Covid Journal, Day 185: A Day of Not Doing Much At All

49 again this morning, as it's been for the past several days, and the promise of yet another lovely Fall day. This is the Autumn Equinox, so now it's officially the end of summer, and I hope it stays gone and doesn't come back for an encore. 

The past two days are a blur in my mind, honestly. Sunday was another day in the kitchen, this time putting up Jenn's Chili Sauce--sooo delicious, making chili for Larry and another batch of chocolate zucchini bread substituting yellow squash for the zucchini, and making a big fruit salad from bits and pieces that needed to be used up, including a melon from our garden, the first. 

I'll make more of that chili sauce to give as Christmas gifts, I think. It's something different that most people probably don't make. Thank you, Jenn, for sharing your recipe. The chocolate zucchini bread came out beautifully, even with the yellow squash. I realized that the recipe calls for peeling the squash, but I did not do that either time and the bread was amazing.

Yesterday was booth work at our Marietta, Ohio booth. We made a lot of changes, so it took about 4 hours of hard work on my part, at least. Generally Larry unloads, helps if I need him with moving heavier furniture, then he wanders off until it's time to re-load anything I'm taking home. The arranging and such are not his forte'. 

Here's a few photos of the changes we made:

We've had this table with the "cracked ice" laminate top for a couple years, just waiting for the right chairs to go with it. We finally found the chairs a couple weeks ago. I had the yellow stool in my kitchen, just waiting for a spot in a booth.

We brought in the big mirror and the silverplate tea set and flatware. The washstand has been there a while, and I'm thinking of bringing it home for a different paint. It just doesn't have character, to me. The tricycle was brought in our last time here.

We brought in this old mirror too--it has the neatest old wavy mirror glass in it. Does anyone else think that's cool, or is it just me?

I moved the corner cabinet to a new location--sometimes that helps sell things.

The punch was a new addition yesterday. It's by Hazel Atlas Glass, vintage 40s or 50s. I just love this color combination.

A few other recent additions--aluminum canisters, brass spittoon, a pie basket and crocks.

I thought this breadbox, with its copper slats, was pretty unique.

A crowded corner to be sure. It's a challenge for me to work with just this one booth when we used to have 5 spaces. I've been changing things out every couple months, trying to keep fresh inventory for the regular customers.

Today I was just plain exhausted. I slept in until after 9, a rare, rare thing, and haven't done a lot all day. I've been having that arrhythmia again so made a call to the cardiologist, who came up with a plan to deal with it. Again. Maybe this time we'll get it right. The uneven heartbeat disturbs my sleep, as I often wake up and walk around, drink water, etc, to try to settle it down. So a bad night's sleep on top of a couple busy days just wore me out. I did make bread, though, and it came out nicely. And I put the rest of the last loaf through the food processor to make crumbs, which I put in the freezer for later use.

I also planted some lettuce plants given to me by a friend. I put them into some planters I'd emptied, and I hope we'll get some salads from them. The lettuce seeded in the garden is growing nicely, as are the peas, radishes and late onions. I haven't checked on the beets yet. Fingers crossed that we may get a nice late harvest.

The other thing I did today? I read. A friend recommended On Folly Beach by Karen White, so I ordered it and it came last week. I started it the other evening, and today I finished it. I have to admit, it wasn't the best book I've ever read. My main problem with it is the main character, a young woman who lets others tell her how she  should be handling the death of her soldier husband. And then there's a man who not only tells her how and what she should do, but mansplains everything to her, and seems to think he knows what's best for her--even though he'd just met her. It infuriates me when I read books like this, because surely no woman today is still that weak and submissive? Or maybe there are some, and they enjoy stories like this. The plot was quite good, with a nice mystery involving notes in old books and some WWII history. If only the author had made the heroine, if she can be called that, a stronger personality. 

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