Junk Mail and Dust Bunnies

Did I mention Eric was laid off a few days ago.  He has a lot of free time on his hands.

Yesterday he discovered junk mail. An offer for dental insurance. He spent 30 minutes discussing rates with me. Called them for a few more details. How much more junk mail will that generate since he had to tell them everything including his blood type to get answers?  He was about to call our dentist to discuss his rates - when , thank heavens, we had to leave.

A while ago he brought in the shop vac and so far has spent about 45 minutes cleaning behind and under the refrigerator. He brought in the air compressor a few minutes ago and told me he was going to have to blow a little to get everything out. I reminded him - it is the kitchen, the place we prepare food as I quickly covered the pot of boiling chicken. He said he would blow just a “little.”

Murphy has gone into hiding. I would go with him if I could find him. The house is kind of vibrating from the air compressor. I think the shop vac is running too!!!  I know when he is finished, it will be so clean back there we could eat off the floor. But it’s kind of scary!

I love my husband

Wall Calendar

Fall doesn't seem to have arrived yet.  We still have impatiens blooming as you can seen here around this little Dutch Girl in my Mother's garden.

Paris Twilight

Trying something a little different here in the latest addition to my "Windows On The Square" series.  Going for sort of an old world look.  Can't decide if I like the horizontal or vertical version best. 

Paris Twilight - Horizontal

Paris Twilight - Vertical

Horizontal - vertical - can't decide.  Either way it would look great on canvas as shown here.  Buy Print. 

"Windows on the Square" is a series I started several years ago showing off my very picturesque hometown - Paris, Tennessee.

Talented Family

My niece, Deanna Cullen and her daughter, Sara are entering the Mid South Fair this week.  I come from a very talented family.

One of Sara's creations.

One of Deanna's creations.

To see more of their creations please visit Deanna's blog.

Craft Show

Every September there is a craft show at Paris Landing State Park.  This year the weather was perfect, temp in the 80's, pleasant breeze and sunny skies.

 

 

My favorite thing was the . . .

SNAKES!!!!!

My Love Affair With Basil

Growing a few herbs is one of my favorite past times and basil - well basil!  I just love basil!

I put out four large leaf plants this year and volunteer plants from last year’s seeds have sprung up here and there. I have been letting them grow wherever because we never seem to have enough basil. We probably use more basil than any other seasoning next to salt, pepper and garlic.

We are eating the stuff almost as fast as I can pick it - so trying to put some up for winter has been challenging. Drying basil or other herbs is really easy.

I use one of those old fashioned, accordion style clothes drying racks. I place the rack in my guest bedroom (which is seldom used for guest). I try to pick large branches of basil so I can just hook them over the rails.

It takes a week or so for everything to get crispy dry. Maybe longer. Check for crispness. Drying herbs will fade in bright sunlight, so the darker the drying space the better.

 Once the herbs are crispy dry - carefully remove them from the drying rack. If they are really crisp leaves will start to fall off when you move them. If you have a pet, as I do (yes - that is Murphy sneaking by in this photo) you might want to put a towel on the floor to catch the leaves and keep them sanitary.

Once you have them off the rack, just strip the leaves and store in air-tight containers. I do not crush the leaves. Keeping the leave intact as long as possible helps preserve the essential oils that give herbs so much flavor and fragrance. I just stuff them into containers and of course some of them get crushed in the process. When you are ready to use the herbs simply rub them between your fingers to crush.

By the end of summer I will have several gallons of dried basil- so no - it will not fit in those fancy little bottles that come with most spice racks.  

Canning jars work just fine and look pretty sitting on my kitchen counter.

Labor Day Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we had.  Celebrated two birthdays - my 85 year young sweet Mother and our 3 year old granddaughter.

The weather was beautiful.  The lake had lots of boaters.

The birds were well fed and happy!

Anne's petunias were delerious!

And we ate too much!  This is only the Saturday night feast.

Aubie & Addie had a contest to see who could blow the hardest without blowing out the candle.

The contest did not last long.

We revisited Halloween.

Aubrey got to terrify her little sister with the Halloween mask.  That's Addie running for her life.

Addie discovered cherry tomatoes are just her size.

Did I mention, we ate too much.  This is Eric getting ready to grill Sunday's feast.

Monday, Labor Day, I truly felt like I was about to go into labor. 

Is it just a southern thing or does everyone eat too much on holiday weekends?

A perfect end to a perfect weekend.