Here is your Queen of West Procrastination, reporting to you from Apple Processing Central. We had the good fortune to acquire ALL the apples off of my in-laws' tree last week, and it has been taking up a lot of our time now. We have a crate of them stored in the cold storage room, bags and bags of frozen apples, and right now I'm canning a quick batch of crab apple butter (from the crab apples that we ALSO acquired last week) before we go out for supper. Every visitor to our home has been sent home with a complimentary bucket of apples. And still: so. many. left!
Anyone want some apple butter?
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37 comments:
Apple butter! Nummers. Boy, sounds like really a lot of apples...
My blood pressure's gotten into another knot, and I have said my piece to an elected person who needs to get off the stump and do one thing more for his damned country. Because, you know?
Otherwise, bumping along with the list of stuff, and escaping for some more n3tf1x therapy.
QWP, you need a copy of Apple Pigs, but alas, it's out of print.
On the fundraising front, they didn't want to take the responsibility of hiring me as a full-time employee, so I would've been a contractor, and apparently the fundraising world frowns on that (who knew?)
Seriously though, they've got next to no money in the bank, and they aren't raising any themselves.
Liz, that's incredibly frustrating. (I know they don't have any money, but if they hired you full time, then you'd be able to fundraise even more for them! Blah.)
I am also enjoying n3tfl1x therapy tonight: we're watching Stranger Things, and are really enjoying it!
Old Skool: my apple butter is more of a thick applesauce, because it hadn't cooked down enough in the allotted time, and I had to get canning in order to get to my next thing.
AW: it's DELICIOUS. And I'm using a bunch of it to cook a pork shoulder roast tomorrow.
W: An exhausted Sweet is not, well, sweet. It was an ugly afternoon.
AW: She had a good time in spite of her shy/overwhelmed/bad attitude self at Vacation Bible School this morning.
AW: She was in bed asleep at 7:20 this evening. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.
Bummer, Liz.
Oh, poor Sweet.
Yay, apple butter! Or sauce! Whatevs!
Oy, Liz. Don't know what they're missing.
AW: The comfort of old beloved books at night. I'm re-reading The Last Camel Died at Noon, by the late and wonderful Elizabeth Peters, which is lasting a few nights because I'm so tired, but it is still a fun read. Egypt [almost, this book]! Mystery! Female archaeologist prepared for anything, a century or more ago! Frighteningly smart offspring!
Note: Amelia Peabody Emerson did not let said offspring near her parasol, which doubled (for her) as a weapon. And we know why. (Hope you are feeling better, QWP!)
I've been a lot better today, kathy! A bit of a headache this evening, but that's because I bumped my head a little in the cold storage room, putting away the jars. (Seriously.)
QWP, get a prescription for a helmet. Seriously.
Liz on iPhone
Kathy a.--- Elizabeth Peters is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE authors!!
Maybe we should swap suggestions sometime! (I recommend Jaqueline Winspear and the Maisie Dobbs series, among many other suggestions..... are you on GoodReads?)
:) Neighbor Lady
NL, thanks for the tips! No, not on GoodReads.
oh I second the Maisie Dobbs series! I must look at my new library to see if she's there.
Also LOVE Louise Penny and the Inspector Gamache series..... visited some sites from her books on a recent trip to Quebec City....
And, also love Laurie R. King and the Mary Russell novels....actually all her novels; also Carole Nelson Douglas and the Irene Adler series
sorry if we have previously had this discussion here, can't remember..... actually pretty sure we talked about Laurie King, so sorry if I am repeating....
:) Neighbor Lady
Laurie R. King! Everything of hers, except I think the Bones of Paris was a tad too creepy. There's an Irene Adler series? Huh.
Love Margaret Maron, also.
And Joan Hess is funny, describing the ways and mysteries of fictional small southern towns. She did one built on a trip to Egypt (Mummy Dearest), and she and Elizabeth Peters had actually taken a trip to Egypt to "research" their respective books.
I really like our current president. And one of the candidates makes me apoplectic, on ever so many levels. Three more months.
I came back to the computer and found a bunch of fun book recommendations here! I need to write these down.
W: Aunt Flo + trip to the bank (where the line didn't move for a really long time, but we needed to deposit a cheque that was so big that it would have had a 5-day hold if we deposited it in the ATM) + trip to C0stc0 on sample day. And GRUMPY child, who lost it first in the bank (and got to be outside with her mama, while her daddy stood in the slow line), and then lost it in the C0stc0 bathroom (the hand dryer scared her?), and then screamed at the end of her hotdog lunch at C0stc0 (because we figured that hunger was the issue, and so we opted to have lunch early, and therefore went and played in the car with her daddy while her mama did a VERY fast shop at C0stc0.
I confess that, after I left them in the food court thing, and went outside to get a cart, I peeked back at them to see if maybe she'd calmed down enough to come through the store and get samples. At which point I saw and heard her screaming and acting badly for her daddy. And so I noped my way out of there (neither of them saw me), and ran to the back of the store, pretending not to know them. (In my defense, I had to be the only handling her screaming two previous times that morning, and I just wanted to get the shopping done quickly so that we could go home and make her try to nap.)
AW: I got through the store in 20 minutes! Even stopping for samples! It turns out that eating at 11:00 and then shopping at lunch means that you miss the big lines for both. And then E and I both had BIG naps this afternoon.
(You guys, what on earth was up with the bank this morning? It was the first day after a bank holiday, and they only had two tellers open. And they were both taken up by customers who were doing transactions that were clearly more complicated than deposits and withdrawals -- there were calls to managers and faxes to other branches involved. E was so cheerful when we arrived there, and then things went really, really downhill all of a sudden, after we'd been there for a while.)
Those hand dryers are scary! Mini still refuses to use them, but she has finally stopped screaming when someone else does. And at least she now wipes her wet hands on her own pants instead of on mine.
Esperanza wins the Experienced Mother of the Week Award, and is possibly in the running for Mullet, with: " ... at least she now wipes her wet hands on her own pants instead of on mine."
QWP, running to the back of the store and power-shopping was clearly the correct decision.
I start cardiac rehab tomorrow. Wheeee!!!!
I'm spending a lot of time taking care of my mom who had some major surgery last week.
W: She is a stressful presence in my life.
W: My brothers haven't either called her or visited.
AW: She has been so incredibly grateful. All three offspring have also been a huge help.
W: I'm so beat.
AW: vacation was all I could have wanted.
Oh (((( Miranda ))))! I dunno, caring for ailing and difficult mother doesn't sound like the best way to kick off cardio rehab... But glad she is grateful, and everybody's rallying around. xoxoxo
Everybody except your brothers, for whom the Posse shall ride. WTF? I mean... I'm gonna aim low, if you catch my drift. xoxox
((((Miranda))) Sorry you have all that stuff to deal with right now! Glad offspring are being great!
QWP-- yes, going to the back of the store was clearly the right choice! Glad you got a chance to nap!
Kathy a--- ooooooooh! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! There is nothing better than book recommendations for series that are beloved, and I haven't read either of those authors!
Yay!!!! Made my day!
:) Neighbor lady
Barbara Cleverly (India around WWI), Colin Cotterill (Laos after the Vietnam War), Georgette Heyer's mysteries (anything she wrote, actually), seconding all of the other suggestions. And also Agatha Christie's Death Comes as the End
Oh, Miranda. I really hope that cardiac rehab goes well today, and major cluesticks to all the friends and family who could have taken care of your mother this past week, and left it instead to you, who is recovering from a heart attack.
AW: apple progress! Big vat of applesauce cooking down.
W: everything in my body is sore and tired now. One more pail of apples to go.
Pixies, I'm beat. :/
I need a day to just lie in bed and try to recover. Taking care of everyone is taking too much out of me.
AW: I made a giant pot of lentils and rice. I'm using it to feed both my mother and myself.
AW: the real rehab starts tomorrow and meets T, Th, and Friday.
W: at seven o'clock in the fireplacing morning!!!
AW: Moms staples are removed tomorrow which hopefully means I won't need to change her bandages.
W? AW? I'm in RI to speak at a conference next week. Oh, and I'm going to see my dad after 10+ years of no contact.
I'm very whiny today. :(
Oh, Miranda. I hope you take the day in bed and rest. Let someone else pick up the load for a bit!
And, 7am is EARLY! yikes
Good luck with the RI trip..... cluestick posse wants to make sure your dad is on good behavior!
Be gentle with yourself.
xoxo
And, Liz! Thanks so much!!!!! I have added them to my list of books to get! Yay!!!
QWP-- wow...I'm impressed with your apple perseverance.
:) Neighbor Lady
((( Miranda ))) You do need rest!
I hope the conference is affirming. And am with the prospective posse regarding Dad's need to be on good behavior.
QWP -- so many apples! Good work.
xoxo
Woot! Got my check. (Sometimes it takes a long time.)
And yay, got all a whole slew of lingering albatross bits crossed right off that stressy list (having needed expert advice about some of it).
Tonight will be pork chops, fresh corn, broc, and rice.
W, extended family version: First, my sister-in-law is a lovely, loving, wonderful person. I want to be her when I grow up. But. My brother and his family (him, SiL, 21 yo niece, 8 yo niece, 1 yo niece) are coming to visit us next week. We've done mini-vacations with them before, but this time they're going to be staying 4 nights with us. Which is a little stressy, especially for Sweet, but that is not my whine. My whine is the food situation. My SiL, for several years now, has been on some kind of very strict eating plan, to help her digestive system, which was admittedly a mess. (I'm suspicious that it stems from her impoverished childhood in Guatemala). So she has mostly brought her own food to family functions. But now they all five are on this eating plan for reasons that are not clear to me.
So, my whine is: I am just not going to try to cook for them. It is impossible to figure out and accommodate all of the weird rules. Even so, then I feel all judged (which is mostly me, not her, but I'm still feeling it) that my food is not good enough for her children, that I'm somehow not feeding my kids decent food (true enough, sometimes), etc.
For instance, from kathy's lovely menu above, they could maybe eat pork chops depending on what you season them with. And broccoli.
Thanks for listening to my whiny whine. It's been a long Baboo day anyway.
Meat and fresh veg; no rice, corn, and I assume lots of other stuff? Are potatoes in or out? I'm assuming most bread/pasta things are out? Eggs? Please tell me that milk products are in....
That's a challenge. xoxo
Is a buffet style selection a possibility? That is usually how we accommodate special food things.
potatoes are out. gluten flours are out. Almond flour is in, though beats me how you cook with it. Some milk products are in. And I'm not sure about all the details. I feel unwelcoming and inhospitable to say "cook for yourselves," but I'm way stressy about trying to figure it out.
I'm trying to figure out the right wording to tell them to cook for themselves. Basically: they are the ones best suited to make sure that they don't get food that will make them sick, and so each family is going to take care of their own food for during the visit. Your kitchen is entirely open to them, and are there any particular ingredients that they will need, which you can acquire before they arrive? (Hospitable: providing ingredients, opening your home to them. Boundaries: making sure that they keep track of their own food needs, since they are complicated.)
(You could also do something occasionally like: basic roast seasoned only with salt and pepper -- if those are ingredients they can have -- and a plain steamed veggie, and each family makes their own sides.)
And then you find ways to just ignore or pleasantly change the subject away from judgmental comments about what you feed your own children.
Well, apparently SIL is used to providing their own, since it is a very specific diet? You are letting them stay 4 nights, and I'm sure will help with the diet however you can, besides cooking to unfamiliar specifications.
TJ's has gluten free products, marked on the shelves. And there are other special diet things marked there, unlike regular supermarkets. Assuming there is a TJ someplace kinda close, would a shopping trip there soon after their arrival maybe be a good idea?
Wegmans has a whole gf section, but I don't know if they're out your way. Whole Foods also
Liz on iPhone
These last few bits of a thing are done and gone! And other errands; only the haircut got left off the to do list for today. Oh, well.
Tomorrow, bloggy meetup with someone from the support group for my SIL's dementia! A drive for her; train ride for me; but it will be fun.
Tonight: salmon, asparagus, tortellini. I'd have a really hard time with gluten-free and various other restrictions, so I hope it all works out, Esperanza!
Miranda, hope all is going well. xoxo
Esperanza, I would honestly ask them for help finding food. My friends and I all have a lot food allergies/aversions and that is what we do when we get together.
There's always taco bar. :/
Bloggy meetup was fun! But the a.m. train was delayed 2.5 hours, and it was really cold, foggy, windy. I didn't take a jacket because I was going to a warm place. Brr!
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