Kay's Days

Happy New Year!

I enjoyed my most relaxing December ever!  My wheat-free, dust-free lifestyle opened up a lot of time for me to move at a leisurely pace.  I brought no decorations down from my dusty attic.  So there are none to put away.  Sweet!  I did very little holiday baking at home.  Of course, I dipped lots of things in chocolate for the sorority girls.  But their party was back on Dec. 8.  All my forbidden confections were done by then.  And, NO CATERING!  Yahooey!

I've decided on a theme for 2009.  It's not so much a resolution as a continuation.  Here it is:

Make something from nothing.

In my parents and grandparents generations, everyone routinely did this.  They were resourceful and multi-skilled.  They grew things, fixed things, sewed things, built things, cooked things.  I'm reminded of the recipe for corned beef from a cookbook my friend Liz inherited from her grandmother.  It started something like this:

"Get a cow.  Get a barrel.  Put the cow in the barrel . . ."

That's a far cry from walking up to the deli counter and saying, "I'll have half a pound, sliced thin, please."

I have lots of resourceful and talented friends.  I am delighted at your accomplishments.  I am thankful for your help and advice.  I hope we all learn how to do more things from scratch in 2009.  I hope it makes us all healthy, wealthy and wise.  I hope these efforts bring us together.

I plan to expand my gardens in 2009.  Many seed catalogs have already arrived in my mailbox and I'm already thinking of Spring.  I look forward to learning how to best raise the six laying hens I plan to get in May.  My whole yard will be a Victory Garden!

Whoa!  Erik Estrada is back patrolling the streets of Muncie in his police uniform!  I don't have any plans for Friday night.  Maybe I'll take a short drive north and try to get arrested!

The longest presidential campaign in history came to an end last night.  I stayed up late to watch the McCain and Obama speeches, even though my celebration began when Ohio went blue.  I thought Pennsylvania returns would be too close to call, but the state was claimed by Democrats early in the evening while I was watching returns at the Chatterbox.  That blue rectangle on the map made me feel like the future had finally arrived.

As individuals, my friends and I have been embracing this future our entire lives.  We changed rules.  We changed attitudes.  We changed the world.  I'm proud of us!  It's been a long haul - life long.

What I wanted most in post-election America was a return to grace.  Finding the kindest way to make a point.  Doing what's best for the most people, and our vulnerable earth.  Both McCain and Obama's speeches were heartening.  And I'm glad there will be a new puppy in the White House.  I hope it's a "dog of the people."  I'm sure the DC animal shelters are overcrowded.

In the conspicuous absence of Tim Russert on election night, I was comforted by the professional presence of his son, Luke, covering the youth vote at Indiana University.  He has his father's skills, enthusiasm and humor.  And that familiar smile.  I look forward to future political insights from the new torch-bearer.

My favorite interview of election night was cut short.  A man was hurrying away from a rally and a reporter asked him for a comment.  He said, "I have to go home and wake my children."

I'm having a lot of fun with photos these days.  So I've been posting on my other blog, where photo posting is easy.  Visit me there:

http://glutenfreekay.blogspot.com

September has been a VERY busy month!  I needed 48 hours in every day.  My garden needed the extra weeks of summer, and many plants are still producing.  That should come to an end soon.  My thermometer read 36 degrees when I woke up this morning.  No frost, but it can't be far off.  I should go pick some of my neighbor's apples (with permission!) before it gets any colder.  I could use a whole weekend of football on tv to make some applesauce to put in the freezer.  Free weekends have been nonexistent for me in September.

I've been finishing up yard projects to get ready for fall.  I have two large piles of bonfire fare.  I had to burn one without an audience, just to make room for the new stuff.  I hate to waste the entertainment value of a good fire, but it had to be done.  I'll save the rest of the branches for my bonfire party Oct. 18.  Yes, I'm finally having a party.  We'll try keeping all the food and wheat beer outside.  I hope it works!  I've missed having my friends over.  I like it when we're all together.

My science fair projects continue.  I'm the lab rat in my latest experiment.  I'm attempting to dye my hair with boiled walnut hulls.  I did a trial run with walnut shells.  Their stain is not as intense as the stain from the hulls.  I didn't have an allergic reaction, so I'm ready to proceed.

The instructions are a hoot!  "Cover your entire bathroom with newspaper.  Take off all you clothes.  Wear gloves.  Don't get any stain on your skin."  Ha!  If this works, it will be more than a temporary fix.  I want to look not-so-ancient at my upcoming college reunion.  I have nine days to make the miraculous transformation.

Not once, but twice, while watching Sunday night tv.

First I saw an ad for an ad.  "Watch this show at this time and you can see this movie trailer."  I guess some folks are tuning in for the commercials now.  I'd understand if it happened to be Superbowl Sunday, but we're only in the second week of the NFL season.

Second, high fructose corn syrup has found a new way to deal with its image problem.  I've seen two ads that point out that it is just as safe as sugar or honey, when used in moderation.  It's okay to feed it to the people you love.  Sheesh!  The food additive lobby must be stronger than I suspected.

I know I've been missing from blog-land for a long time.  I've been posting on http://glutenfreekay.blogspot.com occasionally.  My latest fish photo is there.  So are photos of the cucuzzi squash plants that are taking over the world, starting with my back yard. 

End of summer activities are keeping me hoppin'.  My gardens are still producing.  School has started.  I'm looking for a new job, where I can use 20 years of food experience without actually touching food all day.  I had a great interview for just such a job, and I was hopeful.  But I got a note yesterday that they had promoted someone from within the company.  They will keep me in mind for future openings.  They had been trying to persuade the second-in-command to take the position.  She's capable but young, and didn't feel ready.  I think they talked her into it about 15 minutes after my interview.

Mother had a heart attack the day after Labor Day.  She was in the hospital for three days.  She's recovering nicely at home now.  I'll go with her to see the cardiologist next week.  I don't want this to happen again.  I hope the cardiologist knows how to fix her heart, which tests show is in great shape.  It's a puzzle.

In the meantime, I'm overstocked on cucumbers, okra, and beans.  The tomatoes have slowed down, but Rich will bring me some from his parents' big garden in a week or so.  I bought a lot of canning jars at an auction last weekend.  So I'm ready!  The auction house had a loaded peach tree, so I picked some.  They made a swell cobbler.  And my neighbors with lots of apple trees gave me permission to pick their apples.  There will be more cobblers in my future.

My weekend projects will include draining the pool and cutting down all the goldenrod in my gardens.  I hope to get rid of all the goldenrod before it goes to seed.  I've made a little progress.  We're supposed to get rain (!) and we sure need it.  Maybe there will be some breaks.

Oil prices (by the barrel) went down, but gas at the pump is back to $3.95.  Go figure.

 I got caught up on my mowing, and the weather was too perfect for indoor work.  So I spent my weekend afternoons floating in the pool.  Seldom do we enjoy temps in the low 80s and low humidity in August.  So I made a point of enjoying it thoroughly!

Monday brought the heat and humidity back.  But it was time to get back to weeding.  No, I'm not caught up - like that's ever going to happen!  At least the potato patch is back in order.  Two mondo trash bags full of weeds now sit at the curb for the trash men. 

My late cucumber plants are in the ground.  Hope to enjoy fall harvests.  The early vines are dying of wilt disease.  Cucumber beetles carry it from plant to plant.  It kills the squash plants as well.  I've lost about half the zucchini plants already.  Such is gardening life without chemicals.  I prefer bugs to poison.

I inhaled some citronella on Sunday night, bug candles at an outdoor party.  They seemed harmless enough, but I know better.  I can't breathe chemical fumes or any scented candles or air fresheners.  So I fought a headache all day, which bloomed into a migraine in the evening and sent me to bed early.  I slept for ten hours, drug-free, and am feeling better this morning.  Hope my system will recover soon.

I'm glad today is a rainy day.  I need to bake some bread and catch up on indoor stuff.

I gave myself the week off from major garden projects.  I'm still picking vegetables and weeding daily.  That's enough to keep me busy.  It's the height of bean season, so I'm picking, breaking and freezing beans almost every day.  Cucumbers are also abundant.  I've made three gallons of pickles in the last two days.  Two gallons are for Rich.  There were lots of cukes hiding in his garden.  I found them!

I spent three days at the Midwest Writers Workshop last week.  It was a delightful collection of authors, agents and publishers.  I gathered lots of valuable information, and caught up with an old friend.  I also got to meet Bill Fitzhugh, one of my favorite funny mystery writers.  One of his mysteries, Pest Control, has been made into a musical.  He thought he was being punk'd when someone wanted to buy the stage rights.  He says the show is really funny and has the best cockroach costumes ever.  It features 26 musical numbers.

The challenge of the conference was spending three days indoors.  I hadn't spent three days in a row indoors all summer.  I was anxious to get back to my gardens.

When I got home, my pool was so gunky that I had to drain it to get it clean.  Now that the temps are rising, I want to have a pristine pool.  It was 89 degrees yesterday.  The fresh pool water was very cold and quite refreshing.

While floating in the pool on a perfect Sunday afternoon, I had two visitors to the patch of bee balm.  First was my ruby throated hummingbird.  Next was a tiny hummingbird moth.  I love these little creatures!  They look like baby hummingbirds with clear wings.  The one I saw was maroon and yellow.  They move and hover like hummingbirds, and have a pointed nose instead of a beak.  Nature astounds me.

Kris and LeAnne came by in the evening with the LAST load of Kris' discarded yew bushes.  I still had a big pile of the boxwood bushes I cut down around the cherry tree.  Instead of our usual one-beer fire, we enjoyed two or three beers worth of flaming glory.  The still-green boxwood left us all covered with ashes.  Kris was eying the dead evergreen in my front yard when we ran out of shrubbery to burn.  But it was too dark to get out the chain saw by then.  We even had sound effects.  Neighbors just beyond the tree line set off a fireworks show.  We could just barely see sparkles through the trees, but we heard every pop.  It was a delightful evening!

And the fire still smolders this morning!

I worked hard last week to get my front gardens in order.  I spent hours weeding, planting, mowing and weed-whacking.  As I drove down my street, I was ready to view the "new and improved" garden scape.  From the street, I can't see much of a difference.  Ha!

I picked a basket full of cucumbers over the weekend.  I'm ready to tackle my week-long sweet pickle project.  The instructions remind me of sourdough maintenance, which is a lot of work.  These pickles require daily tending.

I've spent a lot of time in weed-land and bug-land lately. Mostly I noticed the thistles, the bindweed, the mosquitoes and the chiggers. But I also saw two praying mantises. I named them both Atlantis Mantis. One was in the back yard and was tiny. The other was in the front yard and was about two inches long. So I have babies that hatched from at least two cocoons. I hope they all grow up fast and eat lots of mosquitoes.

Yesterday was Thursday. Navy bean soup. It was a tough day to be indoors. The sky was sparkling blue. I took a break in the middle of the day to sit in the sun and read my latest book. I'm nearly done with Jimmy Buffett's A Salty Piece of Land. Jimmy always shows me a good time, with his books and his songs. I found this book at a garage sale in hard cover. Great story, but too heavy to read in the pool. Since this is a vacation-less summer for me, it's nice of Jimmy to take me along on this epic adventure.

USA network had a marathon of Burn Notice running all day. I'd seen a couple of episodes, and really like the show. So I got to catch up on all of last season in one day. And the first episode of the new season was last night. I really like these characters, and the scripts are intriguing.

I skipped the movie party at the Chatterbox on Wednesday to pick cherries at Richard Sullivan's house. His tree was LOADED! He set up his ladder for me. I picked a gallon bag of big, fat cherries. Then I moved the ladder two feet and picked another gallon. Then I moved it three feet and picked two more gallons. There are still GOBS of cherries left on the tree. But I think I have enough in my freezer now. I've made a couple of cherry cobblers and two batches of jelly.

My summer was half over on July 4th. So I'm feeling pressured to complete my summer projects. I've made some great strides in redesigning my yard. I've planted lots of vegetables, three fruit trees, and made the flower beds more manageable. I've picked lots of cherries and berries, asparagus, two cherry tomatoes, a bag of cucumbers and three zucchini. I've pulled a couple of handfuls of spring onions. My beans are blooming. My first lavender eggplant will ripen soon. My red peppers are big, but still green. If I'm in the mood for spicy food, I have a selection of hot peppers ready to pick. And my okra plants have made their first offerings. That's my "State of the Yard Address."

I turned on the morning news when I woke up on Monday. Weather radar showed a wall of rain at the west edge of town. So I worked on indoor projects, ready for a day of rain. By 9:30 no rain had hit my yard. So I donned my long pants and long sleeves to pick black raspberries in the mosquito-infested berry patch. The mosquitoes were rabid! They attacked my head and even left a bite on my left eyelid! Sheesh. But I picked a lot of berries.

Still no rain. So I decided to weed the onion bed, just till the rain hit. Finished weeding. Still no rain.

I moved to the back yard and cleared out an area to expand my rhubarb patch and add the new plant Kris brought me. I salvaged three bags of iris from among the overgrown black eyed susans, myrtle, volunteer mulberry trees and weeds. It took me about two hours to clear out a 2' x 4' patch of clean dirt.
I planted the rhubarb and some zinnias. Still no rain.

So I dug up starts of my fanciest day lilies for my mom to send to her friend in Colorado. I made plant tags and everything. Got the shipping box all packed. Still no rain.

So I hilled up my rows of potatoes and guided the sweet potato vines to the open row. I buried the vines so they will sprout taters. Still no rain.

Another project. I moved five or six day lilies to the gardens by the pool. I will now be able to mow their previous spot. Still no rain.

I cleaned the pool filter and added a little chlorine.

It never rained. But it was 5:30 by then. So I took a shower and headed for the Chatterbox. Baseball game Tuesday! Yay! Didn't stay long, because I still had those indoor project to complete.

I needed to get my black raspberries, gooseberries, cherries and rhubarb in the freezer. I finished up shortly after midnight and made it to bed in time for Craig Ferguson's monologue.

It was a very productive day! I still have a plum tree to plant, and more brush to clear in the front yard. We'll see if the rain comes today.

Weeding is my life. I have a veritable jungle I'm trying to tame. Every now and then I feel like I have the upper hand. But mostly I am seriously outdistanced by overgrowth.

I have been working hard this summer to reclaim my front gardens. I've made some progress! The sky-high bonfire pile was evidence of this. All the brush I cut down around the cherry tree had to be piled off to the side because the existing pile was too high. So I decided to set everything on fire. What's a fire without a little smoke? So I got out the power machete and took out the sea oats, which had spread like swine flu. I cut down enough to overfill my John Deere's little trailer.

It was a satisfying fire, some big flames, some embers, piles of brush eliminated. The big flames only lasted about half a beer. The brush was a little damp. I like a fire that flames entertainingly for a whole beer. The fire is still smoking this morning. If rain wasn't eminent, I would resume my deforestation. I wasn't expecting the rain until afternoon. Bummer.

I'm unencumbered. I am wireless!

Ding. You are now free to move about . . . the whole world!

The cable guy came yesterday. He spent an hour and a half in the dark underbelly of my technology. My particular router proved to be a puzzle, but he figured it out. I'd fumbled around with my failed installation and probably messed things up. I'm glad I asked for help!

Upon completion of the task, I carried my new (used) laptop out to the deck and attempted to send some wireless emails. Didn't work. Hmmm. It seems there is a limestone chimney between my picnic table and my router, blocking my wireless signal. The signal made it to my back stoop just fine. So I sent my first outdoor email.

Saturday was my third clean, chigger-free day in a row. I couldn't stand it! So I went to Rich's to plant some habanero pepper plants I'd been driving around in my minivan since Monday. Rich and JD were cutting down a big mulberry tree and flinging branches into the chipper shredder. JD's dog, Winston, got to come out to say hello.

Rich's big garden is looking good. The tomato plants are setting fruit. The corn is knee high. And Rich's knees are higher than most! The second planting of beans is coming along nicely. The pole beans are on the verge of vining up the tee pee. The sweet potatoes are vining like crazy. The onions have shot up ample tops.

After a quick field trip to Meijer, I headed home to get dirty and bug-bit. I figured out how to reach a few more of my unreachable cherries. Unless I learn to fly, I think I have reached all the cherries possible now. My, they have been tasty!

I headed across the yard to the raspberry patch and was attacked by a flock of mosquitoes. I didn't have enough hands to smack all the bugs that were biting me at once. But I persevered, and claimed a nice harvest. Then I picked the last of the black currants.

I'd promised to create a gluten free version of my tomato pie for a gf blogger event. At dusk, I came inside to tackle the task. Success! The finished pie came out of the oven after midnight. It tasted like summer. The recipe and photos are on my other blog: http://glutenfreekay.blogspot.com. I'm having leftover tomato pie for breakfast.

Thursday. Potato soup and rain. They go together.

I was up late Wednesday night, trying to install the wireless router for my laptop. It didn't go well. I managed to screw up my wired desktop computer in the process. After a lot of confusion and cursing, I got it back on line.

I called Comcast to see if they had tech guys who could perform this installation for something less than a million dollars. Turns out, they do this for $19.95! SOLD! I have an appointment for Saturday. I'm looking forward to mobility.

Happy birthday, Mother!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone else!

I had a great time last night, helping plan my 30 year college reunion at this fall's Franklin College homecoming. It was great to see some old friends, and talk about lots of other old friends. We have a list, so we won't leave anyone out! And Margee (our Franklin staff liaison) was there with good advice, and she brought us presents! We discussed items that may be included in our class "goodie bags." And she gave us the prototypes. We think our bag will be a Franklin College nylon bag with backpack straps, filled with "bling."

Our meeting took place on the Chatterbox patio, and it was a perfect evening to sit outside.

After dark, I tried to set up my new wireless computer connection. It didn't go well. I'll be heading to Radio Shack today for an ethernet splitter, so I can continue my project. I have high hopes that I'm just geeky enough to accomplish this installation without professional help. I did email one of my former Butler houseboys for advice. Today's beautiful weather may keep me outdoors all day long, but it will get dark eventually.

I've posted lots of photos on my other blog. Check it out! http://glutenfreekay.blogspot.com

Saturday was "catch up" day here at Kay's Leaning Tree Farm. I picked some cherries and black raspberries, weeded the leeks, beets and potatoes. Planted some more gladiolus. Rigged some trellises for the "bush" cucumbers to climb on. They're not supposed to need support, but mine are growing like crazy and latching onto every other nearby plant.

It's chigger season in my yard. So I'm practicing my ridiculous sounding chigger ritual. I change clothes every three hours or so. I've learned that chiggers move into my clothes and wait there to burrow into my skin later. So I do my best to foil their plans. I went through three outfits yesterday. Only one chigger bite!

After the first wardrobe change, the real work began. I got out my pruning saw and the electric hedge clippers. I cut two big branches off the cherry tree. They had broken off the dead part of the trunk. They weren't going to produce next year. And they were FULL of cherries! It was much easier to pick those cherries with the branches on the ground. Then I cut down the bushes and brush below the tree. Now it will be easier to pick the rest of the cherries, which are dark red and perfectly ripe.

Since I'd already run cord for the hedge trimmers, I trimmed everything within reach. And I pulled up another hundred or so thistles. I have enough brush piles for three or four bonfires. Must burn soon!

I worked until dark. Then I had to fix some supper and take a bath. So those cherries are still in my fridge, waiting to be pitted. I'd used lemon juice and bleach to get my nails clean on Friday night. So I got to enjoy one more day of unstained finger nails. That will change today. I happy to have a big crop of cherries that I'm certain are chemical-free. I'll freeze them and use them until next year's cherry crop comes in.

Today I'll move brush piles, plant my zinnias, and pick some more cherries.

Thursday. Chicken gumbo.

My hands are stained black from pitting cherries. If the cherries didn't taste so good, black cuticles might be a hardship. NOT!

I had a great time at the baseball game, even thought the Buffalo Bisons beat us. It was a perfect night for baseball . . . or anything else.

I've cleaned out a couple more kitchen cabinets. The gluten-contaminated spice cabinets are scrubbed and empty and ready for my new spices and measuring cups.

My minivan spent all day Tuesday in the shop. Got over $200 worth of new stuff under the hood and purred like a kitten all the way home. Then the battery light came on. My alternator gave up the ghost. I made it home from the baseball game, barely. I made it to right in front of the garage. Then the car refused to run another inch. AAA towed it back to the shop and it's fixed again. As much as I love my mechanics, I'd like to spend some time away from them now. My charge card is smokin'.

Rain canceled my weed burning plans on Sunday night. Rats! The pile of thistle plants is getting really tall!

I've been busy with more weeds, and my berry picking season is underway. I've spent a lot of time up in the cherry tree this last week. I have GOBS of cherries! More than I have ever had. Fruit was sparse the last two years, and the birds got them all. I've made some cherry preserves, and have some baggies of pitted fruit in the freezer. I try to take an hour at the end of the night to sit and watch Leno and pit cherries. But the cherries are getting ahead of me!

I picked about half of my black currants last night. The other half will ripen soon. And a few of my black raspberries made it into the house. I usually eat them as fast as I pick them. But more and more are ripe now. My gooseberries are pinking up. They should be ready to pick in a few days. So I'm in fruit heaven right now!

My second planting of potatoes has sprouted! The first planting was under water for too long. They rotted. So I planted more tomatoes, peppers and carrots in that bed. The new potato bed is on the hill below the deck. Good drainage there. I also have three sweet potato starts there. Rich reports that his sweet potato plants have really taken off, sending vines in every direction. Mine haven't died yet, but don't look too ambitious.

I had to install strings for my replanted pole beans. They're climbing! And my bush beans (also the second planting) are getting big. And the sorghum is coming along. I replanted about half of it. Seed was washed away in the flooded half.

I have lots of cukes set on. I'm looking forward to pickling them soon. The tomatoes are blooming, and so are the zucchini plants. My onions look great! I've pulled a few spring onions and they're quite tasty.

Oh, and the bastard squash from Rich's grandmother's saved seed has sprouted. I have two plants working on their second set of leaves.

If it sounds like gardening takes up my whole life, that's pretty close to the truth. Fortunately, there is NOTHING on tv these days. I plan to treat myself to a baseball game tonight. Actually, David's treating me. It's a Chatterbox outing. Looks like we'll have perfect weather!