It's been a little chilly the last couple of mornings. When I walked the dog yesterday just before breakfast it was 47º F (or 8.3º C)! Shorts-and-t-shirt weather is passing us by.
I got an early-morning start in order to catch up on life. I had laundry going by 6:30 a.m. and wound up doing four loads, including two dog blankets. I watered all the houseplants and then got to work in the garden.
I pulled up all the daturas, which I felt guilty about, but they were yellowing and pretty much over. I saved some seed pods even though I'm not sure I want to plant them again. (My main reason for clearing them was to get some flowerpots off the lawn so the grass could grow back.) And then I mowed.
Also, the dog walk was quite productive. I found a perfectly good ballpoint pen, a sparkly rhinestone button (I'm like a crow) which I added to my windowsill bowl of found objets, and a nice blue glass bowl from a skip full of stuff at the housing estate. Whoever owned the stuff in the skip -- smashed furniture, warped old books, moldering VHS tapes -- clearly hadn't cleaned their house in quite a while. Everything was coated with a layer of blecch. But after some scrubbing and a run through the dishwasher the bowl looks great.
I had a weird lunch, trying to clean out the fridge. I made Welsh rarebit with some leftover cheese, and then added green and black olives and some flat-leaf parsley, with a couple of radishes on the side. It sounds a little bizarre but it was actually quite good. I'm going to call it Italian rarebit, not that I will ever purposefully make it again. (This is why we never throw away food. I open the fridge and/or pantry and say, "OK, what can I make out of all this?" I do have my limits, though -- the celery yesterday was too far gone.)
The Russians' construction project is grinding on, literally. Yesterday their carpenter was drilling around the door frame, and it sounded like a dentist's office in our bedroom. Here's a 15-second sampler:
Of course he stopped just as I was making that video, but you get the idea. He started up again right around the time Dave decided to take a nap. We also have a fine dusting of sediment drifting down on our bedroom windowsill, so that will be a future cleaning project. Sigh.
Wrap celery in tinfoil, it keeps really well. Or put it in a jug with a few inches of water. Ann.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you look like a crow - more like a scavenging vulture. Just because The Russians are having setbacks in Ukraine doesn't mean they should take it out on you and Dave.
ReplyDeleteThe builder should remediate your place, including dusting down window ledges.
ReplyDeleteWe throw out very little but we did recently of fresh pasta our English visitors bought to make us all a nice meal. They bought too much.
I think I could make meals out of what's in our refrigerator for weeks.
ReplyDeleteI would be SO annoyed at the construction going on upstairs. I mean, I would lose my mind. That kind of annoyed.
I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see the bowl.
I think you should show us photos of the trinkets that you find. I am curious to see the rhinestone button and the blue bowl... Please?
ReplyDeleteI would definitely go crazy with that drilling sound in the bedroom. I hope that project ends soon. Oy.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting ready to toss some celery today. It must be celery-tossing season!
I, too, enjoy a good 'What can I make from all these leftovers' kind of dinner. At times it's great and at times we think about ordering in.
ReplyDeleteSlowly we're grinding into fall when plants take a rest.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind getting creative with leftovers, either. What doesn't get eaten here either goes in the compost or the bucket of scraps for our outside dogs. (unless it's something not suitable for either) And speaking of outside dogs, we've had two new ones show up. 🙄 (people that dump animals should be punished in a like manner)
ReplyDeleteOw! That drilling would drive a person nuts. I third the requests to see the bowl and button.
ReplyDeleteYup, we would like to see the bowl and the button. Construction dust is just the worst and I am speaking from sad experience. Hopefully they will be done quickly.
ReplyDeleteI saw some pictures of all the people waiting in the line to view the Queen's coffin and I noticed they were bundled up. I also saw the pictures of the Queen's children standing guard and then the grandchildren. The whole thing is quite an event.
ReplyDeleteThat drilling noise would drive me crazy.
I always see Welsh rarebit as Welsh rabbit. LOL Constant noise is very difficult for me. When my house was being re-roofed I thought I would lose my mind. The dust came down, the pictures went crooked and there was constant pounding. ARgghhh.
ReplyDeleteOh, the drilling. I feel for you. Although, given the title, I was half-expecting something a bit more kinky. Like maybe Dr. Longjohn.
ReplyDeleteCelery that is too far gone should be chopped up and tossed in the freezer for the next time that you make a soup!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to see that blue bowl.
I would hate all the noise upstairs. When my daughter and son-in-law were living in the country of Georgia, there was a lot of construction noise happening from the apartment next door. Imagine their consternation when a very large drill bit popped through the wall on their side!
I was hoping to see the blue bowl too! (Also your bowl of found items; I think I would enjoy creating something similar. Instead I keep them squirreled away all over the house!) I have some indoor reno scheduled and am not looking forward to the kind of noise in your video. However, at least I will benefit from it. You get the noise and not one bit of benefit :(
ReplyDeleteNice to see your undies on the dryer lol
ReplyDeleteYou got a lot done! I hope that project upstairs is finished soon - that racket & dust would drive me crazy. I did my chores on my day off Friday and then I had to hang out with people most of the day yesterday. I did NOT leave my house today.
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks beautiful. I couldn't figure out who the dentist was. I know, sigh.
ReplyDeleteI'll add my request to see the blue glass bowl. I used to have one by the tv with all my movie-filled usb's in it, but it somehow developed a "crazed" base and a large crack from one side, across the bottom and then circling sideways up the other side. I had to throw it away :(
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking lovely.
Ann: Thanks for the tip! It's too late for this bunch but I'll remember that next time.
ReplyDeleteYP: People say "scavenger" like it's a bad thing.
Andrew: As long as he sweeps the patio, I'll be happy. I can handle the windowsills.
Ms Moon: It makes me nervous to have too much food on hand, at least unfrozen. (And our freezer is TINY.) I'm more of a shop-every-few-days person.
Ellen D: See next post!
Robin: It has paused for Sunday and the Queen's funeral. Hopefully this coming week it will end. (And we'll be back at work anyway so we won't have to listen to it.)
Bob: Yeah, sometimes the leftovers aren't worth it. I can almost always make something, though!
Red: Yes, I'm seeing changing leaves already!
Kelly: Wow! You're going to have a regular pack there!
Boud: Especially when trying to take a nap! Fortunately it doesn't continue into the night.
Allison: Yeah, the dust is no fun. I just hope we're not breathing too much of it.
Sharon: The procession of the grandchildren was quite interesting and moving to watch.
Margaret: Well, it is pronounced "rabbit," I think.
Mitchell: Hey now! This is a family blog! :)
Debby: Yikes! Fortunately no one has burst through the ceiling. (Yet!)
Jenny: Well, there's a closeup of part of the bowl in the subsequent post. I have a number of catch-all bowls -- one filled with sea glass, one with matchbooks, one with china chips from Hampstead Heath, and that one filled with all kinds of stuff (including more pottery shards).
John: I'm not ashamed! We all wear 'em!
Bug: Hanging out with people all day can be draining.
Pixie: Ha! Maybe I stretched a bit too far with that title. :)
River: That's a bummer! I had a candle holder that did the same thing. I think it got too hot.
I had to google what a rarebit was. When I was not yet a teen, my grandfather used to make us rarebits on Sunday evenings with a bowl of popcorn later whenever we were there visiting. I'm not sure I've eaten one since.
ReplyDeleteNo picture of the blue glass bowl? I didn't realize you had a door to the garden in your bedroom.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are like a magpie collecting things! It's very fun to hear what all you find!
ReplyDelete