My niece is getting married this weekend, at a resort near my sister’s cottage. My two sisters, and my Mom, are pretty excited, and are leaving for the cottage for the celebration this morning. I have wished them well. Attila and I, and my brothers, were not invited, for the weekend, or to the wedding, and so are not attending.
Yesterday all of the crocheted cotton projects were subjected to a process to set the dye, according to instructions found on the internet. The first crocheted wash cloths faded after a few washings, so hopefully this will keep the other items, wash cloths, kitchen towels, beanies, colourful through many washings.
Because there were severe storms in Ontario over last weekend, on Monday evening we decided to take a jaunt out to the Rideau Camp to check on Grace The Trailer. Funny how suddenly the Camp is a place we need to consider when the weather gets nasty, demonstrating once again that what you own, owns you.
The evening was fine, sunny with a light breeze, and warm but not hot. We found that all was well with Grace The Trailer. Attila brought his chain saw and continued to section the trees he had felled, and some large oak branches he had removed from the trees, to let Grace The Trailer navigate the driveway in safety. I put away the things I brought to keep in the trailer, such as a small sewing kit, and the kitchen towel I crocheted for the oven door handle. My biggest job was to use cover the hitch with a plastic bag, and seal all the openings to the bag with duct tape. I did this crouching under the trailer with my arms raised above my head, for about a half an hour. This will keep the wasps, spiders, ants, and mice out of the hitch, and the openings around the hitch. At least I hope it will. I placed a section of flea collar inside the hitch before sealing it up, so that if any insects do attempt an intrusion, they will be roundly discouraged. Next I cut up plastic bags and stuffed them into every opening in the frame of the trailer that I could find, to keep out wasps in particular, as they like to build nests in spaces protected from the weather.
I overdid it. The weather was very hot and humid, which has always affected me adversely. I felt quite ill until we were home again in the air conditioned house. I speculated, as this is the first time this has happened, that I had not ingested enough sodium during the day, so that working and perspiring in the heat depleted my sodium levels, and thus my electrolyte balance was probably out of whack. When I got home I had one piece of toast, using store bought bread, with peanut butter, the regular sugary kind, which gave me the full day’s compliment of sodium, and I felt much better. I am going to have to watch my sodium intake much more carefully in the hot humid weather!
Since the heat wave had ended here yesterday, it was the perfect opportunity to make a big batch of chili. It simmered all day long on the stove, made a lovely dinner last night, and four more meals were frozen in mason jars for quick suppers at the Rideau Camp.
The crocheted “water balloons” are coming along nicely, seven completed. Someone wrote in to a crochet group that they had created 22 of these “water balloons” in one day, I feel accomplished if I manage two of them. The yarn, bulky blanket yarn, is not as pleasant to work with as I had hoped, but that may be because of the pattern, which becomes very tightly stitched at the nozzle end of the balloon.
The longest day of the year is upon us, dawning with a blue sky, and moderate temperature. I love sunny mornings, my favourite time of the day. This just might be the day the sewing machine gets set up in the front bedroom. The desk is clear at last. The pile of mending has been growing since a year ago last September, and some of the items are needed. My permethrin treated work pants are rather torn, they are on the top of the mending pile.
The peonies in the front yard are blooming in all their glory. On Sunday Attila brought two blooms in for the vase on the table, to replace the two that were spent. In the backyard the two Columbine plants that self seeded at the step are still blooming. There are still a few blooms on the Wild Geraniums. The frivolous heads of Yellow Hawkweed wave in the breeze in the fenced in back yard, where Attila did not mow, so as to leave them in their beauty, and to avoid walking over the patches of wild strawberries. The Irises are spent. The purple Clematis is laden with buds, and about to bloom any day now.
Attila finished planting the garden this week, with Scarlet Runner Beans along the fence, and Squash near the compost heap. There are blooms on the tomato plants, and there have been several harvests of rhubarb. Attila loves to garden, I think I will call it his garden. I have input into choosing and placing the plants, but Attila has the final word, and does the physical work, so I will call it his garden.
My Mom has a garden at her farm, cared for by my brother who lives there. She tells me they haven’t had a drop of rain since the plants went into the ground. My brother waters the plants every day using water from the well, a lot of work. I sure hope they get more rain down there in Niagara! We have had rain either constantly for days, or every few days, all spring, so that Attila hasn’t needed to water the garden at all. We purchased a rainbarrel, and I am hoping we will soon have it set up, so that we will be ready if the rain ceases to fall on a regular basis.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
16°C
Date: 8:00 AM EDT Wednesday 21 June 2017
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.3 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 15.8°C
Dew point: 12.9°C
Humidity: 83%
Wind: WSW 17 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
1890 – 1969
I’m quite surprised your mom hasn’t had rain in Niagara in quite a while. We’re about an hour and a half from there and have had copious amounts of rain. Until last week, our river’s water line has been above the natural banks for months.
I also tend to lose electrolytes easily, but I’m more likely to lose potassium or magnesium. When that happens I can also feel nauseated as you did, or I end up having muscle spasms either in my arms, legs or, one time, my heart. Fortunately, the reactions respond very quickly to mineral supplements. Gatorade can also be very helpful for slowly replenishing mineral loss, but if you need to make up a lot quickly then it’s seemed like the mineral supplements are the way to go.
We have a second clematis about ready to bloom, now. And, lo and behold, one of our newly planted daylilies actually has some buds on it. Can’t wait to see it flowering!
We finally have all the paperwork done for tying together the cottage purchase. Closing day is a week from today!
Teri, this electrolyte issue is new to me, so some experimenting is in order. It hasn’t been quite a year since I adopted a low-sodium lifestyle, this is my first summer, my first pass through the hot weather. I will have to remember to have some kind of processed food with me to eat as soon as I feel the imbalance.
That is so exciting about your new cottage! Congratulations to you and DH, and wishing you both many happy years in a beautiful spot. I guess we know where you will be a week from Saturday!
Yes, we hope to go stay at the cottage as soon as possible – though at this point there is only a double mattress over there.
We’ll be moving some old furniture we have to the cottage. In a wonderful twist, we’ll be bringing a kitchen table and chairs there that came from DH’s grandmother’s cottage! DH will have all kinds of stories connected to that set that he can tell the kids and grandkids. 😀
I still don’t “get” what the water balloons are for…. ????
Bex, first think of water filled balloons that kids throw around, they break when they land, water sprays everywhere.
Now think of a bulky balloon shaped mass of yarn, sitting in a tub of water, picked up by the child, thrown, and water sprays everywhere.
Then the child picks it up, puts in back in the tub of water, and throws it again.
No filling balloons, no picking up bits of latex all over the yard, and machine washable so nice and clean for the game day.
Personally Bex, I never played with water balloons, but kids these days live in a completely different world than the one I, or my parents, or my grandparents etc. grew up in. The word is the kids love these things.
I find this confusing. Water balloons were a norm when I was a kid, both in Washington and in Massachusetts where Bex is, and I’m not that much younger than either of you.