Sunday Ramblings

66°f/about 19°C, mostly cloudy, with several rain showers, and very humid. 

It was yet another day in the kitchen for me, canning more tomatoes. Whole tomatoes this time as I was about out of them. I did 6 quarts yesterday and 8 quarts today. Also made 4 pints of dill pickles and 4 of pickled cherry tomatoes which should be delicious in.pasta salad,  and maybe on sandwiches? Never made them before, so we shall see.

Our neighbors Mark and Spring came over to help Larry move a very heavy table saw on to our back porch. We got the saw for $2.50 at the auction. It needs a new belt and the plug repaired--it's pretty old but a big sturdy thing.  We had a nice visit with these young people. I have known Mark since he was 3 years old! Hard to believe that he is now 55. As my younger neighbors get older, it seems like our ages move closer together---similar aches and pains, and of course many shared memories.

After I finished the tomatoes Larry and I loaded the van. We really need to get to our booths. I have plenty of things ready, but finding time between canning, appointments,  and lawn care has been a struggle. We should be able to get them both done tomorrow.

I finished up this buffet this week and am really pleased with how it came out. 

Before:

After:

Larry had to completely strip it as it had many layers of paint. It was white originally,  so I went with that. I tried staining the top first, but the wood took the stain oddly---since it was painted at the factory, they just used odds and ends of mismatched wood and the stain took differently to each type. So I sanded it off and used a very dark brown paint, then sealed with polyurethane and waxed with a dark wax. I also had to replace the pulls, but I think it is a pretty, graceful piece now.

I also decided to give up the green dropleaf table I painted last month.  I like it very much, but it just didn't seem to fit in here, so off to the booth it goes, along with the little 2-tier round table, 

a few totes of things i had priced, and a stack of vintage suitcases I recently emptied. We need the furniture as we sold the big buffet below that I did last month. 

We aldo sold  a "chimney cupboard", so-called because of its tall, narrow shape,

and a table we made from a treadle sewing machine base. So lots to do tomorrow to get everything rearranged. 

Dinner tonight was a pasta dish similar to this one I made several years ago. 

I sautéed yellow squash, onion,  celery,  peppers, a couple tomatoes and sliced kielbasa, added a jar of our pasta sauce and bag of pureed yellow squaah from the freezer as a thickener. Served over whole-grain spaghetti.Yum! So delicious, and used up a lot of veggies.

Finishing up with a couple pages from 2 favorite books. First is from Kate Greenaway's Book of Days. The book has such beautiful illustrations along with folklore, history, and random interesting tidbits. I try to read each day's entry, but sometimes fall behind.

Today's entry noted that Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was published on this date in 1865, and only 45 copies were sold. Amazing!

Next, Cicely Mary Barker's Blackberry Fairy, from her Complete Book of Flower Fairies, which seems fitting during blackberry season here in KY part of the world.

Until next time, stay well, friends!

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

At the Greenhouses

70f/21C, cloudy with occasional light showers.

I enjoy visiting Mark's greenhouses. There is much to see besides tomatoes, like this perfect field of corn. Mark's farm is a West Virginia Century Farm, meaning that it has been in his family for over 100 years.

I took a few minutes to photograph weeds, like this perfect blue morning glory. 

And a couple pretty pink morning glories. This wildflower takes me back to my childhood,  when our garden would also be overwhelmed by them. We children loved them, of course.

This fellow is jimsonweed, and highly toxic to man or beast.

A closer look at the jimsonweed plant.

Chickory is one of my favorite summer flowers. We used to try to pick it for bouquets when we were children. Two problems with that: its atems are very tough, and the flowers close immediately when picked. So disappointing for a child!

I could take hundreds of pictures around this place.

Larry particularly likes the swinging bridge, as he grew up with one in his neighborhood,  and often crossed it.

Tug Fork Road is a very pretty drive. It's always interesting to meet other vehicles on West Virginia's back roads.

There is a local ghost legend about Tug Fork (named for the little creek that the road borders) that i developed into a short story and posted here some years ago. If interested, you can find the story by clicking here.

I canned some whole tomatoes yesterday, but still have plenty. We've given quite a few to neighbors, and today Larry is at our friend Maddie's place, helping with their barn building. Maddie is our milk provider, and they are building their own place as they get time and money. Been there, done that. It's hard work. I was too worn out and hurting from a very full day's work yesterday and in no shape to go, unfortunately.  Sure wish I could have!

There are such cool road names in that area: Rock Castle, Thirteenmile Creek, Tightsqueeze Hollow, Ghost Run, Jim Ridge. Stories behind each one, I am sure.

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

Lakeside Lunch

64°f/18°C, clear and cool. 

We stopped in Point Pleasant on our way back from Huntington on Wednesday, to have our lunch by a little lake in Krodel Park. Lake is really a misnomer; it's more like a large pond, but the idea of eating by the water appealed to us both.

So we stopped at McDonald's,  of all places. We rarely, rarely ever eat McDonald's food, but Point Pleasant doesn't offer many places for take-out. It was so odd to actually order a hamburger, and fries! But that was what I wanted. And a Coke. None of these are ever on our menu at home, so it felt downright sinful.

This mallard duck family seem to be veteran panhandlers, but we did not encourage them by giving them any scraps.

I am not sure what bird that was that photo-bombed the above picture. A swift, perhaps? I never even saw it until I was looking through my pictures.

Mama was quite a lovely lady. We never saw the mister.

These 2 young ladies captured our attention. 

I am not sure what they were doing, but at one point it looked like they were washing their hair.

Down from us, a young man set up his fishing pole.

Ironweed was already in bloim by the lake. Seems early for it.

We call these flowers hibiscus, but my phone says it's swamp mallow. I like hibiscus better. These bloom in the wild all over our area, and there are pink and red varieties too.

So peaceful. There is a large campground here, but it was quiet while we were there.

There is a replica of Fort Randolph on the park grounds. The original fort was built in 1776. 

Here is what Google says about it: "Fort Randolph was a key American Revolutionary War outpost in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, built in 1776 at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers to protect the Virginia frontier. It is infamous as the site where Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, his son, and a Delaware chief were murdered in 1777, and it withstood a major siege in 1778 before being abandoned and later rebuilt. Today, a replica of the fort stands in Krodel Park, about a mile from the original site, hosting historical events and tours."

The state park Tu-Endi-Wei (too endi way) is located on the original site of the fort, and you can read about one of our visis there in the above link. We have never toured this replica at Krodel Park, but plan to do that this fall. Hard to believe I have lived so close to it and have never done that.

I do not know this history of this old cabin either, so we need to learn about it as well.

This was a nice break in our 2-plus hour drive home, and I hope we do it again. Maybe not with a hamburger lunch, though!

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