7 Quick Takes (Vol 166)

Good golly Miss Molly how can it be Friday all over again. Where do the days, hours, minutes go? You know the Quick Takes rule. When you are done rolling around in my blather you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of Mark Zuckerberg’s plummeting fortune, over to Conversion Diary to see what everyone else has been up to.

Blather on me hearties. Blather on.

1.
Earlier in the week LaurenLeap and I were very concerned about our tomato plants that went into the ground last Friday. Somewhere along the way, perhaps last Sunday morning, we had a light frost. When I went out to the garden to water on Monday some of the plants were looking, how shall I say it….BAD. Burned leaves, definite frost damage.

Drat!!!!

But after spending a couple of hours in the garden on Thursday, getting the cukes and the basil in the ground, we think that all the plants will be OK. We were a tad worried about the broccoli as well but they seem to be setting new leaves.

I knew you all were worried so I thought I should let you know. Pictures will be coming next week some time I would think but at the moment the onions and garlic are doing well, the tops on the carrots are really growing, the peas are coming up, the rhubarb all seems to have survived the trip from Illinois, the Brussels sprouts are growing, the lettuce is taking over the world, the spinach is going strong, the beets are coming up with gusto, the cantaloupe looks happy, the basil smells so mouthwatering that I just want to lay there by the bed with my nose pressed up to the plants, and the first round of green beans are in the ground.

Over achievers? Who says that we are over achievers.

2.
What does it say about me that I am reading a The Hunt For KSM by Terry McDermott and I am listening to Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule (the hunt for a capture of the Green River Killer).

Best not to think about it too much I would imagine.

But I do love Ann Rule’s books.

And I am totally dependent on audiobooks to get things done during the day. Well all except for writing.

3.
For the last few days a female turkey has shown up every morning to peck as the seeds that fall down under my front bird feeder. I never seem to catch her as she exits the woods, it always just seems like she suddenly and very quietly appears.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures but those darn “light limiting” screens that we put in the windows really mess up pictures. They give a sort of fuzzy, brain addled quality to the photos.

Right?

Or is it just me?

Oh and this morning. There were FIVE turkeys just pecking and scratching away under the feeder and making a gosh awful mess. I am hoping that if they feel comfortable that eventually we might see little turkeys babies. I saw some briefly this week and that was the very first time ever!

4.
I had my own People of Walmart moment yesterday. I went in to Wally Mart to get some lettuce. Of course I saw someone that I knew. Hi Tiffany!! And we had to stop and chat for a moment. Although why she was there when she JUST had a baby 8 days ago is beyond me.

But I digress.

So I get in line and I am waiting. And then I look to my left and observe a fellow walking down the main aisle and heading for the check out line next to mine.

Is he wearing a skirt?

Well not really a skirt. More of a “skort”. That is a man that knows he wants to be comfortable and is definitely secure in himself.

And he was buying a big “Star Wars Legos” box.

5.
I am making yogurt again today.

When I told you how to make Yogurt waaaaaaay back in February I was thinking that the yogurt wouldn’t last all that long in the frig and I would need to be eating it all the time so that it didn’t spoil. I like Vanilla Yogurt…but I made a gallon of it. Literally a gallon. And that is a lot of yogurt, even if you eat a lot of smoothies.

But guess what. If you leave the jars of yogurt sealed and in the back of the frig it will keep a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. I just cracked the last jar of yogurt last week and it is good. A bit more “yogurty” but still excellent and smooth.

Summer is smoothie season around here so I really need more yogurt. And since it is a multiple step process that makes a bit of a mess so I want to get this done before we start having showings. I can’t stop once the process starts, or at least not until the jars are “resting” in their nice warm cooler.

6.

Remember the Killdeer nest that I mentioned last week. The one that is right in the middle of one of the plots in the garden?

Overnight, between Wednesday and Thursday, something raided the nest and all the eggs are gone. LaurenLeap and I worked in the garden yesterday morning and we both noted that the eggs were gone but we didn’t see Momma and little babies anywhere. And then the woman who has the plot right next to the nest said that the eggs had been there yesterday when she had been gardening. So we have to assume that most likely a raccoon got them.

Darn it!!!

7.
Oh yes, and just because I don’t have anything else to fill my time I have decided that this year I am going to teach myself how to write in Copperplate script. I already have training in Calligraphy, although I am a bit rusty at the moment. I used to earn “mad money” when the progeny were little by addressing wedding invitations and such. But I have always loved the look of Copperplate. Of course I have no idea how I will use it, I just know I need to learn it.

Who wouldn’t like to be able to produce something like this!!

And because, you know, my days just drag by and I don’t have anything better to do.