Summer Light

Hello, friends.  I hope you've had a good week.  For the 4th, I prepped our tromboncino squash and potatoes with herbs for J to grill, and made a salad using our figs and blueberries.  My go to salad dressing these days is lemon juice and raw honey, which works really well for both sweeter salads like this, or more traditional salads.  We decided to have watermelon on the 4th, instead of ice cream, and will try that another day.  A batch of bird suet was made, using the last bit of a nut and raisin mix I'd bought in Asheville.  During these warmer months, I'm cutting the suet pieces smaller, so they are more quickly eaten in the heat.  Before I did that, they would occasionally dry up or get moldy, and this has solved that problem.  

I used Margaret's method to freeze parsley, and chopped basil and covered it with water in ice cube trays.  Both of these methods have worked well for me for a number of years, and are so much more flavorful than dried herbs.  The basil does cause some discoloration of the trays, so if that matters, perhaps have some dedicated to this purpose.  Our yellow squash and red onion were used in a dish with quinoa and avocado.  Swagbucks points were redeemed for a $25 gift card.  After an appointment, I shopped on senior day at Harris Teeter, getting a 5% discount.  The pieces that hold the lid on our wicker hamper fell apart, so I cut strips of leather, from a nice sized piece I thrifted for $1, and used these in place.  Laundry was dried on the line, and on one day, I had to quickly get it in before a rain.  Aren't the flowers of the cucuzza plants lovely?

Saturday morning, I attended the local arts guild rummage sale with my sister.  I didn't see much that I could use, but I came home with three sets of lovely Irish linen napkins, all different.  A longtime member of the guild had donated them, and called out to me as I passed by.  We had a lovely chat on how to care for them.  Afterwards, I ran by the library and the P.O., where I bought stamps before the increase.  We harvested cucumbers, lambs quarter, yellow squash, tromboncino, eggplant, a cabbage, blueberries and a few blackberries.  J & I ran the string for the butter beans.  The green beans have begun flowering, so I'll be picking before long.  I planted bottoms of celery and lettuce, to see if they would regrow.  We were blessed with 2 " of rain.  The water tanks and living things are all better for it.  This video fed my soul this week.  Be well, friends.