75°f, 24°C this morning, overcast. The forecast of an 80% chance of rain overnight produced about 50 raindrops. More rain predicted today, but I am not holding my breath. Watering again this morning. So, so dry. The apples will be nubbins this year, Heartbreaking after such a promising start.
I wanted to answer a couple questions this morning that some of you asked in your comments.
First, someone wondered about mincemeat. Originally this was a way of preserving meat, but over the years mincemeat has changed to a very different end product. My recipe uses no meat; it calls for suet but I don't add it. Mine is a combination of green tomatoes, apples, raisins, oranges, sometimes cranberries, along with vinegar, sugar, spices, etc. It is both sweet and tart, rich but not as rich and heavy as the store-bought kind. You can see my recipe here.
Quinn asked if we have had any rain. Sadly, predicted rains keep passing us by or dissappear before they reach us. And those stripes on the horses are the harness, which hooks them to the towrope.
Some of you mentioned the song 15 Miles on the Erie Canal. It was written by a man named Thomas Allen about the Erie canal, a 363-mile long canal that connected New York City to the Midwest via the Hudson River and Lake Erie. So the canal we were on was not the same one as in the song, although goods from Ohio could travel to New York by traveling up to Lake Erie and then to the Erie Canal. By the way, the "15 miles" in the song refers to the distance the mules pulling the canal boats could travel, before a new team had to be hitched up. Hard work! And "low bridge, everybody down", which was the song's original name, is sort of self-explanatory, as the boats traveled under bridges, and there were often people riding on top of the boats. Here is a link to a 1913 recording of the song.
Well, off to water. And pray for rain!
Hey there! Thanks for taking time to answer questions. I enlarged the picture and realized the stripes I was seeing are part of a fly net that goes over the harness - it's just like strings of leather (or who knows, maybe they make the from something else now) that hang down and and help keep flies from landing on the horses when they're working. I'd try making them with macrame for the goats, but they'd just tear them off :)
ReplyDeleteNow I have to look closer, Quinn. I certainly didn't notice those strings! Thank you for the new information!
DeleteI never knew where 15 miles came from in the song. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe finally received rain here in KY. Overnight and some this morning. Humidity is unbearable. I hope you will be blessed with some soon.
ReplyDeleteThings are looking very dry here. The rain in this morning's forecast has evaporated before it ever hit the ground, I guess. However they are calling for a good soaking this afternoon and evening. We do need it.
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat of a picky eater, especially when it comes to new things. I would try a mincemeat pie, I might be missing out on something!
ReplyDeleteFinally summer here - hope all the rain is on the way to you!
ReplyDeleteInteresting facts about the canal, thank you. Have a rainy day!