All In A Day's Work

I was going to do this several hours ago. Suddenly I couldn't type anything into my computer, yet everything else worked. I tried every combination I could think of to unlock my keyboard, but nothing worked. So what usually seems to be the last resort, I turned off the computer and headed outside to water the backyard plants. It was time to do that anyway as our weather has been really hot and no rain. We're over a foot below average rainfall again for the year. Takes me about two hours to water everything in the yard - I walk around with the hose - no automatic irrigation installed. That is a pretty big chunk of time out of every day and it has been awhile now since I had a day off. It would have been nice if I could have at least started the blog then as had a lot of ideas and now after supper I'm feeling pretty lethargic. Figured I'd do what I can because in about an hour my computer starts doing it's preset Norton scan for virus, etc. and that usually takes an hour. I believe you can keep working on the computer while it does it, but I know it taxes me if I try to do two things at the same time so I figure the same for the computer.

One day, Tuesday, I must have perceived that it was not going to be as hot as the rest as decided early on to start pruning back my shrubs and trees. Have to do it annually to keep the place from becoming a jungle and some of the shrubs and trees I don't want to let just grow indiscriminately as want to keep in proportion to the yard and small house and don't want anything more creating potential problems. It took me most of the day except for breaks for lunch. Then I stopped for supper and as had a little bit more to "finish" up I went back outside and worked till 8PM as still light. I was exhausted - it's always a good kind of exhaustion from that kind of activity and you feel good as soon as you take a refreshing shower and wash the cooties off and check for the ticks - luckily haven't had any this year, but check anyway. I thought that night I would cork right off to sleep and maybe be good for 8 to 10 hours straight, but to my surprise I was so restless I just couldn't seem to go to sleep. Then when I did, it would be an hour later when I checked the clock again. Finally at three in the morning I had to get up and thought if I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, that would do trick. I was on a kick for that for awhile so hoped I wouldn't get hooked on that routine again. But it just seemed to be that one night and been back on regular schedule again. Maybe it helped not to think about the peanut butter and jelly again, because I used my last two pieces of bread from the freezer making it and haven't bought a new loaf yet. I usually keep a loaf in the freezer now for emergencies, but for my lunch sandwiches I use rolls. Anyway that is the what is pictured - the pile - my days worth of pruning. Still have a couple of other plants to trim up, but no hurry with those and not critical when I do it so can wait for some cooler weather. One thing, I remembered it was Tuesday because that's my garbage can and recycling out by the road and that's our pickup day in this area. My neighbor and I use to just leave our garbage cans out by the light pole all the time- it's the boundary between our two properties. Never caused anybody any concern and I didn't find it objectionable, but maybe about a year ago we both got notices from the city. It said that we had to remove the garbage cans and return to the residence before 9P.M. Failure to comply would make us subject to a $1,087.50 penalty or imprisonment not to exceed thirty (30) days. My neighbor was incensed by the notice and called the city to find out what it was about, Apparently some Greenwoodian was driving around neighborhoods and reported to the city because they didn't like it so the city had to send out the notices. No big deal as just roll them to the side of the house now, but I sure would like know how they came up with that exact figure.




I do know I drove to several destinations and took pictures during the week. On Wednesday, my grocery shopping day, I just made a big circle and paid another quick visit to the gardens at Park Seed as wanted to take another picture of a water lily which was just a bud and knew it would be open by then.



Last night, Thursday, they had free music after 5 at the County Bank Square and this time it was Small Drink (That's his real name) and he's known as the "Blues Doctor." He has performed at the Apollo Theater and at the prestigious New orleans Jazz Festival. He has been performing since the 1960s. That was a very entertaining evening - a witty guy and good singer. Had one of the best turn outs yet for the concerts. They continue at least into September. At the same time, across Main Street they were setting up for the trucks and trailers arriving for the Festival of Discovery this weekend. It is a Barbeque Cook-off Contest where people come , cook up their best dish, and turn it into a group of judges. The judges go to school and have to be certified. I don't know what the prize, but a lot travel all over the Southeast entering contests in different cities. A number of vendors will be selling their products and besides all the food there will be rides and Blues music from about noon till midnight performed by some different groups. Think this is the third year now and apparently get a pretty big crowd - I hadn't gone before but gettin kind of excited to check it out this year as walked around during the concert break last night and went back this morning taking pictures and talking to folks. First though I got to work at Klaus' church in the morning - he says he's got some irrigation fixtures that need repair, so we'll see how that goes. I'll be back in awhile to finish this off.
Took me a couple of days, but here I am again.

A pleasant part of my work this week involved making a cake. Don't like to heat the house up more using the oven this time of year and making the air-conditioner work harder, but this was a necessity. My sole blueberry bush produced a large mug full of fruit - not enough to make a pie, my preference. So, instead, one morning I prepared blueberry pancakes instead of my usual fare and then used the other half of the blueberries in this cake. I usually just buy whatever brand is on sale or the cheapest as figure they are all pretty much the same. This time it was Pillsbury Moist Supreme classic yellow premiun cake mix with 1 cup of pudding in the mix. I don't know whether it was that mix, the pudding they add, the moistness added by the fresh blueberries or just the time of cooking, but it tastes wonderful. The cake is soft and sort of spongy. Brought back memories of the big delicious sponge and chiffon cakes my sister, Ruth, used to make. When we were all growing up together, my sister was supposed to help my Mother out in the kitchen, primarily drying the dishes, but my Father thought she should know how to cook and all those things, too. There was a free-standing door post at the corner of our kitchen as the doors to the kitchen, dining room and hall all converged on that spot had been removed. Probably a safety factor my Mom thought of as believe they were swinging doors and with all us kids somebody was sure to get hurt if left there. This post was my sister's dancing partner. Oh, how my sister loved to dance. That was the era of the Big Bands prior to the Big War and the dance of the times was The Lindy. She was a Big girl and she put everything into her dancing. All this would drive my Mom about crazy after awhile and she would send my sister away. Maybe that was her way of getting away without having to help, but I don't think that was her motive. My Father was real concerned and would speak to my Mother about it saying .."She'll never learn to cook." My Mom said not to worry - that as much as she liked to eat - and she could pack it away with the best of them, she'd teach herself to cook. And sure enough she did. She didn't cook like my Mom who rarely had to refer to anything - she just had it all in her head and a feel for it and added all ingredients without measuring cups or things like that. Funny she had never had to cook for anyone either growing up, but as an immigrant to this country that's where the job opportunity was for the girls then. I think I heard that the Irish girls always became the upstairs help and the others worked the jobs like in the kitchens. She worked as a cook's helper and then a cook in the households of the rich. After Mom and Pop got married she continued the same type of cooking for awhile until my father told her, if it was all the same to her, he would just as soon prefer some meat, vegetables and potatoes for his meal - nothing fancy. So we grew up on a pretty plain diet of just that - oh, and he said maybe a piece of cake or pie now and then. So that was our staple and still remains that way with me today - no fancy stuff - just good food, but she never forgot and could make something special anytime. My sister, on the other hand, had to go by the cook book and measured out everything precisely and went by whatever the book said, but her meals were just as good as Moms and those mile high cakes were super. One thing my Mom didn't cook was Italian dishes. It wasn't real popular initially, but as us kids grew up it got to be the food of choice for a lot of people and those who weren't Italian would often find themselves seeking out Italian restaurants for their specialties. That's about the only ethnic food I like and sphagetti has replaced potatoes as my choice of starch. My sister learned how to cook Italian dishes from one of her girlfriends, Marie Argenio, and I think that is how I came to like it so much, particularly sphagetti, but I like it anyway from Marie's recipe to just tomato juice to even just some butter, nowadays, Smart Balance light spread.



The weekend involved going Saturday morning to Klaus's church yard to try and fix some broken irrigation valves - for the most part probably caused by the lawnmower running over them and due also that probably some failed to retract automatically like they should. The first one we replaced worked perfectly. After testing we didn't even have to make any adjustment. We tackled one on the corner and, you know, nothing ever works out like you expect, and, no matter how many different things we tried, could never get that replacement nozzle to do anything but a 360 degree spray and we wanted to just aim it at the lawn. Finally had to leave it and just let the excess water run down the drain. Shouldn't be any kind of a problem except some wasted water. Since that one took up so much of our time, it became lunch time. We had a couple more hours of work to do so I suggested getting some barbeque from the festival as the church is only a few blocks from uptown. So we drove over and as it was crowded and didn't find parking space, Klaus dropped me off to pick up the plates while he drove around the block and then met me back at the drop-off/pick-up point. We drove back to the church and ate in the convenience of their air-conditioned dining room and then finished up our work, or rather we finally just gave up. Did I tell you it is so hot here? I then watered my own yard, cleaned up, rested and waited for the evening to approach before venturing out to the fair. Most of the contestants had taken off by then except the vendors that sold their stuff. I was too full still from that plate, and as much as I wanted to sample a rib or two, I settled for some"home-made" ice cream and later a lemonade made with "spring water and fresh lemons." while I sat back and enjoined some good blues music.

So, now another week starts and I wonder what pursuits lie ahead. Hope I'll be prepared, but probably won't tackle a lot. The hot, dry sunny weather is to continue at least through Thursday and I guess we'll have lots of company as appears most of the country is experiecing the same.

Hope you stay cool, safe and happy, until next time. I'll leave you with a picture of a red hibiscus I took at a yard across the street from the church.

Have a Happy, Dave