Little Old Lady in Training

Friday night we had a wonderful experience. Sitting on the back porch in the late evening, when the light was fading fast, the fireflies began a beautiful flickering light show. There were dozens of them in our yard. Theirs is one of the most beautiful mating rituals in the world, in my opinion. Love was in the air!

Suddenly I am noticing strangers, or they are noticing me, or both.

A few weeks ago, a woman in a parking lot cornered me to confirm that I had witnessed a confrontation she had just had, for which I had observed no evidence. It was awkward, disturbing, but not threatening.

Today, Attila and I did a run to the retail outlets to buy supplies. After emerging from the grocery store, we took our cart to the car, and were moving items from the cart to the car, when an older woman [older than me], a complete stranger, approached us, and who, in a laughing manner said, “Hurry up and get that cart emptied!”.

She then asked me if we were “heading to the cottage with all those groceries.”

” Just stocking up on sale items,” I told her.

She rightly observed that, “Not everyone has enough money to do that you know.”

I smiled and responded, “You are right, we are lucky to be able to do it.”

I enjoyed her making that point, because it reflects active social awareness, most likely based on experience.

She held out a quarter for the cart, to Attila, then pulled her hand back, and laughingly checked the cart to make sure there was a quarter in it, which there was, so she turned, and handed me the quarter.

All this time her husband stood some distance back, standing straight with his jacket over his arm, quite stiff and spiffy in his white shirt and bow tie.

Off they went with the cart, and and off we went, heading home with our bounty.

This is more attention from strangers, in the last few weeks, than I’ve experienced in years. Perhaps I am getting better looking as I slowly morph into a little old lady.

We took a flying trip out to the Camp yesterday, so that Attila could trim the weeds on the property. The grass trimmer broke down the last time we were there, and the job was not completed. Parts were ordered, a new muffler, which Attila replaced this past week, and the trimmer is working good as new. On this visit the job was completed.

The vegetation was lush, our lone tomato plant was surviving, but the wetland is almost dry, and the creek is no longer running. There are no signs of drought-like conditions, so the rain must be intermittent enough so that it soaks into the ground, with no resulting runoff, as it is runoff that would fill our wetland.

The day was hot, and humid, and windy. There are fewer mosquitoes at our Camp than at Mist Cottage, so we spent a lovely few hours just sitting in the shade and enjoying being in the bush. While we were there we went for a walk around the property to look for Sumac fruit, but found none. Too bad, I love Sumac jelly!

I am happy to report the mouse trap was empty, and there were no signs of mice in Grace the Trailer.

Since the first heat wave hit, baking bread has been a less-than-appealing activity. I’ve missed the homemade bread for three reasons. One is the taste. The second is the nutrition of home ground whole wheat. The third is the very low sodium content of my homemade bread. Commercial bread leaves me struggling to keep my daily sodium intake low. So today, despite the heat, I got out the grain mill, ground 11 cups of whole wheat flour, and baked five loaves of homemade bread. I turned on the air conditioning to cool the house down as the oven baked the bread, a bit of a luxury. I cannot bake the bread in the portable oven on the back porch, there are too many loaves for that oven to handle.

Today the garden has already provided a mid-day meal of sauteed zucchini, spinach, garlic, and basil. Fresh from the garden green beans were enjoyed at supper. Mostly we are eating everything fresh out of the garden, although some of the bounty has been preserved: canned Dandelion Jelly; canned Rhubarb (ours) Strawberry (pick-your-own) Pie filling; Pesto for the freezer. I am thinking of attempting low-sodium pickles, as Attila brought in two pounds of cucumbers for me this evening, and a pound of zucchini.

It was a quiet weekend, and as usual, we have been busy here at Mist Cottage, busy with the little things.

Worldly

Weather

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
26°C
Date: 4:00 PM EDT Sunday 28 July 2019
Condition: Lighting Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.4 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 26.1°C
Dew point: 22.3°C
Humidity: 79%
Wind: WSW 30 gust 45 km/h
Humidex: 36
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“All general statements are false.”
Unknown

How Escsheresque!