Breadsticks, Birthdays, and Fall Weather

Since I missed posting a Thursday 13 last week, I’m doing a list post today. 

We’ll start with a picture of Caroline tucked into bed.  The cats tend to get a little more cuddly when it starts to cool down.

We’re supposed to have warmer weather for the first part of this week, but we’ve had a few days that have felt very much like fall.  It’s the perfect weather for reading in the hammock.

We had perfect weather and beautiful blue skies over the weekend, so we went and walked at a park that’s just far enough from home that we usually only go on the weekends.  It was so nice to spend time outside and enjoy the perfect weather.

We had some work done on the HVAC system.  Fortunately, it was minor.  Yay!  We’ve used the same company for years, and we had the same technician who came out last year when so many things got zapped with lighting.  He loved Duke and spent some time petting him and even rigged up a temporary cooling solution so Duke wouldn’t get too hot.  He remembered Duke and asked where his three-legged buddy was when he came in the house.  In some ways, it was really sad to explain that Duke had died.  But, it was also really sweet that someone who met Duke over a year ago still remembered him and asked about him.  It was a reminder of just how many people that Duke made happy. 

Two of my coworkers had birthdays this month.  I usually decorate people’s offices for their birthdays.  My boss was one of the birthday people, and he likes to tease me about my pink office, so I opted to decorate his office with a lot of pink. 

I’ve still been giving the neighbors’ chickens snacks.  The free-range chickens followed me back and forth while I was carrying in groceries and waited outside the door in between trips to the car. 

I gave the chickens leftover breadsticks one day, which they loved.  The next day, I gave them rice cakes, which they’ve happily eaten before.  Apparently, though, they thought the breadsticks would/should become a regular thing because they were very unenthusiastic about the rice cakes the day after the breadsticks.   They’ve since resigned themselves to not getting breadsticks every day and are back to eating whatever I give them.

I’ll leave you with this picture of Howard and Frankie cuddled up together.  They’re so precious.

What have you been up to lately? 

Time Flies Even If You’re Not Having Fun

 They say time flies when you’re having fun, but I think 2020 is proving that time just flies.  It certainly hasn’t been fun, but at least it seems to be going by quickly.  It has been almost two months since my last post, but it seems like it went by in a blur. 

I’m still working from home.  I did get to go into the office for two days during the past week, which I was absolutely thrilled about.  Beyond that, we’re still being told to work from home until we’re told otherwise.  

Nick and I are still staying home as much as possible.  Social distancing and mask wearing just aren’t happening in our area, so we’re choosing to avoid situations where we can’t be sure that social distancing and the mask mandate will be enforced.   

It’s starting to feel like fall, which is very different from this time last year.  One of our local weather forecasters posted on Facebook that in September of 2019, we had twenty days of 90 degree or higher temperatures.  This year there only three days of 90 degree or higher temperatures in September.  

We’ve been enjoying the cooler weather.  We’ve had the windows open for over a week now, and we’ve been eating outside fairly often.  I clipped some of the roses that are blooming and put them in a vase on the table outside.  I love having cut flowers around, but we can’t have them inside because the cats will destroy them.  It’s nice to be able to have them on the outside table.

I’ve switched to fall themed cards and stickers for my chemo and senior buddies.  I think the plaid pumpkins are very cute.  

So what about you?  What have you been up to during the past two months?  Does it feel like fall where you are?  

Glimpses Of Fall

It hasn’t felt much fall here until very recently.  We started October with record breaking high temperatures.  It finally cooled off on Saturday.  Our high was only 70 degrees.  On Sunday morning the temperature in the house was lower than what we had the thermostat set for.  It felt like fall.

We started the week off cooler.  Today was overcast and gray.  It felt chilly.  We warm back up to the mid 70s tomorrow, and have a chance of hitting 80 degrees in the next week.  Summer definitely doesn’t seem to be over yet.

Still, there are some glimpses of fall, especially today with the gray skies. 

The mums have come back.  It still surprises me a little bit whenever something I’ve planted comes back for another year.  And I had no idea how big they would get! 

Here's a closer view of the flowers.

The yellow ones aren't quite as big.  I may have gotten a little too enthusiastic when I tried to deadhead them.

They’re still pretty, though.  Here’s a closer view of the flowers. 

It’s not all fall plants, though.  One of the snapdragons from this spring is still blooming.  It’s dwarfed between the purple and yellow mums, but still going strong.  We also still have cherry tomatoes (even though we haven't planted them for a few years), but I didn't get a picture of them today.

My favorite mums are the ones next to the carport.  I think this burgundy is the perfect fall color.

Here’s a closer view of the flowers.  Don’t they just look like fall?

One of the bushes in our front yard is just starting to turn.

Here’s a slightly closer view of the changing leaves. 

And an even closer view of the changing leaves. 

So what about you?  Are you seeing some glimpses of fall where you are?  Or more than a glimpse? 

Summer Is Still Holding On

Today is the first day of fall, but the weather here hasn’t gotten that memo.  The temperature got up to 90 degrees today.  We’re forecast to have high temperatures all week, and are even expected to break a few heat records this week.

There are definite signs that summer is still holding hold when you walk around the yard.

We have cherry tomatoes.  We didn’t plant cherry tomatoes this year.  Or last year.  We actually stopped planting them a few years ago because they take over everything. 

The butterfly bush still has some blooms.

One of the azaleas on the shady side of the house has a few blooms. 

The hydrangea bush still has a few blooms holding on. 

The pink rose bush is blooming again.  It always has a few more blooms toward the end of September.

The rose bush we bought on clearance, half dead, a few years ago has more blooms. 

The yellow rose bush has a few more blooms.

The roses all bloom early in the season, lose their blooms, and then bloom again in September.  It’s like they want to hold on to summer as long as they can before going dormant for winter.

I still have the summer flag up.  It seems a little too warm to change over to a fall flag yet.

I think the sky is the most beautiful blue in late summer and early fall.

There wasn’t a cloud in sight when I went to lunch today.  It was very tempting not to go back to work this afternoon. 

I wouldn’t mind slightly cooler temperatures, but I’m happy summer is holding on for a little longer.

What about you?  Does it look and feel like fall where you are?  Or is summer still holding on?

The Easiest Apple Crisp Ever

Even though it doesn’t really feel like it, it’s officially fall.  I’m very happy for the warmer weather to hold on for as long as possible, but I do love the flavors of fall.  Enjoying fall flavors and warm weather suits me just fine.

This apple crisp is incredibly easy to make, and it’s perfect for fall, whether you’re savoring the last bit of warm weather, or have already moved on to fall weather and activities. 

Easy Apple Crisp:

2 cans apple pie filling (any brand will do, typically Aldi has apple pie filling this time of year, and it’s great, as well as inexpensive)
1 box yellow cake mix
2 sticks butter, butter melted
½ cup sugar

Spread pie filling in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. 

Melt butter in a glass mixing bowl in the microwave.  Combine cake mix and sugar with the melted butter.  The consistency will be a little bit like cookie dough. 

Drop and spread over the apples.  Don’t worry about it if there are a few gaps; it will spread out as it bakes.

Bake at 350 for 50 - 60 minutes, until it’s a nice golden brown.

Enjoy!

I think it’s best served warm, with a little vanilla bean ice cream. 

Fun With Photo Editing

I freely admit to being one of the least technologically savvy people on the planet.  It’s also no secret that things sometimes go pretty wrong for me with my phone.  So it really shouldn’t surprise me that I just discovered a feature on the phone, three years after I got it.

Better late than never, right?

My big, happy discovery over the long weekend has been that I can edit pictures on my phone.  It’s actually pretty simple to do, and once the changes are made, it saves the edited photos in a separate album.

It has rained incessantly for the vast majority of the weekend.  There are lots of flood advisories, and a neighboring county even had a voluntary evacuation in some areas.  So I’ve spent most of my time inside over the weekend.  That gave me lots of time to play with some of the editing features on the phone.  I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve had fun trying different things on different pictures.

I love how much you can change a picture just by adjusting the lighting or color.

Here’s the original picture I took of a tree in a park about two months ago:

This is the tree in documentary style:

To begin with, I thought documentary style was just another name for black and white, but it does actually look a little different when you choose the black and white option.  Here it is in black and white:

Next  I played around with the saturation.  This is the tree with the saturation maxed out.  I like how bright and vivid it makes the colors.  I think the grass is absolutely gorgeous in this version of the picture.

While I was experimenting with maxing things out, I decided to play around with the warmth.  I think it makes the picture look like it was possibly taken during the fall rather than the spring.  It just has a very autumn look to me.

Next I played around with the fill light.  I adjusted the light to make it light and bright.  I think this version of the picture definitely looks like it was taken during the spring.   I think it makes it look like it was taken earlier in the day, and on a brighter day.

I tried the option to have the picture as a negative too.  It's usually not one of my favorite options, but it's nice to know I can do it if I want to.

Last of all, I decided to try the picture out in sepia.  I usually really like the sepia finish.  I like how it makes pictures look old.  I liked it for the tree, but it wasn't one of my favorites.  I think this particular picture just loses something when it's not in color.

I think my favorite version of this picture is the one with the saturation maxed out.  I like the vivid colors, and I think for this particular picture it really adds something.  The version with the fill light adjusted is a close second.  Again, I think that has a fair amount to do with this actual picture.  It makes the tree look bright and airy; very springy.

Even though I don't think they were the best versions for this particular picture, I love having the sepia, documentary, and black and white options.  I want to do some experimenting with some of my pictures from Charleston, SC in those finishes.

The negative and the one with the warmth maxed out were my least favorite versions of this picture.  The negative finish isn't usually one of my favorites, so that wasn't a surprise.  I did think I would like the warmer version better than I do though.  I think my biggest issue is that it took a spring picture and made it look like a fall picture.  I prefer spring to fall, so it makes sense that I wouldn't like the fall version as much.

Do you have a favorite version of the picture?  What about a least favorite?

Pumpkin Pie

It’s November 1st, so I can finally talk about pumpkin pie!  I love pretty much anything pumpkin, and I especially love pumpkin pie.  I happily eat it all year long, but I know most people consider pumpkin pie to be more of a Fall or holiday dessert.

I’ve never met a pumpkin pie I didn’t like, but my maternal grandmother, Granny, made the best pumpkin pie.  I have her handwritten recipe for it, and we included the recipe in our wedding cookbook.  It’s delicious, and for me, it’s total comfort food.

Try it.  I’m pretty sure you’ll love it!

Granny’s Pumpkin Pie:

3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling the crust and pie
½ tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 un-baked 9 inch deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar, salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, and cloves in a small bowl.

Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Stir in pumpkin.  Stir in sugar/spice mixture.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Spread the pie shell in a pie dish and generously sprinkle the pie shell with cinnamon.  This isn’t the time to be stingy with the cinnamon.  Pour the pie mixture into the pie shell, and generously sprinkle the top with cinnamon.

Bake 40 - 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool/set before slicing.  (Honestly, you might want to leave the house, or at least find something really good to occupy yourself with for this part.  It smells so good, it’s fairly torturous waiting to dig in!)

Enjoy!!!

So what about you?  Are you a fan of pumpkin pie, or pumpkin things in general?

A Winner & An Apology

So I may be the worst blogger ever.  My deepest apologies.  All I have to say for myself is that the summer just got away from me.  I can’t believe we’re already officially a week into fall.

The winner of my June Is Adopt A Cat Month feature is PAWS.  You can read more about them at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life.  The check is finally in the mail.  I am so sorry it is so late!  Thank you to everyone who participated.

Our summer was crazy and busy; some bad stuff, some good stuff, mostly just life. 

Nick’s grandfather, who has always been incredibly healthy and active, was hospitalized, and now has a major heart problem.  I’ll try to make a long story short.  He was initially hospitalized for pneumonia, after Urgent Care sent him to the Emergency Room and the Emergency Room sent him to ICU, largely as a precaution due to his age.  Less than 12 hours later he was on a ventilator.  Things were very up and down, and he ended up being moved to a different hospital.  He’s home now, and will be going back for major heart surgery later this week.  If optimism counts for anything, he should be just fine.

This has been the summer of appliances for us.  We finally bought a small chest freezer after talking about it for years.  We planted a much bigger garden this year, and everything lived, so it was nice to be able to freeze so many things.  The CSA boxes have also been very full most weeks.  I had mixed feelings about adding a second freezer when it’s just the two of us, but I think it’s a good thing.  Using our own homegrown produce this winter instead of paying outrageous prices for it in the grocery store should help make up a lot of the cost of the freezer.  And I’ve been able to freeze things like home-made chicken broth that we just didn’t have room for before. 

Our HVAC finally gave up.  We’ve known for a while that we would be replacing it sooner rather than later.  No one is sure when our old one was put in, but everyone who ever came to work on it said you just didn’t see those anymore.  There’s a chance it was as old (or older) than we are, so it did its time.  “Sooner” became “now” in July, though it took until August to get everything together to get it done.  The new unit is great.  It doesn’t run all of the time like the old one did, and we’ve noticed a difference in the power bills.  I’m very excited about the heat working better this winter! Hopefully no more mornings of waking up to ice crystals on windows. 

I’ve often heard that things happen in threes, and that proved to be the case for buying appliances for us when the washing machine died/flooded. I was doing laundry before my sister came to visit, and when I went to move it from the washer to the dryer I walked through standing water. That’s never a good sign.  We thought we had it fixed and it flooded again. We finally determined that fixing it properly was going to cost about as much as a new washing machine, so we opted to get a new one.  I’m mildly obsessed with doing laundry, so I’m still really excited about the new one. It’s High Efficiency, and it’s huge.  It can handle a dog bed, which is a big deal in our house.

No summer would be complete without something involving pets.  We fostered two adorable little kittens for about a month.  More on them later, because that much cute has to have a separate post.  We also officially adopted Duke (we’re currently at about a 50% “fail” rate as foster parents).  More on that later as well.  Duke’s journey has been long and intense. 

The garden did better than it ever has before.  We put in two raised beds, and (mostly) maintained what we had before.  We ended up with lots and lots of squash, zucchini, peppers, basil, and tomatoes.  We shared quite a bit, and froze quite a bit to enjoy later.  I think we would have had more, but I hurt my back and the garden was left largely untended for nearly three weeks.  The cherry tomatoes are still going strong, though; last year they made it almost to the end of October.  The basil is still holding on, though it’s no longer thriving.  Now I just need to get out there and pull out all of the dead plants. 

So what about you?  How was your summer?  I’m looking forward to catching up and seeing what I missed.