Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Midweek meanderings

 

Image from The Graphics Fairy

 Just cruising in  midweek to chat a bit!  

What a stretch of hot, humid weather we have endured here in the Granite State.  It's been absolutely crazy.  I am so thankful for cooler temps this morning, though the humidity is still very high.

Last evening we took supper to share with our friends Sam and Jenn and their boys.  It's always a joy to get together with these younger believers!  I took along an Antipasto Salad I hadn't thought of in years.  My recipe is from an old Taste of the Country cookbook put out by Taste of Home magazine.  My recipe differs a bit from the one I linked to, but it's essentially the same.  I used an entire pound of pasta.  I used a few slices of provolone, chopped, but then added a package of the mozzarella pearls (a product I have never previously used).  I used one green pepper and one yellow pepper, and would do this again as it really enhances the salad's appearance.  This calls for salami and pepperoni.  Our local Market Basket supermarket sells deli meat ends very inexpensively, so I picked up a package of Italian cold cut ends to use in this salad.  I ended up only needing about half of the meat the package contained, so I'm planning to make this salad again for Sunday's fellowship dinner at church. 

 Because of the aforementioned heat wave, I didn't want to bake a dessert, but I did want to provide one, so I decided on one of the icebox cakes made with oreos as a base.  Our friends love chocolate and peanut butter, so I went looking for an icebox cake with those flavors.  Here's the one I found: Peanut Butter Oreo Icebox Cake.  This turned out so well!  The only change I made was to decorate the dessert with teensy peanut butter cups rather than a drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Let's see, what else has been going on?  My hubby has been busy with projects at our little camp.  Despite the heat, he has been doing crazy things like laying pipes to our little spring, mixing concrete for various projects, and preparing to build an outdoor shower.  Yesterday he went to Lowe's and got a lot of the necessary materials for it.  

Don't recall if I shared about this before or not.  The top step here was sunken below ground level.  My hubby dug underneath it and lifted it up with the help of a strong lever and a wiry 7-year-old.  Then he created a second step using stones from one of the many walls on our property.  The third step is pieces of slate which had been placed there years ago.  Those weren't the most stable, so this week he made a concrete form to embed them in.  I'll have to take a photo next time we are over there, as this photo from July pre-dates the concrete.  As you can see, scraping and painting on the building (especially this little porch) will be a necessity this fall!
Adding a flag was a simpler project and one we are so pleased to have done.  We found a solar light which works perfectly to light it up at night.


 These stone steps led up from the road, or possibly from a driveway, to the large farmhouse that once stood on our camp property.  My hubby was doing a little bit of brush cutting and came upon these.  We had just seen a photo of the farmhouse at the historical society, so when he found these he knew exactly what they were.  We have since placed a pot of flowers on one step so passers-by will notice them.

Our church had VBS (aka Summer Bible Camp) last week and it was a great week of ministry.  So good to see the folks working together to minister to kids from both church and community.

I've been trying to get back into the FlyLady routines this month.  In spite of the fierce heat (and dripping with sweat as I worked), I managed to do a little decluttering in Zone 1 last week and am tackling Zone 2 this week.  I'll have to do a Making Space post soon, as I have found a few items to donate.

 I'm also trying to keep up with the 100-for-100 writing challenge.  I've missed a few days here and there but currently have well over 13,000 words so I am pleased with that.  

 Another project I'm tackling is to make some sachets to help with musty odors at the camp.  Humid weather brings those out.  I'm making some balsam sachets to tuck into furniture, and some lavender ones to place in drawers and cabinets.  For the lavender ones, I'm using the same mixture as my vacuum cleaner bag sachets.  A jarful of mix is currently curing, and I'll package it in coffee filters next week.

Last but not least, we've recently learned that our Nevada family is to arrive on August 29 for a ten-day visit.  Lots of planning ahead as we consider meals and people and places they hope to see!

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:38 PM

    Try Diane in Denmark who was a Flylady mentor for a few years and has lots of YouTube videos about the Flylady routines. She's from Scotland but lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has a lovely Scottish accent. You'll enjoy her!
    Love your cabin . . .

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  2. I am glad y'all are enjoying the cabin and all that work is hopefully keeping us young. I know y'all will enjoy the family in late August.

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    1. I often think about you, Sandy and how you seem to keep up so well with two homes and then all of your "sandwich generation" responsibilities. You're amazing! I am having trouble keeping up with everything, myself. But yes, we will enjoy the family's visit. It has been far too long since they have been here.

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  3. So happy for the news that your Nevada family will be there soon and stay for a nice long visit! What a blessing for all of you! I hope your weather will be a little cooler and very pleasant for the whole time. I know they will love visiting the camp and just being with you at "home". Oh, finding those old steps is really cool! I would love to see a picture of the old farmhouse that used to be there. That's really neat to make that discovery! Looks like it's been a long time since it was there, judging by all the big trees on the property. Do you know the history of the home? Might make an interesting post sometime! I love the sachet ideas. Esp. the lavender, but also the balsam...so woodsy! The pasta salad looks really good. I may have to try that sometime. Thank you for this delightful post. I always learn a lot when I visit with you. I'm a bit behind in my visiting lately because of all our recent "activities". But it's all good, and God is good! Have a great rest of your week/weekend.

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    1. Yes, we are looking forward to it also, Pam! They will all be staying at the camp, and we will stay at our home about 15 minutes away. Of course we will all get together for meals, and I imagine some of the cousins will be sleeping over either at the camp or at our daughter's home next door.

      I don't know much about the history of the old farmhouse. We think that the barn was across the road. The house had a number of sheds attached to it in the old New England style. We think at least one of the big maples in the picture we have (which I will try to find, and post for you) was standing when the house was. We do know the name of the farm -- Loon Lake Farm.

      Glad you enjoyed the post. I enjoyed writing it! And I've been enjoying reading about Dixie Cottage, too, and the doings there!

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  4. You'll be busy for a while getting ready for precious company and then enjoying your time with them.

    I enjoyed reading about your projects, both large and small.

    At least, the weather has moderated for the time being. Yesterday was wonderful lawn mowing weather at only 69°. Oh and I also made a pie...unheard of for me unless it is Thanksgiving or Christmas.

    As for FlyLady routines, I have managed to do the basics, but not the extras and the extras is where the biggest benefit is found. What's holding me back? Oh. My car trunk is in need of cleaning so there I must begin and from there can load up boxes to donate. Great. Now that I have that sorted, I should get cracking.

    Have a great weekend. Find some ice cream!



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    1. Oh, I will do my best to find some ice cream, and I hope you will do the same!

      Good for you making a pie! Did you make blueberry? Peach? Inquiring minds need to know, and I hope you will blog about it.

      Moderating weather is indeed so nice. I hope it stays that way for the kids' visit. We need it warm enough to swim and enjoy the outdoors, but that humidity I hope will stay away.

      Hope you are successful in cleaning the car trunk so you can load up boxes for donating. I'll think of you as I do my own decluttering!

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  5. Anonymous6:51 PM

    I like seeing all your projects! Hurray for out of state family visits!

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    1. Yes, indeed! We are looking forward to it!

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