Olympics, fairs and gardening - no politics!

Even though it is very warm now, the air has that feel to it that says it's the end of summer and not the beginning.  That thing you can't explain but you notice it the first day you walk outside and it is there.  I will admit that summer has gone by very fast this year and I have spent much of it in an air conditioned office - so I will not complain about the heat!  Since my last post (and it looks like it has been awhile!) we have been busy with the garden, we went to the county fair, and I am currently doing my every 4 year TV fest watching more TV during the Olympics than I do during the other 4 years altogether!!  I justify it by crocheting in front of the TV so it looks like I'm being productive, but of course I have to stop during the gymnastics etc!  I grew up watching the Olympics and it is something I thoroughly enjoy.  I root for other countries when I hear a life story that tugs at my heartstrings.  Some people say the spirit of the games isn't there any more, but when you watch a runner stop and help another to cross the finish line - I think maybe it still is there, at least  a little!


I want to show you my new toy!  There are no links here, I got mine from Amazon.com but I am not an affiliate- I am sharing with you because I am having sooo much fun with this!

First I cut some chives....

then I get out my new toy - the 7 bladed scissors!!  I use the tool to cut the chives and it ends up like this.....

perfectly even for dehydrating and they will sprinkle out of my dispenser so nice, shook a few on an omelette the other day and it looked marvelous!  I realize that how the food looks is not the most important thing - but it doesn't taste any worse if it looks good!!  Think about how long it takes to chop a lot of chives, or rosemary, or oregano - yes it is a time saver.






The Lilys in the back of my garden that came up after being
rotor-tilled are just beautiful this year!  They
must be hardy - that old saying "that which does not kill you makes you strong"!  Love the fragrance too!












The apple tree was trimmed and just loaded with apples, then we had a real wind storm and several of the heavy branches are broken.  We will wait and hope they ripen still and then cut the branches after the harvest.  We were planning to 'top' the tree, guess it did it by itself!  Look at all those apples though!

I went outside to take some photos of the garden and found that the 'neighbors' had come over to visit and terrify the cats!  The peacock came along with his hens this time.

In the spring when the garden is just planted I always think I will have a lot of space and by the end of summer I am worried about one thing overrunning the other!  The cucumbers have produced 14 quarts of dill pickles and 7 pints of sweet pickles plus the eating in salads and snacks.

The beans are slower than usual this year and one row grew and the other row is not doing well at all.  (The vagaries of gardening.)  The 'neighbors' are getting ready to go home over the back fence.

The corn looks like it will all do well, the last bunch is popcorn, I have never tried it but daughter in law #1 sent me some seeds so we are giving it a whirl.

Bell peppers have done well this year too.  This big boy is one of many they have produced and they still have blooms!

Seems that the county fair is always during the hottest week of the year, and this year was no exception!  The most popular place for kids was the firefighters with the hook and ladder truck providing their own 'water feature'!  Wet happy kids running all over the place!






Think that about catches us up, football season is ready to start, Mom is coming to visit soon - life is good here!
We are keeping all of our firefighters in prayer, seems like the whole western US is on fire, these heroes are working very hard this summer!

This is so good!!

Once a month our church has a 'Food Fellowship'.  Everyone brings something and we all eat and visit.  I grew up calling them 'covered dish suppers' or 'pot lucks'.  I had not settled on a regular rotation of dishes yet.  In the winter we had taken chocolate chip cookies and ham slices (warm).  Summer seemed to require something different - as in I don't want to turn on the oven!  I had seen a post by daughter-in-love Amber on facebook that looked yummy and of course then I could never find it again!  I went trolling the internet looking for the recipe for this awesome looking salad and found at least a hundred versions, so I copied 3 or 4 of the best looking ones, and sort of experimented with amounts and came up with this recipe.  To find it on the internet you call it strawberry banana cheesecake salad, but I knew I wasn't going to leave bananas sitting in a salad overnight or even during church and expect them to look appetizing!  This is the recipe that I cobbled together from the collection - I have to tell you this was so good!  It was gone very quickly and 3 people asked for the recipe before I left, there were lots of compliments.  This will be my new 'summer dish' and I will take ham slices (cool)!!


(Any kind of fruit) Cheesecake Salad
 

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 16 oz of vanilla yogurt
• 1 (8 oz) tub of cool whip, Thawed
• 1 (3½ ounce) package cheesecake flavor instant pudding or pie filling mix
• ½ bag of miniature marshmallows
• 3 to 4 cups of rinsed drained frozen mixed berries - blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
• Graham Crackers (I bought a ready made graham crust and broke it up into crumbs)

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, yogurt, pudding and cool whip until creamy.
   
2. Stir in marshmallows.
3. Fold in fruit.
4. Sprinkle graham crackers (or graham crust) over the bowl at the last minute

I forgot to take pictures of the finished product so this is a picture of the part I couldn't get into the bowl and left at home!  Rinsing and draining the berries kept them from coloring the mixture too much I think.

Graham cracker crust topping, this little bowl did not last long!!

This was seriously easy and yummy in the bargain - hard to beat!!

This was what I brought home!  An empty bowl!

And we have our first ripe tomato of the season!  Hubby says the first one is mine to eat, BLT here I come!









Today is an oh so rare cool and rainy day, apparently hasn't been this cool in July in twenty-some years with snow in the higher mountains!  I am loving it and trying not to remember that it will get hot again soon!

About those bruises....

Charming title isn't it?  Do you sometimes find yourself surprised at the things we talk about now that you could never have imagine when we were younger?  I say 'we' as I have chosen to believe that I am not alone in noticing this!!

So - the bruises, if you are like me and take blood thinners or have thin skin (the real stuff not the stuff that makes you cry when people are mean!) you may have noticed these bruises that I used to call "old people bruises".   They are almost scary the first time you see one and now I am so used to getting them that Hubby will say "what did you do there?" and I have to reply honestly "I have no idea"!

They are dark and look terrible but hardly ever hurt!  They are the result of aging, blood thinners, thinning skin, loss of protective fat layer ( I intend to remember that term 'Protective Fat' for future use, if WEB MD used it it must be true), and some dietary deficiencies.  Even fish oil supplements and ginkgo biloba can cause enough blood thinning to see these.

I am not really upset about getting old, I have adjusted to the idea and most of the reality.  They are ugly though, they take forever to go away, and people can't resist the urge to ask you "what did you do", and then you say "I don't know, I don't remember banging into anything" and then they look at you like you might need to be watched for signs of senility!!  Younger people think anything that looks that bad must have hurt to get!!!  This one is from reaching under the wire on the strawberries - didn't hurt at all!

Years ago I had a client who had been badly burned in a fire and had had skin grafts.  She got these bruises very easily and the Sherman Oaks Burn Center, where she had spent so much time recovering, gave her this tip, that she shared with me, that I will now share with you. 

It is not what you think!!  Yes it is a hemorrhoid medication, but you will not use these as directed on the box!!  Open the little packages inside and break off a little piece of the suppository and rub it on your bruise.  That's it, do it at least once a day for a couple of days and you will be amazed at how fast the bruise will go away!  Mine used to last for a couple of weeks, but after I remembered this - they go away much faster - this one in 5 days!

Here it is, the 6th day and no more bruise.  I swear I am not being compensated by Preparation H!  I also do not know why the suppositories work better than the cream - they just do.  Sherman Oaks is one of the premiere burn centers in the country and they know their stuff!

Spending more time in the garden means more opportunity for bruises, but the fun things are starting to ripen.  Yesterdays harvest turned out to be about 3 cups of shelled peas, just a few strawberries, one lone green onion, a bell pepper, and some pie cherries off the recently trimmed tree.  Hubby even had one tomato this week - Hooray!!


Hope this wasn't too off putting, pass it along to your elderly friends.  We will move on to more pleasant topics next time - I tried a new recipe that is going to be a go to for church dinners and socials and get-togethers when I have to bring something!