The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Zucchini?

 

Come on, sing along! 

Okay, never mind.  I haven't had time to re-write all the lyrics.  Yet.

But anyway.

You know how zucchini has become the garden symbol of overabundance? 

Yay, it's Giveaway Time!

If you garden, this one's for you.

 

Telephone Poles

So last night, after a day of finishing the shingling on the front of the house (morning)...

(and yes, I worked on it, too.  But I can't take pictures and nail shingles at the same time.  Bill hammered in the last few and I took the pictures.)

...and then some painting (yay!  Non-humid weather!)...and of course, meals and paying bits of attention to the kids, and doing the dishes...I went off and bought myself some of those ear things for my ipod that loop around your ears.  I was planning, yes PLANNING, to go for another walk in the morning and I wanted the ear things to stay IN MY EARS if I decided to throw caution to the wind and become a casual gazelle again.

Broody

You've met Cricket-Catcher, our Cuban White Knight Anole, or Cuban Knight Anole, or Knight Anole, right? 

I've written about this lizard on and off over the past several years - however long we've had it.  Including that matter with Dinoraptosaurus, may he rest in peace.

All this time, we've just assumed it was a male.

Almost There...

Hey, Hey, HEY!

So I'm out the door at 6 this morning, door key laced to my left sneaker (I alternate, so one foot doesn't feel loved less than the other), hit "shuffle" on my ipod, and off I went.

It was muggy already.  Clear and beautiful after last night's torrential rain and beautiful thunderstorms, but muggy. 

Down the road I went, walking at a good pace, enjoying the slight breeze that drifted by every now and then.

About a half mile into it, it started. 

Red Noodle Bean Blossom

Progress!

Yesterday was hot but much less humid, so we were FINALLY able to paint again. 

Bill primed the remaining large section on one side of the house (the side where he first had to remove and replace 93 of the shingles), and he also primed the two triangular sections on either side of the dormer.  I put the third coat of paint on parts of the lower half of the back of the house.  I painted the lowest row of shingles and all the area around where the deck rail butts up against the house, and along the deck itself, and around the windows, and one entire section near the kitchen because this huge concrete platform Bill uses in his beer brewing is over there and it's hard to use the sprayer.  So it's easier if I just do it with the brush.

I've discovered that I'm able to go up higher on the ladders now. 

Low Humidity - We're Painting Again!

Finally!

We've been trapped in endless high heat and high humidity, so we've been working on the carpentry end of things, but today is beautiful and DRY, so we're painting.

Bill just primed the east side of the house, I'm putting the second (final!) coat of paint on the lower half of the back of the house.

So no time to post in depth at the moment.

Gotta get back on my ladder!

Dill Butter

We grew a LOT of dill this year. 

I'm not even that nuts about it, really.  It's Bill who loves dill.  (Sorry, couldn't resist the rhyme.)

Well, one day recently (I've lost track of time) I decided to pick a bunch of dill and make a compound butter with it, as a way of preserving it. 

A View From Above

Yeah, so last week I went way up high on a ladder, right alongside Bill on another ladder, to help him replace the rotting boards behind the gutter on the back of our house.

After spending the first trip up hugging the ladder with arms, legs, and brain power, (except that I needed one OR BOTH hands free at times to hold the board in place, so I just had to use brain power and hug the rungs with my toes), I began to relax a bit, by fractions of degrees.

One Decade

In my last post - a happy birthday to my niece, Natalie - I included a few pictures from my wedding.  She was my flower girl.  She had just turned five, two days before the wedding.

So that makes today my wedding anniversary.

Hard to believe it's ten years.  Thirteen, if you go by the year we met and started dating. 

I don't even know what I want to write as I'm typing this.

Happy Birthday to my Smart, Funny, Beautiful Niece, Natalie

 
 

It's Okay, His Father Said He Could

Well, besides working on the house, of course.

First, there's this:

What is that?

That's (under the branches - that pale thing) a small tree stump.  The tree stump from our cherry tree.

Scary Lumberjack

Summer 'Do

Giving

One:  Generosity.

I, like most other bloggers, I think, have been fortunate enough to meet - if only online - all sorts of wonderful people.  It's a good medium for me, actually.  I was rather shy as a child, and I still am not one to enter a room of strangers and become friends with them all instantly.  I am approachable, I think, but I hesitate to approach.  Unfortunate, I know, and I've no doubt missed out on all sorts of wonderful relationships and experiences as a result, but, well, the past is the past and there's no point in regrets.

Anyway, one of these wonderful people is a woman out in Texas named Judith. 

Dill

Sweaty Palms, Butterflies, and Tingling Sensations

But not like when we were first dating.

These are different.

(Mom, you might not like these pictures.)

Something to Consider

If the fish aren't biting, maybe it's time to try a different lure.

Love,

Me

Baby Octopus's Garden

What with all the outdoor work we've been doing, meals are rather quick and simple affairs.  Lunches are mostly sandiwches, and dinners are built around whatever we pick from the garden and maybe some sort of protein and rice or pasta. 

Last night, after a sweltering day, I ended up cooking on three burners, which did nothing to help cool the house down, but oh well.

Recurring Theme

If you read this post the other day, you may recall that a bunny showed up in our yard - and quickly ran out of our yard and into the neighbor's yard when Bill went looking for it.

Well, later that day, while we were driving to a friend's house, a car passed us and the license plate read "ABUNNY."  I thought that was cool and interesting and coincidental, and I pointed it out to Bill, and he agreed, and that was that.

And then, later still, we saw this in our friend's yard:

I know, nice shot.  Here's the other one I got:

Sunday Morning Notes

Happy 4th, everyone!

Well, working on the house continues.  The sprayer we bought is well worth the money spent in terms of time saved and sanity retained.  Here's the status update, for any of you interested...

"We're Not Spending Money on That!"

Yesterday we painted one side of the house. 

We'd expected to put both coats of paint on, because after four hours you can reapply, so we figured if we started nice and early, we'd have plenty of time.

Plus, we had the paint sprayer.