I would love to keep a cup and saucer and the sugar and creamer. Still not sure what to do with it.

A fun little project I have been doing is putting spooky reproduction Halloween postcards into frames to sell. Isn't he a handsome fella?

 Continuing my downsizing, I cleaned up these Hoosier glass canisters to take to a booth. I hate to sell them, but I really don't need them. Originally they might have come with a Hoosier kitchen cabinet. I just put the salt and pepper set in my booth last week.

Stuff out, stuff in! The mall owner gave me this teapot because it has a small chip under the rim. I 

am using it now as my daily teapot. So pretty.

Another project in the works, this tea cart has a large chip that Larry has glued back in place. I need some wood filler to touch it up, then will sand and re-stain.

I walked around my flower gardens just before last night's storm and picked a little bouquet. The flowers and herbs look pretty bad right now and I don't know if they can recover. The soil is just sodden. My son Derek calked and said he is considering tearing down his barn and building an ark! I told him he would probably have many people willing to help! We have had 10 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks. Crazy.

I've been doing a little cleaning here and there since I am mostly stuck inside. The silverplate tea set got a polishing up. I intended to sell it, but every time I clean it I change my mind. It's just so pretty. 

The four matching pieces were made for hotel service and are quite sturdy. The center teapot is a favorite of mine with its etched design and mother-of-pearl knob. I believe it's a late 1800's-early 1900s's piece. I don't need this set, but last year I used it during the winter for my daily tea. Just not ready to part with it yet.

And finally, to end this random post, today's project: making chocolate zucchini bread. This stuff is so delicious, like a brownie really. I made two batches; most of this one I will give to friends at the open mic tonight. One more way to use up zucchini! The recipe called for peeling the zucchini bit I missed that and shredded it with the skins on and can't tell any difference.

I copied the recipe from my blog, but it was originally from Taste of Home recipes.

All for today: time to get ready for tonight's open mic!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.